How to Start a Low Power FM Radio Station? | LPFM | Low Power FM Radio

President Signs The Local Community Radio Act

On Tuesday, January 04, 2011, the President signed into law:

H.R. 6533, the “Local Community Radio Act of 2010,” which modifies current restrictions on low-power FM radio stations;

Next the FCC will need to open a rule making proceeding which would take aproximatly 60 days after which time a filing window would be announced!  After more than ten years waiting many new LPFM radio stations across the country will now have an opportunity to file this year!  Now is the time to act if you wish to apply for an LPFM station for your community  in the upcoming window.

Check back for details on this developing story.

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FCC News Flash:  The FCC Plans to open a new filing window in 2011!  Act now to have your application prepared and ready to file. The windows can be short (5 days) and notice limited (30 days).  Engineering companies get busy with LPFM clients once a window is opened.  Radio engineers availability is difficult and pricing increases substantially. Get started now if you want to operate a new LPFM station in 2011!

Start a Low Power FM (LPFM) Radio Station!

Nexus has set up hundreds of low power FM (LPFM) and commercial FM radio stations across the United States, and also supports hundreds of other installations in other parts of the world. We can assist you or your organization to start a new Radio Station - either broadcasting on a low power basis, on a commercial full power FM frequency or the internet.  If you're interesting in starting up a new LPFM radio station or an FM radio station, you're in the right place!

Experienced Broadcasters and
Engineers Make the Difference!

We are broadcasters ourselves, and are one of the very few  LPFM broadcasters that have made the progression to obtaining a full power FM frequency and operating commercially, enabling us to offer unparalleled support through all the stages of building and operating a radio station.

Nexus offers complete service to help you start up a licensed FM or AM radio station in the United States, or anywhere else in the world for that matter. We can take care of the entire project - from licensing with the FCC to determining the best studio and antenna location, supplying all the equipment for the station, setting up the radio automation software, installing the studio equipment,  to providing training on how to use all the equipment.

Simply stated - we help you with starting a FM radio station from start to finish!

Testimonials for Nexus Broadcast!

If Nexus Broadcast has provided satisfactory service to your organization – please let others know – fill out the quick form located here.  Thanks!

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“I have had over 10 years experience working with Leo. He has technical and regulatory competence as a leader in the LPFM Community. He assisted KGCA-LP obtain its CP. Leo has a passion for Community Broadcasting. He has focused on how to provide affordable services to broadcasters with limited resources. His dedication and efforts are known to the FCC and the LPFM community from the very beginning of LPFM broadcasting service. I recommend that anyone wanting to obtain an LPFM discuss their project with Leo. I am not aware of anyone with more commitment and expertise in LPFM..” February 27, 2011

Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, Good Value

Robert Kelley,  
hired Leo as a Broadcast Consultant in 2001, and hired Leo more than once

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“Leo At Nexus Broadcast can be a great asset to you if you are thinking of starting a new radio station. From LPFM Radio to full power commercial he can handle it all. Nexus is for a friendly, courteous, knowledgeable broadcast engineer , thanks Mike” March 3, 2011

Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, Good Value

Michael Brandt,  
hired Leo as a Radio in 2010

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“Leo: Has done a great job everytime for our stations. If you want results then you need to call Leo!” February 23, 2011

Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity

Frank Patterson,  
hired Leo as a Broadcasting Eng. in 2001, and hired Leo more than once

Listening to the Radio like doing Cocaine

Well now, this explains a few things.  Always interested in carrying science forward, I read with interest the article on Gawker which cites a study from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.  The gist of the article states that we seek out music we enjoy because of a chemical reaction in our brains:

Ever had goosebumps or felt euphoric chills when listening to a piece of music? If so, your brain is reacting to the music in the same way as it would to some delicious food or a psychoactive drug such as cocaine, according to scientists.

The experience of pleasure is mediated in all these situations by the release of the brain’s reward chemical, dopamine, according to results of experiments carried out by a team led by Valorie Salimpoor of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, which are published today in Nature Neuroscience.

Music seems to tap into the circuitry in the brain that has evolved to drive human motivation – any time we do something our brains want us to do again, dopamine is released into these circuits. “Now we’re showing that this ancient reward system that’s involved in biologically adaptive behaviours is being tapped into by a cognitive reward,” said Salimpoor.

If music-induced emotional states can lead to dopamine release, as our findings indicate, it may begin to explain why musical experiences are so valued. These results further speak to why music can be effectively used in rituals, marketing or film to manipulate hedonistic states. Our findings provide neurochemical evidence that intense emotional responses to music involve ancient reward circuitry and serve as a starting point for more detailed investigations of the biological substrates that underlie abstract forms of pleasure.

By extension, radio has previously been the venue for most new music discovery.  Although this continues today, it is being supplanted by “new media” sources such as youtube.  As a point of reference, studies on cocaine addiction show that dopamine levels increase by about 22% during use.  When a listener is exposed to what is perceived as good music (a subjective term), average dopamine levels increased by about 21%.

Radio Funding & Grants Radio & TV Stations

What is PTFP? For the past 40 years, PTFP has played a major role in the development of public broadcasting throughout the United States. With the program’s assistance, a public television signal now reaches about 95% of our nation’s population and public radio reaches approximately 90% of the population. The program also funds radio reading services, closed captioning and descriptive video services for the disabled, and numerous distance learning facilities that provide instructional programming for students and professionals. Who May Apply? Eligible applicants must be: a) a public (noncommercial) broadcast station or group of such stations; or b) a nonprofit organization organized primarily for educational or cultural purposes; or c) a State or local government, Indian Tribe or a political or special purpose subdivision of a State. Click here for specific information in the PTFP Rules about eligibility. What type of projects does PTFP fund? PTFP is a competitive, matching grant program that supports the planning for and construction of a) public (noncommercial) radio and television stations; b) distance learning telecommunications facilities using nonbroadcast technologies, such as microwave, fiber optic cable, satellite distribution, and Instructional Television Fixed Internet Service (ITFS); c) public telecommunications services and facilities available to, operated by and controlled by minorities and women; and, d) projects which strengthen the capability of existing public TV and radio stations to serve the public. PTFP classifies applications into several categories and funding priorities. Click here for specific information in the PTFP Rules (§2301.4) about funding priorities. What are the guidelines for PTFP funding? Construction Projects. PTFP awards funds to eligible entities to purchase equipment required to provide public telecommunications services. PTFP is limited by law to providing no more than 75% of eligible project costs for a construction project. PTFP’s general policy is to provide no more than 50% Federal funding for projects to replace, augment, or improve equipment at operating public broadcasting stations. Exceptions to this general policy are contained in 2301.6(b)(1)(ii) of the PTFP regulations. Planning Projects. PTFP can fund up to 100% of eligible project costs. PTFP regulations indicate, however, that there is a general presumption of no more than 75% Federal funding for planning projects. See 2301.6(a)(2) of the PTFP regulations for exceptions. Nonbroadcast Projects. PTFP’s dollar limits are the same for broadcast and nonbroadcast projects. By law, however, PTFP can only fund nonbroadcast projects which activate a new public telecommunications facility or extend the service of an existing public telecommunications facility. See the November 22, 1991, Policy Statement for further information on nonbroadcast applications. How are applications evaluated? All applications are reviewed by outside peer panels and evaluated according to the following six criteria: Applicant Qualifications, Project Objectives, Urgency, Technical (or Planning) Qualifications, Financial Qualifications, and Involvement of Women and Minorities. Click here for specific information in the PTFP Rules about the evaluation criteria.

Get Your Radio Station Listed on Media Player Radio Tuner

If you want your station listed on Microsoft Windows Media Radio Tuner then drop an email to tuner@microsoft.com and ask Sally for a Radio Submission Form. You will probably wait a week or so for a reply, don’t worry, Sally is very busy.

You will be required to have a download link for Windows Media Player on your website. You will also require a direct link to your .asx file.
When you return the Radio Submission Form make sure that your email tells them something about the station. Ie; Is there anything distinguishing about your station?

Getting Your Radio Station Listed on Itunes

Send an email to itunesradio@apple.com  I successfully listed KNOI on itunes.  You can too by Following these guidelines – But be patient it can take a few weeks and if you dont pay attention and get one thing wrong or miss something and they ignore you.  Read carefully and you should be listed in one – three weeks.

 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

* Streams must broadcast at a bitrate of 128k or higher, except for spoken word such as News/Talk, Sports/Radio and non-music Comedy. AAC+ streams 64k and higher are acceptable.

* Stations can list only one bitrate and one genre.

* Stations using names other than their own to be listed higher in the directory or twice in the directory will be rejected.

PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT THIS IS AN AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED RESPONSE.

If you have already sent new submissions or updates, they will be processed within approximately 5 business days.

To add, edit, or troubleshoot your listing in the iTunes Radio Directory, please follow the guidelines below.

1) All emails must have one of these three subject lines as follows:

*  Station Submission: (station name) (ex: Station Submission: Hits Radio)

*  Station Update: (station name, exactly as it appears in iTunes)

*  Other Inquiry: briefly state issue here

2) Station updates and submissions for multiple stations at once may be submitted in one email. Please attach the information in a document (MSWord, Pages, etc.) if there are more than three updates or submissions

3) We will only accept requests from the contact that we have on file for the station or a station owner. Listeners, friends, station personnel not listed with us cannot make requests on behalf of a station.

4) Station submission requests must contain all of the following information:

iTunes Store login account/email address Station Name (this must be the name as it is used in your station’s official branding; you may not change your name to start with ‘A’ to be listed higher unless it is a legitimate part of your station’s name) City/State/Country of Origin Language of Broadcast Stream Type (MP3, AAC or AAC+) Station genre; must be a genre listed in iTunes 10 (sorry, only one genre per station) Website for station Short station description (to be shown in tuner) Contact name, email and phone number Bitrate (sorry, only one bitrate per station) Audio Stream IP/URL (sorry, only one url per station)

If you are a Live365 station, you must make your request through iTunes at Live365 (iTunes@live365.com)

5) Station update requests must contain the following information:

Station name (this MUST be the name as it exists in iTunes) Contact person name, email and phone number The specific update you’d like us to make ONLY (do not resubmit information that is remaining unchanged.

6) Further notes:

Please ensure that your station stream works properly in iTunes:

* Open iTunes

* Select ‘Open Audio Stream’ from the ‘Advanced’ menu

* Enter your audio stream URL

Remember: only .m3u, .mp3 and .pls formats are compatible with iTunes. IP addresses (with these format streams) are also acceptable. .asx, .wma, .qtl and other various formats are NOT compatible and should not be submitted for consideration.

iTunes does not guarantee specific times of updates, station addition or station maintenance.

Additions and changes may only be made to the directory included with iTunes 10. No changes can be made to older versions of iTunes. If you do not see your station, first ensure you are using the latest available version of iTunes, available here:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

Station names, descriptions, and URLs may be edited to conform to our editorial and technical standards.

We may remove your station at any time, without notice. We may not re-add a station depending on this issues surrounding its takedown. In most circumstances, we will attempt to contact you when we remove a station, using the contact info you provided to us.

Please allow up to 5 business days for your station to be added before inquiring about its status

Emergency Alert System & Common Alerting Protocol / EAS CAP

Here is a summary of some basic info about CAP, the new protocol for emergency alerts.

Update as of 11/23/2010: The FCC has extended the deadline for CAP compliance to September 30th, 2011!

CAP Frequently Asked Questions

What is CAP?

CAP stands for Common Alerting Protocol. CAP is a new internationally-accepted open standard for sending information about emergencies. In the US, CAP is going to be implemented as part of the IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert Warning System) program. FEMA will originate messages about emergencies and send them to a centralized “aggregator”, which will then disseminate the messages over the internet.

Unlike the current EAS system, where messages only go out over TV and radio, CAP is not tailored for broadcasters. CAP messages may include text, photos, videos, or audio to supplement the basic information. The messages will be sent not only to TV and radio stations, but also to computers, smart phones, highway signs, and more.

At this point, CAP is not a replacement for the previous emergency alert system. It’s more of a supplement. You can think of CAP as an extra input to your EAS. While you used to be required to monitor two radio stations with your EAS, now you’ll be required to