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Thursday, November 08, 2007

On Radio: FCC turns up the volumn on local radio


By Bill Virgin
While there's likely to be an abundance of verbal posturing and sniping at Friday's Federal Communications Commission hearing Friday in Seattle on media ownership, there's one issue on which many of the parties are actually in agreement: putting more local content into local radio.
To that end, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has in recent weeks talked about reviving a concept that at one time generated considerable excitement but in recent months has been largely dormant: low-power FM stations.
In testimony last month to the House Committee on Small Business, Martin said that "low-power FM provides a lower-cost opportunity for more new voices to get into the local radio market. The commission currently is considering an order that would ensure that LPFM stations have reasonable access to limited radio spectrum."
Read more on this story from Seattlepi.com http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/338693_radiobeat08.html