LPFM is even more important now

[Mike Stark]

With the attacks on funding for public broadcasting, the LPFM stations - if motivated - could help fill the gap since there is no government funding involved.

We at KLBP (KLBP.org) are about to expand our profile in the Long Beach community with the addition of a new studio and the addition of an actual news department in conjunction with the Long Beach Post and CSULB. We are also expanding our "live" remote programming around the city at clubs, restaurants and community events which has expanded our listener base and - honestly - is a lot of fun. VERY few radio stations - at least in LA - do live remotes any longer. Probably an expense that makes it prohibitive. Since no one gets paid here, we have no expenses and with modern remote gear and the Internet it's a breeze to do.

We're vigorously fundraising - in every possible way, except the traditional "beg a thon". We firmly believe that sort of fundraising taints our programming which continues to grow.

Out latest fundraising campaign involves inviting donors on a boat cruise of the Long Beach Harbor. Our goal is to get 100 listeners to give $100. (attached is our promo for the cruise)

Again, if you live in the LA area and would love to do a show, volunteer or join our party, please reach out. As a retired broadcaster, I am finding my involvement with KLBP the absolute best "retirement" activity I could hope for. I get to paint on a broadcasting canvas without any restrictions and nothing creative is out of bounds. We're also becoming an important part of the community which is what radio should be about.

Mike

 

[Oldie919]

Mike....
It sure sounds like KLBP-LP has its ducks in a row!!
You can bet .....if I lived in your area, I'd be volunteering in a heartbeat!!
Just curious....is Howard Hughes' HK-1 plane still in mothballs at Long Beach Harbor?
At one time, long ago, it was actually on display --- then it was hangered there...but it may have been moved...
(Please note --- I did NOT refer to Hughes' wooden wonder as the "Spruce Goose"!!
He HATED that name!!)

 

[davideduardo]

Just curious....is Howard Hughes' HK-1 plane still in mothballs at Long Beach Harbor?

Nope. It moved to Oregon. I got to see it on the way to an NAB show around '89 or so. You could even sit in the cockpit!

 

[ZebraRadio]

Critics have tried to paint this defunding as a First Amendment issue. It isn't. The government isn't stopping NPR from saying what it wants on the public airwaves, just not at public expense. LPFM stations have never asked for, nor have they received, a government handout. But most are still broadcasting. Perhaps NPR can come down from their ivory tower and learn how LPFM stations are able to survive without the help of taxpayers. Good on you, KLBP-LP!

 

[Mike Stark]

Critics have tried to paint this defunding as a First Amendment issue. It isn't. The government isn't stopping NPR from saying what it wants on the public airwaves, just not at public expense. LPFM stations have never asked for, nor have they received, a government handout. But most are still broadcasting. Perhaps NPR can come down from their ivory tower and learn how LPFM stations are able to survive without the help of taxpayers. Good on you, KLBP-LP!

Over the last decade NPR and PBS has already figured out how to "monetize" all the areas of their operation that doesn't come under the "non-profit" banner. In fact we plan to take a page from them and monetize things like our website and our app.

Like commercial corporate radio, those that will suffer will be the small rural NPR/PBS affiliates - although they could also "monetize" things that don't effect their non-profit status. With LPFMs, we've had to start with a zero financial base and figure it out and over the last year we've made tremendous strides in that direction. However, if your programming sucks, then all those kind of efforts still can't keep a station going. That's why we are concentrating on the air product as equally as the creative fundraising opportunities. Thanks, Zebra!!!!

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

Critics have tried to paint this defunding as a First Amendment issue. It isn't. The government isn't stopping NPR from saying what it wants on the public airwaves, just not at public expense. LPFM stations have never asked for, nor have they received, a government handout. But most are still broadcasting. Perhaps NPR can come down from their ivory tower and learn how LPFM stations are able to survive without the help of taxpayers. Good on you, KLBP-LP!

NPR will only lose a few percent of their budget.. its the rural stations who will be most hurt, with some going off air. audiences so rural that no other signal serves them and even if they got money from every single living breathing human every year, including babies, it still wouldnt be enough

 

[K.M. Richards]

If I may add ... LPFMs have always operated on shoestring budgets, but that's the trade-off for community-based radio, which is what the service was designed for.

Full-power non-comm FMs have a wider geographic footprint and a much larger constituency than LPFM.

So to accuse NPR of being in an "ivory tower" and then saying "good on you" to Mike Stark's station shows a great ignorance of what's going on here. A lot of full-power stations are suddenly going to have budgets closer to that of LPFM but with no similar reduction in expenses.

That is the problem, and it is likely what keeps Paul up nights now.

 

[Mike Stark]

If I may add ... LPFMs have always operated on shoestring budgets, but that's the trade-off for community-based radio, which is what the service was designed for.

Full-power non-comm FMs have a wider geographic footprint and a much larger constituency than LPFM.

So to accuse NPR of being in an "ivory tower" and then saying "good on you" to Mike Stark's station shows a great ignorance of what's going on here. A lot of full-power stations are suddenly going to have budgets closer to that of LPFM but with no similar reduction in expenses.

That is the problem, and it is likely what keeps Paul up nights now.

I'm not sure if our work at KLBP was just insulted or not? LOL We do have listeners "logged in" from all over the world with an average listening time of 38 minutes.....and the donations have increased since we started about a year ago by several hundred per cent, to the point we're about to get a new studio and a news department. From what I'm hearing about how much people can get a spot on LA commercial radio for now, we might even be coming close to matching those numbers with our on air sponsorships.

m

 

[K.M. Richards]

I'm not sure if our work at KLBP was just insulted or not?

It was not intended as an insult, Mike. It was intended to put things into perspective.

You and KLBP are on my short list of LPFM broadcasters who actually do this for the right reasons. Hans Laetz at KBUU is also in there, so you are in good company.

 

[Mike Stark]

It was not intended as an insult, Mike. It was intended to put things into perspective.

You and KLBP are on my short list of LPFM broadcasters who actually do this for the right reasons. Hans Laetz at KBUU is also in there, so you are in good company.

Cool. I'll give them a listen. Honestly, we're "stealing" ideas wherever we can get them.

 

[ZebraRadio]

I direct your attention to Lance Venta's commentary. With the help of government cash, NPR stations have had the luxury of large, overlapping staff. As he put it, the cut in funding is a 'wake up call' to trim staff and consolidate positions and operations. NPR can and will operate but at a much leaner level. LPFM stations do it all the time. Given the much larger reach full power NCE stations have and the supposed 'superiority' of NPR programming they should have little problem making up any monetary shortfall. An Open Letter To Public Radio

 

[K.M. Richards]

Given the much larger reach full power NCE stations have and the supposed 'superiority' of NPR programming they should have little problem making up any monetary shortfall.

I hope that you are right, but given your attitude in posting, if you are wrong I will never let you forget it.

 

[TheBigA]

LPFM stations have never asked for, nor have they received, a government handout.

Because they don't qualify.

Perhaps NPR can come down from their ivory tower and learn how LPFM stations are able to survive without the help of taxpayers.

Only a fraction of NPR's budget comes from taxpayers. Ronald Reagan did that in 1983. He amended the public broadcasting act so that the majority of the money went to local stations.

This defunding of CPB will mainly hurt those local stations, mainly in rural areas. The big city stations will be fine.

 

[ac175]

I haven't understood for years now, why Public broadcasting still received federal funding. I understand when the funding was first implemented, choices on TV and radio were dismal, and Public broadcasting offered another choice. But with so many different "free" ways to receive information, news, and entertainment now it just seems like it's a case of "that's how we've always done it so why change even though technology has"? I have nothing against PBS and NPR and I suspect the stations who do serve their local area's well and bring something oif value to their area's well do fine without the federal funding.

 

[rparky54]

Critics have tried to paint this defunding as a First Amendment issue. It isn't. The government isn't stopping NPR from saying what it wants on the public airwaves, just not at public expense. LPFM stations have never asked for, nor have they received, a government handout. But most are still broadcasting. Perhaps NPR can come down from their ivory tower and learn how LPFM stations are able to survive without the help of taxpayers. Good on you, KLBP-LP!

Are not the ads the Department of Homeland Security are airing on the networks featuring Kristi Noem paid for by taxpayers?

 

[TheBigA]

I haven't understood for years now, why Public broadcasting still received federal funding.

Here's how this works: Congress passed the public broadcasting act. It created NPR, PBS, and CPB..

Every year, CPB goes to congress to ask for funding. Every year, congress agrees. The most recent time was March of 2025.

The reason they always agree is because the money mainly goes to their states to pay for their state-owned stations that employ residents of their states.

Some states sold their radio and TV stations. But most of the red states still own them. You might ask them why.

 

[K.M. Richards]

The main idea behind federal funding was to offset the fact that public stations were, by designation of their FCC licenses, non-commercial. It was presumed that the kind of "cultural programming" which had virtually disappeared from the airwaves was not commercially sustainable (and the commercial stations and networks contributed to that view).

To some degree, that is still true. There are no commercial stations with a Classical format, for example. Much of PBS' programming would never even be considered for the schedule on ABC, CBS, Fox or NBC. And even though there is some comparable programming available online, much of it is either ad-supported, only available on streaming subscriptions, and the like.

The arguments pro and con about federal funding for public broadcasting have been debated for many years, off and on. Now we are forced into a scenario where the answer will manifest.

 

[Mike Stark]

Are not the ads the Department of Homeland Security are airing on the networks featuring Kristi Noem paid for by taxpayers?

There lies the hypocrisy. It's ok for taxpayers to pay for these spots to run on commercial stations (what's the financial arrangement here? I'm guessing they pay premium for the spots which any red-blooded radio sales dude would drool over), but funding for anything "progressive" is a no-no. I have deleted anything IHeart from my radio listening because of those spots and if I hear them on other stations I will stop listen there as well.

m

 

[davideduardo]

There lies the hypocrisy. It's ok for taxpayers to pay for these spots to run on commercial stations (what's the financial arrangement here? I'm guessing they pay premium for the spots which any red-blooded radio sales dude would drool over), but funding for anything "progressive" is a no-no. I have deleted anything IHeart from my radio listening because of those spots and if I hear them on other stations I will stop listen there as well.

Anyone who has worked in radio sales or radio management knows that there is lots of local, state and national paid advertising for specific purposes. While those "Smokey The Bear" spots are Ad Council productions and run for free in unsold times, many campaigns are paid and specifically targeted just like an ad for a car or an airline or whatever.

Those campaigns usually come through a recognized ad agency or an agency's buying service. They do the same as all agency buys by asking for a quote based on the schedule they want.

When I was a GM in Puerto Rico, about 8% to 10% of my revenue came from local and federal government campaigns.

And if a station refuses one government campaign, they would have to refuse all government campaigns.

The analysis I saw is that the cost of advertising "self deportation" is less than 10% the cost of apprehending, temporarily housing and transporting "home" of a comparable illegal immigrant. Of course, that is the government's own evaluation and subject to skepticism, but even logic indicates that running some ads that result in self-deportation is a cheaper way of removing illegal immigrants from the country.

 

[davideduardo]

Are not the ads the Department of Homeland Security are airing on the networks featuring Kristi Noem paid for by taxpayers?

"We the taxpayers" fund for a lot of government advertising.

From Google's AI response:

"Federal agencies do engage in paid advertising, and spending on these campaigns has significantly increased in recent years. While some government advertising is mandated by law, such as the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, much of it is discretionary and aimed at informing the public about government programs and initiatives"

Google Search

In part:

"Purpose:
Government advertising aims to inform the public about various topics, including public health, military recruitment, census information, and government programs.

Spending:
Federal agencies spent over $1.8 billion on advertising in 2023, more than double the amount spent in 2018"

And that is just Federal spending. Add in state and local and even county ad expenditures and this is a significant amount.