Story by Andrea Grimald
Photos by Bernie Laframboise

Although nearly every home and vehicle has a radio readily available, FM stations don’t get the love they used to. Radio stations are plagued wth bad reputations for repetitive, generic music and repetitive, obnoxious commercials, and internet radio and streaming services seem to dominate the listeners. But a local group is determined to have Ferndale dusting off their radios for something new. Imagine enjoying a local band on the radio, and finding out they are playing down the street this upcoming weekend. Imagine hearing about every party or event that will improve your neighborhood. Large-scale radio stations don’t have the scope or capability to focus on the bustling activity of each city, especially a city as busy as Ferndale. Ferndale Community Radio aims to keep you in your car longer, to make you tune your radio alarm clock to listen at home, to get you more involved in your community. Recently, t
he Federal Communications issued a license for a Low-Power FM (LPFM) station to a group of friends in Ferndale. LPFM radio stations are rare, and designed to help the community. One-hundred-watt broadcasts reach only three to five miles, and are designed to stay community-centered and commercial-tee. With such a small range of broadcasting, the focus of each station is as local as local gets.

Although sounding like a great service, LPFM stations are generally hard to find. Large, commercial radio stations lobbied Congress against allowing low powered stations, claiming the small stations are detrimental to their commercial feeds. Because of this, Congress passed the Local Community Radio Act, which allows a very small amount of LPFM licenses to be granted within a very small time tame. These licenses were only given to commercial-free, non-profit, educational entities. These groups must prove they have a place to broadcast tom and available airspace to broadcast to, among other regulations.

Although there weren’t a high number of applications nationwide (less than 3,000 in 2013), licenses were awarded to less than a third of the applicants, wth an estimate of only 800 LPFM stations currently broadcasting.

One of these permits was granted to the soon-to-be Ferndale Community Radio thanks to hard wort< and determination of local radio enthusiasts. These enthusiasts include Michelle Mirowski, president and general manager, Dave Phillips, head of communications, Jeremy Olstyn, in charge of programming and training, Paul Schmalenberg, head engineer, and Dave Kim, in charge of promotions. All five come from radio backgrounds, whether DJ-ing for their high school or college stations, or working in the broadcast industry. The group has a passion for radio and many ideas of the potential that so many commercial stations miss out on.

Although Underwood Five considers themselves very lucky to be awarded a construction permit to begin building the station, many roadblocks have come up along the way. Trying to find airspace on the crowded Metro­ Detroit dial was not easy. Finding a location seemed impossible, until the Rust Belt Mar1<et graciously offered booth space to broadcast from. Owner Chris Best admitted that since opening the Rust Belt, they had hoped to offer their space for a local radio station but weren’t aware of the limitations set by the FCC and the Local Community Radio Act. This space will allow for an open and accessible station to establish itself, as well as pro-vide an excellent soundtrack during business hours of the Rust Belt. However, while the Rust Belt is a great location and full of Ferndale-centric shops and shoppers, it is not currently equipped for a radio station. This is where the next step becomes imperative.

Ferndale Community Radio is currently raising money to begin building their station. The money they will raise will go to building materials for their studio, the tools to get broadcast-ready (including a transmitter, an antenna, a tow-er, and the costs of professional installation). Depending on the success of their fundraising campaign, they are hoping to begin broadcast before 2016 is over. They will need to raise $15,000 to cover the costs. Their recently started IndieGoGo campaign can be found at www.FerndaleRadio.com
Due to the limitations set by the license, if Ferndale Community Radio is not broadcast-ready by February
2017, they will lose their permit. If the permit is lost, it will not be passed on to another group. It will become obsolete. Due to the delicate reward process and the limited number of LPFM stations nation-wide, losing the permit would be a loss not only for the hardworking FCR group, but also for Ferndale as a whole.

For local bands, a community radio station will be a dream. For listeners who like something unique, untouched by commercial interests, possibly including on-air book clubs and programs with fantastic story telling, Ferndale Community Radio will be their go-to. As the station becomes more established, the creators are hoping to bring more DJs and broadcasters on board, entertaining any show ideas. They encourage other aspiring radio fans to reach out and volunteer.

To learn more, go to FerndaleRadio.com to hear about the vision from the visionaries.

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