The LPFM debacle

[A#1]

I guess I just don't get it? The FCC apparently is alright with a fulltime AM radio station utililizing an FM translator and running ads and I know of one as well as an AM daytimer that makes a buck or two from it's low wattage FM companion, but it's not permissable for all the others granted LPFM's in recent years to likewise run ads. What gives? I mean....I just sayin'. Let em' all run ads if they desire to do so!

 

[fwmw]

I believe LPFM's are noncommercial, whereas translators may be licensed to commercial AM stations.

I understand your logic, but you might not want to make the statement so blankety.

 

[Timewarp]

FM radio stations are starving in small towns accross this country. AM stations are dying in small and medium markets. LPFM stations are dropping off like flies. Translators are going dark in major markets.

Some owners are now sending their licenses and CPs back to the FCC for cancellation. The link below does
not include these guys. But, here is a list of the stations that have died that hope to come back. It is growing every day.

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/status/silent.html

 

[cold_coffee]

Huh! Let them die. We need to weed the garden of bad operators. Many of these people
got their licenses for free. What about those who paid millions for a radio frequency?
We should protect them instead. Let the others die! Boo hoo hoo!

 

[A#1]

Hey, it's survival of the fittest. If you're a bad operator, you go away. If not and you work your tail off, then you succeed. Simple logic. I've just never understood the governments reasoning for saying some can and some can't. It's a democracy and we are all supposed to be treated equally, right? Unfortunately, it's not about talent and desire, it's all about how much money you can fork over for a license. I know, I was an owner/operator for 20 years and in the business for over 30 years. Trust me, I paid those yearly regulatory fees, but I feel the little guy has been on the short end for as long as I can remember. Bottom line...give everyone a chance to succeed or fail. Besides, is that little LPFM with 100 watts or less really going to take that big of a bite from some licensee with 100kw? Anyway, Merry Christmas to one and all. Here's to a prosperous New Year. One other note..."blankety". Enlighten me, please.

 

[Timewarp]

Yes, this is a democracy. And, that is why the airwaves belong to everyone. Not just those with a silver spoon in their mouth.

 

[radioho]

Huh! Let them die. We need to weed the garden of bad operators. Many of these people
got their licenses for free. What about those who paid millions for a radio frequency?
We should protect them instead. Let the others die! Boo hoo hoo!

I respectfully disagree. QUALITY programming is what guarantees your protection. If you prove you have no CLUE what you're doing and continue to lose ratings, revenue and market share - GET OUT and go sit on the beach! Why should the FCC protect you just because you have a large bank account? That makes no sense.

The millionaires (both individuals and corps) are the reason radio is so pathetic in major markets. The ability to purchase has nothing to do with ability to understand the radio business, programming, etc., as MANY have proven time and time again. The 'little people' in radio that are forced to work for these idiots are the ones that actually know what's needed, but the outspoken are condemned and dismissed, leaving the a**kissers and yesmen.

Look no further than the incompetence displayed (and heard) everyday in this market.

THANKS to the FCC for seeing this and offering the LPFMs the opportunity to prove this.

IF ANYTHING, THE FCC NEEDS TO CUT BACK on the power allotted to MOST of the metro stations so they can only reach their COL.

A Shelbyville licensed station should only be allotted enough signal strength to reach Shelbyville, a Brownsburg licensed station should only have enough strength to cover Hendricks County, etc.

This would rid the industry of millionaires and free up the airwaves for those who wish to SERVE their community. The investment needed would be less, the expectation of large profits would be less, and the focus would go back on the communities served, not the embarrassing EGOs of the owners.

 

[realinsider]

OMG! Are you suggesting SOCIALISM!!!???

 

[Juan Bodley]

Here's a thought:
Take the LPFMs and give them to EDUCATIONAL entities, not religious groups, not community groups, since after all, the FUTURE of radio is YOUTH. Let the church groups and the non-comms (public radio, community foundations) have the higher power space on 87.7-91.9. Then LPFM is the garden of which new talent can grow.

Just thinking outside the box...

 

[gr8oldies]

Its actually a representative republic

 

[cold_coffee]

LPFM is a buch of zealots with a personal agenda and 21 year old Howard Stern wannbes with a point to prove and no monetary
motivation to keep within FCC guidelines. It is legalized pirate radio. The largest mistake the FCC has ever made.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Here's a thought:
Take the LPFMs and give them to EDUCATIONAL entities, not religious groups, not community groups, since after all, the FUTURE of radio is YOUTH. Let the church groups and the non-comms (public radio, community foundations) have the higher power space on 87.7-91.9. Then LPFM is the garden of which new talent can grow.

Just thinking outside the box...

I'm standing outside the box, on the other side of the box from you.

I was thinking that since commercial radio is obsessed with youth and only the youngest of adults, why not give the LPFM band to old geezers to serve old geezers. I'm sure the geezers would allow INTELLIGENT listeners of any age.

 

[Juan Bodley]

The "old geezer" thing makes sense...

Unless the old geezers get a memory disorder and then they disobey the "7 dirty words" mandate talking about what they just did in their Depends!!!! ;D

So from that standpoint, they wouldn't be any worse than the "Howard Stern wannabes"...


And the biggest censor, I've said ALL ALONG, is the OFF BUTTON. (or change channels, or turn it down, blah blah blah)

 

[kd8hho]

LPFM is a buch of zealots with a personal agenda and 21 year old Howard Stern wannbes with a point to prove and no monetary
motivation to keep within FCC guidelines. It is legalized pirate radio. The largest mistake the FCC has ever made.

since when was howard stern religious, since every lpfm i have ran across has been a bible-banging station

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

O.K. already. We all got our favorite slam off our chest. Anybody want to seriously discuss LPFM?

I ignored the whole LPFM thing until about 6 months ago. I began to peek and poke around. This could be a great thing if we could get people to first "obey the law" and more importantly, obey the "spirit of the law."

There is already a significant number of frequencies set aside for schools and for not-for-profit groups such as churches.

The whole idea is COMMUNITY radio. 3-1/2 miles of coverage. Must be locally owned. Supposed to be locally originated programming. If a local church or other religious organization wants to create locally programming for the local community, knock yourself out. It may be that 80% of the LPFMs are broadcasting religion. Most of it is NOT produced at the local level. National organizations deliver the syndicated religion to the hard drive, it sits there 60 minutes and then the automation machine pulls it off the (local) hard drive and voila!.... they call it "originated locally".

I have looked up and listened on line to bunches of delightful little LPFMs. Some run by people who published alternative newspapers back when they were hippies during Viet Nam. Today these grown up hippies are doing exactly what the promoters of LPFM had in mind. I found stations run by people who would otherwise be calling the Bingo games down at the American Legion. I came across a station that had about 23,000 songs on their hard drives. If you lived in their community, bring out your favorite CDs, Albums, 78s, whatever, and we will add them to our library. I listened to a lady in the mountains of northern California in logging country doing an hour-long program for seniors. Latest news on Medicare, local health fairs, etc. It was a mountain logging community and every time a logging truck came by, she stopped talking until the roar and rumbling stopped, and they she apologized for the truck noise.

It's a fabulous experiment. More power to them. If they will open up another window for applications, I would be tempted to join the party. One of my more innovative programming ideas would probably end up in an FCC hearing.... and it has nothing to do with those Seven Forbidden Words.

 

[justalurker]

I'm still looking for a hybrid service ... legal LPFM is focused community radio owned and operated on a non-commercial basis with no major ties to other radio. But the power limits make it difficult to cover an entire community. Translators can be higher powered ... 250w within MERP depending on height. The oddest pairing I have seen is an LPFM with a translator of that LPFM on the same tower. Independently owned ... one guy translating the other guy's station (wink wink). Two frequencies burned up.

Some translator owners would love to do more than just repeat the main with a 30 second local recognition of supporters. They want to serve that community but can't. They can't insert community events, weather, news, sports etc. without putting it on their main feed in communities that content may not serve.

So why not allow LPFMs to be commercial ... at least on a non-profit basis where no profit can be made (all funds raised must go back into the station - although that could be abused through "rent" and "salary" payments to zero the profit). Why not allow translators to originate more than 30 seconds per hour?

The AM translator thing is a good use of translators. These are unused licenses that probably shouldn't have been requested and would likely die if a local AM with the funds to support the channel didn't use them. I just wish that they were being approved as a matter of course instead of by STA.

If translators and LPFMs were the same service LPFMs would be buying the unused and underused licenses like hotcakes. THEY probably would have overfiled in the great translator invasion. It is a shame the two services cannot cooperate more.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

One of the proposals that has enough merit that the on-line software that does frequency searches allows an option is the possibility of allowing 250-watt LPFMs. At this point it appears to be wishful thinking.

I haven't been involved in the earlier efforts to influence rule making, and I have not been to any meetings where you might "work the room" and pick up conversation from people who are driving the input to the FCC, but from what I read.... NAB and the traditional political powers that reflect the views of current commercial broadcasters DO NOT WANT any form of paid advertising coming to LPFM.

If I owned a commercial station in a small rural county seat somewhere, I would not have a welcoming heart for some group going "the cheap route" and installing a bottom dollar LPFM and then start hustling the streets to steal advertising revenue that I thought should rightfully be mine. If I owned a large market operation I would not look fondly on the idea of 10 or 12 little flea power stations in my city nibbling away at my advertisers, and causing my advertisers that commercials could be broadcast for one-tenth or one-twentieth of the price of MY spots. There will always be an rowdy tension between traditional, legacy broadcasters and this upstart LPFM idea.

Here is my real heresy. In addition to the revenue stream that paid (transactional) announcements would provide... here is what might be even more important to building and maintaining an LPFM: Old-fashioned small-town price-and-item advertising, done correctly, is AN AUDIENCE BUILDER. It is NEWS to know that the first shipment of fresh local strawberries have arrived at the IGA store. It is NEWS to know that the dress shop has marked all merchandise down for final clearance of the winter fashions. etc. etc. etc.

There are a limited number of channels. If every low-power AM station is going to go after a translator to get night-time hours and maybe expanded coverage and if LPFMs are going to attempt to daisy-chain for wider coverage, we will completely fill the dial positions quite quickly.

 

[Flying-Dutchman]

Most of the other guys on the ground floor of the LPFM rulemaking wanted LPFM to be a
commercial service. I was one of the few who argued that it should be non-commercial.

1. I knew it would not happen if we proposed making it commercial.

2. There was a real fear that a low cost LPFM run commercially could ruin the last
of the mom and pop stations.

3. I wanted these licenses to go to people who loved radio instead of the buck.

I now believe the FCC should allow commercial low power stations to serve unserved
communities and people.

The FCC is also considering low power AM.

 

[cold_coffee]

People right off the street playing radio. That's called community radio. There's no
hotline in the studio either because there's no boss. No one is in charge.

 

[A#1]

Sounds like no one is in charge most of the time. When is the last time you heard a current forecast or current temperature on a station? It's a rarity when you do. Or a live DJ for that matter. So, if the so-called big boys can't get it right, perhaps the little guys can. So what if the little LPFM's sound bad. Does anyone really believe the mainstream players sound good? C'mon...it's just a matter of being equally fair across the board. Let em' have their little FM's and let em' make a little green to pay the bills. Hey, if they are that bad what business would buy from them, especially in these economic times. Good day!