Colorado Springs community radio gets go-ahead

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From The Denver Post:

(Photo illustration by Jeff Neumann, The Denver Post; photos: Getty Images, Jupiter Images)


Community non-profit radio is within reach for Colorado Springs. The non-profit Colorado Media Justice Foundation in the Springs applied for a low-power FM radio broadcasting license last Fall. On Feb. 6 the Federal Communications Commission awarded the group a construction permit.
“Media conglomerates own the vast majority of radio stations in our city. The result is a gaping void in truly
local voices on the public airwaves,” Dennis Apuan, chair of the Colorado Media Justice Foundation
(CMJF) said in a statement. “Our community radio project is bringing local citizens together to counter the bland sameness and conservative bias of the corporate media monopolies, and awaken our community to its exciting, diverse, creative potential.”
Dave Gardner, director of CMJF, said it will take “a good year to do our capital campaign and get the facility built.” A number of people interested in doing programming, some offering music shows. “I want to see us provide some local current affairs talk programming. The only local talk shows we have (in Colorado Springs) are very conservative and don’t even address local issues.” Gardner said the station may have an internet presence before broadcasting begins, perhaps within six months.” The project needs $20,000 to get going, “then we need to start working on an operational budget year to year,” anywhere from $3,000 to $30,000, Gardner said.
The FCC license gives CMJF 18 months to design and build studios, purchase and install a
transmitter and antenna, and begin broadcasting. The low-power signal will be located in southeastern Colorado Springs, broadcasting on 93.9 FM and simulcast on the internet. Volunteers and donors should email info@csradio.org or call the station at 719-291-9898.
Related: Why do the conservative media have all the fun?



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[DenverDXer]

As of today, the FCC has awarded 15 LPFM licenses around Colorado, mostly in smaller communities. In the Denver area, religious groups in Golden and Castle Rock have been awarded Construction Permits. But most of the metro area applicants are not decided yet, in part because of competitive applications for several frequencies. REC Networks maintains an excellent scorecard of how the applications are progressing:

http://recnet.net/scoreboard.php?mod...rt=chan&wind=2

[DenverDXer]

The Colorado Independent has been awarded a CP for a LPFM license at 96.1 with 100 watts, and a transmitter site in south Denver near Yale & S. Logan streets. In their application, they proposed programming that includes daily, locally produced news and analysis, including an afternoon talkshow by columnist Mike Littwin.