LPFM has few real financial winners. Of the nearly 1,200 that hit the airwaves, I understand about 900 remain. Many have simply shut down. I will try to loosely define the four classes of LPFM stations I know of:
1) Individuals, Christian Schools and Churches that primarily run satellite fed programming. There are three major players: Calvary Chapel, Seventh Day Adventist and Catholics.
2) Hobby Broadcasters. Most are radio people or folks who wanted to be in radio or people without radio experience with a well defined dream of a radio station. Mostly they lack any sales effort and frequently are funded from the collective pockets of their board members. Some operate from bedrooms are some are simply jukeboxes.
3) 'Progressive' Radio. Usually a more of an all volunteer station with all types of music (depending who is on the air) and a very liberal use of talk programming, generally centering around Democracy Now and Pacifica produced programs.
4) Small market community-oriented stations opting to be the local radio station for a small town. A few of these have enough revenue coming in to rival a full power small market station while others have virtually no emphasis on generating revenue.
Revenue seems to range from the money in the wallet that can be used (some operate on $1,000 a year) to stations doing $10,000 to $16,000 a month in revenue, mostly from Underwriting and contributions from other non-profits in the community. I would doubt more than 50 stations are hitting the $10,000 mark and I am being liberal in my thinking here.
LPFM, depending on how crowded the radio dial is, will get anywhere from 2 miles to 30 miles. The 30 miles I experienced from KPAI in Paisley, Oregon where KPAI is the only signal received on the FM dial. The two mile factor seems to be pretty accurate for the Brookshire, Texas FM that struggles to override the 100,000 watt FM that is somewhere between Beaument and Houston.
Small towns, in my opinion, are the best places for Low Power FM with an option to think like a small town newspaper by picking a music format that targets the biggest number of people in the community and wrapping the music with as much information about life in the local area as you can.
The mostly eclectic sounding 'Progressive' stations are beyond my thinking of a logical format. With no offense to political views, musically the stations tend to hit a tiny percentage of people. Such a format is best served by reaching huge numbers of people because it takes huge numbers to garner enough listeners to make it work. When your format targets, at most, 1% of the audience and you reach 60,000 people, you can do trhe math. The same goes for the religious stations. Even Contemporary Christian music only hits about 3.5%. You still need an audience 10-20 times bigger to keep the station from becoming a financial burden. When your station hits 10,000 people and you choose a denominational format, you end up with a tiny percentage of the people that fill the pews at the local church as listeners and only a small percentage of them becoming contributors. Mass appeal makes more sense because your potential audience is smaller.
Many LPFMs simply blew up. Board members split into two factions fighting for the license. Many more were set up by an individual who talked an unrelated entity to become the umbrella group for the station. Once on the air, these groups realized they would be liable for the actions of the station and decided to challenge control of the station or someone on the board got radio fever. In short, lots of issues arose.
Some who wanted a LPFM because they love radio came to realize a laptop in the bedroom attached to a transmitter costs money. After a long day of work, tending their baby in the evening and weekends became like a thorn in their side. Maybe the wife complained too much or the transmitter burned up or lightning struck or the economy went south and you didn't have the spare cash, but a number of these such stations said enough is enough.
As pastors moved on and superintendents changed, the LPFM was evaluated and shut down. The value of the license was not understood.
Lots of others came to realize that while you're totally computer driven or satellite fed, a LPFM is a 24/7, 365 day a year job (366 days every 4th year). The LPFM became a burden that eliminated one's freedom.
With all this negative said, I fully know what I'm getting in to when the next window is announced. I'm working on the non-profit now and all I need to get is the EAS, tower and transmitter. I'm socking away cash in hopes of a year's income and a debt-free station day one. I have a plan, not etched in stone, but concrete enough to know where each point leads and several options depending on reality. And I won't be surprised if the station is not my choice as favorite station personally because after all, a radio station serves the community, not your personal tastes. And I do not intend to work a fulltime job to play. I want my LPFM to cover my living expenses.
I don't understand the group that expects people to work for the love of working, instead of getting paid to do what you love to do. I get lots of negative because I want the LPFM to deliver the paycheck versus working all day at a job I'd hate in order to play radio a few hours a week. I think those folks do not grasp the concept of radio and have not experienced the business from the position of licensee.
