FCC FACT SHEET
Amendments of Parts 73 and 74 to Improve the LPFM Radio Service Technical Rules Report and Order – MB Docket Nos. 19-193, 17-105
Background: The Commission established the Low Power FM (LPFM) service in 2000 as a secondary, noncommercial broadcast radio service with a community focus.
The Commission designed the LPFM technical rules to be simple so that non-profit organizations with limited engineering expertise and small budgets could readily apply for, construct, and operate community-oriented stations serving highly localized areas.
In July 2019, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to update the LPFM technical rules to reflect the maturity of the service.
These proposals reflected changes sought by LPFM advocates and licensees to improve their signals and provide more regulatory flexibility. The Report and Order would adopt most of the NPRM’s proposed rule changes, with small revisions.
The measures set forth in the Order would allow LPFM licensees to improve reception and increase flexibility in transmitter siting while maintaining interference protection and the core LPFM goals of diversity and localism.
What the Order Would Do:
• Expand the circumstances in which LPFM stations may use directional antennas and allow custom models designed for specific locations instead of only “off-the-shelf” models with parameters set by the manufacturer.
• Redefine LPFM station “minor changes,” which an LPFM licensee can apply for at any time without awaiting a filing window. The Order would revise the current definition from a change in transmitter location that does not exceed 5.6 kilometers to a change which either: (a) does not exceed 11.2 kilometers; or (b) involves overlapping 60 dBu contours of the station’s own existing and proposed facilities.
• Permit LPFM stations to own and operate FM booster stations, which amplify and rebroadcast a station’s signal, usually in areas with irregular terrain. • Make available to LPFM stations and other broadcast stations operating on the FM reserved band (Channels 201 to 220) waivers of the requirement to protect television stations operating on television channel 6 (TV6), which is adjacent to the FM reserved band. An FM radio applicant may request such a waiver if the TV6 station concurs or the applicant demonstrates that no interference would result. The Order would defer to a future proceeding the question of whether to sunset TV6 protections entirely after the July 13, 2021, completion of the transition of low-power television operations from analog to digital.
• Clarify that LPFM stations that go silent must, like other broadcast stations, notify the Commission if they are off-air for more than ten days and request Commission authority to remain off-air more than 30 days.
• Make non-substantive rule changes to conform provisions governing third-adjacent channel interference, correct repetitive language, and remove outdated information.
