Last LPFM 2 windows merge into one
-Partytown Streaming Network
The FCC has announced that the remaining low power FM application windows will be combined into one filing period. Window 4 and Window 5 Applications will be accepted from June 11 through June 15, 2001. This announcement affects the remaining states and territories. Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Guam, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia. Previous filing windows were conducted seperately allowing for adequate time for engineers and applicants to prepare Form 318, application for a LPFM construction permit.

This unexpected change in format has put LPFM engineers in a tight bind, finding themselves taking on double the applications in half the time. Previous applicants in the first three filing windows are still awaiting forward momentum on their applications. Unconfirmed information has suggested that current applicants who have been affected by the Gramms legislation will be allowed an opportunity to amend their applications to comply with the new rulings. Applicants who have been listed as "grantable" should also be expecting word on their construction permits. All LPFM applications are required to be submitted electronically through the FCC's website at www.fcc.gov/mmb

The LPFM Story
-Partytown Streaming Network

Nearly a year after the Federal Communications Commission approved a new Low Power FM radio service, Congress with the help of the National Association of Broadcasters and National Public Radio has gutted the opportunity for hundreds of diverse community stations to go on the air. In January of 2000, the FCC granted approval to a new radio service that would be used for community oriented programming serving schools, civic clubs, state and local governments, churches and other non-profit organizations. This would offer more local views and voices to be available amidst the overpowering corporate commercial stations that dominate the publics airwaves.

The FCC was prodded into establishing this new service partly because of the pressure from micro-radio advocates and pirate radio enthusiasts. While the new radio service was a step forward in the publics right to reclaim portions of the FM radio spectrum, many feel the FCC shouldn't stand in the way of  free speech and the publics right to the airwaves. Overall, it was an opportunity for many unheard voices to operate a small station in their community that would offer local programming not supported by the large corporate clusters that plague the airwaves.

The FCC came up with a lottery that determined when and which states and territories would be applying for the new licenses. The first filing window was slated for June and contained the first 10 states and territories decided by the lottery. During that filing window, over 700 applications for a new low power fm radio station construction permit were filed. The next window opened in the fall, hundreds of applications from more states and territories were submitted. During this time period, the hucksters lobbying for the NAB and NPR bribed Congress members to introduce legislation that would eliminate the majority of the proposed new voices. H.R. 3439 was born to it's diabolical parents, Representative Michael Oxley (Ohio) whom received over $41,000 from the NAB's Political Action Committee known as TARPAC, and Representative Frank Pallone (New Jersey) who received over $11,000 from TARPAC. While it was passed by the House of Representatives, it didn't get much further until Senator Rod Gramms (Minnesota) introduced the exact same bill into the Senate which became S.3020. These two pieces of legislation which basically carry the same verbiage was called the "Radio Preservation Act of 2000", if passed, it would severely limit the amount of possible LPFM stations across the country.

Meanwhile, the media responded with a blackout on the issue. Hardly a speck of press made mainstream news about Low Power FM and the plot of the NAB and NPR to kill it in Congress. Advocates began to take direct action against the NAB and NPR with protests at their annual conventions and withholding pledges from NPR affiliate fundraising drives. LPFM applicants and advocates began writing, calling and faxing their congressional representatives, urging them to vote against any legislation that would limit opportunities for churches, schools, government and civic organizations from having a voice on the publics airwaves. Still, no mainstream press was willing to touch this and it was kept silent from the majority of the public.

Then, Election time came, it was a crucial time in the Senate as they were hurrying through their sessions trying to finish business before the election. Still, the bill was stranded in the Senate, waiting to be acted upon. Then in the 11th hour, Senator Trent Lott helped to move S. 3020 onto one of the budget appropriation bills. Without the bill having it's due process, it was gloom and doom for LPFM supporters and current applicants. The announcement of the third filing window was delayed during the election process and it wasn't until the election was finally stolen by George Bush Jr. that Congress passed the appropriations bill sending it on to the President for approval. While the President did veto an earlier version of that appropriations bill citing problems with some of the legislation including LPFM, he didn't veto it a second time.

The new anti-LPFM legislation has killed hundreds of stations because of false third adjacent channel interference issues. The NAB conjured up fraudulent fears of interference to high power stations 3 channels away, thus limiting the amount of free space on the band for new low power stations.  Besides the third adjacent issue, the legislation also asks for unnecessary testing in order to delay stations from going on the air even when the FCC had conducted it's own tests for years prior to approving the new service. Take this example: Picture the FM band as a long parking lot, where each parking space represents a frequency. Lets say that LPFM applicants are little foot powered scooters. They can get you around your immediate area, but there is a limit to how far you can pedal. The big corporate broadcasters are like large tractor trailer trucks. These trucks are high powered money making machines that carry their loads cross country. The FCC says that LPFM has to have two spaces between it and other parked stations. The NAB and NPR want to have three parking places on either side of their stations limiting the number of parking places available for LPFM. They also want to conduct testing of  the new LPFM parking places before allowing LPFM's to park. Corporate broadcasters feel that the LPFM scooter must park at least 3 spaces (channels) away from the NAB/NPR Big Rig at all times. Unfortunately  in some largely populated areas, there is no open spaces available for LPFM, and in some areas the NAB and NPR are double parking their trucks taking up valuable parking lot real estate.

Currently, LPFM is not completely dead, but it's has been wounded severely by the sneaky backdoor shenanigans of our corporate owned politicians. The FCC has announced the third filing window which will open January 16th and close January 22nd. During that week, the third group of 10 states and territories will be able to file FORM 318, an application for a Low Power FM construction permit. The FCC has also recently announced that 255 of the initial  applicants from the first two filing windows are eligible for a construction permit which could be granted within the next month. Those not cleared await another announcement from the FCC on their status and possibility for amendments to be made to their applications. These eligible applications are also up for public comment during this time. For more information on these applications and the most recent announcements from the FCC, visit their web site at fcc.gov.

There is still much we can do in the fight to obtain our access to the airwaves. Call up your local NPR affiliate and talk to their station manager about LPFM. Ask them what their stand on the new community radio service is and urge them to convince their governing board to support LPFM, not oppose it. Explain how you will be encouraging other NPR supporters to withhold any donations until NPR backs off on their opposition to community radio. Write your representatives and tell them how disappointed you are in how the anti-LPFM legislation was handled. Call in to local talk radio stations and strike up conversation about the big media blackout of LPFM and ask if their company is a part of the NAB. We need to get the message out that National Public Radio and the National Association of Broadcasters are working together to prevent low power community radio. It's time to reform the broadcast industry and political campaign contributions. The two create a vicious circle, not unlike money laundering. Politicians rake in millions from the broadcast industry via TARPAC, which is then given back to the broadcasters for campaign advertising. Corporate Media dominates what influences our daily lives, and it is at the root of many of our societal ailments. Preventing independent diverse voices from sharing their stories is  working against the interest of the public and it's time for the public to rise up and take back what is ours to begin with. Free radio from the bonds of corporate control, free your mind!