What is LPFM?
Small Stations, Big Impact
Low-Power FM (LPFM) stations are small, community-based FM radio stations with a broadcast radius of two to four miles. The FCC created this new class of stations in January of 2000, despite intense opposition from major broadcasters. Since then, the FCC has processed thousands of applications from groups of all stripes committed to providing local, community-based radio to their towns and cities. Today, more than 260 stations are on the air, and many more are on their way. MAP has been central to low power broadcasting from the beginning, advising would-be broadcasters navigating the LPFM application process, filing comments before the FCC in support of LPFM broadcasters, and tirelessly advocating for more outlets for local community voices on the air.
But the true potential of LPFM remains unrealized. Shortly after the FCC issued its order creating LPFM, the broadcasting lobby used bogus concerns about interference to convince Congress to pass legislation limiting LPFM stations to rural areas with less crowded spectrum. In the top 50 radio markets, urban spaces where small stations can reach many people, LPFM is completely unavailable. In the meantime, incumbent broadcasters have (in some cases fraudulently) filled the space for new LPFM stations by applying for an unprecedented number of translators, smaller transmitters which are often used to rebroadcast programming beamed in by satellite.
The fight for LPFM is not yet over. Legislation now pending in both houses of Congress would overturn the restrictions imposed by Congress, opening space for hundreds of new LPFM stations. At the urging MAP and other LPFM advocates, the FCC issued a freeze on new translator applications, and opened comments to consider the relationship between existing LPFM stations and new full power stations and translators.