After a Year, Chirp Radio Has Made Gains, but Is Still Awaiting Its Own Frequency

The Local Community Radio Act, signed into law this month by President Obama, would seem a fitting first birthday present for Chirp Radio, a Chicago community radio project, except that the law does not help groups hoping to be awarded frequencies in the country’s biggest radio markets. The new law lowered the requirement for the amount of frequency space between radio stations that keeps one station from “bleeding over” another, but the new guidelines do not actually free up any frequencies, leaving Chirp (Chicago Independent Radio Project) and other low-power FM stations to petition the Federal Communications Commission for alternative methods of gaining access. In big markets like Chicago, the airwaves are jammed because of the size of the audience and the potential for advertising revenue. That leaves less frequency space for low-power stations like Chirp. When it started, Chirp drew attention for its rotating cast of volunteer D.J.’s who pride themselves on sharing music, much of it from local artists, not commonly heard on mainstream stations. Chirp broadcasts 21 hours a day, only on the Web, from its Northwest Side studios above a photo album manufacturing plant. It does not have a broadcast license and is not subject to the regulations that come with one, but its broadcasts follow the rules the FCC imposes on noncommercial radio stations.