At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it was another slow week in LPFM news, with just 6 low-power FM construction permits granted. As Jennifer reported last week, the MX groups of applicants competing for frequencies will start being processed soon, beginning with 260 applicants in states west of the Mississippi River, excluding Texas.
In the news there are two college-based LPFMs that have already run into trouble on campus after receiving their construction permits.
Student government at the University of North Florida recently denied funding of $39,000 to Spinnaker Radio. Student body president Joseph Turner told WJCT News that the group already has $200,000, and doesn’t need the additional funds. The station’s manager, Scott Young, says that the money is already reserved for other purposes or part of an emergency fund. However, Young says the station building project will move forward, despite the student government’s denial.
The administration at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is upset with that school’s Communication Studies Department, which it says failed to obtain proper approval for its new LPFM station. According to the La Crosse Tribune, emails from last November indicate that university officials were already concerned about the application. Officials say they want to learn more about the station before allowing it go forward, while the Communication department and station advisers say they have been forthcoming, and the plans have not been a secret.
LPFM Watch is a weekly feature on Radio Survivor appearing every Thursday.
