Re: NorthEast Radio Watch 1/28: Welcome Back WMEX, and We Take On LPFM

[mwaters@mail.wesleyan.edu (Martin J. Waters)]

>NERW wrote:
<snip>
So where were we here?  Oh yeah, the public.  Maybe we're just being
pessimistic here, but it just doesn't seem likely to us that the
groups most in need of new radio voices (for instance, the Hispanic
community in Rochester, the black community in Syracuse, or the Asian
communities in Lowell) will be able to get organized in time to make
the FCC's May filing window for LP100.  Individuals look to be
largely shut out, for reasons explored above.  And that leaves us with
schools and churches, offering what's likely to be a minor expansion
at best of the existing non-comm primary and translator service.  (In
Rochester, for instance, that's six high school and college stations
and five religious broadcasters.  We need more?)
<snip>

        Because existing religious broadcasting is nearly all from the same
part of the religious spectrum--i.e., conservative English-language
Christian broadcasters--other possibilities sometimes to get forgotten. For
example, existing local African-American or Hispanic (or, Korean, etc. or
whatever, ethnic group) church congregations and/or other non-religious
ethnic community organizations could, theoretically, apply for these
licenses. I'm not saying it will happen this way, but the way the rules
were written, it could happen.

        I also have a question about the rules: Is there any minimum number
of hours per week these stations will have to broadcast? LPFM seems like an
area where the revival of share-time licensing might be a useful idea. Or
maybe two or more local groups could sort of do this themselves by forming
a group to apply for the license and agreeing among themselves to divide
the airtime. But, would this then be a new group, under the point system,
and thus lose the point advantage the existing groups would have?