In 2000, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) created Low Powered FM Radio Service (LPFM) in response to the growth of media consolidation spurred on by rule changes in the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

LPFM provides local, non-commercial and educational radio service, with transmissions extending for about 3 miles (100 watts or less), depending on terrain and geographical interference.

Today, hundreds of LPFM stations are on the air, mostly in rural areas due to strict distance requirements imposed by the FCC, after certain factions within the broadcast industry voiced concerns about interference.

"In the top 50 radio markets, urban spaces where small stations can reach many people, LPFM is completely unavailable," reports the Media Access Project, a non-profit Public Interest Telecommunications Law Firm.

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After the National Association of Broadcasters argued that LPFM stations operating on the third adjacent channel would cause interference with full-power commercial stations, Congress ordered the FCC to enlist an independent corporation to look into the validity of this charge. In May 2003, the Mitre Corporation released a report (pdf), stating that LPFM stations could operate on the third adjacent frequency provided "that relatively modest distant separations are maintained," about 1100m.

On June 21, 2007, Reps. Mike Doyle (D-Penn.) and Lee Terry (R-Neb.) in the House and Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) in the Senate, introduced the Local Community Radio Act (H.R. 2802 and S. 1675), which would allow LPFM to operate on the third adjacent channel, potentially creating thousands of new local radio stations across the country.