I’m afraid we’re starting to sound like a broken record here in LPFM Watch lately, as we wrap up yet another slow week for approvals and LPFM news. The FCC issued another 22 construction permits, bringing the grand total to 1175 new LPFM stations approved.
There are some interesting groups getting stations in this lot. A Mount Hermon, MA based boarding school, Northfield Mount Hermon, was awarded a construction permit for 106.7 FM. In its educational programming statement the school says,
"There is a special relationship between the world of broadcasting and our Northfield Mount Hermon School, for the ‘Father of Radio’–Lee de Forest–was a graduate of our class of 1893.”
De Forest invented the audion vacuum tube that could amplify electrical signals, making broadcasting, long-distance telephone and motion picture sound possible.
As I mentioned in my story yesterday about the Portland (Oregon) Radio Project, that online station has entered into a frequency sharing agreement with Wild Planet Radio. Wild Planet stands out by focusing on the LGBTQ community, very likely becoming the only such station in the US. The station is associated with the Q Center which, according to its website, “provides a safe space to support and celebrate LGBTQ diversity, visibility and community building.”
The Civic Light Opera Cultural Arts Academy in the Los Angeles coastal community of San Pedro has received a construction permit for a station at 100.7 FM. Through an association with the San Pedro International Film Festival, the station intends to air programs focusing on filmmaking and other arts, along with Korean language programming.
Finally, from the fun names file comes a new station for a group called Green Peter Eclectic Tunez in Kailua-Kona, HI. The station plans to “educate the public regarding locally produced music.” There’s also the Hilltown Christmas Stocking in Worthington, MA, which apparently is a group dedicated to providing assistance to local families during the holiday season.
