Copyright 2000 Star Tribune
Star Tribune
(Minneapolis, MN)
October 24, 2000, Tuesday, Metro Edition
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 3A
LENGTH: 866 words
HEADLINE:
FCC gets static over low-power radio stations;
Minnesota's senators on
opposite sides of claims the signals could cause interference.
BYLINE: Andrew Donohue; Staff Writer
DATELINE: Washington, D.C.
BODY:
Members of the St. Paul-based Hmong National
Organization hope to use a low-power radio station to urge women to get
mammograms.
The Assembly of God Church in
Sherburn wants to broadcast news "of the home-spun variety" to the 1,000 people
in the southern Minnesota farming town.
Leaders
of the Minneapolis American Indian Center envision having their own local
station to teach native languages.
When the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opened the airwaves to low-power radio
stations in January, giving a voice to small churches and community groups such
as these was exactly what the agency had in mind.
But in the waning days of the 106th Congress,
the FCC is getting plenty of static from Capitol Hill, with Minnesota's two
senators standing on opposite sides.
After the
FCC announced that it would begin licensing 1,000 low-power radio stations, the
agency received more than 1,200 applications from churches, activist groups,
independent musicians, schools and community organizations. In Minnesota, 63
groups have applied for licenses.
.
Concerns from Grams
Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., said the small
stations can help revitalize democracy. But Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn., a former
broadcaster, said he fears that the low-power signals could interfere with
existing FM stations, even though the FCC said otherwise.
With the backing of the National Association of
Broadcasters and National Public Radio, Grams is pushing legislation that would
postpone the issuance of licenses until more tests are done. Grams is
"cautiously optimistic" that the bill will come to a vote in the last days of
the session, said spokesman Steve Behm. The legislation, which passed in the
House with ease in the spring, also could be attached to a larger spending bill.
Absent congressional action, the FCC can
continue with its plan.
In the
ever-consolidating media world, low-power radio advocates say these small
stations will bring diversity and competing voices to the airwaves. The stations
would operate on the FM band, using 10 to 100 watts of power and reaching a
radius of 1 to 3 1/2 miles.
Commercial radio
stations operate at much stronger power levels _ typically 3,000 to 100,000
watts _ but supporters of Grams' bill say that the FCC hasn't properly tested
the impact these small stations could have on existing FM signals.
Grams and broadcasters such as Minnesota Public
Radio (MPR) say they support the idea of low-power radio, but not at the cost of
existing services.
"He's strongly supportive of
the concept of low-power FM radio. Senator Grams' concern is
that any new low-power service shouldn't cause any interference to programs that
people rely on," Behm said.
He scoffed at
suggestions from low-power advocacy groups that Grams has been influenced by
$15,000 in campaign donations during the past 18 months from
the broadcasters association and executives of Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns
two Twin Cities radio stations.
Grams'
legislation would postpone the full implementation of the FCC plan, instead
setting up testing in nine markets to monitor low power's effect on existing
stations.
.
'A red herring'
But
the FCC and its supporters, including Wellstone, the Clinton administration and
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., say the legislation is a smokescreen for the special
interests' desire to stifle competition.
"This
proclaimed need for further testing is a red herring and a cover under which to
kill low-power FM altogether," said Wellstone's spokesman, Jim
Farrell. "The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is one of the most
powerful lobbies in Washington, and they are also one of the biggest campaign
contributors to both parties in Congress. They are rarely threatened here. The
Grams bill is a perfect expression of the NAB's desire to kill low-power
FM."
At the core of the industry's
argument is the spacing the FCC allows between radio stations. The standard has
always been three spaces between stations to prevent interference. (If a station
sits at 96.5 on the dial, the next closest station can be at 96.8.) To
accommodate the low-power stations, the FCC is tightening this to two spaces.
"They're trying to crowd more stations into the
band," said Will Haggeland, MPR's senior vice president for public affairs.
"There is going to be interference."
One of
Haggeland's biggest concerns is the effect that low-power signals will have on
Radio Talking Book, a service for the blind that broadcasts daily readings of
newspapers, magazines and books using a sliver of MPR's signal. The service,
which reaches about 10,000 Minnesotans a day, is picked up by special receivers
given to blind people.
But FCC spokesman David
Fiske said more than 300 full-power stations already operate on narrower spacing
on the dial without any problems. The FCC's engineers concluded that "there was
simply no significant risk of any interference" from low-power stations and that
they also would not affect the program for the blind, he said.
.
Andrew Donohue can be contacted at
intern@mcclatchydc.com
LOAD-DATE: October 25,
2000 
