South Philly Community Radio needs $21k to launch

Yesterday, community groups across the country applied for licenses to operate non-commercial radio stations. As Technically Philly reported in May, it was the first time in 30 years that the Federal Communications Commission opened up the airwaves, which are for the most part controlled by media conglomerates.

Meet one of those applicants: South Philly Community Radio.

Run by Christopher Randolph with nonprofit Resources for Human Development, the radio station is raising $21,000 for its launch. It says it will cater to the many immigrant communities in South Philly, offering programming in six languages other than English.

Contribute here by Dec. 14.

It’s not yet certain that the FCC will award a license to South Philly Community Radio. The FCC will award up to three licenses in the region, the Prometheus Radio Project told us last spring, but at the time, Prometheus told us that there was not an enormous amount of interest from community groups in the area, due in part to the cost of starting up a station.

If the FCC does not approve South Philly Community Radio’s application, the organization has a backup plan to operate legally, Randolph said, though he would not share more details at this time. Randolph has already secured a place from which to broadcast, the roof of the Methodist branch of Jefferson Hospital.

Randolph, 42, was active in the community radio movement that got started here in Philly in the 90s. A native Philadelphian, he’s worked as a socioeconomic researcher and an ESL teacher in Qatar. He’s also worked for a few dot-com companies, he said.

h/t Philebrity