(don't know murray) <A> FCC to Create Low-Power FM Radio Service
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Radio listeners around
the country are likely to hear more alternative music
and religious and educational programming this year,
as federal regulators are poised to approve a new
class of low power FM stations.
Since Congress lifted national ownership limits on
radio stations in 1996, the industry has seen massive
consolidation. And in October, the two largest
station owners, Clear Channel Communications Inc.
(CCU.N) and AMFM Inc. (AFM.N), proposed
merging to create a radio powerhouse owning more
than 800 stations.
Many small communities, churches and other local
groups say their issues and concerns are increasingly
shut out as station owners seek to build mass
audiences appealing to big advertisers.
On Thursday, the Federal Communications
Commission is expected to address those concerns
by adopting rules for a new class of low power
stations, operating at 100 watts or less, that could be
used for any kind of noncommercial programming.
Such stations can reach an audience within a few
miles and cost much less to set up than a typical full
power station operating at 6,000 watts or more. FCC
officials say hundreds, or perhaps even 1,000, new
low power stations could be shoe-horned onto the
airwaves.
The plan is scaled back somewhat from a draft FCC
proposal issued in January 1999. That plan could
have allowed low power stations of up 1,000 watts
reaching an audience within 10 miles. The earlier
plan also left open the question of allowing
commercial low power stations.
But activists who have spent the past year mobilizing
grass-roots support for the low power plan said the
FCC's final proposal will still address their needs.
''Low power radio is going to give a small piece of
the airwaves back to the American public,'' said
Cheryl Leanza, deputy director of the nonprofit
Media Access Project. ''This will be a small step to
counteract the media consolidation we've seen in the
last few years.''
FCC Chairman William Kennard, who has said he
spent more time in college at the radio station than in
classes, sees low power service as a way to enhance
diversity over the airwaves and help women and
minorities play a bigger role in the industry.
Even limited to noncommercial offerings, ''the
stations still will be a training ground for new
talent,'' Kennard said.
Allowing commercial stations would have required
auctioning low power licenses to the highest bidder,
he said. ''The noncommercial enterprises would be
outbid so at the end of the day we decided that if we
really want to promote the underlying goals of the
service, its got to be noncommercial.''
Groups planning to set up low power stations ranged
from high schools and universities that could not
afford full power stations to state highway agencies
seeking an inexpensive way to warn commuters
about traffic problems. Musicians have also hailed
the proposal as a way to get more alternative music
on the air.
Major broadcasters are outraged by the plan,
however, which they say will create too much
interference with existing FM stations.
''This FCC has somehow decided that it can
confound the laws of physics,'' said Dennis Wharton,
spokesman for the National Association of
Broadcasters. ''The fact is LP-FM will add serious
interference to an already congested radio band.''
''The NAB wants to rewrite the laws of physics,''
retorts Kennard, who once worked as a lawyer for
the NAB. ''They want to have one set of rules for the
incumbent commercial broadcasters and another for
the low power FM crowd.''
NAB engineers submitted studies that they said
showed low power stations would cause
interference for listeners using commonly available
radio receivers like those in most cars. Low power
proponents countered with their own research and
said the radios used for testing by NAB failed to
meet the industry's own performance standards.
FCC officials said they conducted extensive tests and
reviewed results submitted by both sides. In the end,
the agency's experts determined interference would
be minimal. |
