The FCC granted a request by the Station Resource Group to extend the deadline for filing comments on its proposed low-power FM rulemaking. (PDFs.) SRG said the added time would allow member stations to discuss the rulemaking in San Diego this week at its annual retreat.

Even Brenda Starr is taking note of the CPB flap.

Audience share for WETA-FM in Washington, D.C., has dropped from a year ago, reports the Washington Times. The station changed to an all-news format in February. WAMU-FM’s share was identical in spring 2004 and spring 2005.

Tavis Smiley addresses the debate about balance in public broadcasting: “While Washington talks about ideological balance, Americans hunger to see programming that reflects their experience and inspires their lives.”

The Cleveland Plain Dealer checks on WCPN-FM/WVIZ-TV four years after the stations merged and finds low morale and a struggling news department on the radio side, according to some accounts. “The feeling was that TV management, which basically took over, didn’t understand how public radio was done successfully,” says a former WCPN reporter.

Ten public interest groups have asked CPB for “increased openness and transparency in the way the CPB board operates and conducts its meetings.” “Citizens should not be kept in the dark about how the CPB does its work,” said Chellie Pingree, president of Common Cause.

Another article about the Prairie Home Companion movie, this one from the Washington Post. “It’s very difficult for him,” says director Robert Altman of his collaborator, Garrison Keillor. “It’s the first time he’s had anybody that can override him.” At PHC‘s website, Keillor responds to a dismissive comment about Lindsay Lohan, who recently wrapped her appearance in the film: “[A]ll of us around the movie set smile at the mention of her name and sort of miss her.”

In a meeting with Washington Times staffers, CPB Chairman Kenneth Tomlinson defended his efforts to correct what he sees as a liberal tilt in public broadcasting and said “NPR’s got real problems.” Tomlinson also appeared Sunday on C-SPAN’s Q&A.

Writer Rick Moody critiques public radio at Transom: “Oh, here come the exotic sitars, to indicate that the story is from another part of the world.”

The Public Radio Exchange v. 2.0 has arrived.

In an AP profile, On the Media hosts Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield cite The Daily Show as a primary inspiration.

Columnist Nat Hentoff says CPB Chairman Ken Tomlinson demeans Bush administration leaders by implying they need his “ham-handed” defense from criticism on public TV. Hentoff, however, concludes media should avoid these problems by rejecting government funding altogether.

The FCC has decided in favor of 14 Calvary Chapels seeking licenses for low-power FM stations. (PDF.) The National Lawyers Guild Center on Democratic Communications had opposed the would-be broadcasters, arguing that they had not sufficiently demonstrated a commitment to local broadcasting. The FCC at first agreed with the Guild, but the Chapels revised their applications and prevailed.

The winning of an award from Jazz Week magazine has prompted KUVO-FM in Denver to relax its dress code, reports the Denver Post. (A dress code in public radio? Must be a first.)

Sharon Percy Rockefeller, president of WETA-TV/FM in Washington, D.C., has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, according to FishbowlDC. She will receive treatment in coming months and will hand the reins over to Joe Bruns, WETA’s executive v.p., during that time. (Statement from her husband, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.)) (Via DCRTV.)