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LPFM call signs....
- Thread starter knoxbob
- Start date
I was always curious on this, since I thought the calls always had "-LP" included with them.
The general rule is yes you can, BUT with the permission of the full power station who originally had those calls FIRST. You can't just help yourself.
For example, if I wanted the call letters "KMEL-LP", I would have to go through the OM of Clear Channel San Fransisco (and the final word may come from San Antonio.) They would also probably want an ongoing payment for use of those letters and a little information about my station. If I was running a hip-hop format and/or IDing as "K-M-E-L", they'd probably give me a flat "no" on using those letters. However, if I was using a moniker and running a different format, say Adult Standards, I may get a break.
To my knowledge, you MUST ID your LPFM as "KXXX-LP", the "-LP" suffix MUST be included in your TOH ID. No exceptions.
For example, if I wanted the call letters "KMEL-LP", I would have to go through the OM of Clear Channel San Fransisco (and the final word may come from San Antonio.) They would also probably want an ongoing payment for use of those letters and a little information about my station. If I was running a hip-hop format and/or IDing as "K-M-E-L", they'd probably give me a flat "no" on using those letters. However, if I was using a moniker and running a different format, say Adult Standards, I may get a break.
To my knowledge, you MUST ID your LPFM as "KXXX-LP", the "-LP" suffix MUST be included in your TOH ID. No exceptions.
There is a local LPFM that does not operate in the "City of License"
Alan McCall said:
If the rules are like commercial FM, I think the rules still are: main studio within 25 miles of the post office of your COL and the transmitter can be anywhere as long as you put a listenable signal (there's a dbu requirement but I forget what it is)
Non-Comms like K-Love and statewide NPR networks get main studio waivers all the time however.
Well....this LPFM cannot be heard in the City of License.
Mainedude2007 said:
LPFMs have a signal range of about 3-1/2 miles typically. All of this "within 25 miles of the post office" goes not have much currency in this discussion.
This whole "city of license" think for an LPFM could get interesting. The whole concept is "community radio". So far most of them have (in the past CP grants) been in rural areas because the 3rd adjacent channel requirement all but made them impossible in large cities. But the people who got the ball rolling on these stations have a vision of being able to serve just the Korean "community" within some large city. Or those with some political activity concepts would want a station positioned to serve a community where maybe union members and "laboring people" live. Is anyone aware of an application where the "city of license" is actually granted with a "community of license" within a larger city?
I know. That is hair-splitting... but that is part of the COMMUNITY RADIO reality. You serve a "community".... whatever that means.
KZQX-LP was granted to the "Chalk Hill Community." It is now called KXAL-LP, but is still licensed to the "Chalk Hill Community." Depending on your specific location, the Post Office thinks it is either Longview, or Henderson, Texas. In any case, it is serving a rural lake community.Goat Rodeo Cowboy said:
LPFMs don't have Community of License requirements like full powers. They only have to operate from the map coordinates they gave the FCC. There doesn't even have to be a town there.
If they move, they have to stay within 3 1/2 miles of the original site. But legally, they can be licensed to any town and any state they like, even if they can't be heard there. But for the life of me, I don't know why they would.
Also, there is no specific studio requirement for LPFM. They could put the studio anywhere. However, if they made the commitment in their application to program locally, the program has to originate in the coverage area determined by the licensed map coordinates.
If they move, they have to stay within 3 1/2 miles of the original site. But legally, they can be licensed to any town and any state they like, even if they can't be heard there. But for the life of me, I don't know why they would.
Also, there is no specific studio requirement for LPFM. They could put the studio anywhere. However, if they made the commitment in their application to program locally, the program has to originate in the coverage area determined by the licensed map coordinates.
Shiny Knob, that's exactly pretty much the way I understand it.
I'm planning to apply for an LPFM when the window opens. I'm physically located in east Leon County, in an area that once was known as the Lafayette community. It still shows occasionally on some maps. Six miles northeast of where I am is an unincorporated community named Chaires. The studio and tower site are to be located in the former Lafayette community. I am hopeful the signal can reach Chaires. Road closure information and such there is not reported by local radio and is one of the elements I would want to cover on the FM.
I'm planning to apply for an LPFM when the window opens. I'm physically located in east Leon County, in an area that once was known as the Lafayette community. It still shows occasionally on some maps. Six miles northeast of where I am is an unincorporated community named Chaires. The studio and tower site are to be located in the former Lafayette community. I am hopeful the signal can reach Chaires. Road closure information and such there is not reported by local radio and is one of the elements I would want to cover on the FM.
I'm a bit fuzzy on the rules -- it's been some time -- but there had been word of a relaxation of a once-resolute rule. And if I'm not mistaken, the freer rule applies to most, if not all, newly-licensed stations plus applications from existing stations.
What I'd heard was that the main contour of a station no longer had to cover the downtown (the main or original USPO) but a minimum 50% of the community's population * or * its geographical area. Proving this, they could list that city as its COL.
This loosening, of course, would allow more close-spaced or shoehorned stations to claim a more prestigious city for the ID if they wished.
If that's in effect still, a clumsy example would be imagining the whole state of Georgia as a 'city'. The 'downtown', Atlanta, is pretty far north in that city. An applicant from the south of there whose station covered 30,000 square miles of the state already without its main contour going near the 'downtown' of Atlanta could use that rule.
If I read that one correctly. As I said, it's been a few years.
I work casually with some LPFM engineers, being I'm on several radio forums, am retired, and have more spare time. For some reason, the rule that at least 50% of the group running the LPFM had to live within ten miles of the transmitter site evolved. Last I'd heard was that if the transmitter site and the main station base were within a certain minimum distance (ten miles? two miles?) then the members of the ownership group could live anywhere ; there was no residency requirement.
What I'd heard was that the main contour of a station no longer had to cover the downtown (the main or original USPO) but a minimum 50% of the community's population * or * its geographical area. Proving this, they could list that city as its COL.
This loosening, of course, would allow more close-spaced or shoehorned stations to claim a more prestigious city for the ID if they wished.
If that's in effect still, a clumsy example would be imagining the whole state of Georgia as a 'city'. The 'downtown', Atlanta, is pretty far north in that city. An applicant from the south of there whose station covered 30,000 square miles of the state already without its main contour going near the 'downtown' of Atlanta could use that rule.
If I read that one correctly. As I said, it's been a few years.
I work casually with some LPFM engineers, being I'm on several radio forums, am retired, and have more spare time. For some reason, the rule that at least 50% of the group running the LPFM had to live within ten miles of the transmitter site evolved. Last I'd heard was that if the transmitter site and the main station base were within a certain minimum distance (ten miles? two miles?) then the members of the ownership group could live anywhere ; there was no residency requirement.
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