US

Less than a month after Federated Media Hot AC 97.3 WMEE Fort Wayne IN reset its morning show with the addition of John Davies, the station will be making another adjustment as co-host Renee Cummings has stepped down to become a stay-at-home mother. Cummings had spent her entire career at WMEE, starting as a weekend […] […]

After winning the bidding for the 100.9 Class A allocation in Westfield NY in last summer’s FCC Auction 109 with a $25,000 bid, Rick Rambaldo’s Erie Radio Company is selling its since upgraded Class B1 construction permit for 100.9 WRRI North East Township PA to Family Life Ministries for $835,000. Family Life’s Christian AC network […] […]

In the week leading into Country Radio Seminar, I took a break from my radio listening and began shuffling the Country songs on my phone. I know you’re wondering what those songs are. In the first hour or so of music, these were just a few of the songs I came across, some for the […] […]

A change appears on the way to one of Alpha Media’s San Antonio stations. Plus upcoming changes in Lafayette LA and Prineville OR. […]

iHeartMedia has dropped the Hip Hop format on 93.3 KUBE Seattle for the second time. The station began stunting at midnight with a a CHR playlist and sweepers redirecting listeners to sister “Hits 106.1” KBKS-FM Tacoma/Seattle. The station’s website includes a brief message stating, “We periodically review our programming to ensure that we’re meeting our […] […]

The FCC has adopted seven changes to its rules to “better reflect current developments in the radio industry and ensure that our technical rules are accurate, up-to-date, and consistent”.

The first change removes the maximum rated transmitter power limit for AM stations with the agency affirming their conclusion that an equipment limitation on transmitter power is outdated and unnecessary given our current reliance on actual operating antenna input power as the most accurate and effective means of ensuring that AM stations adhere to their authorized power limits.

The second change is to eliminate inconsistencies in the non-commercial FM band for the requirements of community of license coverage. Conflicting rules currently state that NCE stations must cover “at least a portion of the community of license” or “50% of their community of license or 50% of the population in their community with a 60 dBu signal strength predicted contour.” To create consistency, applicants must now show that their predicted 60 dBu contour will cover at least 50% of the relevant community of license or reach 50% of the population within the community.

Next the FCC has agreed not to adopt the proposal to eliminate the rule change proposing
“the use of FM transmitting antennas in the immediate vicinity (i.e. 60 meters or less) of other FM or TV broadcast antennas must include a showing as to the expected effect, if any, of such approximate operation.” But it is changing the typo created in 1984 to replace approximate with the original wording of proximate.

The FCC also amends the definition of “AM fill-in area” for FM translators to define the area as “The area within the greater of the 2 mV/m daytime contour of the AM radio broadcast station being rebroadcast or a 25–mile (40 km) radius centered at the AM transmitter site” as opposed to the lesser.

Other changes include updating the signal strength contour overlap requirements for NCE FM Class D stations to harmonize with the less restrictive contour overlap requirements applicable to all other NCE FM station classes, eliminating the requirement that stations operating between 76-100MHz protect grandfathered common carrier services in Alaska, and distance separations between U.S. station and stations in Canada and Mexico to reflect current treaty requirements.

FCC Actions
KBNP Inc. Business/Conservative Talk 1410 KBNP Portland OR has been issued a Notice of Violation for failing to drop from its 5kW day power to its 9 watt night power at its required sunset time. Following a complaint, an FCC Enforcement Agent monitored KBNP on January 12 when it was required to drop power at 5:00 and observed zero change in power between 4 and 6pm.

The FCC has entered into Consent Decrees with the following licensees for failing to maintain their online public files:

Ashley Communications, Inc. licensee of KLCY and KVEL Vernal UT
Kyros Media Corp. licensee of KWXW Kermit TX
Pescadero Public Radio Service, Inc. licensee of KPDO Pescadero CA
Wayland Baptist College licensee of KWLD Plainview TX

Deletions
Monticello Media has turned in the license for 710 WFNR Blacksburg VA. WFNR went silent in January 2019 before resuming operation in January 2020 from a temporary longwire antenna on the site of co-owned 1460 WRAD Radford. That station had taken over the News/Talk programming heard on WFNR when it went silent in 2019.

FM Changes
SBS Spanish CHR “El Zol 106.7” WXDJ Fort Lauderdale/Miami applies […]