The Rise of Independent Radio

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
In a nutshell, people are sick and tired of being lied to by the liberal media, and by Republicans who buy into the establishment message rather than stand firm on the principles of the U.S. Constitution.  As a result, different segments of the alternative media has been growing and blossoming.  One of those outlets is independent radio - locally produced grassroots radio programs on low-power radio stations.  The movement, in fact, has grown so much that even the New York Times has taken notice.

According to the Times, "As Low-Power Local Radio Rises, Tiny Voices Become a Collective Shout: Low-power nonprofit FM stations are the still, small voices of media. They whisper out from basements and attics, and from miniscule studios and on-the-fly live broadcasts ... They have traditionally been rural and often run by churches; many date to the early 2000s, when the first surge of federal licenses were issued.  But in the last year, a diverse new wave of stations has arrived in urban America, cranking up in cities from Miami to the Twin Cities in Minnesota, and especially here in the Northwest, where six community stations began to broadcast in Seattle. At least four more have started in Portland. Some are trying to become neighborhood bulletin boards, or voices of the counterculture or social justice. “Alternative” is the word that unites them ... Low-power FM stations can typically be heard for about three and a half miles if a bigger station or obstacle does not block the signal. Of the nearly 2,500 such stations in some stage of licensing, construction or active broadcast across the nation, more than 850 have a license holder with a religious affiliation ...

Many bigger stations, by contrast, are being programmed far from the cities they serve, with corporate budgets to buy transmitters that can then boost a signal beyond its home base. The low-power licenses are exclusively local ... What low-power urban radio creates, believers say, is a sense of community, a defined physical stamp of existence that goes only as far as it can be heard. So new licensees and programmers are knocking on doors near their antennas and holding fund-raisers at the local brewpub. That’s a stark contrast to the amorphous everywhere-but-nowhere world of the web, and the web-streaming radio or podcasts that a few years ago seemed most likely to take center stage in low-budget community communications."

The Times article also makes reference to the elimination of net neutrality by the FCC regulators that are currently serving under the Trump administration.  The fear is that if internet providers began to tier services, the free streaming and podcasting being offered by low power radio stations may be in jeopardy.  That said, it would boost the on-air listenership of those stations.  Personally, I do not believe that government control creates more freedom.  In truth, I think it is right the opposite.  If anything, government control over the internet is not making it more free as much as it is likely interfering with potential innovation.

I was satisfied to see the New York Times recognize the rise of local radio.  While the radio station I broadcast on operates at 1000 watts, and the signal's range reaches much farther than a few miles, in Southern California's jungle of major players, KMET is definitely a small, local, low-power enterprise that I love being a part of, and I believe to be a part of the low-power radio revolution that the Times is referring to.

My journey to where I am at on the radio dial began in 2007, beginning with a four year online endeavor on BlogTalkRadio.  After my program began to constantly become featured due to its popularity, I decided to take the next step and look into the world of terrestrial radio.  KCAA 1050-AM was the most reasonably priced so I went with them.  The date of my first episode, after raising the money to join the Saturday lineup with a one-hour program, was August 6, 2011.  As the price went up, and the reality of me being the only conservative program on a station chock full of pro-marijuana, Hollywood gossip, and liberal left programming finally became too much for me, I began looking around for a new radio home.

In January of 2014 the Banning-Beaumont-Cherry Valley Tea Party decided to start their own radio program, and asked me to host it. The broadcast was to be aired on KMET 1490-AM. During the first quarter of the year I was on two stations, and then finally in April it became apparent to me that it was time to depart from KCAA. In May of 2014, Constitution Radio with Douglas V. Gibbs program moved to KMET, beginning as a one hour program each Saturday.

In January of 2017 the program was expanded to two hours, and since then I have been on for three hours every Saturday (except when preempted by a sporting event) with the Conservative Voice program at 8:00 am, and the two-hour Constitution Radio program from 1:00 to 3:00 pm; the latter funded by businesses who believe in my effort to spread constitutional literacy, and the contributions of listeners and followers of what I do.

One thing I can say about my show is that it totally matches the New York Times' description of low-power programming when the newspaper outlet referred to them as "non-profit."  I am not non-profit by choice.  I would rather make a few dollars out of it, to be honest.  But, I have always seen my efforts to spread constitutional literacy as a ministry . . . so the fact that the program currently flies by its low-funded seat of its pants is fine.

One thing is for sure.  As my co-host Dennis said today on our latest program regarding the rise of independent programming, "put a bunch of pencils together, put a rubber-band around them, it's hard to break them."

In other words, United We Stand, Combined We Kick Butt.  Consider it an alternative media revolution.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary