There have been no new low-power FM construction permits issued since August 20. The unprocessed applications that remain are ones that require additional review or are part of sticky MX groups of competing applications, such as the 18 applicants for 101.5 FM in Los Angeles and four applicants battling it out over 102.5 FM in […]
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College Radio Station WVBU Penalized for Missing Public File Documents and For Moving File Away from Main Studio
Last week the FCC released details about a consent decree (PDF) with Bucknell University that resulted from public file violations at its student radio station WVBU-FM in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The school agreed to pay a penalty of $2,200. (more…)
LPFM Watch: Report on 250 Watt Proposal; Prometheus Barnraisings
A slow week here in August for low-power FM, with no new construction permits approved in the last week. There was no other LPFM action from the FCC, with no applications canceled or denied, either. Here are some recent stories of note: Radio World published a thorough overview of REC Networks’ proposal to the FCC […]
A Middle Ground Between Unlicensed Micropower & LPFM?
Michael Gaines contacted us after doing some research about the potential for very low power FM radio–something under 100 watts, but higher than the milliwatts permissible for unlicensed Part 15 transmissions. After an email exchange on the topic–which revealed we both worked at the same college radio station in New Jersey–I encouraged Michael to share […]
LPFM News: First New Construction Permits of July Issued
The first low-power FM construction permits of the month were issued in the last week–three of them, to be precise. Two are in Florida, and one in California. That brings the grand total to 1,871 LPFM applications approved from the 2013 licensing window. One grantee had its request to cancel its construction permit finalized by […]
LPFM Watch: LPFMs up 12% in Q2 of 2015; KZAP Returns as LPFM
No new low-power FM construction permits were issued this past week, which, of course, had a holiday weekend probably slowing down the works. However, the FCC did release its quarterly count of broadcast stations in the US. Not surprisingly–especially if you keep up with LPFM Watch–the radio service with the biggest increase in the second […]
FCC’s Quarterly Station Count: Radio is Still Growing, Particularly LPFM
Today, the FCC released its quarterly list of the total number of licensed broadcast stations. As we’ve seen in recent years, the number of licensed stations continues to grow, with the current grand total at 15,455 licensed full power radio stations as of June 30, 2015. The biggest increase this quarter is in the number […]
A Legacy of Failure: FCC and Media Ownership Policy
Four years ago, on July 7, 2011, the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a second “remand” to the Federal Communications Commission’s attempt to weaken its media ownership rules. When a court remands an action by a government agency, it is telling the agency that the decision is somehow wrong, often procedurally wrong, and needs to be revised. The […]
LPFM Watch: Big Competition in LA Still Unresolved; The 250 Watt Battle
No new construction permits for low-power FM stations were issued this week, as the FCC tackles the remaining 7% of applications left to be processed. Amongst those are several MX groups of applicants competing for a single frequency. Southern California is home to two of these groups, with the one in Los Angeles being particularly […]
$1,200 Civil Penalty for College Radio Station WMEB for Public File Violations
University of Maine, Orono’s student-run college radio station WMEB-FM is being asked to pay a $1,200 penalty to the United States Treasury because of long-standing public file violations. According to a Consent Decree released today by the FCC, in the course of WMEB’s license renewal, it was reveled that “quarterly issues and programs lists were […]