low powered FM

Puget Sound nonprofits announce plans for neighborhood radio stations

Guest — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 16:01:50 +0000

Guest (not verified) Tue, 10/15/2013 - 9:01am

Public meeting will introduce applicants Oct. 15

In the new age of media and information-overload, the blizzard of choices means loyalty among consumers can be a difficult thing to get and maintain. However, this has not deterred the resolve of fifteen local nonprofits and universities, who are ready to apply for low-power FM (LPFM) radio licenses to serve Seattle's neighborhoods.

As we reported earlier, there's a group that is looking to start a station up in Ballard, led by Ballard High School teacher Eric Muhs.

These community groups will be at a public event today at noon at Pike Place Market to present their vision of what low powered FM can do for communities around Seattle. A map of neighborhoods and locations (seen above) will also be available.

A list of the applicants can be found at: http://community.brownpapertickets.com/Doers/radio.html. Seattle-based Brown Paper Tickets is assisting these nonprofits in their application, and has helped eligible groups across the country learn about the opportunity to own their own radio station, as part of it’s National Make Radio Challenge.

The government shutdown is causing an unexpected delay in the Oct. 15 opening of a two-week window for nonprofits to submit applications for thousands of low-power FM (LPFM) radio frequencies now available as a result of the Local Community Radio Act. Pike Place Market is considering application, but is not yet ready to commit to it, and may actually benefit from the extra time created by the government closure.

The public meeting at the Market will allow any interested party to ask questions of the applicants. The one hour meeting gets underway at 12 noon in the Pike Place Market, Atrium Loft on the top floor of the Economy Market.

Here's a list of who will be there:
Sabrina Roach, Doer specializing in public media and director of Brown Paper Tickets’ national campaign to proliferate LPFM

Ben Franz-Knight, Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority

David Keyes, City of Seattle, Department of Information Technology

Sahar Fathi, City of Seattle, Office of Immigrant & Refugee Affairs

Randy Engstrom, City of Seattle, Office of Arts & Culture

Debra Twersky, 4Culture

Representatives from the following nonprofit organizations, applying for a neighborhood radio station when the FCC reopens:

OneAmerica (SeaTac)
Earth on the Air Independent Media (University District)
Fulcrum Community Communications (Neighborhoods North of the Cut)
Hollow Earth Radio (Central District)
Sand Point Arts & Cultural Exchange (Magnuson Park)
Seattle University Radio (Central District/First Hill)
SouthEast Effective Development (Rainier Valley/Rainier Beach)
Sustainable Bainbridge (Bainbridge)
UWave Radio at University of Washington at Bothell (Bothell)
YOUR.FM Skyway (Skyway)

Those at the meeting hope to discuss how neighborhood radio can help foster arts and culture, close the gap on the low number of media outlets owned by people of color and women, partner with neighborhood blogs and other forms of hyper-local media to develop sustainable business models, innovate programming and incubate talent because of low-barriers to participation, and help train and provide networking for the next generation of media professionals.

Brown Paper Tickets has implemented a National Make Radio Challenge to fill every available frequency in Seattle with a qualified applicant, to get the word out to nonprofits nationally, and to give free assistance and counsel to applicants anywhere across the country who asked for help.

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Ballardites seek to create neighborhood radio station

Guest — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 22:06:40 +0000

Guest (not verified) Tue, 09/17/2013 - 3:06pm

Imagine a community radio station tailored specifically for Ballard.

The possibilities are endless.

News. Talk. Local music. Heritage shows. Historical segments. Educational bits. Debates. PSAs. What have you.

It could be a place where a variety of voices and characters from around the community gather and connect and trade ideas.

Thanks to the Federal Communications Commission, who are reopening a window for low-powered FM (LPFM) licenses starting Oct. 15, a Ballard-centric radio station could become a reality.

LPFM broadcasts at around 100 watts or less and, depending on the area and the station built, would reach around three miles in an urban setting. Here in Ballard, Eric Muhs is spearheading the idea of a Ballard-based station that would reach south to Magnolia/Queen Anne, east to Phinney Ridge/Fremont and north to Loyal Heights/Crown Hill.

Over at Brown Paper Tickets, the philanthropic “Doer” program has been hard at work to try and encourage these little radio stations in Seattle.

“With their minimal operating costs and neighborhood-oriented broadcast range, LPFMs can quickly become local multi-platform cultural hubs, provide hands-on media training, and help reinforce the fact that our airwaves are designed to serve the public good,” Brown Paper Tickets writes on their website.

Muhs, a Ballard High School physics teacher, is no stranger to this type or radio station. When he was teaching in California several years ago, he built and ran a radio station with students.

Right now, Muhs says he has about 30 people in Ballard who have expressed a serious interest in the idea. Some have more experience than him, which is good because the application process can be difficult and complicated. Applicants have to carefully select the frequency, power and antenna height as not to interfere too much with existing stations.

“We are making a really serious run at trying to get this application finished,” Muhs said. “We’re really working hard to get it all done.”

To start off, Muhs said the station would be volunteer run, but they can apply for grants to try and offer pay. Several Seattle organizations offer possible sources of revenue, including 4Culture, the Department of Neighborhoods and the Seattle Department of Information Technology.

While the Ballard radio, should it come to life, wouldn’t be officially going through Seattle Public Schools, Muhs said that he would love to see Ballard High School students participate and help out. Some students have already expressed interest, he said.

The radio station could have an emergency preparedness aspect to it. One of the antenna locations they’re scoping is at a house that’s run on solar power, so it could be a reliable form of communication should a disaster hit.

Muhs’ working title for the station is KBFG, as in Ballard, Fremont and Greenwood. He says it appears to be available (and it is a fun community name), but it wouldn’t be final until the FCC gives the final OK.

In any case, Muhs is optimistic that a small radio station could do much to draw the community together.

“I’ve been pitching the idea that this is potentially a fulcrum for the community,” Muhs said. “… The vision really is community radio in the deepest most meaningful sense of what that could be.”

To learn more or get involved, visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/KBFG-Ballard-Fremont-Greenwood-Radio/167… or contact Eric Muhs at ericmuhs@comcast.net.

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Federal Communications Commission