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Prometheus Press ReleasesSupreme Court Rejects Corporate Media Appeal in Prometheus
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July 22, 2004 6:31 PM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday approved legislation to ease restrictions on low-power FM radio stations as well as reauthorize satellite television services to carry local stations.
The panel approved a measure that would in most cases allow non-commercial, 10- to 100-watt radio stations to operate two notches away from high-power commercial stations instead of three channels as the law currently requires.
That could allow on the air many more low-power stations, which usually have a reach of about 3.5 miles. About 450 of the stations are on the air out of the approximately 1,000 construction permits issued for stations, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
In a report to Congress, the FCC said fears that bigger radio broadcasters would suffer interference from the smaller stations if they were two slots away were unfounded and urged Congress to relax the separation requirements.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and Clear Channel Communications Inc., which owns some 1,200 radio stations across the country, have lobbied heavily against closer slots, citing fears of harmful interference.
"After spending more than $2 million on a study to appease the NAB, the study revealed what the FCC and others said all along, that LPFM stations will provide virtually no interference with other broadcasters," said Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican and outspoken critic of broadcasters.
The panel did adopt one exception for states like New Jersey where some commercial radio stations operate at lower power levels because the population is so dense. In those locations low-power stations would be limited to three slots apart.
There is no companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives so it is unclear whether the Senate measure would advance far this year.
Separately, the Senate committee also adopted a bill that would extend for five years the ability of satellite television services like EchoStar Communications Corp. 's DISH Network and News Corp. Ltd.'s DirecTV to offer local stations.
That right expires at the end of this year. The bill would also permit subscribers who cannot receive over-the-air digital television stations to get a signal from a distant market, like Chicago or Dallas, via the satellite.
"We want people in rural Nevada and throughout rural America to be able to enjoy the same high definition television programming as everyone else," said Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican.
The measure would also require the satellite providers to offer all local channels on a single dish within 18 months.
EchoStar requires customers in some markets to have two dishes because of capacity constraints. Local channels are sometimes split between the dishes and broadcasters have complained that less popular channels are shunted to the second dish that some customers forego.
