What is low-power FM (LPFM)?

FM radio stations have high operating costs, so they're seldom affordable to individuals and small organizations that want to use them for not-for-profit purposes. Find out how LPFM stations work in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:23):
from how Stuff works dot com where smart Happens. Hi,
I'm Marshall Brain with today's question. What is low power
FM or LPFM? A normal FM station transmits at thousands

(00:44):
of wats. This level of power means that the station
needs lots of expensive transmitting equipment as well as a
fairly substantial antenna. It might cost in the range of
a million dollars to get a basic FM station on
the air at this level of power, and it can
cover an entire urban area. That level of investment has
several side effects. First, only a business entity or an

(01:07):
extremely wealthy individual can afford to create an FM station,
and the station must of necessity be driven by business
logic in order to cover the high operating costs. This
limits creativity and makes it hard for small organizations or
individuals to get airtime. The LPFM station is designed to

(01:28):
let individuals and small organizations own and operate radio stations
for a wide variety of not for profit reasons. In
this sense, the FCC is trying to bring station creation
closer to normal people, in the same way that anyone
can create a web page. It's not quite that simple,
but at least they're headed in the right direction. An

(01:50):
LPFM station is a ten watt or a hundred watt transmitter.
This level of power gives the station a range of
approximately three and a half miles or five point six kilometers.
A transmitter this size and its antenna might cost two
thousand to five thousand bucks. In a city, the range
of an LPFM transmitter can encompass lots of people, and

(02:13):
it can completely cover an entire neighborhood or community area.
The owner operators of low power FM stations could include,
among others, religious groups, local neighborhoods, amusement parks, PTA sponsored
school stations, ethnic organizations, racetrack pit areas, universities too new

(02:34):
or previously unable to get a full power license, movie
theater schedule information, interstate highway rest stops, high schools, and
so on. Information about low power FM radio stations is
available on the FCC website. Do you have any ideas
or suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send me
an email at podcast at how stuff works dot com.

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