The State of Minnesota should also be proud of the great public radio services you have helped support in Grand Rapids and elsewhere throughout the state. You have made a significant investment in building this system over a long period of time. At KAXE we intentionally use media to bring people together and do the public good. Most of this spectrum is sold, for nominal cost, to commercial broadcasters who then use the spectrum to turn a profit. This being the information age, your attention is a valuable commodity.
Commercial broadcasters sell the attention of their audiences to advertisers.
The advertisers are the commercial broadcaster s customers. These stations and their investors profit greatly from a commercial license that is sold by the FCC at a tiny fraction of its value. Some commercial stations do a great job, but there is no incentive in the system for them to produce public affairs programming, educate and train our youth, or to leave behind the profits of the music entertainment industry. The public portion of the spectrum was intentionally set aside as a public service because the public as a whole agreed there should be an alternative to commercial stations. Receiving government funding compensates those nonprofit organizations that engage in creating programs as a public service instead of for turning a profit for investors and advertisers.