October 15th was the day the FCC had planned to start accepting license applications for new Low Power FM community radio licenses. The government shutdown temporarily delayed the applications, but that didn’t stop the LPFM party in Seattle. See a map of Seattle/Puget Sound Applicants. A room full of potential applicants from Seattle and the Puget Sound area gathered to celebrate their goal of getting licenses to operate and create new community outlets for diverse voices. The event was hosted by Brown Paper Tickets, which has led the effort to support station applications here. This includes Hollow Earth Radio which received a City of Seattle Technology Matching Fund grant from the Department of Information Technology to help their application and community engagement.
See a video of the event, more about LPFM and Rainier Valley Radio in the Seattle Times and coverage of the event in the Stranger.
Seattle’s CTTAB tech advisory board filed comments in 2012 to encourage the rules that are allowing these new station licenses (see letter below or on the FCC site). Sen. Maria Cantwell was one of the sponsors of the Community Radio Act that directed the FCC to open up the airwaves to new community radio stations. FCC opens a once-in-a-lifetime application window
Also see a video of the January forum on LPFM held at Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center