What is encroachment?

Encroachment occurs when an FM station having primary status moves its transmitting site or frequency closer to an LPFM station. The level and effects of the encroachment vary depending on how close the move brings them to the low power station. It may mean the station loses some of its signal coverage, or, when the encroachment is serious enough, an LPFM may be legally required to go off the air. In its current state, LPFM service is secondary to full power stations, and LPFMs must always protect full power stations from interference, and yup, that's a one way street under the current FCC rules.

How many stations are affected by encroachment?

Recently the FCC changed the procedure for Full Power Stations to change their community of license (CCOL). What had been a two step process that took 3-5 years to complete, has now been reduced to one step that can be processed over the course of only a couple of months. The consequence of this new rule making will be an acceleration of encroachment on LPFMs and large-market move-in processes. We have already begun to see this process expedited as 140 applications for community license change have been filed since January 19th. These applications, if processed, would ultimately impact between 40 and 60 LPFMs and hundred of station translators. Read more about this new rulemaking and find options for action here

Out of 675 LPFMs on the air, almost all of them have some level of encroachment. Currently, Prometheus only keeps track of community-run LPFMs that are under threat. About half of the LPFMs on the air today are community-run (the other half broadcast canned religious programming) and twenty of them face "Major" or "City Grade" encroachment, which means they could be legally forced off the air. [this information is not updated yet]

How can I find out if my station is facing encroachment?

You should get a letter from us if your station is being encroached upon. If you think your station is under encroachment and you haven't heard from us, email Elena: elena (at) prometheusradio.org. There are two main sources that we use to gather information about encroachment; RecNet and the FCC application search tool:

RecNET.com is one of the best tools to research any LPFM information. From this site, you can find Facility IDs, location of the full power station, and information about the encroachment status of your station. The main site is Recnet.com, but http://www.lpfm.ws/ is where you will find most information about LPFMs. From this page, click the link “Application Status” under the section “For LPFM Stations.” On the next page, navigate to the state where you are location. When you click on your state, a list of all LPFMs will appear. If you are the only LPFM in your state, then the browser will automatically bring up the listing for your station. If not, then you will see a list of towns with LPFMs and you can chose your location. If there is more than one LPFM in the region, you can select your LPFM from a list of others in the region. If you are the only one, then your browser will automatically bring up your listing.

Once you are at your LPFMs listing, you will find specs for your station at the top followed by a series of check boxes that show the status for each stage of your stations progress to getting on-air. Below the check boxes is a section titled: “Short Spaced or Other Encroaching FM Facilities.” Here, you can link to listings of all encroaching or short spaced stations by clicking on their facility ID.

FCC Application Search Tool is a service from the FCC website. You will need a call sign, location, facility ID or community of license to find the information for a station (you can access details for full power stations, LPFMs, translators, AM stations etc.) Once you have entered the appropriate information, a list of all actions filed by that station through the FCC appears. These are listed by date. The last column, titled “Details,” provides links to either general information about the station and specific filing, or to the application for the filing.
If the link does not work the url is: http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_sear.htm

My station is facing encroachment! What can we do?

Don't despair - even though current rules make LPFMs second class citizens, there are still some things you can do. It all depends on how the encroachment affects your signal. We get our encroachment reports from REC Networks, which define four levels of encroachment, from Pretty Bad to Really Bad. You can also check out REC Networks' guide to encroachment .

If you find out early enough, you may have time to file against the station that is encroaching on your signal. In many cases, the companies that are moving their signal around are only doing so in order to try and cover a larger market, or a market thay may be large in the future. These moves are often done in a haphazard fashion, to see what they can get for minimal effort. Mistakes are made, and these can be found. If mistakes are found, you can file a Petition to Deny, and the change will fall through. It may require hiring a broadcast engineer or lawyer who is familiar with these changes and can find them more easily. This process can be relatively expensive, since broadast lawyers and engineers can be pricey, and this can be a somewhat lengthy process. It definitely beats losing your signal though. Click here for a list of engineers and lawyers.

The FCC allows you to change your frequency to an adjacent one (+/- 0.2 MHz) or to an IF frequency (+/- 10.6 or 10.8 MHz). This requires an amendment to your application, and will take some time to process. It is also possible to change your frequency to any other channel on the dial with a "technical showing" of reduced interference. This seems like an easy task, since you are about to receive loads of interference from the encroaching station, but it will probably require hiring a broadcast engineer to prepare the report. You can keep your transmitting facilities in the same spot.

The FCC will allow you to move your signal 5.6 kilometers (about 3 miles) if you make a minor amendment to your application. This of course requires you to find another transmitter site, and link your studio to it.

There may be other solutions, and we recommend you contact a good broadcast lawyer or engineer.

Take Action!

- Write a letter to the FCC. Persuade them that your station is a valuable and irreplaceable resource to the community that if forced to go off-air, will be a major loss for the entire community. Work to gather documentation (letters from city counsel people, community and station members, newspaper articles, etcetera) that illustrates the importance of your service to the community. You should send this letter to all five FCC commisioners and the secretary. Find all the addresses here . Let us know when you write (we want a copy)!

-Call your local congressperson and convince them that your station is a valuable and irreplaceable resource to the community that you live in. Explain the significance of your station and urge them to pressure the FCC to protect and expand LPFM service. Individual stories from LPFMs from across the country are the collective force that will ultimately pressure Congress and the FCC to expand and protect LPFM service.

- Connect with other LPFMs that have dealt with encroachment. We can help you find people and examples that can help you through the process, offer advice, guidance, and suggestions for your own process.

Please let us know, and send us copies, when you write a letter to the FCC, make contact with your congressperson, and gather documentation of your station!

John Wenz: john (at) prometheusradio.org or 215 727 9620 x521