LPFMs Look Ahead to 2015

Low-power FM faithful expect 2015 to be the year of major station build-outs -- a flurry of facility launches as community broadcasters stake claim to more space on the FM band.

At the same time, advocates are watching how these new broadcasters raise money for equipment, adapt to new management strategies and create peer support groups. Close to 2,000 new LPFMs could be on air within 18 months as result of the application filing window in 2013, LPFM advocates estimate. About 150 of those are now on the air. Prometheus Radio Project, an LPFM advocate and consultant, believes that by the end of 2015 the total number of LPFM construction permits issued from the 2013 application filing window could hover around 2,000; this would bring the LPFM service to almost 3,000 licenses nationally.