RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

Australia and the rapid expansion of such stations in the United States in the mid to late 19705, and development of narradio (neighborhood rađio) in Denmark , Sweden and Norway in the late 1970 sand early 1980s. U.S. and Australian community rađio came about partly as a result of the discovery by engineers that low power (10-100 watt) transmitters could fill in unused 'gaps' in the frequency spectrum , since their signals wouldn't radiate for a great enough distance to interfere with more powerful stations that broađcast on the same frequency in a location some 70-80 miles or more đistant. The U.S. Feđeral Communications Commission began to authorize 10-100 watt non-commercial FM stations (Class D licenses) in 1948, but it wasn't until the early 1970s that community groups in апу number began to apply for such iicenses , spurred by the general climate of social activism manifest in the United States at that time . The FCC ceased issuing Class D licenses in 1978, and told present holders of such iicenses that they could choose to remain at the low-power levels or petition to increase their power, which most diđ - an indication of the fact that this sort of radio has taken root. (As of early 1988, the FCC again is considering the possibility of licensing still more AM and FM stations, using expansion of the AM banđ to 1705 kHz and lower-power, low antenna FM operations to do so . ) The Australian government began to authorize limited power non-commercial FM stations in 1974, partly because certain members of the newly-elected Labor government had an 'activist' social agenda that includeđ increased participation by the public in media activities , Community stations there anđ in the Uniteđ States grew quite rapiđly through the 19 70s, albeit seldom outside larger cities , and as of the late 1980s there are over 80 of them in the United States and about 40 in Australia. Their operations include ethnic groups, university student bodies , socio-cultural organizatiohs , (e.g. f eminists , gay activists) and others. Most rely heavily on volunteer labor anđ on listener contributions; few have annual budgets in ехсезз of $ US 100,000, and some get by on half that amount. Narradio is a very different proposition , except foh its t largely volunteer staffmg . Here , the government furnishes the transmitters (UHF , or FM) and the various groups wishing to broadcast рау a small rental fee for use of the transmitters anđ also cover the costs of lines from stuđio to transmitter , the stuđios and eguipment, program material and admimstration. As the transmitters are few in number, groups must share air time , which usually is parceled out by a governmentally-appomted bođy , albeit in what appears to be a very non-partisan , even-handed manner. Some groups claim several hodrs a day,

127