Can Radio Stations Increase Power During National Emergencies?

[asugeorge1]

This has been going through my head as this Coronavirus / COVID-19 pandemic grows and grows here in the United States, but can radio stations (particularly AM stations) increase their power during national emergencies in order to get crucial life-saving information to the general public? I know WLW did so during World War II so I guess it is possible.

I’m just thinking that with all these mass closures of schools, restaurants, bars, gyms, entertainment venues, mandatory curfews in certain cities, it may be critical for certain stations across the country to convey these closures to the public at large and radio is the best way to do that. I live in Phoenix, Arizona and unfortunately, my local stations don’t do a good job of keeping me informed of what’s going on unless it’s a weekday between the hours of 5:00 AM to 7:00 PM. I find myself listening to KNX 1070 AM and KFI AM 640 from Los Angeles, California for the latest live and up to the minute information, but their 50,000 watt signal can only do so much. Especially with KFI, in recent months, their signal is constantly getting bombarded with interference from a Spanish music station. If stations had the capability to increase power (meaning their transmitter allows them to go above 50,000 watts), can they do so during a national emergency? Just thought I would pose that DX question to all of my fellow DXer’s on here!

 

[KeithE4]

I also live in the Phoenix area (northeast Mesa), and local AM at night is almost completely nonexistent. If I'm in the car, I have KNX 1070 on if I want news. KCBS 740 is in and out, depending on where I am, since local KIDR overrides it closer to Phoenix. I don't think there are any true all-news stations available anywhere in the southwest.

But as far as the ability or permission to raise their power during emergencies, my guess is that it's an absolute no-no. I never heard of any station ramping up during World War II or any other subsequent war, and I'm pretty sure that it's never been allowed.

 

[davideduardo]

But as far as the ability or permission to raise their power during emergencies, my guess is that it's an absolute no-no. I never heard of any station ramping up during World War II or any other subsequent war, and I'm pretty sure that it's never been allowed.

On the East and Gulf Coast areas, there are thousands of incidents of daytimers running all night and directional stations going non-directional during hurricanes. Similar cases, although less frequent, have been heard for tornado situations, major floods, extreme storms and other disasters.

As long as those situations are not commercialized, it is permitted. Almost any reasonable explanation has seemed to be valid over the decades.

Few stations have equipment that allows raising the power, although there have been many, many of the ones I described where a station has remained on day power at night and operated non-directionally.

One of the stations that has given great service during hurricanes is the 50 kw 690 AM station in Jacksonville. During many Atlantic hurricanes, from Miami up to the Carolinas, it has remained on the air all night with the daytime non-directional facility to give emergency information.

 

[b-turner]

I think the FCC would have to determine if this is an emergency akin to a weather disaster for which permission can be obtained to broadcast under such conditions. I don't think this would qualify.

It would seem to me that with 85% to 95% of radio listening being to FM versus AM, giving permission particularly to AMs might not reach many people. I think, in our current situation, the general populace looks more for local TV coverage.

 

[davideduardo]

If stations had the capability to increase power (meaning their transmitter allows them to go above 50,000 watts), can they do so during a national emergency? Just thought I would pose that DX question to all of my fellow DXer’s on here!

Most stations... I'd guess nearly all, don't have transmitter that can vastly exceed the day power of the station.

IIRC, there used to be a rule about not having a transmitter considerably greater than the maximum licensed power, but I believe that is not in effect now.

In any case, few stations would buy a transmitter considerably more powerful than the licensed power as the cost increases considerably, as does the power capacity of the transmitter site, the insulation on the towers and guys, the antenna tuning unit or directional phaser.

Remember, on AM it takes 4 times the power to double the coverage... so running a 5 kw station at 10 kw does not give much gain

 

[davideduardo]

It would seem to me that with 85% to 95% of radio listening being to FM versus AM, giving permission particularly to AMs might not reach many people. I think, in our current situation, the general populace looks more for local TV coverage.

And Internet sources.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

When stations operate with a similar or the same pattern Day and Night, like a Regional former Class III station, say one operating with 5000 watts Day and 1000 watts Night, would increase interference levels only slightly, given that at 1000 watts they may not enter into any 50% skywave calculations of more than one or two stations. So in those situations, there may be no noticeable interference problems at all. A typical three tower in line endfire array can easily pull in the back lobes at Night with phasing and field ratios.

I remember that during a snow and or ice storm in the late 1970s, the remote control pattern and power change failed at WIBC 1070, and they had to stay on Day facilities as they couldn't get to the transmitter facility to do it manually. WERK 990 Muncie, IN with 250 watts Daytime only with 6 towers directed straight North, had a snow or ice emergency at the same time, and was about the same strength as WIBC with 50000 watts in Western Michigan.

WWL was the only station operating during Hurricane Katrina as I recall, but at 25000 watts.

 

[TheBigA]

I think the FCC would have to determine if this is an emergency akin to a weather disaster for which permission can be obtained to broadcast under such conditions. I don't think this would qualify.

I think that's correct. Consider the last time this president declared a national emergency was when he shut down the government over his border wall. Did any radio stations increase power for that? No.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/list-31-national-emergencies-effect-years/story?id=60294693

This "national emergency" is a way for the president to release money from certain accounts and bypass certain regulations. In this case, I think it mainly involves FEMA. If he'd like to get the FCC to permit radio to increase power, perhaps he could tell the FCC. But I doubt he knows what's involved.

 

[davideduardo]

I think that's correct. Consider the last time this president declared a national emergency was when he shut down the government over his border wall. Did any radio stations increase power for that? No.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/list-31-national-emergencies-effect-years/story?id=60294693

This "national emergency" is a way for the president to release money from certain accounts and bypass certain regulations. In this case, I think it mainly involves FEMA. If he'd like to get the FCC to permit radio to increase power, perhaps he could tell the FCC. But I doubt he knows what's involved.

Stations can determine an emergency instantly based on local conditions. There is no need to wait for the FCC to be open or for them to follow a procedure. The criteria is simple: is there a need for service in a particular area that is not being met?

Those who are or were AM DXers in the past might have logged several hundred stations over a few years period just by listening for daytimers on during hurricanes and floods or finding directional stations running non-directional at night for the same kind of reasons. In each case, a need was obvious.

The issue, in part, is whether your station can provide a service that is not otherwise available during the emergency. Unlike a hurricane, for example, no stations are off the air due to the virus. It would be hard for a station to justify broadcasting out of the licensed parameters because there would not be a way of showing a need; there are plenty of stations in essentially every part of the nation.

I could, though, see a Spanish language daytimer in an area with no other Spanish language local media staying on all night to inform people of rapidly changing conditions that affected their lives, work and families. That might be a justifiable exception.

 

[TheBigA]

Stations can determine an emergency instantly based on local conditions. There is no need to wait for the FCC to be open or for them to follow a procedure. The criteria is simple: is there a need for service in a particular area that is not being met?

However, the topic here is if they can raise power, and they have to be able to justify it in some way. Not sure any radio station can claim increasing its power will help in a pandemic.

 

[Schroedingers Cat]

I remember when the Raisin River flooded and WQTE/WHND/WRDT 560 Monroe, MI stayed at full Daytime power.

 

[davideduardo]

However, the topic here is if they can raise power, and they have to be able to justify it in some way. Not sure any radio station can claim increasing its power will help in a pandemic.

I think it is a moot point. Stations don't have transmitters many times the power of the licensed signal power, and even if they were to quickly get one (AM transmitters are custom made to the frequency or require considerable tuning on site) the antenna insullators and ATU likely were not designed for much higher power.

And higher power transmitters are generally custom made on order, not off the shelf.

 

[davideduardo]

"One of the rules highlighted by the FCC’s public notice is Section 73.1250(f) of the Commission’s Rules, which allows an AM station to operate at night with its daytime power in the event of an emergency. As many AMs operate only during daylight hours, and others routinely reduce power at night or use a directional antenna that restricts radiation in directions which may contain significant populations, this ability to continue to operate with daytime power and antenna pattern at night can allow a station to fully serve its community in times of emergency. However, a broadcaster taking advantage of this provision needs to observe the requirements of the rule. First, it must notify the FCC that it is operating under this rule within 48 hours of beginning to do so. If the station causes irreparable interference to another station, it may be forced to curtail such operations. Moreover, the operation must be on a noncommercial basis (apparently to limit any financial incentive for a station to abuse this provision). And finally, one issue not addressed in the FCC’s public notice about the Southern California fires, the use is only permitted if there is no other full-time service "serving the public need." Obviously, that last clause is open to interpretation, but it would certainly seem to preclude an AM daytimer co-owned and simulcasting an FM station that covers the same are from suddenly operating at night."

This is from https://www.broadcastlawblog.com/20...am-operations-at-night-stas-and-other-issues/

 

[TheBigA]

"One of the rules highlighted by the FCC’s public notice is Section 73.1250(f) of the Commission’s Rules, which allows an AM station to operate at night with its daytime power in the event of an emergency.

All that's great, but I still don't see any connection between this current "national emergency," declared by the president, and a daytime AM radio station staying on the air.

 

[kenglish]

Out here in the west, there are small-town stations that have local news departments that serve their communities well.
I don't think the FCC would mind them coming up early on day power to announce school closings or a local emergency like hospital or rest home restrictions. As long as they keep those hours non-commercial, and don't interfere with another market where there is a bigger threat, it should be fine.
I'd let people know we were staffed 24/7, and to check their radios early in the morning and later at night. Let them know we will come on at full-power as conditions warrant.

 

[semoochie]

About 40 years ago, there was a sudden weather related emergency at night, in the northern Willamette Valley, that extended to Portland. For some reason, the only station that could cover it was a 5KW daytimer on 1460 in Dallas OR, about 50 miles away. The information given was invaluable and won awards. Who knew the station could even reach Portland, let alone provide a valuable service? Talk about operating in the public interest, convenience and necessity! The same station soon became the recipient of one of the clear channel frequencies, that were broken down and moved to 880.

 

[TheBigA]

Here's what the white house wants from broadcasters, as per Ad Age:

Insiders say President Donald Trump will meet with broadcasting leaders and members of the Ad Council today to discuss the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The president is expected to ask the broadcasting and advertising communities for support in developing messaging related to the pandemic and airtime to broadcast those messages.

 

[crainbebo]

About 40 years ago, there was a sudden weather related emergency at night, in the northern Willamette Valley, that extended to Portland. For some reason, the only station that could cover it was a 5KW daytimer on 1460 in Dallas OR, about 50 miles away. The information given was invaluable and won awards. Who knew the station could even reach Portland, let alone provide a valuable service? Talk about operating in the public interest, convenience and necessity! The same station soon became the recipient of one of the clear channel frequencies, that were broken down and moved to 880.

KWIP Dallas OR on 880, and there's now a 1460 in Stayton, KCKX.

At this time with AM being less and less valuable, I doubt FCC will let power levels go up. However, it could apply to all-news stations, like KOMO 1000, WCBS 880 or KNX 1070. Could we see a increase to 100KW? In other countries some MW stations can go as high as 2MW.

 

[b-turner]

The problem is these transmitters are expensive and just putting one in requires the tuning of the antenna system and days of work. Such transmitters are built custom and shipped usually by truck. Our 25,000 watt AM transmitter was in excess of $60,000 and took a month to arrive. In short, a station would have to apply, wait weeks, retool everything with a team of engineers and likely spend $200,000 or more to broadcast at a higher power than authorized without ability to see advertising? You may need a custom phaser built as well. By the time the install happened, the emergency might be over.

There are many radio stations on the average radio dial. There is no need to do this. The only places where airing beyond sunset might be a station that is the only local station that just happens to be an AM daytimer. Certainly if they serve a county, they'd air info about that county and nobody beyond that would be tuning in to hear what is going on outside their area. If they 'powered up', nobody in the new areas reached would know because the station never reached those areas.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

Here's what the white house wants from broadcasters, as per Ad Age:

Getting air time for PSAs should not be a problem. I watched a chunk of the re-runs of old NCAA basketball games on CBS yesterday, and I'd estimate half of the ad time was CBS promos or PSAs.

As far as the original topic, I strongly doubt the FCC would come after any daytimer who operated at night, or who operated at higher power than their authorized night time power level for a brief period of time (meaning hours or days), particularly if there is evidence of special programming during those times.

Multiple megawatts, though, is a different question!