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Re: TV The issue isn't just if there are companies waiting to start these stations. The real issue is how licenses are handed out. In the past, if you had two or more applicants for the same allocation, then the FCC would pick a winner based on several factors, including the perceived commitment of each applicant to serving the local community. Granted, this was a subjective process, but we don't have to worry about that anymore, since Congress mandated that the FCC assign the license to the highest bidder in an auction. So now, if you're a local guy who wants to build a local station, and a company like Clear Channel wants that license, that company will almost certainly get it, since they can doubtless outbid you. And companies will often snatch up licenses to keep out competition. In fact, that very thing happened here back in the 1990s. A new allocation was opened up on channel 23, and Sinclair didn't want to have another station competing with their WTTO/WDBB combo. At the time, ownership limits kept them from going for the license themselves, so they arranged to have another entity bid on it. The station had to be put on the air or the construction permit would expire, so it did go on the air--with a shopping channel, and it stayed that way until it went bankrupt a few years ago and was donated to the University of Alabama.
So the deck is stacked against any potential independent companies putting stations in the air in all but the smallest markets that the big companies don't care to enter. And, even in those markets, if there's the potential to relocate the station to a larger market (and you'd be surprised how far a station can be moved), then a large company may still be interested, in which case you will certainly be outbid.
Oh, one more thing. You may have heard about low power FM stations, which were supposed to bring local, community-based programming back. Well, at the urging of large broadcasting companies, represented by the NAB, and even public broadcasters, Congress passed legislation to forbid these stations on the first and second-adjacent channels to a full-power station. The stated reason was to prevent potential interference, but no one believes this, since full-power stations don't have to be spaced that far from each other. The real intent was to reduce the number of available channels that could be used by an LPFM, since third-adjacent channels are hard to come by and can be impossible to get in larger markets with more stations. And, just for clarification, what this means is, if you have a full-power station on 95.5, then the closest LPFM stations could be no closer than 94.9 and 96.1. A really clever way to keep out potential competition. | | |
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| I think channels 2-6 should be turned into an expanded radio broadcast band, either digital or analog. Very few broadcasters use these channels for DTV because atmospheric noise, skip, and large receiving antenna sizes, make low band VHF unappealing.
The biggest problem would be getting radio manufacturers to produce new radios to cover the expanded broadcast band, and the sheer number of old radios that wouldn't cover it, guaranteeing low listener count for whoever puts a station there. | |
| Actually, if you are willing to carve out 76-88 MHz for the expanded band, getting the radios to work might not be so hard. Japan includes those frequencies in its FM band, so their radios already go that low, so enabling it on new radios sold here may not need much more than different firmware.
The main issue will be ensuring that the expanded band isn't just filled up with more of the same. Right now, a good number of AM stations are taking advantage of the fact that the FCC will allow them to broadcast on an FM translator, so you're seeing lots of those pop up. The maximum power for them is 250 watts, and many operate with less power than that, so their range is limited. If an expanded band is opened, expect these stations, many of which are owned by big companies, to demand they be allowed to move their FM licenses there and boost power. The FCC has been encouraging failing AM stations to surrender their licenses to relieve overcrowding on the AM band, so allowing them to relocate to an expanded FM band on the condition that they surrender their AM license might seem, to the FCC, like a good idea. Of course, this all assumes that an expanded band happens at all, something the incumbents will fight tooth and nail. | |
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