Around the Water Cooler

Community radio advocates are reminding everyone that the window for FM translator applications, Nov 4-17, is an extraordinary opportunity that might only be available once in a generation. Long-timers have noticed that community radio has a poor track record making the most of these opportunities, especially when compared to religious radio networks.

College Broadcasters, Inc., has organized around the issue. They are planning a webinar on the topic (including inviting other speakers to join them) and hope to spread the word at a conference in mid-October in Philadelphia.

The FCC is paying attention to LPFMs, at least in these Texas cases. LPFM station managers should make sure they are in compliance with what their license says.

This week, ABC and its parent company, Disney, filed suit against the FCC to block its “early review” of the network’s broadcast licenses. Should the company prevail, the First Amendment case will likely have implications for all broadcast license holders. Deadline outlined five stand-out claims from the lawsuit, including detailing an FCC demand for a list of political donations made by the hosts of The View and ABC News personnel and drawing a connection between the president’s threats and the agency’s actions.

Meanwhile, Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty face ethics complaints for accepting gifts from Paramount as the company pursues its mega-merger with Warner Brothers. And yet, Carr wants to eliminate the ownership cap on local tv station ownership so that the “little guys” are in a better position to fight the supposed content dictates of Hollywood. The FCC’s split vote to effectively eliminate the ownership cap has drawn criticism from the Communications Workers of America and its allies.

From now through August 31, the Federal Communications Commission is accepting public comments on proposed rules that would allow EAS participants to use a software-based encoder/decoder technology instead of a dedicated hardware box. Radio World has more.

Equipment believed to be from Radio Free Asia is on the auction block from now through Aug. 27. Details here.

The Public Media Journalists Association is organizing a conference on the responsible use of automated computer tools, so-called AI, on Sept. 9 at CUNY-New York. Even if you can’t go, scroll down to the bottom of the conference page for explainers and resources they’ve put online.

Prism, a foreign-based, AI-powered network of 200 “local” news outlets that co-opted the name of a U.S. nonprofit news alliance, has shut down. Poynter has the story.

A new study found that 70 percent of new donors to public radio and television in the past year were already listening/viewing before they made their first gift, spurred by the public funding rescission. Researchers found that these new donors saw public media as an essential part of their community.

What’s more, public radio listening is on the rebound, according to new analysis from the Radio Research Consortium. Researchers found that the noncommercial radio audience grew over the past two years. According to reporting from Inside Radio, they attribute some of the change to two things: curious listeners who stayed after the federal funding battles and an increase in local programming.

Communications Act of 1934, Sect. 326.

Nothing in this Act shall be understood or construed to give the Commission the power of censorship over the radio communications or signals transmitted by any radio station, and no regulation or condition shall be promulgated or fixed by the Commission which shall interfere with the right of free speech by means of radio communication.