LPFM Proposals Said Unlikely To Succeed

Rule changes proposed by a group of low-power FM station owners that are up for comment at the FCC aren’t likely to be put into practice, broadcast attorneys said in interviews Tuesday. Comments on whether the FCC should act on the petition from the Low Power FM Advocacy Group are due Aug. 30. Proposals to allow LPFMs to run commercials and increase power levels are seen as fundamentally changing the LPFM service, said the attorneys who have full-power FM stations as clients. That is likely too radical a shift, said Wilkinson Barker broadcast attorney David Oxenford, who has filed comments opposing power increases for LPFM in the past.

“The whole idea behind LPFM was that it could be used by community groups,” Oxenford said. “If you extend it to commercial business, it certainly changes the nature of the service.” The rules keeping LPFM stations noncommercial and restricting their power “actually prevent LPFMs’ ability to adequately serve the public interest,” said the LPFM-AG petition. “Many of the LPFM rules were written to forego future potential competitive issues from LPFM toward commercial FM and NCE-FM.”

Proposals to increase the power level of LPFM stations might be on firmer ground at the FCC, said industry lawyers. The FCC comment period on a similar proposal from REC Networks ended in June and the commission has been amenable to secondary services receiving limited power increases in the past, said Drinker Biddle broadcast attorney Howard Liberman, who has full-power stations as clients. But NAB is expected to oppose the LPFM-AG proposal, broadcast lawyers said. NAB doesn’t have LPFM’s “best interest in mind,” the petition said. NAB also commented in opposition on the REC Network proposal. In the association's filing, NAB expressed concern that an influx of higher power LPFM stations would crowd the FM band and cause interference to stations and translators. “The FM band is a finite resource, and allowing LPFM stations to increase their power by 150 percent and double their coverage areas will have an inevitable impact on available frequencies for cross-service translators,” NAB said. The group had no comment Tuesday.

Full-power radio stations have trouble staying afloat under the noncommercial business model despite their higher power levels and larger audiences, said the LPFM-AG petition said. “With such low power levels, it makes no sense to make LPFM noncommercial.” Preventing LPFM from having commercials also prevents it from carrying programming that would serve the public interest, the petition said. “News, weather, traffic, educational, public safety, and other basic public protection programming are denied to the audiences of LPFM stations due to rules that don’t even serve their own noncommercial purpose.”

Allowing commercials on LPFM wouldn’t make it a new commercial FM service because LPFM would still have to comply with local ownership rules and be unable to upgrade to Class A service, said LPFM-AG. “LPFM cannot be a commercial service at the FCC, even if it airs commercials. LPFM licensees do not enjoy all of the other benefits of being in a commercial service,.”

All LPFM interests don’t agree. Though REC Networks said it's “very understandable” why LPFM licensees want to be able to run commercials, it opposes that part of the petition: “REC continues to oppose LPFM being in a situation where commercial and non-commercial interests would compete for spectrum due to regulations and statutes that require auctions to settle mutual exclusivities and puts community ownership at risk.”

REC Networks is “uninformed,” said Low Power FM Advocacy Group Executive Director David Solomon in an email. “They have been the LPFM advice advocate for 15 years and this service has been destroyed during this time.” The petition is “only asking for enough improvement of the LPFM service to enable it to survive,” he said. “Almost 600 community LPFM licenses have returned to the FCC in just 15 years due to rules created by our competitors.” Large radio stations no longer serve small towns, Solomon said. “Don't they deserve service from their FM radios, too?” he asked. Solomon said even if the petition doesn’t lead directly to rule changes, LPFM will continue working toward commercialization.