Talk about a nailbiter. After languishing for months in the Senate due to a series of anonymous (then outed) holds placed by republican senators, followed by gridlock over the tax bill, it was starting to look like the Local Community Radio Act was never going to make it to a vote. But thanks to the last-minute efforts by the Prometheus Radio Project and some members of Congress, along with some bargaining with the National Association of Broadcasters, a revised version of the Local Community Radio Act just passed the Senate. The House version passed yesterday.
Although the revised low-power FM bill contains some additional concessions to the NAB, it still provides the opportunity for many more community radio stations in the nation’s most crowded metropolitan radio markets.
Next the president has to sign the bill. Then the FCC has to go about determining the process for the next application filing window.
