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Minnesota: Twin Cities Groups Denied Low Power Radio Licenses |
Saint Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)
December 23, 2000 Saturday CITY EDITION
TWIN CITIES GROUPS DENIED LOW-POWER RADIO LICENSES
BYLINE: Martin J. Moylan Staff writer
SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. 1C
LENGTH: 352 words
Following a congressional edict to take extra precautions to protect existing broadcasters from interference, the Federal Communications Commission has denied low-power FM radio licenses to several Twin Cities nonprofit groups.
It did say that nine outstate organizations, including church and senior citizen groups, are eligible for low-power licenses. But it did not give the nod to any Twin Cities license applicants.
Their absence from the approved list indicates their applications were denied, FCC spokeswoman Rosemary Kimball said.
Some 60 Minnesota religious, community and educational groups had sought licenses to run their own radio stations, saying they wanted to give voice to folks largely overlooked by the mainstream media.
Among the applicants were Women Against Military Madness, the Center for Hmong Arts & Talent and the American Indian Center.
"We just lost another opportunity to further our own culture and education," said the American Indian Center's Juanita Espinoza, who was planning a low-power station that would teach native languages in south Minneapolis' American Indian neighborhoods.
The FCC said that, in accordance with a congressional bill passed last week, applicants are eligible for low-power FM licenses only if the stations proposed in their applications "fully protect" full service FM and FM translator stations.
The low-power FM radio stations authorized Friday will have power levels from 50 to 100 watts covering a radius of about 2 1/2 to 3 miles. Licensees must be non-profit organizations operating on a non-commercial basis and serving their local communities.
The FCC had argued the low-power stations could be slipped into the FM radio band without interfering with existing, more powerful stations. But broadcasters vociferously disagreed, arguing the low-power FM stations threaten to mess up their signals and more stringent restrictions were required.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Martin J. Moylan, who covers technology and telecommunications, can be reached at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or (651) 228-5479.
SUBJECT: LICENSES & PERMITS (92%); BROADCASTING INDUSTRY (92%); RADIO BROADCAST INDUSTRY (91%); NATIVE AMERICANS (90%); NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS (90%); ENERGY & UTILITY LAW (90%); BROADCASTING REGULATION (90%); COMMUNICATIONS REGULATION & POLICY (90%); US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (90%); ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS (89%); POWER PLANTS (78%); LEGISLATION (73%); TELECOMMUNICATIONS (73%); RELIGION (72%); TRANSLATORS & INTERPRETERS (72%); LANGUAGE & LANGUAGES (69%);
COMPANY: ASSOCIATED PRESS (53%);
ORGANIZATION: FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (93%); FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (93%);
CITY: MINNEAPOLIS, MN, USA (79%);
STATE: MINNESOTA, USA (90%);
COUNTRY: UNITED STATES (93%);
LOAD-DATE: January 30, 2002
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
Copyright 2000 Saint Paul Pioneer Press
All Rights Reserved
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