This reader has a beef with NAB's stance on LPFM: "Why doth the NAB protest so much?
Surely low power radio ain't that bad!
I find it disheartening that still today, the NAB continues to insist - against all available engineering data - that 10 and 100 watt, low power radio stations cause interference to commercial stations broadcasting at 50,000-100,000 watts. They insist third channel adjacency protections are necessary despite exhaustive engineering studies to the contrary, studies mandated by both Congress and the FCC.
It defies commonsense, logic and science. Listeners aren't complaining so why does the NAB persist?
The NAB itself acknowledges LPFM stations provide valuable niche programming unsustainable on commercial radio. Great. Sounds to me like they're filling a non-competitive gap in the marketplace.
LPFM stations are low power, not-for-profit, volunteer driven, commercial free, neighborhood radio stations. They are run by a local church in Louisiana, a farm workers organization in Florida, a high school in Indiana, a highway agency in Maryland. There is room on the dial for all of us.
LPFM is about returning a tiny, tiny fraction of the public airwaves back to local communities and grassroots organizations. If the NAB is worried low power stations are threatening to tear down the walls of Clear Channel and Infinity, perhaps their time would be better spent figuring out why listeners have become disenchanted. Don't blame low power radio.
Besides, shouldn't the NAB stay focused on fighting something really scary, like indecency laws?
Kate Coyer
Independent Radio Producer
Department of Media & Communications
Goldsmiths College
University of London
Are you reading this from a forwarded email?
