Philly Group Says Low-Power Radio Act Will Expand Access
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- President Obama is expected to sign a bill this week -- passed with the help of a Philadelphia organization -- that would allow community groups to operate low power radio stations on the FM dial.
(sound of electronic music)
That music may not be your cup of tea, but it's somebody's, and the advocacy group Prometheus Radio says it will be easier to hear obscure bands, or intensely local news, on the radio thanks to the Local Community Radio Act.
Prometheus policy director Brandy Doyle says the act will allow low power stations to serve local communities.
"There's not corporate playlists, there's not a board room somewhere determining what type of programming is airing," she told KYW Newsradio on Monday. "Instead, it's really very local people deciding what they want to hear, what they want to listen to."
The stations will broadcast at up to 100 watts, so their signals will carry only a few miles.
Jim Bear operates an Internet radio station from the city's Germantown neighborhood and hopes to put it on the FM dial.
"Radio is still far and away the easiest and best medium to reach lots of people," he says.
Bear says the possibilities are exciting.
Reported by Pat Loeb, KYW Newsradio 1060.
