Shortly after President Obama signed the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 into law on Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission Chair Julius Genachowski issued this statement in response to the move:
The Local Community Radio Act signed by President Obama is a big win for radio listeners. Low power FM stations are small, but they make a giant contribution to local community programming. This important law eliminates the unnecessary restrictions that kept these local stations off the air in cities and towns across the country. I commend Congressmen Mike Doyle and Lee Terry and Senators Maria Cantwell and John McCain for the successful passage of this legislation and their longstanding commitment to local community radio. The FCC will take swift action to open the dial to new low-power radio stations and the valuable local service they provide.
Hopefully that “swift action” promise is true, because the proverbial devil will be found in the detailed implementation of this somewhat complex new legislation. The FCC should announce its plans for any proposed rulemakings as quickly as possible, since they can sometimes take quite a while to complete.
