Why does Community Radio have to be LPFM?

[Nostalgia]

Full disclaimer: part of this will be a statement of my philosophy, part will be an unabashed sales pitch for my stations.

I have followed this board for a long time and for the most part it is a LPFM forum. But how has the LPFMers laid claim to "community radio"? What about the original "community radio", the Class IV AM's sprinkled around the country. These "local" stations were designed to serve the small towns with Class III, II, and finally 50kw Class I stations serving increasingly larger cities, states, and sections of the US. Granted, as towns got larger, bigger stations got bigger as clusters formed around urban areas, and of course FM finally gained a solid foothold, these small AMs began to fade away. But in the small, rural areas that many of the LPFM purists desire to serve, the "local, community oriented" AM station lives on. I know, I own two.

We air the things our residents could not get from big, distant signals from the "big city". PSA's, community bulletin board stuff for local churches, charities, etc., local high school sports (last heard in this community in 1999!), local weather, and more importantly, local NWS alerts for our county, not three counties away where the Big Stations live. Just a sample but you get the idea. LPFMers, sound like what you want to do with your station??

And when it comes time to pay the electric, phone, internet, local taxes and business licenses, legal and regulatory fees and the like, you dont have to hold your hand out or dig deep into your own pocket to pay for them! As a commercial station you can actually sell a few, or a lot, of spots to generate revenue to keep your station on the air. Is this selling out? Hardly. Actually it may be helping your local community because you can bet most small businesses in your community could not afford to buy spots on the biggies. So your $5.00 spots may actually be helping the local economy by allowing the corner furniture strore to run some ads and hopefully generate some more business for them, and keep that money in the community instead of the big city. Take a look at your local newspaper, either a daily or weekly. You can bet these very same merchants are buying ads there. Why limit yourself to "underwriting" type ads for peanuts? Trust me, money demands will dog you till the day you sell your station, or pull the plug. Dont forget maintenance and the never ending fees from the FCC and the Washington attorney you will need to keep you legal!

How about covering your community? Yes, 100 watts will cover most small towns, but what about out into the county? We have two 1000 watt stations in the middle of two adjacent counties. We simulcast them extending coverage pretty much throughout both counties (and a bit into the third adjacent county to the north) covering the tiny pockets of homes and subdivisions outside of town and of course the major highway that connects them.

You notice that I have not talked about format. This is irrelevant, we are talking about the delivery system here. You can have religious spoken word to polka music, whatever you felt was underserved in your community when you dreamed of your LPFM. For you LPFMers who only grew up with FM, dont totally dismiss AM. If you have the programming your communty wants, they will find you regardless of where on the dial you are on. I admit AM will be a little harder sell, but remember that the premise of Sirius and other specialty format providers is that if they give you the niche format you want you will actually buy a special receiver and pay money to hear it!!!

There was another poster here that suggested buying AM stations but dont think he followed his own advice. I had a business plan that I actually executed and am pretty pleased with the way it turned out. So why am I looking to sell? I had a conversation with another well know poster on this board, and huge LPFM advocate, and we both had seemed to come to similar realiztions, we are getting old! What would happen to my stations if something were to happen to me? I dont want to think about that scenario, of the burden that would be placed on my wife. Well, like I said, I accomplished what I set out to do. So I would like to pass these stations along to someone else who has the same vision I do and continue serving the community. Will they get rich? No, I didnt, but the bills got paid. And I enjoy tinkering with my stations every day.

So bottom line, LPFM has not cornered the "community radio" franchise. Community radio is what the owner makes it. Community radio is still alive in many communities and opportunities abound for radio entreprenours who want to get on the air now, not sitting aroound waiting for the "window". (BTW, look at recnet and see how long it has taken some stations from window to actual getting on the air, you will be shocked).

Now the ad: two AM stations for sale in a great area noted for its recreational opportunities. Real estate included with plenty of land to build on if you wish. Turn key operation. PM me for details.

 

[radioboy]

Nostalgia,

I REALLY like this post.

In 1979, I started my radio career (if it could be called a career) at a Class IV in Tallahassee. This station would be considered a "full service" station. It offered several local newsbreaks
during the morning show; Paul Harvey; ABC-Entertainment network news during the day (and Mutual News overnights); local high school sports; and of course, local weather updates, road closures, and the community bulletin board.

In those days, the station had to reduce power to 250 watts at sunset and run at low power until sunrise the next morning. It rain Larry King overnights when I first began working there, but later they began just signing off at midnight. This little graveyard station pulled a 4.1 share.

It did play music - a hybrid of soft AC, oldies, and country. Sounds funny, but it worked and the folks loved it. I started as an overnight board operator but was moved to a music shift and also became an assistant music director - eventually basically deciding which songs got played. I was 21 years old and green.

I loved what that station WAS. Now it's a satellator for Rejoice Musical Soulfood. I haven't listened for more than 2 minutes in over 10 years.

There are no stations like this in this area.

In 1997, I tried very hard to purchase a 5kw AM daytimer here. Due diligence showed that there were likely hidden debts and liens, a transmitter that would have to be replaced - and some pretty serious FCC violations. I ended up working there and helped clean it up - but the owner still wanted $400k for a station that barely billed $10k per month. I left on good terms, but had to walk away from trying to come up with any kind of deal.

In 2004, I had to make a HARD decision. I had to choose between taking care of two step-grandsons, who at that time were "just barely walking" and one year old. I decided those
boys were more important, and one day after agonizing over it, gave a month's notice and hired a radio colleague whom I had worked with before to take my place, therefore leaving the station in reasonably good hands.

The boys are now 7 and 8 and we have a very close relationship. I believe that was ultimately the right choice to make. But, I have not found a job in radio since. I've just done Part 15 AM and Internet radio to fill the void, especially now that the boys don't live with us full-time. They do, however, stay for several weeks at a time. They are home-schooled, which gives us flexibility.

Now I'm on disability and probably can't afford to try much beyond an LPFM, which is why I've been considering that possibility. I have some mixed feelings about it.

This evening my wife's getting home later and I'm kind of bored, which is why I'm on Radio-Info in the first place.

In any case, the kind of community service is what I have in mind, in whatever way it comes to pass. The radio industry could use a few more like you, Nostalgia. I wish you well!

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I have followed this board for a long time and for the most part it is a LPFM forum. But how has the LPFMers laid claim to "community radio"? What about the original "community radio", the Class IV AM's sprinkled around the country. These "local" stations were designed to serve the small towns with Class III, II, and finally 50kw Class I stations serving increasingly larger cities, states, and sections of the US. Granted, as towns got larger, bigger stations got bigger as clusters formed around urban areas, and of course FM finally gained a solid foothold, these small AMs began to fade away. But in the small, rural areas that many of the LPFM purists desire to serve, the "local, community oriented" AM station lives on. I know, I own two.

Language is a robust thing... language is a changing thing... language is a curious thing. Step outside of radio for a few minutes and look at the way we use the word: COMMUNITY.

Not too many years ago we were much more of an agrarian nation and most people lived in non-metropolitan areas. Most people did not live inside the limits or boundaries of some government designated thing called a city or town. Through some kind of herd instinct, we identified with some "community" which had no legal definition or boundary. We felt warm and fuzzy in the presence of people with whom we shared "community". Beyond warm and fuzzy... we had TRUST.

I'll skip pages of thoughts on how we got from that "Everybody lives in their own Mayberry" to what we have today.

I'll be gutsy say something that not everyone will agree with, but LPFM is the brainchild of "The Liberal Movement". In the non-Mayberry neighborhoods and cities of today, we have communities that ignore all the legal, political boundaries. In cities like Chicago you may have a cluster of Polish people living in a cluster. In Cincinnati you may have a valley over here or a hilltop there where German descendants thrive in proximity. Now comes the part we have trouble discussing with civility and courtesy: EVERYWHERE we find a "space" where there is a high density of Black people living, a space where a high density of hispanic people living. I assume Atlanta is NOT unique in that we have a space that is highly populated with Korean people, another space with Vietnamese people.

These "communities" do not meet the long standing FCC and industry concepts of a place where a license would be granted for broadcasting. And the communities do not meet the long standing dynamics of how commercial broadcasting would be able to serve these small, may fluid and evolving, "communities".

In our language, the word Community has been hijacked by these new "affinity groups". But it is not new to broadcasting. Though they are not clustered together, living side by side, those who listen to Christian Radio are a community of sorts. The people who listen to talk stations that cater to business topics and stock market reports are community. In 1965 when I moved to Indianapolis, I worked for this rather wierd station that broadcast country music in the morning. There were two main clusters where the people of Appalachia who had come seeking manufacturing jobs clustered, but others were scatter through out the metro area. The joke was that in Brightwood or Mars Hill you didn't need your own receiver to hear WGEE... if was in the air... kind of like the smell of bowl-weevil dust in the cotton fields of the South.

So has our word "community" be hijacked? Is there another term to be appropriated for those places in America that are not held together by ethnicity or musical taste? Places where Trading Post is still a viable part of programming. Is broadcasting to the available ears of Ellijay, GA or Ozark, AR or Covington, VA really that much different than what an LPFM should do for the Hmong residents in parts of Minneapolis or the Brazilian people in Marietta, GA or the Hispanic people in the meat-packing towns of Iowa?

Nostalgia: I would hope the buyer of your stations is comfortable with having all my questions rolling around in their head(s). If the question can be sorted in ways that make sense, they should do well... doing community radio of some kind.

 

[N1WVQ]

I loved reading Nostalgia's post! I am trying to get local A.M. radio back into a few towns here in S.E. New England. There are a few A.M.s which already do local radio but would like to add to that group. In this day & age, local seems to be what will keep A.M. afloat.

 

[knoxbob]

I too have the same feelings toward small town radio as being community radio. There are many such stations that survive today doing just what he described. Most probably not making the owner rich but paying the bills, maybe even having some paid employees making a decent living and enjoying what they are doing. Don't think you can go and pick up a small town station somewhere and just start serving the community and grab listeners and advertisers, trust in that community has to be earned and if the station has neglected the community over the years by just be a satellite stations then be prepared to struggle for a while until things can get built back up. Also listener habits are hard to change, both ways, if they have always listened to the station for whatever info then they will return there, but if you have to get them to start listening that's even harder.

P.S. On selling your stations pick a good broker, and hopefully they can locate someone with your passion of small town ownership. In today's banking issues getting a loan to purchase them might be tough so be prepared to do owner financing. Maybe contact people in you towns that might purchase them since they will have the same desire to keep local radio. One of the local banks, if they are not part of a larger company, might be willing to do the financing.

Good luck with it.

 

[Nostalgia]

Thanks for the kind remarks from everyone. I hope this post is a catylist for broadcasters, or wannabe broadcasters to look back at the history of radio and what it meant to communities and their people. I am not totally stuck in the past, I recognize that technology has blazed into everyones pocket replacing the small transistor radio! But if radio is to survive at least in small towns and rural areas, then local content will be the key.

GRC, regarding your post. I did consider other definations of community, including ethnic communities within larger cities. But for the purpose of my rant, I was focusing on geographical communities, especially small towns and rural areas. In many markets the cluster concept has taken away the local identity of their stations surrounding the metro areas, towns that were gobbled up by urban sprawl but used to be vibrant communities. Or worse, 50kw FM freqs assigned to towns that could be covered easily by a Class A FM but are build with the sole purpose of being a rimshot to a nearby metro area. We have such a behemoth licensed to one of my towns but of course the only time our community is ever mentioned is the TOH legal ID! Its all about the nearby Arbitron rated metro area. Even with recent FCC changes, I do not see a bunch of new LPFMs in big cities. Even with relaxed adjacent freq rules there will be few open freqs available in major metro areas, then I am afraid those will be interfered with on both sides, or cause interference. Either way, the last thing we need on either the AM or FM band is more crap!

Which then brings me to my final rant. If LPFM will find more freqs available in small towns and rural areas, why not first make those freqs available to the existing small AM that is probably already there hopefully trying to be a "community radio station" but struggling and let them have a translator! But that is a subject for another thread!!

 

[w9wi]

Which then brings me to my final rant. If LPFM will find more freqs available in small towns and rural areas, why not first make those freqs available to the existing small AM that is probably already there hopefully trying to be a "community radio station" but struggling and let them have a translator! But that is a subject for another thread!!

Hating to sound contrarian (honestly, I'm not like that) but...

- To some degree, stations like yours are the victims of the numerous stations that *don't* make much of an effort to serve their communities. The stations that just plug in the bird; the stations that air cut-rate sports or political (either side) talk. Why deny a community group with a different idea if the translator is as likely as not to present a poor copy of what's already on a couple of existing "big" stations?

If there was a way to give translators to stations that would use them for local programming I'd think better of it. Of course, the 1st Amendment tends to get in the way!

- Class C and D operations have been clamoring for bigger signals for 60 years; there are precious few whose owners didn't know what they were getting into when they bought/built their stations. It's kinda like the guy who buys the farm next door to your tower, subdivides it, and then tries to get the town to zone you out of existence to improve the value of his lots.

I have a lot more sympathy for Class A (though they usually don't need it ) and many Class B operations, who had decent coverage when they built but got clobbered by subsequent changes to the FCC rules.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

- Class C and D operations have been clamoring for bigger signals for 60 years; there are precious few whose owners didn't know what they were getting into when they bought/built their stations. It's kinda like the guy who buys the farm next door to your tower, subdivides it, and then tries to get the town to zone you out of existence to improve the value of his lots.

I have a lot more sympathy for Class A (though they usually don't need it ) and many Class B operations, who had decent coverage when they built but got clobbered by subsequent changes to the FCC rules.

I'm going to use your line.... I hate to sound like a contrarian, but......

People who bought their Class C and D operations in the last 10 years or less had the opportunity to know what they were getting into when they bought their stations.

I would suggest that ALL CLASSES of A.M. stations have been somewhat equally impacted in the last 40 years by added flotsam adding dirt and noise to the spectrum AND the dumbing down of receivers in the last 40 years.

If my premise has any validity, then the argument may be something that belongs in a political debate somewhere. Do the owners of the big, powerful, expensive Class A and B stations deserve more relief because they have more money invested, or do the little hometown C and D stations deserve more protection because they are serving people who don't have much choice on the dial compared to the people in the city who find their dial is a smorgasbord offering more programming than they can eat?

It looks to me like the entire family of folks who own an A.M. license of ANY KIND, ANY POWER LEVEL should sit down around the table and see if they can come up with a list of changes that would benefit all of them... which in turn would benefit the listeners.

 

[Nostalgia]

If there was a way to give translators to stations that would use them for local programming I'd think better of it. Of course, the 1st Amendment tends to get in the way!

Amen to that! My class D could be the poster child for the AM on translator thing. We are low on the dial and really get out during the day but drop to flea power at night to "protect" a 50kw in Georgia! Since we are trying to do local programming I would welcome a test as to who would most benefit our community with the grant of an FM freq (translator vs LPFM). There are two LPFM's in our area plus one non-comm Class A, all playing religious music. ARGHHHHHHH.

 

[ellenparks]

As to the original question, "why does community radio have to LPFM". Simple, I can look in my junk room and probably come up with the minimum stuff I need to put an LPFM on the air i.e. little mixer, mikes, monitors, limiter/processor even a type approved antenna bay that can be tuned to my LPFM frequency. In short, everything but the transmitter which I can purchase. Even if I had nothing in my room I can purchase about all I need for around 20K. I can rent 100 foot high antenna space atop a building as well as rent a studio. So far I have 20K invested and must come up with the rent month to month. If I manage my time well and walk the streets of my community I can sell enough to pay the rent ( provided I didn't want a grandose operation) and myself a little too. Again, my original investment was 20K I know it can be done I've done it myself. Engineering, I can do that too.

Now if I decide to buy a exsisting AM 1kw fulltimer on a graveyard channel or any channel for that matter I will have to outlay at minimum 100K. If I try to build it myself from scratch as I did in my LPFM example above I will need, in addition to that mentioned, a minimum of 2 acres maybe more, a 20K tower, ground wires, fencing ect, I'd be in at least 20k for the antenna not to mention the transmitter and studio,,,you know the drill.

Bottom line, think it through, people don't do community radio on class IVs anymore because it's too expensive to buy/build them compared to LPFM! I didn't mention the Class IV owner who thinks his aging AM is worth 300 to 400K Look at the broker's ads. Like the value of homes, until the station owner sets his station's value at a reasonable price and not that from back when CC was buying stations those AM's will not be sold.

 

[Nostalgia]

Ellenparks,
I will only take issue with your final paragraph. I will let everyone re-read my original post then re-read yours and reach their own conclusions.

"People" still do community radio on small AMs. At least this person does. And I think I have valued my stations realistically. Sadly many people trying to sell now, bought them at the peak and are trying to get their money back just like your real estate example.

 

[LibertyNT]

I had always seen this as a part 15 board with some licensed stuff here and there.

That being said, there are still several hometown AM's chugging along serving their town.

 

[jefflaurence]

I understand the non-commercial nature of LPFMs..however why is it that a RESPONSIBLE and able individual cannot hold an LPFM license? Why is it that religious organizations are getting away with the lions share of the available frequencies? Why is it that an EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION has to be the licensee of an available LPFM? So may of the current LPFMs are started by bogus foundations, and "special groups" and they fall apart and go dark! could I personally swoop in and save the license? NO! Will that ever change? If not, why not?

I would be able to build, and afford a 100 watt LPFM for my community, and spend the time to develop it as a viable radio station to not only serve, but enhance my community. The RELIGIOUS broadcasters have snapped up the translators..and many of the lower power AMs in my state. THEY have the cash, and in reality (not to make this a discussion about religion) they are NOT serving the community of license, but are only using these transmitters and antennas to rebroadcast material from originating stations many hundreds of miles from here! And much pf the content is pandering for donations and money from listeners to "support the ministry" Why is that BETTER than me operating a station in the LOCAL public interest? Is that out of line?

The worth of so many smaller market rural AMs is approaching that of a well used trailer. And part of that is because of the "plug in the bird and walk away" mindset that operators have. However part of that is the ever-eroding listener base to AM in general. So you cough up 60k for a hulking PCB filled Gates transmitter, a rotted out ground system, and a tower with crystallized metal and lighting that can't be repaired because nobody will climb it..and a cracked insulator, and 15 acres of overgrown, snake infested swamp land, and wiring that the rats have destroyed..and the wrath of local vendors and financial wreckage from all the debts that the former owner walked out on..ALL THAT FUN...in order to attempt to rebuild a useful media outlet that the community will flock to as soon as they hear "via the local newspaper" that I am the SPECIAL FELLA that bought it!

Don't think so.

However. With a functional FM station, no matter how small...a truly local operator could start fresh to entice a community to try radio again on a medium that they can relate to, and are conditioned to listening to. But an individual cannot do this! NOT unless you are affiliated with a church or some kind of organization filled with differing opinions and egos. We all know how well Homeowners Associations work out. Same issue.

No wonder radio is losing it. HEY FCC! Allow those of us with the experience and desire to provide quality radio for our communities to do so legally and responsibly.

 

[druidhillsradio]

The worth of so many smaller market rural AMs is approaching that of a well used trailer. And part of that is because of the "plug in the bird and walk away" mindset that operators have. However part of that is the ever-eroding listener base to AM in general. So you cough up 60k for a hulking PCB filled Gates transmitter, a rotted out ground system, and a tower with crystallized metal and lighting that can't be repaired because nobody will climb it..and a cracked insulator, and 15 acres of overgrown, snake infested swamp land, and wiring that the rats have destroyed..and the wrath of local vendors and financial wreckage from all the debts that the former owner walked out on..ALL THAT FUN...in order to attempt to rebuild a useful media outlet that the community will flock to as soon as they hear "via the local newspaper" that I am the SPECIAL FELLA that bought it!

Don't think so.

Well said Jeff!

 

[Chuck]

Yep. I think Jeff summed it up pretty well.

The original proposal for LPFM was for a commercial, privately owned service. If you wonder why things ended up the way they are, just follow the money. It's sad but true... For the most part, you can thank NAB, NPR and NRB for the current state of affairs. They had the most to lose if a viable LPFM service ever came to pass, so they used their influence to make it as difficult as possible for the service to succeed.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

For the most part, you can thank NAB, NPR and NRB for the current state of affairs.

Odd combination. How does NRB fit in with the other two?

Do a Private Message if the details are too messy. ;D

Is NRB happy that such a large percentage of the existing LPFM licensees are Not For Profit? Did the assume that commercial operation of LPFM would bring in small investors that would put the cost-of-entry too high for the local churches, etc. who did get a lot of the CPs? What else is going on here?

I haven't been to an NRB meeting for just over 40 years. I get the idea their annual convention today must rival NAB in size and "glitter". Don't they have some kind of "joint venture" with NAB at their annual convention?

 

[Chuck]

NRB refused to endorse LPFM, even though quite a few of its members were in favor of it. I suspect that was because they wanted to protect the interests of their current members. After all, if you are listening to a pesky LPFM station, then you aren't listening to one of their member stations and probably not contributing to their operation. It's probably just that simple.

As far as I know, NRB still refuses to support LPFM, even though many of their members have LPFM stations. If that stance has changed, I’ll stand corrected.

I participated at a NRB LPFM panel discussion in Orlando a few years ago, and spoke about LPFM (as a panelist) at a NRB convention in Dallas. The Dallas experience was almost ten years ago. Mostly the conversation from the audience was about circumventing ownership rules, setting up large networks and ignoring their pledges of local origination. It wasn't pretty. I thought it was ironic that the sponsor of the room we used was BEXT and they had their new 1000 watt transmitter on display. It probably was a coincidence, but I thought it was quite ironic. It seemed to fit the entire tone of the day. I left disgusted.

 

[Chuck]

On a lighter note, there is nothing preventing anyone from starting their own non-profit educational organization in anticipation of applying for a LPFM Construction Permit. The FCC is pretty loose in what it considers "educational." Music education is valid, as is teaching kids a trade (think Junior Achievement). I'm pretty sure that local service organizations like Kiwanis and Rotary qualify, as well as libraries, museums, Ham Radio Clubs, schools and of course churches. You can even get a mail order Divinity degree and start your own church. The "North Carolina Polka Appreciation Society" would probably qualify. Heck, somebody called "The Order of the Holy Hip-Hop" got a license.

Setting up a non-profit isn't that hard to do. It is not a requirement that it be a 501(c)(3), but even that isn't all that hard to do. You will need to abide by State and IRS guidelines, but those really aren't that difficult to follow.

If you want to do this badly enough, you can.

 

[Bongwater]

The worth of so many smaller market rural AMs is approaching that of a well used trailer. And part of that is because of the "plug in the bird and walk away" mindset that operators have. However part of that is the ever-eroding listener base to AM in general. So you cough up 60k for a hulking PCB filled Gates transmitter, a rotted out ground system, and a tower with crystallized metal and lighting that can't be repaired because nobody will climb it..and a cracked insulator, and 15 acres of overgrown, snake infested swamp land, and wiring that the rats have destroyed..and the wrath of local vendors and financial wreckage from all the debts that the former owner walked out on..ALL THAT FUN...in order to attempt to rebuild a useful media outlet that the community will flock to as soon as they hear "via the local newspaper" that I am the SPECIAL FELLA that bought it!

Don't think so.

Well said Jeff!

BRILLIANT JEFF! BRAVO!

And I have a REALLY hard time believing these so-called "educational" translator radio licenses for religious groups like EMF/CSN/ et al, are TRULY non-profit.

First, look at the TBN scandal. They're non-profit - allegedly. And if so, then I'd like to know just how the hell is having a customized air conditioned motorhome for Jan Crouch's little pink dogs, gallons of eyeliner ALONE, an ENORMOUS network compound, million dollar mansions, yachts, et al, doing the Lord's work.

C'MON! A little BIBLE study here?

If these stations are actually non-profit, then follow the money. In other words, AUDIT them from time to time. Non-profit means NON-PROFIT.

Second, I can't think of ANY area in the US that WASN'T already served by some religious broadcaster before all these satellite fed religious translators (or "Jesuscasters") came on. Sometimes SEVERAL. And 95% are still there. And contrary to what many of these people seem to think, filling up the airwaves with all this preaching and bland music isn't going to convert the unwashed masses. It's only going to drive them FURTHER away.

And I think it's high time we closed some loopholes here with the translator/repeater laws of non-commercial stations. They should really be limited to within the MEASURABLE fringe signals of their primary stations, like commercial stations.

And this also includes these NPR college/university "networks". Local college/community radio affiliates, fine. But NOT massive statewide networks.

In both cases - Sheesh! - Open up the airwaves and give other people in their local areas room. There ARE people in those areas who want to use them too.

We have web streaming now for distant listeners and the airwaves in the NCE band should be reserved for STRICTLY local or regionally originating radio stations. And by "regional", again for translators, I mean the MEASURABLE fringe signals of their PRIMARY stations (and not some "local" repeater station either.)

And the good thing is LPFM now outranks the EMF/CSN Jesuscasters in priority with the FCC. Only problem is they will jump to another frequency (if they can) or threaten legal action. Again, this is what the internet is for. So if independent college stations can be shoved online, SO CAN THE JESUSCASTERS. And if anyone is listening, they'd also have a hell of a head start too.

Just my $20 worth.......

 

[fybush]

And I think it's high time we closed some loopholes here with the translator/repeater laws of non-commercial stations. They should really be limited to within the MEASURABLE fringe signals of their primary stations, like commercial stations.

And this also includes these NPR college/university "networks". Local college/community radio affiliates, fine. But NOT massive statewide networks.

I think there's a place for those statewide networks, and it goes back to the original purpose of the FM translator service way back in the early 1970s: believe it or not, there are still parts of our great nation that have no local radio service at all. I lived in such a "radio white area" in the late 1980s, out in the remote high desert on the Nevada/California line, and there are still many areas like that in deepest Nevada and Utah and Arizona and other western states, too.

Those places can easily be 300 or more miles from the nearest city big enough to support a public radio outlet, far beyond any ability to receive an input signal over the air. In most cases, there's plenty of spectrum available to support both a satellite- or microwave-fed public radio translator and a local LPFM or small class A. The question is: how do you craft regulations that provide and protect the needed service to those tiny communities while preventing the loopholes that have been so flagrantly abused in recent years?