Five low power radio stations have been canceled by the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety, reports Emily Rizzo for WHYY.

With the help of the Federal Communications Commission, the county’s licenses for WRDY, WEMA, WEMZ, WEMK, and WEMQ have been permanently canceled.

The stations were continuously running loops of public service announcements around the clock, but that wasn’t their original intent, pointed out Todd Stieritz, public affairs coordinator for the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety.

He said the county planned on using the low-power FM Stations for emergency preparedness alerts, but it didn’t really happen that way, since the stations reached about 80% of the county with the five stations broadcasting area, and the stations only aired “essentially pre-canned preparedness information.”

“There was a lofty goal when we acquired these licenses. And unfortunately, the realities of staff, time, and funding, they just didn’t allow for us to devote a full-time person to developing content,” Stieritz said.

Now, these radio slots may be open for others to claim, but it depends on when the FCC’s next application filing window will open, says Pete Tridish, who began the Prometheus Radio Project, which help people apply for and operate low power radio stations.

Find out more about these Montco low-power FM stations on WHYY.