MAP Vice President Parul P. Desai issued the following statement after today’s hearing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on the broadcast industry’s appeal of rules which preserve scores of low power FM (LPFM) stations:

“In fulfilling its goals of localism and diversity, the FCC was in full compliance with the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act when it created a process that would save a LPFM station from being taken off the air. We trust that the court will uphold this important FCC decision, which helps LPFM stations continue to serve their local communities.”

This morning’s oral argument involved a case brought by the National Association of Broadcasters against the Federal Communications Commission challenging the FCC’s recent decision to protect low power FM stations from being knocked off the air by full power stations. The FCC acted to help LPFM stations threatened by full power stations that choose to leave a community they already serve into a new community that is served by a LPFM station.

The NAB contends the FCC, in a December 2007 decision, violated the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act (RBPA) by creating a policy that would protect local communities from losing their LPFM station. The RBPA limits the licensing capabilities of LPFM stations due to interference with full power stations. These claims of interference that the RBPA attempted to address have since been brought into question in a study conducted by MITRE, an independent technology research firm. As a result of the MITRE study, lawmakers in Congress have introduced the Local Community Radio Act of 2009 to overcome the impacts of the RBPA on LPFM licensing. This Act would effectively make the NAB’s case against the FCC moot.

MAP represents Prometheus Radio Project, an intervenor in the case, in defense of the FCC ruling.

Contact:

Parul P. Desai
Vice President
Media Access Project
202-232-4300
pdesai@mediaaccess.org