WASHINGTON -- Cajun, zydeco, swamp pop, jazz, rock. The Louisiana music scene boasts a range of styles that the state's artists work to keep alive each day.
But getting the eclectic mix of music onto the airwaves poses another challenge altogether."A lot of Louisiana music falls through the cracks because of commercial radio programming," said Steve Picou, assistant director of the Louisiana Music Commission.
Federal regulators are moving ahead with a plan that could help the music commission and hundreds of other groups tap into local interests: the creation of low-tech FM radio stations.
A proposal that would allow for at least 1,000 low-power FM stations run by community groups, churches and schools to spring up nationwide won approval today from the Federal Communications Commission.
It marks one of the most significant changes in FM radio in decades.
The plan would let groups obtain noncommercial licenses for 10-watt and 100-watt stations and tailor their broadcasts to the interests of people in their listening areas. The power of current FM stations ranges from 6,000 watts up to 100,000 watts.
The plan has faced opposition from commercial broadcasters, who fear low-power stations would interfere with existing FM stations.
One strong proponent is the FCC chairman, Bill Kennard, who hopes the plan would allow for greater diversity on the airwaves at a time when the media industry is consolidating.
"The airwaves can accommodate lots of voices," Kennard said in an interview Wednesday.
He hopes the low-power stations "will allow some of these nontraditional voices to speak to their community."
For example, high schools could set up their own radio stations or local broadcasters could serve non-English speaking groups or distinct musical interests in their regions, Kennard said.
A 100-watt station, using a 100-foot antenna, could serve a 7-mile area, according to FCC officials. Smaller stations of 10 watts would cover a 4-mile radius.
Kennard estimates these power levels will allow for at least 1,000 new stations around the country. The plan will contain some limitations on the number of licenses a single entity can own and will have some requirements to ensure that license holders have a base in the local community, according to Kennard.
"We want to maximize the opportunities," he said.
Opponents such as the National Association of Broadcasters have commissioned studies to document what they say would be the degradation in service to listeners that could result from such low-power stations.
"We've provided what we believe is unassailable evidence that low-power stations will add to the interference on an already congested radio band," association spokesman Dennis Wharton said. "Thousands of people won't be able to hear their hometown radio stations because of this."
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., a member of the House Commerce Committee, made a last-minute pitch to the FCC on Wednesday, urging the commission to make sure all harmful interference issues had been addressed before the commission made its decision.
Kennard has said he would not do anything to interfere with standard FM service. The FCC has said it was confident that low-power stations could coexist with full-power FM stations.
In an effort to help regular FM stations grow and become financially solid, the FCC stopped licensing low-powered FM radio stations around 1978. But once the commission offered a proposal to reintroduce low-power stations last year, it was flooded with thousands of comments from interested parties.
Public interest groups say they will welcome the opportunity for more people to have access to the airwaves, but stress that it's only one step.
"I wish this could address all of the concerns about mass media consolidation," said Cheryl Leanza of the Media Access Project, a public interest law firm. "It's a meaningful step, but it's certainly not a complete answer."
Separately, the commission was expected to vote today on rules to ensure broadcasters and cable companies are recruiting minorities and women to fill vacancies. This comes after a 1998 court decision that scuttled the FCC's 30-year-old equal employment opportunity rules for TV and radio stations, declaring them unconstitutional.