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News :: Arts : Civil & Human Rights : Elections & Legislation : Media : Political-Economy |
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FCC Temporarily Freezes Translator Licensing, Moves on Low Power FM! |
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18 Mar 2005
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LOW POWER FM RADIO SUPPORTERS PRAISE FCC LPFM ACTION
FCC IMPOSES TEMPORARY FREEZE ON TRANSLATORS WHILE ADDRESSING ISSUES
RAISED IN RECENT PUBLIC FORUM |
Low power FM (LPFM) broadcasters and supporters praised the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) for beginning a new proceeding to
promote LPFM. On February 8, 2005, the FCC held a public forum to hear
from LPFM broadcasters. In addition to presenting numerous success
stories, LPFM advocates explained how existing FCC rules hindered the
development of the LPFM service. In response, departing FCC Chairman
Michael Powell promised to move "as soon as possible" to address issues
raised by the LPFM community. Supporters praised Powell for finishing
the item before leaving and avoiding any delay the change in
Chairmanship might cause.
"We thank everyone involved in the process, particularly Chairman
Powell, for keeping their promise to work with the LPFM community," said
Pete Tridish, founder of the Prometheus Radio Project. "LPFM provides
unique local programming in hundreds of communities around the country.
This gives us the opportunity to fix a number of problems that have come
up since the FCC authorized the service five years ago." In 1999 and
2000, the Prometheus Radio Project worked with the FCC to get the FCC to
approve LPFM radio -- radio stations that broadcast at 100 watts or
less, and that are licensed to community groups, churches, and schools.
Prometheus Radio serves as a resource for LPFM broadcasters and would-be
broadcasters.
Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ (UCC) Managing
Director Gloria Tristani stated: "we are very grateful to all the FCC
Commissioners who voted unanimously for this order that will expand
opportunities for LPFM radio service. The UCC has strongly advocated for
this service from the beginning because it empowers people in their
local communities."
A chief concern for LPFM supporters is the proliferation of FM
translators. FM Translators and LPFM stations compete for the same
spaces on the radio dial. But while LPFM stations provide locally
generated programming, translators only repeat signals from distant full
power stations or from a satellite feed. Right now, the rules favor
whoever gets in first.
In 2000, in response to lobbying from the National Association of
Broadcasters, Congress cut back the number of channels available to
LPFMs from several thousand to only a few hundred, and required the FCC
to do further study to determine if the original rules would create
interference for existing full power broadcasters. In 2003, the FCC
released a study showing that restoring the lost channels would cause no
interference to full power broadcasters. Congress is now considering
legislation to restore the lost channels.
But the FCC has thousands of pending applications for new translators.
If the FCC grants the translator applications, there will be no space
for new LPFMs if Congress passes the pending legislation. Today's
action puts in place a temporary freeze on processing translator
applications while the FCC considers what to do. LPFM advocates want
LPFM stations given priority over translators.
"If it's a choice between a local LPFM providing local programming and a
translator bringing in a signal from hundreds of miles away, the local
programming should win," said Harold Feld, a lawyer from the Media
Access Project (MAP). MAP, a non-profit public interest law firm,
represents Prometheus at the FCC. Last week, on behalf of Prometheus
and others, MAP asked the FCC to investigate whether three individuals
who applied for over 4,000 translator licenses violated federal law by
selling some of their free licenses for more than $800,000. The three
individuals used "dummy" companies based in Twin Falls, ID to disguise
their conduct from the FCC. Monday, an attorney for the companies filed
a motion denying wrongdoing and asking the FCC to dismiss the request
for an investigation. MAP opposed the motion. The request remains
pending, unaffected by today's FCC action.
(To read a PDF of this release, visit
http://www.prometheusradio.org/freeze_release_item.pdf
Please forward
widely!) |
This work licensed under a
Creative Commons license |
