It’s been a busy few weeks for low power FM radio, with 30 applications granted in the last two weeks, bringing the total to 1,506 new grants as a result of the fall 2013 filing window. Today is also the deadline for groups in the second settlement window to file certain types of amendments and settlements. REC Networks has more details, as well as a running list of the status of applicants from this window (primarily from the East Coast).
I was very interested to see that WRVU Friends and Family had its application granted today. Following the sell-off of the Vanderbilt University radio station’s FM signal, this group decided to try for a brand new LPFM frequency in Nashville, Tennessee.
A few other high schools and colleges are also in the mix of newly granted applications, as well as a variety of social justice non-profits, a museum, several cities, and religious organizations.
Dismissals This Week
The following groups had their LPFM applications dismissed since November 20th: REMNANT BROADCASTING CORPORATION (Murfreesboro, TN)- although it was subsequently amended and accepted for filing, DIVINE MERCY RADIO, INC (Apex, NC), NORTH LUBBOCK HISPANIC EDUCATION FAMILY FUNDATION (Lubbock, TX), REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION NETWORK, INC. (Burlington, VT), THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK FEMALE EXECUTIVES IN MUSIC (Memphis, TN), RESOURCES FOR SOBER LIVING (Bartlett, TN), RAHAB, INC. (Brockton, MA), QBSA JAMBOREE RADIO ORG (Mt. Hope, WV), TENNESSEE ALLIANCE FOR PROGRESS (Nashville, TN), OPEN TABLE OF NASHVILLE (Nashville, TN), NASHVILLE PEACE AND JUSTICE CENTER (Nashville, TN), UNIVERSITY OF HEAVEN WSDA BROADCAST GROUP (Chicago, IL), SOUND OF HOPE RADIO NFP (Chicago, IL), and GRAND RAPIDS ADVENTIST ACADEMY (Grand Rapids, MI).
New Construction Permits this Week to Churches, College, and other Community Groups
Over the past two weeks, construction permits were granted to 30 groups, including:
Schools and Colleges:
Northern Nash High School (Red Oak, NC): According to its application, the new LPFM will provide “real world opportunities” for its students, allowing high school students to “produce the programming heard by the community.” It’s expected that programming will be geared towards parents during school hours and will be aimed at students at other times. Students from many different departments will participate, including English, Marketing, Theatre, Band, and Social Studies.
Visible Music College (100.3 FM in Memphis, TN): As part of a time-share agreement with Soulsville Foundation, Visible Music College will broadcast Monday through Saturday from Midnight to 5am and from 5pm to 11:59pm. On Sundays it will operate from 5am to 5pm. According to its application, this “Christian college of music…trains and equips musicians, technicians, and business professionals in skill and character for effective service in the music industry and in the Church.” The planned LPFM radio station is expected to air “music from the college, shows with musical training content, historical music shows, live music shows from local singer/songwriters, and shows connecting the music of Memphis to other genres, both inside the church and in mainstream music.” Sample programming can be heard on the Visible Radio website.
Southern Appalachian Labor School (106.5 FM in Oak Hill, WV): This group runs various educational programs, including afterschool and summer school classes as well as programs related to environmental health and worker education. The new LPFM station will air news, talk shows, music and announcements, according to its application.
Lasell College Radio (102.9 FM in Auburndale, MA): As part of a 3-way time-share, Lasell College Radio will broadcast on Mondays through Saturdays from 9am to 6pm. The student radio station has been in operation as an online streaming radio station since 2004, with a range of programming including music shows and sports broadcasts.
Kalamazoo Seventh-Day Adventist Junior Academy (93.1 FM in Kalamazoo, MI): The proposed LPFM will air “a variety of educational and instructional programming primarily from a Biblically based Christian perspective.”
Kentucky State University (100.9 FM in Frankfort, KY): This will be a new radio station for Kentucky State. According to its application, the new LPFM would be a “student and faculty-run radio station that would offer students majoring/minoring in Journalism, Mass Communication and Speech…the opportunity to put their theoretical studies into practical application…”
Morton College (99.1 FM in Cicero, IL): Granted as a time-share with Urbanmedia One, Morton College will broadcast on weekdays from 9am to 5pm. Morton College already has an online station Morton College Radio.
Churches/Religious Groups:
The Josiah Ministry (Redlands, CA): This station plans to “expand on its religious and educational goals” and hopes to “[uplift] humanity from its present broken condition to a higher, more noble plane” with its programming, according to its application. It will also air hymns, news, and public service announcements.
Family of God Fellowship Church, Inc. (Topeka, KS): This group plans to be “a local voice” in its “religious community” by airing news, church services, events, and “local educational, biblical and religious programming, “according to its application.
Diocese of Raleigh (Cary, NC): According to its application, this group will air both local and syndicated Catholic programming from EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network and Ave Maria Radio.
Global Ministries Christian Church (Dorchester, MA): This group already does radio programming and operates an Academy of Broadcasting for Boston teens. According to its application, in the past it has also partnered with the Boston Neighborhood Network Television, a local community media center. With its LPFM, it plans to “provide a strong voice to people and communities who lack media access and are in need of sharing their stories.” It will share its frequency with Lasell College and the City of Boston and will broadcast on Mondays through Saturdays from 2am to 9am and on Sundays from 2am to 6pm.
Monsignor Andrew K. Gwynn, Inc. (107.7 FM in Greenville, SC): According to its application, the station plans to air syndicated Catholic programming from the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network as well and “will also work with local Roman Catholic parishes, catechism programs and organizations to assist their educational efforts with respect to teaching of the Catholic religion.”
Evansville Real Radio (Evansville, IN): According to its application, this station will promote “the Christian legal and ethical tradition” through its programming, which will include local music (including German folk music and classical organ music), sermons, and praise music. It also plans to offer internship programs to local college students.
Cities/Municipalities:
A Londonderry Emergency Response Team (ALERT) (Londonderry, NH): This group will work with the police and fire departments to provide emergency information over the new LPFM.
Hyrum City Corporaton (Hyrum, UT): This LPFM will be used to “promote public safety programs and disaster awareness information” and will also “distribute emergency information” as well as information about “civic events, local government meetings” according to its application.
City of Boston (102.9 FM in Boston, MA): As part of a 3-way time-share, the City of Boston will broadcast every day from 6pm to 2am. The LPFM station will air “public safety programming.”
Other Community, Arts, and Social Justice Groups:
Chinese Voice of Golden City (Las Vegas, NV): This group plans to “educate and promote Chinese traditional culture and bridge the American mainstream and Chinese community in Las Vegas Chinatown community” according to its application.
East Bay Oriental Radio, Inc. (97.7 FM in Walnut Creek, CA): According to its application, this group will promote “the interests and needs of the Chinese language population.” Originally, this application was for a frequency in Oakland, but after filing an amendment to change the transmitter location (which also helped it to break from a competitive group of applicants), it moved further into the East Bay to broadcast from Walnut Creek.
Stones River Community Media Alliance (Murfreesboro, TN): This group plans to use its new LPFM to promote “local arts and music,” as well as to cover “local government activity” and share the “city’s deep history.”
North Carolina Humane Society State Council (Rocky Mount, NC): According to its application, this group will “strive to educate the public on issues and best practices for pet ownership” through its new LPFM station.
Olympia All Ages Project (100.3 FM in Olympia, WA): This group works to promote all-ages events in Olympia, Washington and runs a space called Northern. According to its application, “An LPFM radio station will provide a new educational and organizational wellspring for this growing alternative community.”
The Bundy Museum of History and Art (99.5 FM in Binghamton, NY): A new LPFM will allow the museum to do more “community outreach” and it will “be used to announce and promote the museum’s educational programs, exhibits, and events,” according to its application. Additionally, the station will air live music events and lectures from the museum and will broadcast programming related to local history and art.
Vermont Community Access Media (VCAM) (99.3 FM in Burlington, VT): According to its application, this new station will broadcast programming that will showcase “the wide range of political, religious, cultural and musical views” of the area. VCAM already runs a public access television channel.
Soulsville Foundation (100.3 FM in Memphis, TN): As part of a time-share agreement with Visible Music College, Soulsville will broadcast Monday through Saturday from 5am to 5pm and on Sundays from midnight to 5am and from 5pm to 11:59pm. This is a fascinating non-profit which is devoted to the “rich legacy of the Soulsville community in Memphis, which had previously been home to Stax [Records].” The foundation runs the Soulsville Charter School (for grades 6-12), the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and the Stax Music Academy. The new LPFM will be incorporated into “the curriculum at its charter school and music academy as well as complement the Stax Museum in its production of musical events, discussions and community outreach programs.”
The Inge Davidson Foundation (92.9 FM in Bryn Mawr, PA): This group plans to air “news, music, lifestyle and other program elements” and plans to “institute an internship program where college students can learn broadcasting,” according to its application.
Community Empowerment Center of Grand Rapids (97.3 FM in Grand Rapids, MI): According to its application, this group’s new LPFM will “provide the African American Community of Grand Rapids, Michigan a voice” by “providing education on parenting, domestic violence, anger management, family counseling, mentoring and to give hope and direction to an impoverished community.”
Urbanmedia One (99.1 FM in Chicago, IL): Formerly known as the Fuller Park Advisory Council and Community Development Corporation, Urbanmedia One “was established to teach the history of the Chicago Blues cultures through the medium of their musical heritage,” according to its application. The station plans to air Chicago blues music and will be operated as a time-share with Morton College. It will broadcast on weekdays from midnight to 9am and from 5pm to 11:59pm and on weekends from midnight to 11:59pm. It appears that it already operates an online radio station.
Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice (104.1 FM in Nashville, TN): According to its application, this group will air programming that will expand “the reach of [its] labor rights education program.” Additionally, “programming will pioneer Nashville’s first outlet for working-class media production that is designed by low-wage workers for other low-wage workers.”
WRVU Friends and Family (101.5 FM in Nashville, TN): This group was originally established as part of the fight to keep Vanderbilt’s college radio station WRVU on the terrestrial dial. Although the WRVU license was sold earlier this year, WRVU Friends and Family decided to apply for a LPFM license in Nashville. According to its application, the group plans to “provide diverse and innovative programming that reflects the music, culture, concerns and interests of the communities it serves.”
Neptune Radio Incorporated (Wilmington, NC): According to its application, this group is a “non-political, community radio organization which has been created with a specific mission, to preserve as well as cultivate the vanishing art form of live and local radio broadcasting.” It will provide training to students and community members and will also “operate a student intern program” for college students.
Radio Survivor reports on LPFM news every Thursday in our LPFM Watch feature.
