Why is the FCC not paying attention anymore to assigning frequencies?

[roadman65]

I noticed that for years a certain Florida Radio Station could be heard all over the northern part of the Peninsula.  It was based and transmitted in Orlando, but was heard clearly in Tampa until the FCC awarded the same frequency to a new comer in the Greater Tampa Market.

Then Cox Media Group in Tampa and Orlando have two of their stations in both markets on 107.3.  Thus making it where I live to not have anything but static on 107.3 cause I am in the middle.  In Orlando WDBO news radio and the wonderful (being sarcastic) Sean Hannity opinion show in the later afternoon has the point while Tampa has its Classic Rock Station on the same 107.3. 

Now correct me if I am wrong, but shouldn't the FCC ultilize the many open frequencies between 88 and 108 that aren't used?  Not every odd number decimals are used in every market along with the FCC capping licenses to a fixed amount in the US, so there really should be no overlaps of using the same frequency so close.  Heck Tampa and Orlando are only 70 miles apart as the air waves travel, I mean it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the two markets are way too close and that there are plenty of open frequencies out there to use that will not overlap so close to each other.

There should be at least 200 miles between towers using the same MHZ or KHZ IMO.

[JayhawkCO]

This doesn't only affect radio stations.  My wife is a high school theater teacher and she has a lot of problems with her wireless mics because so many frequencies are being utilized, there's no band that doesn't get some interference from other sources.

[Life in Paradise]

I noticed that for years a certain Florida Radio Station could be heard all over the northern part of the Peninsula.  It was based and transmitted in Orlando, but was heard clearly in Tampa until the FCC awarded the same frequency to a new comer in the Greater Tampa Market.

Then Cox Media Group in Tampa and Orlando have two of their stations in both markets on 107.3.  Thus making it where I live to not have anything but static on 107.3 cause I am in the middle.  In Orlando WDBO news radio and the wonderful (being sarcastic) Sean Hannity opinion show in the later afternoon has the point while Tampa has its Classic Rock Station on the same 107.3. 

Now correct me if I am wrong, but shouldn't the FCC ultilize the many open frequencies between 88 and 108 that aren't used?  Not every odd number decimals are used in every market along with the FCC capping licenses to a fixed amount in the US, so there really should be no overlaps of using the same frequency so close.  Heck Tampa and Orlando are only 70 miles apart as the air waves travel, I mean it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the two markets are way too close and that there are plenty of open frequencies out there to use that will not overlap so close to each other.

There should be at least 200 miles between towers using the same MHZ or KHZ IMO.

Most likely these are class A radio stations that are 6k watts in power (or less, used to be maxed out at 3k) and they need to have their transmitters about 50-60 miles apart at a minimum.  It also could be that one is a translator station (although I'm doubtful that a classic rock station would be at home on AM) in which the AM station is a main and the FM station is used to give better coverage (although it's max is 250 watts). 

[kalvado]

This doesn't only affect radio stations.  My wife is a high school theater teacher and she has a lot of problems with her wireless mics because so many frequencies are being utilized, there's no band that doesn't get some interference from other sources.

More like those microphones operate in one of junky bands, (ISM) where basically anyone can transmit. 13.56 MHz, 27.12 MHz, 2.4-2.45 GHz, and chips are not smart enough to find a free frequency within the band. If FCC direct allocation would be involved, school would have to submit and pay for annual license renewals...

[Brandon]

I'm not sure they care anymore.  They gave the same frequency first to SiriusXM, then to T-Mobile, resulting in the cell phone towers causing the satellite radio to cut out near them.

[kalvado]

I'm not sure they care anymore.  They gave the same frequency first to SiriusXM, then to T-Mobile, resulting in the cell phone towers causing the satellite radio to cut out near them.

Those are very different frequency allocations. Problem is that, like any satellite signal, Sirius is pretty weak  - and tower signal can be strong

https://blog.solidsignal.com/tutorials/sirius-xm-listeners-do-you-have-problems-with-reception/
https://www.rcrwireless.com/20151211/cell-tower-news/fcc-rules-in-t-mobile-us-favor-in-sirius-xm-spectrum-dispute-tag20

[kalvado]

And I just looked up possible frequency allotments for Tampa.
THere is no FM frequency available for a commercial FM station in 92-108 MHz range in Tampa.
Rules are less than straightforward.  Looks like St. Peterburg location used by WXGL is to allow enough separation with Orlando transmitter (minimum of 71 mile is required)

[bandit957]

94.5 in Lexington used to come in decently in Highland Heights if your radio was sensitive enough. When I was high school age, when this was WLAP-FM, I always listened to this station. But now the FCC has placed a translator for WLW on 94.5, which blocks it out all over Cincinnati. The FCC actually thought WLW (one of the most powerful stations around) needed its signal boosted. A few weeks ago, I noticed on a car radio in Highland Heights that you can now only get WLW on that frequency.

[KeithE4Phx]

94.5 in Lexington used to come in decently in Highland Heights if your radio was sensitive enough. When I was high school age, when this was WLAP-FM, I always listened to this station. But now the FCC has placed a translator for WLW on 94.5, which blocks it out all over Cincinnati. The FCC actually thought WLW (one of the most powerful stations around) needed its signal boosted. A few weeks ago, I noticed on a car radio in Highland Heights that you can now only get WLW on that frequency.

The days of WLW being "The Nation's Station" are long past.  The translator on 94.5 probably gets more listeners in the Cincinnati metro (the only area that matters to their advertisers) than the blowtorch on 700.  FM matters.  AM does not.

It doesn't matter that 700 covers not only Cincy, but also Dayton, Louisville, Indianapolis, Columbus, and everything in between during the day, and 38 states and Canada at night.  Those areas have their own stations and their own ad agencies that can work with them.  WLW doesn't need to be heard anywhere outside of Cincinnati and its suburbs.

The death of WFNI (the old WIBC) 1070 in Indy is telling, as to the future of 50,000 watt Ancient Modulation stations.  Their programming airs on a couple of FM translators, fed by WIBC-HD2 93.1.  Few noticed the difference because 1070 had almost zero listeners younger than 55.  Emmis shut 1070 down, sold the land for $Millions, and there's no guarantee that it will ever be rebuilt.

[bandit957]

Also, FM reception used to be much better. When I was in high school 30 years ago, it was a lot better than it is now. People who listened to FM radio more in the '70s told me it was even better back then.

[bwana39]

There are three reasons why FM signal reception is lesser than it used to be.

1) Agreements to operate in a lower power configuration and / or using directional antennae structures to lessen interference with other stations. There are far more stations now than 20 years ago.
2) Signals tailored to go an exact distance.  In a lot of cases, they can tell within a few yards where the signal "stops"
3) Noise rejection protocols that reject weaker signals.

[KeithE4Phx]

Also, FM reception used to be much better. When I was in high school 30 years ago, it was a lot better than it is now. People who listened to FM radio more in the '70s told me it was even better back then.

There were fewer stations 30 years ago.  FM translators of AM stations and LPFM are fairly recent developments.  They are allowed to occupy just about any vacant FM frequency in a given metro, other than the adjacent channels of full-powered stations. 

For example, Phoenix has a LPFM and a translator of an AM station, separated far enough so they don't interfere with each other, on 92.9 MHz.  The closest full-power station on that frequency is in Tucson, 110 miles away, which is audible in parts of the suburban areas.  No matter, because Tucson stations don't target metro Phoenix.  The FCC now allows these stations to override distant stations on the same frequency. 

The biggest problem here is that the FM band can't expand.  It's sandwiched between TV Channel 6 and the aircraft band.  The FCC is not going to get rid of the low VHF channels for TV, and the aircraft band is absolutely sacred worldwide.  The only way to get failing AM stations onto FM is either via translators or on a sister-station's HD2.  The latter, of course, won't work unless one buys an HD radio.

[hbelkins]

It doesn't matter that 700 covers not only Cincy, but also Dayton, Louisville, Indianapolis, Columbus, and everything in between during the day, and 38 states and Canada at night.  Those areas have their own stations and their own ad agencies that can work with them.

Not sure about the other cities, but WLW is now an iHeart station, as is WHAS in Louisville (and WLAP in Lexington). I'd imagine that those stations under common ownership also have common ad reps.

WLW doesn't need to be heard anywhere outside of Cincinnati and its suburbs.

Unless you want to listen to Cincinnati Reds games and don't have the option to stream.

There are legendary stories about Kentucky expatriates driving to just that right spot so their car radios would pick up WHAS so they could listen to Kentucky basketball games back in the days before every game was on television.

[jeffandnicole]

Also, FM reception used to be much better. When I was in high school 30 years ago, it was a lot better than it is now. People who listened to FM radio more in the '70s told me it was even better back then.

People in the 70's formerly listened to AM radio, so almost anything sounded better than that.

[Rushmeister]

Also, FM reception used to be much better. When I was in high school 30 years ago, it was a lot better than it is now. People who listened to FM radio more in the '70s told me it was even better back then.

It's sandwiched between TV Channel 6 and the aircraft band.

Ah, yes, I almost forgot about how much I loved listening to WRTV Channel 6's telecast on my car radio! 

I don't know if FM reception was really better back then, but it's definitely a possibility.  In the late '70s my family lived northwest of Lafayette, Indiana, so on the FM band I could only pull in rock music from Lafayette and Danville, Illinois.  We were probably about 40-45 miles away from Danville. Indianapolis, where the really great rock stations were based, was out of the question -- simply too far away to receive (until we moved closer to Lafayette in '79). D102 (WDNL, maybe?) from Danville was the FM station I listened to the most.  They used to run episodes of Chickenman, which I thought at the time was the funniest stuff I had ever heard. [Sorry for going off topic -- I just had to get that off my chest!]

[hotdogPi]

I'm listening to 104.9. If I stand in a particular location, without even moving the radio, I get some of a different station.

[bandit957]

I remember in Highland Heights how the 92.9 in Lexington used to battle it out with the 92.9 in Dayton. It's a shame, because if I had gotten the Dayton station reliably, I could have listened to 'American Top 40' on it, because they aired it at a reasonable time when the Cincinnati affiliate didn't.

[roadman65]

I know also that wattage for stations is regulated by the FCC as well. In NJ we had WDHA in Randolph, NJ but where I lived in North Central Jersey, it didn't come in that great like the Rock Stations of NYC did the same distance away.  WDHA wasn't  allowed the power that WPLJ, WNEW, and WXRK were allotted.

Because of that you only had local area businesses sponsor that station unlike the big city stations that had businesses from all over the Greater New York metro area support the station. Then again, where I lived we had the three Watchung Mountains between us and the transmission tower of WDHA as well blocking the signal strength plus the mountains in Morris County in the Dover- Parsippany area that added to the interference. 

WDHA tower is on NJ Route 10 near County Route 513 which itself is rugged area too, as anyone who travels Route 10 from Route 53 to Route 46 knows that topography well.

[bandit957]

Some FM stations are assigned much higher wattages and antenna height than others. I think the main competitor for 94.5 in Lexington for a while was 100.1. I could get 94.5 at home, but forget about 100.1. I only heard 100.1 if we happened to drive at least to Cynthiana or Mount Olivet. Even in downtown Lexington, we had trouble getting 100.1.

[bandit957]

Some FM stations are assigned much higher wattages and antenna height than others. I think the main competitor for 94.5 in Lexington for a while was 100.1. I could get 94.5 at home, but forget about 100.1. I only heard 100.1 if we happened to drive at least to Cynthiana or Mount Olivet. Even in downtown Lexington, we had trouble getting 100.1.

This incidentally was in the late '80s/early '90s, so 100.1 was WLFX back then. This was before WKQQ effectively moved from 98.1 to 100.1.

I could usually get 98.1 at home somewhat decently.

[Henry]

Back in high school, WLS-AM was my go-to station; remember, this was when it was still called "Musicradio 89". I knew the writing was on the wall, as a similar station in NYC had flipped to news/talk a few years before WLS did. Fortunately, I can still get the classic hits I grew up listening to on sister station WLS-FM 94.7, though lately I've been streaming it in Seattle.

[kalvado]

I noticed that for years a certain Florida Radio Station could be heard all over the northern part of the Peninsula.  It was based and transmitted in Orlando, but was heard clearly in Tampa until the FCC awarded the same frequency to a new comer in the Greater Tampa Market.

Then Cox Media Group in Tampa and Orlando have two of their stations in both markets on 107.3.  Thus making it where I live to not have anything but static on 107.3 cause I am in the middle.  In Orlando WDBO news radio and the wonderful (being sarcastic) Sean Hannity opinion show in the later afternoon has the point while Tampa has its Classic Rock Station on the same 107.3. 

Now correct me if I am wrong, but shouldn't the FCC ultilize the many open frequencies between 88 and 108 that aren't used?  Not every odd number decimals are used in every market along with the FCC capping licenses to a fixed amount in the US, so there really should be no overlaps of using the same frequency so close.  Heck Tampa and Orlando are only 70 miles apart as the air waves travel, I mean it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the two markets are way too close and that there are plenty of open frequencies out there to use that will not overlap so close to each other.

There should be at least 200 miles between towers using the same MHZ or KHZ IMO.

And by the way, something strange with 107.3 in Orlando.
Google maps show the business as permanently closed, it comes up in FCC lists only as AM, and there is this posted:
https://www.wdbo.com/fp/fcc-applications/

[bandit957]

I didn't even know about the Indianapolis station going off the air until it was mentioned here. Will we even have stations like WLW and WHAS a few years from now? If they move to an FM signal, would they start playing some music again? I remember when stations like this actually did play some music. But it was mostly just the MOR/soft rock that my parents listened to, such as Air Supply or Billy Joel.

[Life in Paradise]

I'm being drawn back to the 70s and 80s with quite a few of these comments...Chickenman (he's everywhere!!) and 89 WLS and the days of Larry Lujack and Animal Stories.  For a few people around Louisville, I'd also listen to Terry Meiners on 84 WHAS with his legion of characters.  I think he's still there, but the show is not the same.

[Rothman]

Also, FM reception used to be much better. When I was in high school 30 years ago, it was a lot better than it is now. People who listened to FM radio more in the '70s told me it was even better back then.

People in their 70s listen to AM radio

FTFY.