MMTC Has Ear to Radio

Minority Media & Telecommunications Council to FCC: Migrate AM stations to FM service on spectrum currently used for TV channels 5, 6.

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/31/2008 9:43:00 AM

The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council told the Federal Communications Commission in a filing that the single biggest boost it could give to minority ownership would be to migrate AM stations to "the promised land" of FM service on spectrum currently used for TV channels 5 and 6.

That would triple the value of minority-owned radio stations, the group said.

The MMTC also said it was "gravely concerned" about the commission's adoption of a "small-business" definition of the eligible entities that qualify for the FCC's diversity initiatives, some of which it has adopted and others it has put out for comment.

The group would prefer a "socially and economically disadvantaged business” (SDB) definition, but it said that because the FCC's data collection on media ownership is "neither current nor accurate," it will need to improve it.

Also weighing in Wednesday was the low-power lobby. The Community Broadcasters Association said it was all for the FCC's "tentative finding" that granting must-carry status to all class-A low-power TV stations (mandating cable carriage) would promote programming diversity and localism.

Currently, the FCC only mandates carriage of one or two class-A low-powers if there are not enough full-powers in the market.