THEY MAY BE SMALL – AND NON-COMMERCIAL – BUT DON’T IGNORE THE NEW KIDS WHEN THEY COME TO PLAY
President Obama’s signing last week of the Local Community Radio Act means you’re likely to have new radio competition regardless of your market size. Before you dismiss Low-Power FM (LPFM) stations as “Amateur Night at the Bijou”, consider this: All those volunteer program hosts will be talking about local issues, local music, local people. How often does any of that happen on your stations?
Prometheus Radio Project, the national community radio organization, wanted only one thing from the Act: elimination of third-adjacency protection of full-power FM stations. They got that. Now, LPFMs can be as close as two “clicks” from your frequency.
But they got more:
- LPFMs and translators will now exist as equals as far as interference is concerned. Whichever one was there first has to solve any interference problems between the two
- The FCC can now also issue waivers to LPFMs that don’t meet the minimum protection standards but can be shown through modern measurement methods to not create interference (for instance, if there’s a mountain between the LPFM and a full-power station)
- The new Act could have speedy legs if FCC Chairman Julius Genechowski’s promise to “take swift action to open the dial to new low-power radio stations” has any meat to it.
All of which means you’re going to have company – and, believe it or not, competition – from micro-broadcasters sooner or later.
Why Bother About the Pipsqueaks?
Sure, a new LPFM might have a range of five miles with a strong wind. And underwriting rates are unlikely to put a serious squeeze on ad dollars in your market. So why bother to do anything more than send them a nice plant and a “Welcome To Town” card (if that) when they fire up their little transmitters?
Because if you’ve paid attention to what LPFM broadcasters have been up to over the last few years, you’ve noticed that they do a lot of interesting things. Things that local broadcasters used to do but often don’t anymore.
Such as:
Remotes – from anything and everything
Where local-market radio used to originate coverage of parades, meetings, Memorial Day ceremonies and the opening of the municipal swimming pool, satellite feeds have taken over. Listeners used to enjoy those broadcasts and advertisers used to sponsor them. They still do – but not on full-power commercial radio.
Discussions of community issues
LPFM stations are far more than just outlets where home-brew program hosts can play their rap or bluegrass or progressive rock records (yes, records sometimes). Many provide the only divergent voices in their communities by organizing and airing debates, round-table discussions and extended coverage of all sorts of events and issues.
Being a local resource – for everything
You can find many LPFM stations that broadcast want ads, even personals, along with swap-and-trade shows and public service announcements by the bucket. Listeners may not stay with an LPFM all day and night but since most thrive on variety, they’re going to attract audiences that crave something original, different, fresh on the radio. Scarce commodities on many full-power stations.
Giving a voice to minorities
Lots of LPFM stations reach out to minority audiences, many of which are underserved or have never been served at all locally. Each of these constitutes a community-within-a-community and the ties that bind are incredibly strong.
Making celebrities out of everyday folks
How many program hosts does it take to run an LPFM? A dozen? Twenty? For many, it’s even more than that. And what they lack in polish and professionalism (traits they often achieve with surprising speed, by the way) they make up for with freshness and localism.
The FCC’s Genechowski also remarked that, “Low-power FM stations are small but they make a giant contribution to local community programming”.
Now, I don’t envision squadrons of tiny LPFM transmitters rising up to overwhelm your stations and take over your market. I do think well-run low-power community stations – the kind we’re about to see a lot more of – can put a serious dent in your image as a local broadcaster if you don’t take them seriously.
