December 19, 2010

Very cool news - low power FM Radio stations now open for allocation

This is awesome. From the Prometheus Project:
WE WON! Senate Joins House in Passing the Local Community Radio Act!
Today a bill to expand community radio nationwide � the Local Community Radio Act � passed the U.S. Senate, thanks to the bipartisan leadership of Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John McCain (R-AZ). This follows Friday afternoon�s passage of the bill in the House of Representatives, led by Representatives Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Lee Terry (R-NE). The bill now awaits the President's signature.

These Congressional champions for community radio joined with the thousands of grassroots advocates and dozens of public interest groups who have fought for ten years to secure this victory for local media. In response to overwhelming grassroots pressure, Congress has given the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) a mandate to license thousands, of new community stations nationwide. This bill marks the first major legislative success for the growing movement for a more democratic media system in the U.S.

�A town without a community radio station is like a town without a library,� said Pete Tridish of the Prometheus Radio Project, the group which has led the fight to expand community radio for ten years. �Many a small town dreamer � starting with a few friends and bake sale cash � has successfully launched a low power station, and built these tiny channels into vibrant town institutions that spotlight school board elections, breathe life into the local music scene, allow people to communicate in their native languages, and give youth an outlet to speak.�

The Local Community Radio Act will expand the low power FM (LPFM) service created by the FCC in 2000 � a service the FCC created to address the shrinking diversity of voices on the radio dial. Over 800 LPFM stations, all locally owned and non-commercial, are already on the air. The stations are run by non-profit organizations, local governments, churches, schools, and emergency responders.
This is a shoe-in for our little community. We can receive a few MSM stations but not much else. Been a long long time coming -- the licensing was last open in 2003 Posted by DaveH at December 19, 2010 10:50 AM
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