Somebody with more knowledge can confirm this but according to ChatGPT there are ~2,500–2,800 AM-fed translators. Now not being a broadcaster I'm going off memory and posts read on this forum buy if I recall stations cannot turn off the main AM signal and still keep the translator. Therefore those AM stations will continue at least
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Saving AM Radio
- Thread starter BruceB
- Start date
Somebody with more knowledge can confirm this but according to ChatGPT there are ~2,500–2,800 AM-fed translators. Now not being a broadcaster I'm going off memory and posts read on this forum buy if I recall stations cannot turn off the main AM signal and still keep the translator. Therefore those AM stations will continue at least
The AMs will continue until the FCC comes to its senses and allows AM/translator combos to turn off the AM and make the translator the primary signal. Would actually help what is left of AM by clearing out the band, allowing opportunities for remaining AM signals to increase power and loosen directional patterns.
The purpose of the AM Revitalization plan was to provide revenue for owners to keep their AM signals alive. There is currently a movement however to allow AMs to turn off their main signal and just operate off translator. I can't see the FCC approving such a plan, as we've already discussed earlier in this very long thread.
Has The FCC Done All It Can For AM? Revitalization Docket Part Of FCC Cleanup.
A dozen years after the Federal Communications Commission launched its AM revitalization effort, it may be ready to close the books on the proceeding. In a signal the Media Bureau
More like keep their programming alive. Most of listening is going to be with the FM. The AM is superfluous.
The only thing preventing the FCC from approving such a plan is their own arrogance, stupidity and pigheadedness. They need to pull their heads out of their butts.
Bottom line is that such a change of status would require an act of Congress, and that's about as likely as frozen turkeys flying.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Yes. The ones that were newly constructed in the later filing windows under the AM Revitalization Act are tied to the AM stations specified in the original application, and those would indeed have to go silent if the AM did.
So, to finish your thought since it got cut off ... those AMs do pretty much have to remain on the air for their FM signal to exist. But those AMs which moved existing translators in the first filing windows are not similarly constrained; they can change originating stations because the mandatory period to retransmit the station specified ended over four years ago.
In other words, not all of that total the AI chatbot identified "can't have one without the other" (with apologies to the late Frank Sinatra).
So this statement is pretty much correct:
And stubbornness, along with the mistaken belief that Ajit Pai's grand scheme actually helped AM stations, is what keeps all those near-worthless AMs on the air, as in the second half of that quote:
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
No, it wouldn't. The Commission has the authority to create a new class of FM service already.
Somewhere in the almost 5,000 posts I have made, there is a detailed proposal. I will summarize (because even I can't find that post) ...
New Class A0 created. Same facilities as existing translators, but are able to originate programming. Stations wanting to upgrade would be required to take the AM silent and that station's call letters would be assigned to the translator. They would be entitled to the same interference protections as existing full-power stations. No filings to change facilities until after the entire conversion process completes; I would have filing windows first for translators of daytime AMs, then all AMs below 10kw, then all others. Then the filing window for changes, and after that a filing window for new Class A0s. The converted stations would be prohibited from changing owners for a specified period, unless financial circumstances allowed filing for a waiver. The AM frequencies abandoned in the process would not be subject to new applications (just as is the case now).
The word missing from your list is greed. The FCC makes money on license fees. Fewer AMs mean less money.
But they also do lots of arrogant, stupid, and pigheaded things. Consider the guy running it now.
But the commission reports to congress, and congress would likely want to step in.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Translators don't have license fees, but they would if converted to something like my Class A0.
Makes me wonder about KBET. they've got Hip Hop on AM which I'm almost certain nobody listens to and the FM translator from Black Mountain which presents a good signal across the valley.
Similar for KDWN. main channel is HD which has to have very limited reach but if I understand you correctly they have to stick with it as AM only went off a couple years ago
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
KBET is a good example, and I know the owners. If they could operate the translator as a standalone station, they'd file for it in a heartbeat.
They also have one hell of a good engineer (whose stations in New Mexico I consult) and I will pass along your congratulations about the 103.1 translator on Black Mountain. He put a considerable amount of work into that.
Especially as the AM is a mess. They just filed with the FCC to extend temporary transmitter configuration and from what little research I can gather the site was a victim of vandalism and only 1 transmitter is functional.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
No. K268CS, the translator for KMXB-HD3, was not tied to the AM 720 license. If it were, it would have gone silent permanently at the same time.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
You're confusing a previous silent STA with the current operation. It was vandalized, which is why it went silent, but has been rebuilt. They have applied to downgrade the AM to daytime-only operation and have a STA to operate with the lesser facilities until the application is approved.
I don't know what you mean by "only one transmitter is functional". They only had one for AM 790 in the first place, and they only have one now.
KM would be the first person here to jump all over a statement that's not factual, and this one isn't factual.
FM translators and boosters are indeed subject to annual regulatory fees, currently $275.
Yes, that's considerably less than what comes in from AM regulatory fees (which bottom out around $800 for the smallest AMs and go well into the multiple thousands for the biggest, based on class and population coverage.)
But contrary to BigA's claim that the FCC won't AM stations go away because of the loss of those regulatory fees, it's also important to know that those fees are set based on a total revenue target that's then divided up among the services being regulated. If every AM station went away tomorrow, total regulatory fees collected for the Media Bureau wouldn't change - they'd just be recalculated to increase the amount charged to other services.
If the FCC simply changed the fee schedule so that a "class A0" former AM translator paid the same fee that a licensee had previously paid for the AM plus its translators, I don't know one client in my portfolio that would turn down a deal like that. We're talking between $1500 and $3000 annually for most small stations, and eliminating the expense of running an AM with no audience would more than make up that cost, usually in the first couple of months of the first year.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Now I'm going to go crazy trying to remember where I got that misinformation from. Thanks a lot, Scott. 🙄
I don't think there are many operators who wouldn't jump at that, and calculating the fee schedule that way would essentially make the whole thing revenue-neutral for the Commission. (Which removes any reason that Congressional involvement would happen ... sorry, A.)
The numbers make sense. Especially the savings from turning off an AM that is only in existence to feed the translator now.
Turning off most small AM's and originating programming from their FM translators will happen. It's only a question of when, not if. It's inevitable.
But K.M's comments show a way to work with this... have those "bridled" translators file for an upgrade to the existing one, where they would be given a different... and stand alone... class along with the same protections as any other FM.
An alternative is to allow supporting AMs to file for a new class, let's say with 100 watts daytime and 50 watts at night. That would reduce interference and make those AMs that want to continue to upgrade or reduce directionality, etc.
Not sure what all the hand-wringing is about here. It was pretty obvious as soon as the AM "revitalization" plan of adding FM translators was announced that it was going to be a stepping stone for those AM stations to migrate to FM and ultimately kill their AM signals. The only question is when the FCC will finally greenlight the "devitalization" it really set up. I also won't be surprised to see some of those translators get power increases during their final chessboard moves.