Look out Pocatello, Idaho: There’s a new broadcast TV duopoly in town. According to TV News Check, the broadcast station KIFI – the market leader in Idaho Falls-Pocatello – will soon take control of ad sales and operations of its former competitor, KIDK. The agreement will cost nearly thirty people their jobs and residents will lose access to diverse, competitive news. The jointly run stations will only face news competition from one other station, the local NBC affiliate.

Little noticed but extremely important, this December Congress passed the Local Community Radio Act.

This legislation opens up radio spectrum to hundreds, if not thousands, of local nonprofit independent radio stations (also known as LPFM).

Its passing will bring new choices and voices on the radio dial nationwide, but is especially relevant to a broadcast area reaching 160 million people who lived in areas where these stations had previously been barred from local airwaves.

Late Monday, a majority of the FCC's commissioners indicated that they're going to vote with Chairman Julius Genachowski for a toothless Net Neutrality rule.

As members of the Federal Communications Commission prepare for a vote on Net Neutrality next week, some of Congress’ most Internet-savvy members say the rule before the agency doesn’t fully safeguard consumers nor clear even the lowest bar for real Net Neutrality protections.