As the first round of AM stations get a shot at having translator repeaters on the FM dial, the FCC’s AM revitalization proceeding is still not completely resolved. There are still several questions that the Commission is accepting comments on, until March 21. Broadcast attorney David Oxenford presents a very thorough rundown of these issues […]
Archive | FCC
Marking Network Neutrality’s First Anniversary
Friday was the one-year anniversary of the FCC’s Open Internet Order, which established strong network neutrality rules in the U.S., in part by reclassifying internet service as a public utility. As Public Knowledge’s Meredith Whipple observes, “despite the clamoring of the ISPs that Title II would be the end of times, the Internet ecosystem is […]
LPFM Watch: Another Radio Pirate Denied an LPFM
The first new low-power FM construction permit since January has been issued, to Wimberly Texan Radio, in Wimberly, TX. Also, in the last two weeks 18 new LPFMs have received their licenses. There was one interesting dismissal from an applicant that the FCC determined was associated with an unlicensed station. As discovered and reported to […]
LPFM Watch: 19 New Low-Power FM Stations Licensed
No new low-power FM construction permits have been issues yet so far in 2016. No applications have been dismissed, either. As I mentioned last week, there are only about 100 applications left to be processed by the FCC, so it’s likely we will see most, if not all, of these dealt with by year’s end. […]
2015 in Review: LPFM Made it Community Radio’s Biggest Leap Forward
With regard to new stations going on the air, 2015 represented the biggest single-year leap forward for non-commercial and community radio in U.S. history. At the end of the year 524 new low-power FM stations had been fully licensed during the year. This represents a 68% increase in the overall number of LPFM stations compared […]
LPFM Watch: A Real WKRP to Hit the Airwaves (but not in Cincinnati)
A holiday weekend made things even slower for LPFM, especially considering that the vast majority of applications have been processed. That means applicants are gathering resources, building stations and going on the air. One station that received some press this past week is WAYO-LP in Rochester, NY, which recently started broadcasting online and is crowd-funding […]
1965: the year the FCC helped FM radio take off
Here’s a broadcasting policy history question. Who said this? “Obviously it is a waste of valuable spectrum space to use two frequencies to bring the same material to the same location.” Believe it or not, it was the Federal Communications Commission in 1965. A year earlier agency ruled that no FM station broadcasting to a city […]
FCC’s AM Revitalization = Move AM Stations to FM
For those who have been waiting with baited breath since 2013 to find out how the FCC plans to revitalize the FM dial: your wait is over. The Commission released its First Report and Order on Revitalization of the AM Radio Service late on Friday after its October open meeting. The order covers a few […]
Number of Radio Stations in the U.S. Grows this Quarter According to FCC
The FCC released its quarterly list of the total number of licensed broadcast stations. Following the same trend that we’ve seen, the number of licensed stations continues to grow, with the current grand total at 15,470 licensed full power radio stations as of September 30, 2015. (more…)
FCC Denies Applications for Review Related to Sale of College Radio Station KUSF’s License
It’s been a long, contentious battle over the one-time FM college radio station KUSF-FM at University of San Francisco (USF), whose license was sold to Classical Public Radio Network (CPRN) after the sudden shut-down of the college radio station in January, 2011. After numerous legal filings and an FCC investigation, the license sale was approved […]