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To: Murray who wrote (1035)	1/20/2000 1:44:00 AM
From: SteveG	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1860

(don't know murray) <A> FCC to Create Low-Power FM Radio Service my.aol.com 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.