Local Community Radio Act

The Local Community Radio Act is a bill that will open the airwaves for hundreds of new low power radio stations across the country, bringing community radio to urban areas for the first time.  Currently, there is only one LPFM station in the top 50 largest media markets, which reach 160 million Americans. The Local Community Radio Act would change all that.

The bill will repeal restrictions on the LPFM spectrum put in place by Congress in 2000 at the behest of commercial broadcasters. The restrictions unfairly limit the frequencies available to LPFMs by allowing low power stations on every fourth frequency instead of every third. This means that if there is a full power station on 91.3, an LPFM station must be 4 clicks away on the dial at 92.1, instead of three clicks away, at 91.9 (you only count odd numbers on the US radio dial). These restrictions are called third adjacency restrictions, because 91.9 is the third adjacent channel, and 92.1 is the fourth.  When passed, the Local Community Radio Act would allow LPFMs on third adjacent channels across the US.

The supposed reasoning behind these restrictions is interference. When the low power FM service was created in 2000, commercial broadcasters complained that LPFM stations would interfere with their broadcasts. Of course, this claim was ridiculous—like saying that a 100W light bulb would outshine a 10,000W lighthouse. Unfortunately, the commercial broadcasters making these claims have a lot of influence in DC, so Congress commissioned a study to investigate interference, and in the meantime, they restricted LPFM stations from third adjacent channels.

Subsequently, the MITRE Report, a 2.2 million dollar study conducted by the MITRE Corporation, was completed in 2003. Actually, “completed” might be a bit of an overstatement. The results of the study so conclusively debunked the claims of commercial broadcasters that Congress stopped the study early to avoid unnecessarily spending more taxpayer money. In short, the study found that interference between low power stations and full power on third adjacent channels is not an issue.

You’d think that the results of the MITRE Report would be enough to roll back the restrictions and allow LPFMs on third adjacent channels. However, it takes a law to repeal another law, not just new information—however convincing it might be. Enter the Local Community Radio Act.

History

The 2009 Local Community Radio Act is the third incarnation of the bill, which was introduced in 2005 and again in 2007. The first two attempts to pass the bill stalled in the early stages. The 2009 Local Community Radio has come farther than ever before, and is now only one step away from full passage!

Timeline

Here is a timeline of the bill’s recent movement through the House and the Senate:

October 8, 2009: Passage our of House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet by a 15 to 1 vote

October 15, 2009:  Passage out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee by  voice vote 

November 19, 2009: Passage out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation by voice vote

December 16, 2009: Passage out of full House of Representatives by voice vote

March 10, 2010: Local Community Radio Act reported out of Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, making the bill ready to be passed by the Senate.

One Fine Day (TBD):  Passage out of the full Senate

Best Day Ever (TBD): President signs the Local Community Radio Act into law!