WHEN IS TOO MANY, TOO MANY?
Are there too many Radio stations? I have come to the sad conclusion that there are. Well,
let's see. As of July 30, 2015 there were 15,455 licensed full power stations in the U.S.A.
according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the FCC. This is an ever changing
number, but the biggest increases are in LPM's (low power FM) - 1,149 in the past year!
Then added are 6,366 FM translators and boosters. However, AM stations DECREASED
by 4 to "only" 4,698. FM commercial stations had an increase of 7 to 6,613. FM educational
or non-profit stations stand at 3,989. If you add in all types of TV(UHF-VHF), the total broadcast
stations are at 30,465. Boy! That's a lot of licenses and frequencies being used isn't it?
When I entered radio in 1955, the number of AM stations were about half what there are
today...around 2,600 then. Back then-in the 1950's, I could listen to half of the United States
from my bed( in Ohio) at night:WLAC, Nashville & John R.,WLS, WABC, Jack The Bellboy in
Detroit, KDKA, WLW, Del Rio Texas and my personal favorite-Dick "Moonglow" Martin from
WWL in New Orleans. These are but a few of the fabulous frequencies found on a much less
crowded dial. I got to thinking about this the other night when I was not sleeping well, and turned
on my trusty red bake-o-lite 1971 Archer AM radio to "listen myself to sleep".
Out here in Southern California with the mountains and rugged terrain, it's very hard to receive
much but static these days. FM is even more difficult. I can't hear any of the local stations without
much interference from afar. I always thought the FCC erred in the beginning by not making dial
space wider..to at least 20kc instead of 10kc. Same idea for FMs in megacycle spacing.
This would have made side band usage for today's digital HD much easier. AM radio doesn't
really have much of a chance as it's being "strangled" by too much frequency intrusion. After all,
there's only so much room on the dial-AM or FM. Only a span of 530 to 1700 kc to cram in 4,700
radio stations. This should not have ever been allowed to happen in my view. I can't figure out
what the FCC's end goal is. As an analogy, it's like over stocking a pond with too many fish-to
the point that very few can survive. OR, too many fishing licenses are being issued to "fish the
pond" dry. Whichever the case, neither scenario bodes well for the industry, the advertising
community or the all important listener(s). That's my RadiOpinion...what's yours?
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