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Low Power FM Stations or LPFMs

B

bturner

Early on in the life of the LPFM radio service, I took a couple of weeks, driving across country visiting and listening to numerous Low Power FM stations, concentrating on smaller communities where the LPFM was the only station in the community.

My travels went from Florida, through Georgia, West Virginia, over to Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington. Tons of miles and lots of fun visits.

The stations were varied from left of center (politically) to true community stations where volunteers supplemented the computer music mix, to full service stations and truly formatted stations. I centered on programming and on revenue.

Most stations sounded less than major market and rather homebrewed but there is a charm to that when the station could not work 20 miles down the road because it is so community centered. As far as revenue went, it was woefully pitiful. Many stations were being run by a person invested in the operation to the point they pulled the extra dollars needed from their own pocket.

For the most part, underwriting was the sole source of revenue and what few underwriters the station had, many times, paid mere pennies per announcement. We're talking $10, $20 a month not being out of the ballpark.

Some of those stations are gone...turning in their licenses to the FCC. So sad!

With this said, I'd love to know how some LPFMs are doing now, several years down the road. Are you in the same place as you were when you started? Have you developed your loyal audience and support? Have you accomplished goals? For example, can you support a salary for someone dedicated to running the station?

What does LPFM need to give it a good jolt in the arm?

I've figured LPFM is the only avenue open to me versus buying an existing station. I know, non-profit...done that one already. So, that's my interest in LPFM for the last decade or so.

I've wondered about why there has never been a LPFM newsletter for stations (free is the best price, always) and if networking even matters to LPFM (it sure does in commercial radio).

Some examples of your LPFM and your views on networking would, I think, be interesting reading for LPFM fans, wanna-bes and other stations. Will you share with your post? Thanks!

P.S. I can share out my travels if interested.
 
I would love to hear about your experiences with the LPFM stations you visited. Do you have a blog page setup? Or facebook where you can post some photos? I am also looking into a LPFM at the next window of opportunity and would like to hear how others are making it or not. I wish I had the time to travel around and see some other operations in my area. The only LPFM stations near me are being run by churches ad not very much local programming.
 
Right there with you on the "LPFM is the only avenue open to me..." sentence. Even the LMA for a run- down AM with NO studio of its own was $5k per month. That is just not sustainable over the long haul.

I am also preparing for the LPFM window. This is my last attempt at terrestrial radio.

I visited the only LPFM near me, WFSD. It is owned by a church that doesn't really know anything about broadcasting. Their studio is in the church sound room and is not easily accessible to the public.

A friend helped start that station and has had to come to my studios a few times to record IDs and such. Their set up did not provide for production.

He told me recently that a few church members were paying for the station expenses out of pocket.
 
Considering it is possible to get a LPFM on the air for about what a mid-size new car might cost is pretty enticing to me. The low operating costs add more fuel to the fire. Adding in my knack of seeking employment at financially strapped stations and having to build them up a bit to get anything I need (read: find a way to pay for it if I need it), I think that in the right situation, LPFM can flourish.

LPFM has a bad name because so many with no radio experience or even a basic understanding of radio have jumped in the business. Add to the fact the lobbying by various evangelical groups to persuade local churches to apply in the first window has meant many LPFMS are merely a local ID and a satellite feed. I have nothing against Christian radio. Some applicants also see their LPFM as a way to do the format they and a small circle of friends would find interesting, not a format the community wants. Others have just always wanted a station, are thrilled for a few years until they undertstand their LPFM is not like a pet that can be boarded when you want time away.

For those seeking to apply in the next window with a yearning to serve their community, LPFM is an option to build a station that becomes a part of the general community with a format that takes in as much of that community as possible, realizing their LPFM's survival is hinged on reaching the highest percentage within their listening area. They know the hard work involved and are ready to roll of their sleeves. They'd rather not make the station a 'when I have time between job and family' but something that can eventually replace their jobs as they work fulltiime to serve the area, having their LPFM actually allow them to be serious about running such a station.

In my next post I will share about my travels but mostly I will keep call letters and town names anonymous because some details might be sensitive. In my travels to these stations, I centered on start up costs, operating costs, revenue and programming.
 
In a living room in an isolated coastal community stood one, now defunct, LPFM that provided a mass appeal format.

The format was Country Hits and mixed a Country Classic and a Bluegrass selection each hour. The hourly clock on this computer driven station was littered with national public service announcements (Ad Council)...maybe 6 to 8 per hour but they were selected for the community the station served (heavy on hurricanes, boating safety and such). Along with these PSAs were local announcements recorded by the people involved with the announcement itself. In addition, the three or four underwriters in this community of several hundred voiced their own announcements, paying $75 a month for the announcement to air every 3 hours (although it was more like every 2 hours during my time spent listening). Within the music mix was either a short devotional (The Sower) or a short Children's program (syndicated and usually Christian themed). Repetition was the word that comes to mind with this station that easily played the biggest country hits at least every other hour as well as the announcements, PSAs and underwriters. Now, this was not a two hour loop as the various elements never showed up in the same sequence.

The station seemed to be quite popular and well-liked. It seemed the operator, a really good guy, spent time there and out of state, so he might not have been in the community more than half the time.

Why the station turned in it's license is a mystery. It might be possible the operator died or became unable physically to operate the station. Perhaps it was economic (although at $225 to $300 a month in revenue was enough to pay the bills). Maybe the transmitter or tower had big money issues. Maybe he tired of the care the station took, making it a burden rather than a joy.

I did not visit the actual station or call the operator since my arrival happened on Fathers Day and I didn't want to interrupt any family plans. I was 'winging it' on my visit and wasn't sure when I would be there.

The station had a good sound, if only a bit too repetitive. The station sounded very attuned to the community, sounded busy, pretty professional and 'active' as in it seemed to be up-to-the-minute as for local content.
 
Another defunct LPFM sat amid a vineyard in a small wooden building of maybe 200 square feet. While the vineyard was operating at the time, the owner was out of town the day of my visit. In my prior conversations, he applied for the station and built it on the generous support of the rural community he served. His expenses to build were provided by the community.

Operations were simplistic. He coined the term 'redneck automation' to describe the set up that included those CD players that hold hundreds of CDs, switching back and forth 24/7. A dedicated CD deck on repeat had a 30 minute track with the legal ID at a higher volume than the music CDs so the ID could be heard over the music. The only break from this set up was a syndicated Christian program on Sunday morning. Honestly, I don't know if that program really aired or was planned as my visits were on weekdays.

The music selections were generally popular hits, mostly adult contemporary (Paul Simon, Dobie Gray's Drift Away, CCR, etc.) but was mixed with, say a bluegrass tune, maybe a country hit, a jazz track, big band tune or a crooner or even someone like Stevie Ray Vaughn. I even heard a well known classical track (ie: think something like Beethoven's "Fur Elise")...the sort of classical piece everybody knows and has heard all their life. I thought the mix was a bit too wide for many musical tastes and there might be too many 'deep album tracks' by unknown artists, but I like all kinds of music and liked it. Quite frankly, if you look at a person's personal music library, you find just such variety.

The station had absoutely no revenue. They planned a more substantial studio before getting into selling underwriting or trying to get listener donations but as far as I know the plan was never initiated.

On a local level, the station covered some political debates and aired them by 'tape delay'. They interviewed musicians and played some local music in the mix. They covered several local events, recording interviews that showed up on the air. They did have a local presence but that presence only appeared on the air, say monthly to every six weeks or so on average.

The only issue the station had was a crowded radio dial. When you have a crowded dial with tons of full power stations out there, your reach might not be more than 3 to 5 miles from the tower before the more powerful FM bleeds over the signal. As a result, the central location between a couple of bustling small towns, the station was unable to put a clear signal into either town and no other frequency was available. Perhaps this was the reason for the station handing in its license.
 
I visited a station that was an EWTN affiliate but they're not on the satellite 24/7 but only about 50% of the 24 hour schedule. It too was located in a vineyard in a tiny town between two larger but still small towns. The station is still on the air and is healthy.

About 50% of the broadcast day is made up of old radio shows, music performed by local and regional artists who send the station their music (most is Christian music with a decidedly country slant, positive lyric country songs and there was even a smooth jazz group). The station was now so concerned with their music selections being 'Christian' as much as they centered on local and regional artists. The operatot does a 15 minute talk show that runs 3 times a day. The other 45 minutes of the hour is filled with various syndicated vingettes of general Christian influence, not specifically Catholic. Local announcements and a 10 day weather forecast were included in the hour.

The station has two underwriters at $20 a month for generally about 4 announcements every day. These underwriters sought out the station and the revenue does not pay the annual operational expenses although the station operates from rooms on the vineyard's grounds where the tower is located.

The station, located in a valley, had incredible reach. I heard the station a good 15-20 miles away up and down the valley.

While EWTN is not my cup of tea, I am very impressed with this station. Few Christian broadcasters attempt to be a community station as well or if they do it is their own smal circle. This station offered musicians the locals could likely see at various venues, some local information, commentary and entertainment outside EWTN's fare. It might seem an odd mix but I'd suspect the locals see it as worth of a preset on their radios. Anyway, the operator is an incredibly nice person.
 
LPFM seems to be perfect for rural communities. This station is located in a tiny fairly remote community. Barely more than 300 can here the monterous signal this little LPFM puts out. In fact, it's the ONLY thing on the FM dial so hearing the station 20-30 miles away is achieved.

It seems the school superintendant caught the radio bug and applied. The new guy that replaced him was stuck with finding the cash to make it happen and did so. They wound up with a great little facility at this tiny school.

Just how remote is this area? Well, to keep the school going they host foreign exchange students, a way to keep enrollment high enough to hang on. The school district is so big, distant students live in a dorm during the week.

As I said, with nothing else on the dial, the station is a vital part of the community and area. Their mostly oldies based format is supplemented with country in the early morning and a few dedicated times a weel for specific music. The top of the hour has birthdays, anniversaries and announcements aired. They even aired a few high school sports broadcasts via a very unique system of delivery.

The station has most every business around supporting the station but rates are dirt cheap: $10 a month or $100 a year. Underwriters are aired 3 times an hour with a specific script that is 'fill in the blank'. Each announcement is 60 words in length and the number of underwriters varies between 10 and 12. This means that every 3 hours and 20 minutes to every 4 hours, each underwriter gets a repeat around the clock, every day. Run the numbers: at 12 clients, that's 15,330 announcements for $100...more if only 10 clients are on the air.

Students voice all the IDs and underwriter spots. Like most small schools, the students are so busy, none have their own show but could as there is a true studio.

This is an excellent little radio station that really serves the community and is involved in every aspect of the listening area. A person makes a suggestion, they try to make it happen. They respond to their listeners. I applaud the operator's dedication to this isolated area and provide its only radio service to the 300+ sould that live there.

I must admit it is pretty cool hearing the nice variety of tunes on the station, that likely averaged 57 minutes of music hourly. To hear something like Louie Louie by the Kingsmen, Like a Hurricane by Neil Young and Don't Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee provided just the variety that would have kept me tuned in all day long.
 
Correction on the above post: $100 a year with 12 clients is only 2,190 spots a year, not 15,330....must have punched a wrong button on the calculator! Thus, less than 5 cents an impression.

I see a couple of spelling errors I missed too...sorry
 
Great posts, my friend. It has been a while since you and I exchanged thoughts on this topic. My blog (see the tag below) has become quite stale. I ran out of inspiration during a year when we had no idea if and when the FCC would ever open the window again. And.... I have been dealing with a serious illness in the family which is now happily on the mend.

For those of you currently in radio, and those who maintain their currency status by reading forums like this, you will find my blog entries a bit simplistic in some cases. People who have no hands-on experience in radio may find some of my thoughts a good jumping off place their their journey of learning. I think the time has come to jump and start posting again.

But my period of silence this past year has been a time of sorting out my goals and attitudes about LPFM. Future posts will have slightly different shades of color in them.

Some of us who may not be in a position where we can be the lead-dog in an application, or cannot participate in a local application at all, may want to consider becoming resources for the LPFMs of other people and other communities. I'm not yet sure what that would look like. Your local NPR station would be anemic and sickly compared to what it is now if it did not access to all the rich content that comes from the NPR network. I have this dream that there are people out there who can visualize program content that would give LPFMs a leg up in quality and variety, and they these same people who are out there can find national underwriters who would see the value of financing these programming elements.

To give you an idea of the kind of content that fascinates me: Garrison Kielor's daily snippet on poetry. There is another little insert called Composers Datebook. My local station runs a feature that I don't know of the origin, but it is called Stargazer's Journal. (I just tabbed over to another Window and looked it up. There is a website and a Facebook page for the Journal. I am all for LPFM being as local as can be, but to build audience, juicy little programming morsels are like finding a pecan in your coffee cake, or a bit of bacon in your green beans. Oh, how I hate UNSEASONED green beans, and thankfully I am married to someone who would die before preparing unseasoned green beans.

What LPFM needs are station operated by people who would not on the worst day of their life serve unseasoned green beans as programming content!
 
Great LPFM station stores so far bturner. I hope they keep coming. Wish you could have visited mine between 2002-2006. We were doing over 100K in underwriting.
 
I would have loved to have visited. To be honest, I would have really enjoyed a visit to a station that was doing well in generating revenue. Most all of the stations I visited had little revenue coming in for one of two reasons:
1) rates way too low
2) operators were petrified to go out 'selling'.

The stations with low rates were mostly those stations where the operator wanted every business to be able to say yes but either there were too few businesses in their coverage or not enough hours in the day to get to enough to establish enough revenue. Those scared of approaching businesses mostly had only those accounts that sought them out or asked about underwriting. In many cases this fear was complicated by the operator not having a handle on the size of the audience listening to the station. They didn't solicit because they feared failure and opted to shy away from a business that might feel they didn't get a return from their undrwriting. That sentence might evoke some comments, but the truth is businesses do not dole out a dollar without the opportunity to benefit, so selling underwriting is no different from seling commercials. Businesses expect results.

I'll get to more stations as time allows.
 
One station I visited had not been on the air long. They were in a small community of 800 people.

The station was designed to be a volunteer operated station with a variety format that changed with each DJ. The area was way too small for this to be a viable fulltime format. At their start, the station was on the air only when there was a show. If there was only one volunteer that day, the station was on the air for only that show. If a show ran 4 to 6pm and the next show was 8 to 10pm, then the station was off the air between 6 and 8. The operator did a 6 hour show and the phone typically never rang.

The facility was exceptional and the people on the air were very dedicated and serious about the station. Obviously they struggled in the beginning before getting a computer to run the station 24/7 to build a listening audience.

The marketing pieces the station utilized were well crafted and this LPFM kept itself top of mind in the community via print (newsletters, brochures, etc.).

Underwriting was another thing all together. It seemed obvious to me the person developing the rates and frequency/number of spots in a package, had no clue about the community. With your total audience potential being 800, a $10 per announcement rate and a 1, 2 or 3 per week option with up front payment was met with a resounding 'No' from every business in town.

In my opinion, one needed to learn what the local businesses typically spent per month, perhaps in newspaper, and figured a package for at least a daily impression for an amount that might be an average of what the typical business would spend.

Listening to the station, it is my opinion the 'anything goes' format reaches too small of an audience in such a limited audience potential. If such a format attracts 1% of the audience, that's 8 listeners for that station. When most of your format is artists one never hears on radio and so eclectic that when I worked in a music store, those artists were 'special order' because we were lucky to sell one CD a year, if that, then your format is not going to attract enough people to fund a station when your universe is 800. When one show tracks Broadway Shows, the next show is College Rock and the following show is Baroque Classical music, you have a tough road ahead of you. This is a major problem for LPFMs. Too many people think they can go with a fringe format when they reach very few people. The fact is, you'd need hundreds of thousands of people in your audience if you expect your station to pay for itself and even that if iffy.

I suspect the computer changed that by offering a more mainstream mix of music where the specialty shows, the few that there would be in such a small area, can make it because the computer mix establishes a community audience.
 
I am enjoying all these stories, Bill. I expect there's something to be learned from them.

In late 2006, I decided that it might be fun to volunteer to help an LPFM. So my wife (the driver in the family since I am legally blind) and I headed over to Wakulla County one afternoon to check out WHTR-LP 96.9, licensed to Wakulla Station. It is roughly 20 miles from me.

This area is quite rural. There's a business base in Crawfordville, but not at Wakulla Station itself.
One person, who lives in the area, had told me that they were running a variety format. They were near the St. Marks Bike Trail, used by runners, bikers, and families for recreation.

It was apparently a short-lived station, because when we reached the address, it appeared to be a residence with a heavily wooded large lot. The house was barely visible. There was nothing on the air at 96.9. My wife says she never saw anything resembling a tower, not even a flag pole.

Wakulla County being what it is, we decided not to go traipsing around. I later tried to call, and sent a letter to, the licensee, offering to help them for free if they needed it. Never heard a peep out of them. Not a peep over the air either, apparently.

They came out of the woodwork and filed a renewal, which was granted.

I was disappointed in this, especially since Wakulla County has only one Class A licensed to it - and that station has studios in Tallahassee and is not programming locally to Wakulla.
 
1250WTAE,

I think that's really impressive. My wife said if we could only do half that she would be ecstatic.

She will be able to retire in about 3 years and then we could work together with radio.

Alan
 
Re: Low Power FM Stations or LPFMs to Apply for LPFM Contact me.....

This is a great informative thread, where we are sharing ideas & information. While I am scratching my head wondering how you already have "hundred of clients", I would like to ask you if you are mistaken & thought you are posting in the "looking for work section" which I can't seem to find ANYWHERE.
Please don't derail a otherwise informative thread trolling for work.
To the other member's posting, am I the only one that feels this way?
If so, I apologise.
[email protected] link=topic=225968.msg2033792#msg2033792 date=1357255220]
Hi I am Ron Stekeur, my friends call me "RadioRohn". http://radiodiscussions.com/smf/index.php?topic=220432.0

I am helping hundreds of clients apply for LPFM(100 watters).......

Email me with all you questions & requests....windowindown to apply is 10/15/2013...are you ready???

Thanx

Radi
 
During my travels, my favorite radio station was a hodge-podge format for a rural community.

Located in a valley with around 1,200 people, the valley had evolved from a poor farming and ranching area that had lost all their business community over the years to one where organic farming and artists had begun to concentrate. The evolution of the local population coupled with long-time residents that loved the valley seemed to be a nice mix. The newer residents were there because of the older residents of the valley, so it was a nice relationship.

It seems someone had left a good deal of money for a community library. The library purchased a building next to it. There was room to hold indoor shows and concerts although the venue was small as far as venues go. The community was fairly tight-knit at this point and chose to begin a store since the local grocery store had shut down. The new store was a cooperative. Needless to say, it is the core of the community.

A local artist had the idea of a Low Power FM station and the library kicked in a place to house the station. For a little money, they got on the air as a community radio station. Kids fom the local school do IDs, Local organizations have PSAs. The bulletin board, made up of two or three 4 foot by 8 foot sheets of plywood protected by the elements is located by the library and it serves as the valley's newspaper. Folks stop and read the notices posted. You'll see kids looking to mow lawns or babysit, wedding and funeral announcements, flyers for local events, notices from the home based businesses offering the products and services, newsy items and other things. The bulletin board items that pass the non-commercial test, get recorded and aired twice a day so the valley can be kept up to date via this station.

Musically, the station is all over the road and the sidewalk too. Volunteers do shows and I think they had about 25 different shows. Area public affairs and educational programs are added (the regions fight that delicate common ground between progress and preservation) and the area is steeped in history and culture. As you might suspect, local and area artists are a part of the mix. I did not hear it, but the station has a program , a storytime for children, voiced by a lady from the library. The number of audio stories is unknown, but kids can hear one each evening before their bedtime, although it might be preempted for a live show.

The station runs 24/7, on computer when not live, music with ID on the hour and PSA on the half hour. Revenue is only $1,000 with four show sponsors ($250 a year to do that). The revenue easily pays the bills that are not covered by the library. The station is next to the venue where live music or a craft show could be held (merely the next door down in the building and at the end of the building is the store). Even the syndicated offerings are those with regional appeal (in other words the stations that carry these shows are limited to a certain geographic region). So, the station has a purely local feel, void of the nationaly syndicated shows.

The business community is ready to help. One 'cafe' that has a regular 'coffee time' was donating the revenue from this coffee time to the station. In smaller communities, coffee time is important to the people. It is a venue for neighbors to get together and catch up with everyone over a cup of coffee and maybe some pastry or a muffin. Many small town cafes open before lunch for just this sort of community gathering at least a day or two a week if not daily.

The station would easily top all the others if a survey was done for the valley. Everybody listens. Maybe its that they hear people they know on the station or maybe its pride in ownership or maybe they like the station that features blocks of different music through the day. Mostly the station has an 'underground' sound, the best word I could think of to describe the early days of album rock radio back when it was termed 'Progressive Rock'. Such stations explored a full musical spectrum just like this station does. As for a professional radio sound, you will not find it here. Instead, you catch real people on the radio sharing with their listeners. There are some things the listener hears that are not audible...things like a smile or that the person behind the microphone is really enjoying what they're doing. You catch that on this station.

As the operator told me, they could have a good number of underwriters if they got out there to sell, but their expenses are few so they don't push for lots of underwriting.

Since some information might be sensitive and may have been shared with me in confidence so I am not disclosing call letters or specific location in respect for the operators on this public forum.
 
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