Broadcasters hate the idea. Basement radio geeks, convinced the airwaves belong to the masses, have been dreaming about it for years. With FCC Chairman Bill Kennard personally leading the charge for LPFM, and an expansive grassroots movement swelling behind it, the issue refuses to die.
Low power is no cure-all.
Even if the FCC adopts LPFM, existing congestion on the dial would make it all but impossible for any new signals to be added in major markets. And who knows, maybe the new mini-FMs, built on shoestring budgets and run by amateurs, could just be an underwhelming hodgepodge of eccentricities on the airwaves. For broadcasters, none of that matters. Their goal is to snuff out LPFM before the first community signal signs on. Three months after the FCC in January proposed what it calls a rule change to consider implementing low power radio, the commission invited citizens to write in with comments.