PRESS RELEASE:
McCain/Leahy Introduce Bill To Allow Thousands Of New Community Radio Stations
On June 4, 2004, Congress members introduced legislation that could allow the
licensing and construction of thousands of Low Power FM (LPFM) radio
stations in America's cities. Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain
introduced the legislation, and Senator Leahy co-sponsored it. The bill
is designed to remove barriers from the FM broadcast spectrum that have
previously prevented community groups from building LPFM stations,
especially in cities.
The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Michael Powell, has
also expressed support for an expanded LPFM service. If this legislation
is made into law, the FCC will most likely license thousands of new LPFMs.
On the Senate Floor, Senator McCain said that broadcasters had made
"grossly exaggerated claims of interference" and asked broadcasters to
join him in supporting community radio. He also referenced the $2.2
million dollars of taxpayers' money that was spent on the major study
conducted to review these claims of interference.
The Low Power FM (LPFM) radio service was adopted by the Federal
Communications Commission in January of 2000. LPFM was made available to
high schools, labor unions, churches, towns, and community groups of all
kinds. The stations are designed to be licensed to non-profit groups, and
must be completely non-commercial. About 300 of these stations,
broadcasting at 100 watts or less, are on the air now.
"Community radio has been choked back by incumbents for long enough.
Clear Channel and the rest of the commercial broadcasters can't hide
behind engineering arguments anymore. The NAB can't tell us that there is
room on the dial for eight of their stations on the dial, and no place for
community radio," said Pete Tridish, Technical Director at the Prometheus
Radio Project.
The proposal to create a Low Power FM radio service received support from
many thousands of potential broadcasters and organizations. The only
significant opposition came from powerful and large incumbent
broadcasters, who claimed that LPFM would interfere with their signals.
In late 2000, because of pressure from existing broadcasters, Congress
enacted the "Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act". This legislation
forced the FCC to adopt exorbitant protection standards, buffers of empty
spectrum, around existing radio stations. As the result of this act,
about 75% of opportunities for new LPFM stations were eliminated. Urban
areas were particularly affected, with the Preservation Act leaving only
one new low power station available in the largest fifty American cities.
The current legislation will simply reverse the 2000 action by Congress.
However, at the time, Congress also required the FCC to commission
independent field tests to resolve the issue of LPFM's potential for
interference. After three years of waiting, this study, administered by
The MITRE Corporation, was released. The study demonstrates that LPFM
stations cause no significant interference to existing stations, and
recommends that the third channel adjacency restriction be lifted.
"Low Power FM Radio is one real solution to the overly-consolidated
airwaves," said Prometheus volunteer Jaclyn Ford. "We hope that Congress
will act quickly to give America these essential tools for
community-building and free speech."
For all the news on LPFM contact the
Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS)
ibs@ibsradio.org (24/7 IBS Member Services e-mail)
http://www.ibsradio.org
367 Windsor Highway, New Windsor, NY 12553-7900
(845) 565-0003
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