Radio stations are business, but they are different than most others in Birmingham in that they are licensed by the federal government to do business on public property. And the inventory of property, otherwise know as the public’s airwaves, is finite. I’d speculate that there’s not a single FM frequency currently available in Birmingham. Let’s imagine that you and a group of like-minded citizens band together and found a radio station that will truly serve your community. Too bad! There’s no room on the dial for you.

What’s more, commercial radio stations, through the National Association of Broadcasters, have fought to kill just about every effort to give the public more access to the public airwaves. Unfortunately, there’s no real legal or regulatory remedy to use against radio stations that fail to serve their communities.

Radio stations are business, but they are different than most others in Birmingham in that they are licensed by the federal government to do business on public property. And the inventory of property, otherwise know as the public’s airwaves, is finite. I’d speculate that there’s not a single FM frequency currently available in Birmingham. Let’s imagine that you and a group of like-minded citizens band together and found a radio station that will truly serve your community. Too bad! There’s no room on the dial for you.

What’s more, commercial radio stations, through the National Association of Broadcasters, have fought to kill just about every effort to give the public more access to the public airwaves. Unfortunately, there’s no real legal or regulatory remedy to use against radio stations that fail to serve their communities.