“Is Anybody Listening?” Questioning the Local Bond Between LPFM Programmers and Their Audience

Abstract

In an effort to promote localism in U.S. broadcasting, the Federal Communications Commission began licensing Low-Power FM (LPFM) radio in January 2000. FCC rules require that LPFM stations are noncommercial, locally owned and operated, and broadcast at power of 100 watts or less, with signals that travel three to five miles. This article focuses on LPFM programmers’ statements of uncertainty about audience constitution and presence. Given that the establishment of LPFM service rides on the argument that, due to consolidation, there is a need for local stations to produce locally originated programming, serving unique community interests, it is striking to hear programmers reveal they are unsure if any community members are tuning in. In addition to raising questions about prevailing expectations for a form of radio imagined to be the essence of American broadcasting, their comments support claims made by scholars of media policy about the need to reconceptualize localism dur ing a period of media convergence.