New LCCR Report Calls on Congress to Lift Low Power FM Radio Restrictions

Media 04.23,09

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Reps. Michael Doyle, D. Pa., and Lee Terry, R. Neb., joined the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) to release “Low Power Radio: Lost Opportunity or Success on the Dial?,” a report that makes the case for lifting restrictions on community-based low power radio (LPFM) stations.


LPFM stations are local non-commercial radio broadcasters that operate at 100 watts or less and reach a radius of 3 to 7 miles. 


LPFM stations provide an opportunity for greater diversity on the airwaves – diversity that is sorely lacking. While Latino Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans make up one-third of the U.S. population, they own only 7.2 percent of all full-power radio and TV stations. Women make up 51 percent of the U.S. population, yet own less than 6 percent of full power commercial radio and TV stations.


However, current restrictions on radio ownership have limited the Federal Communications Commission’s ability to license more LPFM stations. 


The Local Community Radio Act of 2009 (H.R. 1147), co-sponsored by Reps. Doyle and Terry, would authorize more LPFM licenses and would help enhance diverse viewpoints and diverse ownership in the media, serving underserved communities of color, religious, and linguistic groups and disseminating public information for the welfare and safety of local communities.


“In an era of mass media consolidation, LCCR believes that it is important to preserve an avenue through which diverse viewpoints can be represented over the public airwaves, namely, low power radio,” the report says.


The report is available online: Low Power Radio: Lost Opportunity or Success on the Dial?


The report details trends and statistics from the LPFM spectrum in tidy charts and graphs. A few highlights:



  • Every week, radio reaches 93 percent of everyone over 12 years old – more than 200 million people.

  • 94 percent of African-American listeners spend 21 hours per week listening to the radio.

  • 95 percent of Hispanic listeners spend an average of 22 hours per week listening to the radio.