Addresses listener's concern of losing the station that they listen to
REC Networks, a provider of database information and advocacy to the secular and faith-based LPFM community has released a placed a special message to listeners of the non-commercial FM stations operated by Educational Media Foundation (EMF) and their affilliates.
Recently, EMF through their two networks K-Love and Air-1 had solicited listeners to file comments with the FCC stating that advocates of LPFM are proposing to expand LPFM by allowing low power stations to "take priority over the current FM translator service.". This solicitation resulted in thousands of comments being filed by K-Love and Air-1 supporters throughout the country. Many of the comments urged the FCC to not replace their favorite K-Love and Air-1 stations with LPFM.
In response, REC is assuring that most of the K-Love and Air-1 audience would not be impacted by any of the "Distant Translator" concepts proposed by REC and other LPFM advocates. "A majority of their audience are served from either their full power FM stations or by translators located within our criteria of being a local translator. These stations and translators are able to better able to serve the specific needs of their local communities than a translator for a station thousands of miles away.", says Rich Eyre of REC Networks. In comments to the FCC, REC is stating that translators that are "located at least 400km away and in a different state than the primary station being rebroadcast" to be considered a distant translator. REC goes on to suggest that distant translators should be subject to displacement in the event the channel is needed by an LPFM applicant and no other channels are available and the LPFM can meet all distance spacing rules in relation to other full power stations and "non-distant" translators.
A copy of REC's message as well as a tool that K-Love and Air-1 listeners can use to determine if the station they listen to is considered a "distant translator" is at the following URL: http://www.recnet.com/emf
