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322 Applications in February NCE FM Window
LPFM Bill Still waiting on Final Senate Vote
Want to Start a
Radio Station? What are Your Options?
1. Apply for a radio
station. See above for details about getting a
full-power station, if you are in the right location. Meanwhile,
the FCC has delayed again the next Low Power FM ....
maybe to "late 2010" with unknown
rules and requirements. Accurate advance planning is
impossible. Passage of pro-LPFM legislation in Congress should
speed up the process. CCB will provide complete information when it
is available, on this website.
2. Start
a Part 15 Neighborhood Station for $1,000
3. Start an Internet
Radio Station. Easy to do. Reach your community and the
world. Many traditional radio stations stream their programming
and there are many thousands of internet only stations. There are many
streaming companies offering various packages and options. Music
licensing fees must be considered and licensing rules have just changed
again. Internet radio is limited to computers. Broadcast
radio is still the way to reach people in their cars, when they are
eating, or jogging.
4. Leasing
an FM radio station subchannel. "Piggyback" on any
existing station's signal. Subchannels have been used for years by
"Reading Services for the Blind." Special fixed-tuned
radios are necessary' they can be portable. Sale of these radios can
provide additional income for the station operator and commercials can
be aired. Leasing a subchannel can be expensive. For
example, WSB 98.5 in Atlanta charges $10,000 per month.
5. Leasing
a Digital Radio Channel. This is brand new. All
full-power TV stations have been required to go DT - Digital
Technology. Digital radio now exist - there are few DT radio
stations. DT radios are not common yet and cost several hundred
dollars. Both Digital TV and radio stations can multi-cast -
transmit several channels on the same frequency. One LPFM station
is already being carried by a full-power Digital station on one of its
channels. This is a option now that will be more popular in the
future.
5. Carriage
by a cable TV system. Virtually all cable systems carry radio
stations - either as the audio for a local classified ad channel or as a
separate audio channel. Some LPFM stations are being carried by
cable systems at no charge on their classified channels.
6. Carrier
Current Radio. Also called "leaky wire" radio. The
signal is transmitted a few feet from a radiating wire in the ceiling or
college dorms, retirement homes, or other "communal"
housing. This form of "broadcasting" is limited to the
dorms / residences of the participating organization.
Broadcasters Provided Emergency Relief
for Haiti. Click
Here
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