Micropower radio is a subset of pirate radio concerned with low-power radiobroadcasting, usually less than about 100 watts radiated power and sometimes less than 0.1 watt. Micropower radio transmits to a number of recipients ("listeners" or "viewers") that belong to a small local group. Beginning in the early 1990s, there has been an increase in micropower radio because of the desire for such a service in local communities. Micropower radio gives an avenue for small groups and individuals to provide local neighborhood or community broadcasts of information, diverse programming, and entertainment. Micropower radio is usually a non-commercial service.
The Micro Radio Movement in the United States aims to change radio licensing laws. While never his intent to found a movement, Mbanna Kantako, founder of the Human Rights Radio Network, is often referred to as the founder or grandfather of the Micro Radio Movement.
In the US, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires AM/FM radio and TV stations without a Low Power FM (LPFM) license to transmit with at least 6,000 watts of power. The FCC is not currently offering any LPFM licenses. This makes the cost of setting up a radio station prohibitive for individuals and small communities.
Sources
Free Radio, Electronic Civil Disobedience by Lawrence Soley
Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" and broadcast translators. LPAM, LPFM and LPTV are in various levels of use across the world, varying widely based on the laws and their enforcement.
In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator.
The strict definition of a pirate radio station is a station that operates from sovereign territory without a broadcasting license, or just beyond the territorial waters of a sovereign nation from on board a ship or other marine structure with the intention of broadcasting to that nation without obtaining a broadcasting license from that nation.
A travelers' information station (TIS), also called highway advisory radio (HAR) by the United States Department of Transportation, is a licensed low-powered non-commercial radio station, used to broadcast information to the general public, including for motorists regarding travel, destinations of interest, and situations of imminent danger and emergencies. They are commonly operated by transportation departments, national and local parks departments and historic sites, airport authorities, local governments, federal agencies, colleges and universities, hospitals and health agencies, and for special events and destinations.
A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary from band to band.
The Prometheus Radio Project is a non-profit advocacy and community organizing group with a mission to resist corporate media consolidation and radio homogenization in the United States. Founded in 1998 by a small group of radio activists in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Prometheus has participated in the community radio movement by providing technical training, helping marginalized communities gain access to affordable media outlets, and creating a network of low power community radio stations. A lot of Prometheus' efforts have over-time been focused on legal advocacy for low-power FM (LPFM) stations.
WRYR-LP was a low power radio station licensed to Sherwood, Maryland, United States. It served portions of Anne Arundel, Calvert, Queen Anne, Talbot, Dorchester, and Caroline Counties, including Maryland's capital city of Annapolis. The station was owned by WRYR Community Radio Inc. Its license was cancelled October 2, 2019.
WVEW-LP is a radio station licensed to Brattleboro, Vermont. The license to operate the station is held by Vermont Earth Works. The broadcast radius is from 3 to 5 miles. There are 56 volunteers on the staff.
Rhode Island Public Radio, doing business as The Public's Radio, is the NPR member radio network for the state of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. Its studios are in the historic Union Station in downtown Providence. The network airs a format of news and talk from NPR, APM, PRX and other sources, such as Morning Edition, On Point, KERA's Think and All Things Considered, as well as extensive local news coverage.
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats the signal of a radio or television station to an area not covered by the originating station.
KSWH-LP was a college radio station licensed to serve Arkadelphia, Arkansas. The station was owned by the Henderson State University Foundation.
WXBH-LP was a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Louisville, Kentucky. The station was licensed to Brycc House Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. WXBH-LP's license was cancelled on June 14, 2013.
KCFV is a radio station licensed in Ferguson, Missouri, United States. The station is owned by St. Louis Community College.
KPFZ-FM is an FM radio station that broadcasts a community radio format to Lake County, California.
The Local Community Radio Act is an act of broadcast law in the United States, explicitly authorizing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to license local low-power broadcasting in the FM broadcast band (LPFM). After five years and four versions, it passed the U.S. Congress in 2010, granting equal protection to community radio stations with regard to translator and booster stations. All three types of stations remain secondary to full-power radio stations, which are typically owned by major corporations and nonprofits. The act negates the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000, which prevented community LPFM stations on the basis of RF interference.
KSKQ is a non-member project owned exclusively by the Multicultural Association of Southern Oregon (MCASO) as a non-commercial educational (NCE) community FM radio station licensed by the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to the MCASO in Ashland, Oregon, United States. Originally a low power LPFM station, it was upgraded to a full-power NCE station in June 2011. Its studio is located in Ashland. The original transmitter was just southeast of the city, but has now been dismantled in favor of a better site on Table Mountain. KSKQ has been streaming locally produced and nationally syndicated programming over the Internet since 2005. In 2007, it also began broadcasting over the airwaves at 94.9 FM.
KEIF-LP 104.7 FM was a low-power non-commercial community radio station in Enid, Oklahoma. It broadcast classic rock, local news and weather, and specialty programs that feature blues and novelty songs. On March 18, 2013, the FCC rescinded the station's license due to a late renewal application and previous violations.
W243CE, is a Spanish-language music radio station having Winder, Georgia as its city of license, and previously transmitting from west-northwest of Winder, about halfway to Auburn, Georgia.
WRTH-LP is an oldies/beach music radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, and serving the entire Greenville County region. It is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast on 101.5 MHz with an FCC authorized ERP of 100 watts. The station goes by the name "Oldies Radio Kool-FM"
KVGK-LP was a radio station licensed to serve Las Vegas, Nevada. The station, founded by Gregory LaPorta, was established in 2010, was owned by Las Vegas Public Radio Inc. and affiliated with Feature Story News (FSN), T-Mobile, the Las Vegas Tribune, Syndication Networks and Public News Service (PNS). Portsonic Communications, LLC was a local community radio investor and management company for Las Vegas Public Radio Inc. KVGK-LP was governed under the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 as a public radio station to the Las Vegas, Nevada valley. The FCC licensed Portsonic Communications, LLC, a commercial company for KVGK-LP 97.9 FM from May 12, 2023 to November 12, 2023 to work on a split of the nation's Low Power FM service through a research and development pilot project running under a Temporary Application for Provisionial Commercial Use at FCC Facility ID: 190166 in North Las Vegas, Nevada where Las Vegas Public Radio had been broadcasting from with the original KIOF-LP 97.9 FM. Because the FCC licensed a commercial company for Low Power FM operations during a short period of time, KVGK-LP 97.9 FM never came to air and was used to trace fatal flaws in the FCC's Licensing and Management System (LMS) during the final report issued by the FCC on May 14, 2024 in FCC DA 24-252. This single report heavily documents why the LPFM Commercial Service never came about over the past 25+ years due to regulatory/statutory blockage.
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