Copps, McDowell Support AM-Only FM Translator Window

Any steps the FCC takes to help AM radio without allowing an AM-only translator license application window would be “relatively small change,” said former Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell and former Democratic FCC Commissioner Michael Copps in a joint blog on The Hill's website Wednesday. “On this point, all Democrats and Republicans” can agree, the editorial said. Copps left the FCC in December 2011 and is now a special advisor to Common Cause. McDowell left the commission in May 2013 and is now a partner at Wiley Rein. Being able to use a translator to broadcast on the FM band is key because the AM band suffers from increasing interference caused by the widespread adoption of fluorescent lighting, among other things, the blog post said. The application filing window was promised by the FCC two years ago, and that promise should be fulfilled, said the two men. The window “is especially important for women and minority owners of AM stations, who are more likely to run small standalone stations on shoe-string budgets,” they said. Despite their many differences while commissioners, the need for the FCC to help AM radio is an issue on which they are “fully united,” they said.