KyDXIn said:
The fact is, most of the stations in any part of the band are jammed in as closely as we could jam them in. There are minimum mileage requirements that must be met between all stations on the same or adjacent frequencies.
For instance, a class A station (6000 watts) must be a minimum of 71 miles away from the next class A on the same frequency. This distance used to be 65 miles, back when Class A stations were 3000 watts. Upping the power level to 6000 watts increased the minimum mileage to 71 miles, even though many stations were already built and only 66-70 miles apart. That is why some stations to this very day are only 3000 watts rather than 6000.
In 1990, when WRKA was on 103.1, they were exactly 65 miles away from the 103.1 station licensed to Georgetown. In order for WRKA to get the power increase to 6000 watts, we had to find a way to deal with that station, another station in Greensburg, KY, and one in Versailles, IN.
Georgetown we helped move to 103.3. Greensburg signed a mutual agreement with us that said we would both increase to 6000 watts and agree to accept the interference. And we put up a directional antenna with a null to the north that protected the station in Versailles. And so we all got to increase to 6000 watts, but only after all the requirements were met.
WMPI, by the way, was my first radio station. At the time it was on 100.9. For them to increase their power to 6000 watts, they had to move the tower several miles northeast and change frequencies to 105.3.
When that happened, it allowed 100.5 to move from their old site in southwest Jefferson County to their current site near the Snyder Freeway and Taylorsville road. As long as WMPI was on 100.9 and on the southern edge of Clark county, that wasn't feasible.
The point is that there are rules set up for moving radio stations around, and owners do it to their advantage in whatever way they can. The FCC sometimes makes these rules because Congress orders them to do so.
For instance, Congress has passed a few laws to create more radio stations. This was usually done because radio stations were worth a lot of money, so only those people with a lot of money had radio stations. The "little guys" complained, and Congress ordered the FCC to change the law so the little guy could have a station too. Once the little guy got his station, he discovered it was worth a lot of money. So he sold it to the guys that had a lot of money, and the process repeated over and over again.
This is what happened to the stations in the 105 area of the band. Before 1980, 105.1, 105.3, 105.7, and 105.9 were reserved exclusively for 50,000 and 100,000 watt stations. Those were all in other markets, too far to be heard here but too near to allow any big 105 stations in Louisville. When the rules changed, we got 4 new stations, all within the rules set up by the FCC.
When 105.9 went on the air, it trashed the coverage of 105.7 in Louisville. I happen to know the guys at WMPI- 105.3 were shocked at how badly 105.1 interfered with their coverage in the Clarksville area and for that reason alone they questioned whether their frequency change and power upgrade were worth it.
But what's done is pretty much done. Stations can't just "go dark", and they probably can't be moved somewhere else. (If there was a spot for another station someplace, someone would already have applied for it!)
It is what it is. Thank you, Congress and the FCC.