(Low) Power (FM) To The People

From FMQB “The good news: Maybe this will create more radio jobs. Tha bad news: You may wake up one day to discover that your second adjacent channel protection is gone, and there are a bunch of low power FMs bangin’ away up and down the dial. The Senate Commerce Committee has approved a measure that would spur the licensing of more LPFM stations — primarily in larger markets — by eliminating the third adjacent channel protection standard that is now afforded full power stations. The decision to eliminate the protection is based on a study commissioned by the FCC that showed that full power stations would suffer no significant interference from LPFMs if the standards were relaxed.

An amendment to the bill that would have commissioned an economic impact study was proposed by Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT), a former broadcaster, but the amendment was voted down. The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration.”