Here’s the breakdown for all radio types:

Full-power stations

• AM stations – 4790
• FM commercial stations – 6479
• FM educational stations – 3151
  TOTAL 14,420

  FM translator and booster stations – 6155

  Low-power FM stations – 864

  Grand total: 21,439

Note that FM translators and boosters are low-power stations that may not originate their own programming. They may only retransmit the signal of a full-power station. I’m pretty sure that a very large percentage of translators are non-commercial, thought I don’t have the exact number at hand. This is because the rules for non-comm translators are much looser than for commercial ones. A non-comm translator may be located any distance away from the station it retransmits, whereas a commercial translator must be located within its mother station’s expected broadcast range.

Educational stations encompass all non-commercial stations that have NCE licenses, including college, school, religious, community and public stations. The FCC does not distinguish between them.

Even though many observers have tuned out of radio, it’s going to be a long time before 21,439 broadcast stations are going to be abandoned and forgotten.

Listening to the Radio in Minnie's House at Disneyland

A study released this week from the Pew Internet and American Life Project reveals some interesting tidbits about how people in the United States are increasingly turning to the Internet as a major source for news.

However, the report, “Understanding the Participatory News Consumer” (PDF) also highlights the fact that people continue to seek information from multiple sources, including radio. According to the report, in a typical day, 54% of Americans “listen to a radio news program at home or in the car.”  The study also found that 59% of study participants reported getting news from both online and offline sources.

The report goes on to describe the demographic differences between various segments of news seekers. Here’s what they say about those who listen to radio news:

“Looking at those who are most likely to listen to radio news either at home or in the car on a typical day, several demographic groups stand out: those between ages 30-64, college graduates, and those who use the internet and cell phones.

Interestingly, those who are online are more likely to get radio news: 57% of internet users get radio news regularly, compared with 44% of non-users. Similarly, 53% of the cell-only population (those who have dropped their landline and rely exclusively on their cell phone) get radio news on a typical day, compared with 39% of those who rely exclusively on landlines.

Radio news is also a major draw for Republicans and conservatives, compared with Democrats, moderates and liberals.”

To see how those listening to radio news differ from those getting their news from TV, newspapers and other sources, take a look at the complete report. It also shares some really interesting findings about participatory news consumers, who tend to utilize multiple news sources and are more likely to interact with the stories that they consume (by blogging, commenting online, posting to Facebook, using Twitter, etc.).

It looks like Arbitron’s controversial Portable People Meter is still in hot water with the government. The  device, which measures user listening habits sans a written diary,  is scheduled to be the subject of a hearing by the House  Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday,  December 2. This is the committees’ second investigation of the controversial gadget.

“With an unprecedented decline in ratings among popular minority television and radio stations, we must explore the possibility of methodological flaws in the implementation of the PPM,” declared its Chair Edolphus Towns (D-NY, called “ET” by his staff, we’re told).  “As it stands now, the current system jeopardizes the future of minority broadcasting.”

The Portable People Meter is worn by the participant, sort of like a pager. It picks up radio signals around the user and keeps track of the stations to which he or she is listening. Critics of the PPM says its sampling methodology includes too few minority radio fans and that Arbitron recruits an insufficient number of cell phone only households for the device (which are often minority households). Arbitron responds that the  PPM is much more accurate than the old  diary system.

PPM opponents, among them many of the nation’s civil rights groups and minority broadcasting associations (and Stevie Wonder), asked the Federal Communications Commission for a formal investigation of the device, but  the agency offered only a notice of inquiry. Three states have required improvements in the PPM, among them New Jersey. New York, and Maryland.

Anyway, tough talk coming from Towns about this issue:  “I remain deeply concerned that increased use of the PPM may unfairly threaten the financial viability of minority targeted radio stations whose advertising revenues depend on the size of their rated audience.  In addition, there is a serious risk that certain groups of minority listeners will continue to be undercounted, imperiling minority audience radio stations and decreasing the diversity of opinions in radio broadcasting.”

It’s all music to the ears of Hispanic Technology and Telecommunications Partnership, which sent us a  statement on the news. “Arbitron’s PPM system is harming a critical medium that has played a transformative role in the social, political, and economic development of communities of color,” said HTTP’s Sylvia Aguilera. “HTTP calls on Arbitron to use this hearing as an opportunity to correct its flawed PPM methodology and begin engaging in responsible business practices.”

Here’s a sample of the last line of the chart:

Notice that huge jump in indecency / obscenity numbers in March from 505 to 179,997 (while the other categories remained stable)? That’s typical of the roller coaster pattern that is the monthly fluctuation of government indecency complaints. Chances are good that most of these gripes are generated by decency group auto-forms. Anyway, enjoy!

What does Kingsford the Pig have to do with any of this? Read on.

It was definitely a feel good moment last week when Clear Channel announced that it plans to donate four radio stations to the Minority Media Telecommunications Council. The MMTC says it will work with the National Association of Broadcaster’s Leadership Training Program to “use the stations for training and to incubate new minority and women broadcast owners.”

If Clear Channel were giving these stations to me, I’d be, like, “THANK YOU CLEAR CHANNEL. DUDE. WOW. THANKS.” David Honig, President and Executive Director of MMTC, did the formalities with a lot more class. “Clear Channel Radio’s generosity and support creates an enormous opportunity not only for our own training programs, but for minority and women broadcasters who would not otherwise have the means to operate their own stations,” he said. Very well put.

The donated licenses—all silent for now, it appears—include KYHN in Fort Smith, AR, WTFX in Winchester, VA, KMFX in Rochester, MN, and WHJA in Laurel, MS. It’s a good thing that these signals have gone dark. I took at look at where the content has been transferred. Woah. I wouldn’t want anyone to have to clean that up.

Wikipedia reports that the lights went out on WTFX went a while ago and its broadcast operation moved to WRME Sportstalk 1550. 1550′s web portal actually has a cheesecake page. Yes way. The Babe Section includes the “Thong of the Day (updated daily)” and “Wet on the Net.” Ok. You’re thinking Sports Illustrated, right? But “M.I.L.F. of the Day” and “Lez B Friends”??? There’s also a photo gallery that purports to have serious news shots but is really just dedicated to more nookie stuff. A little desperate for traffic, are we?

Then there’s KYHN, which is presently silent but apparently has a twin, KWHN, both located in the Fort Smith, Arkansas market region. My favorite part of KWHN’s site is the Viral Videos and More page. I mean the tube of Kingsford the Pet Pig is sort of cute. But the jokes? Be sure to check out, Why Some Men Have Dogs and Not Wives. I had to read it, so you do too.

1. The later you are, the more excited your dogs are to see you.
2. Dogs don’t notice if you call them by another dog’s name.
3. Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor.
4. A dog’s parents never visit.
5. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.
6. You never have to wait for a dog; they’re ready to go 24 hours a day.
7. Dogs find you amusing when you’re drunk.
8. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.
9. A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, If I died, would you get another dog??
10. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and give them away.

Wow. That’s really, uh, funny. Through the week the station airs the views of those great friends of women and minorities, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity. These days Rush is taking a break from calling Supreme Court pick Sonia Sotomayor a racist and is doing predictable cartwheels over the Henry Louis Gates mess. Hannity is taking the high road and doing everything he can to stop health care reform. The station’s local host Gary Elmore seems like a decent sort of guy, actually. How’d he get stuck in that place?

How are these stations doing? Arbitron says that in 2007 WTFX (now WRME one presumes) had less than a one percent Average Quarter Hour share in the Winchester, Virginia market—this despite the “Lez B Friends” photos. KWHN pulled in a 3.4 percent share. That’s on the lower end of the scale, albeit better than competing news/talk signal KFPW-AM, which ranked 1.1 share. But many of the music stations in that market have much higher shares, going up to 11 percent.

WJHA of Laurel, Mississippi (“Blues 890″) is silent. Country station KMFX of Rochester, Minnesota (“102.5 The Fox”) is also shut down—maybe. As you can see, the website is still up. And the Rochester Post Bulletin reported about a week ago that an absent deejay is returning to the station. Then it reported on Thursday that the station’s been off the air for a year. So your guess is as good as mine.

Clear Channel says it is going to give the MMTC even more stations. The company says it presently owns 850 licenses. I say donate them all.

source: USAID

A look at radio licensing trends in the United States over the last five years shows an interesting pattern. While the number of commercial AM and FM full power licenses has declined or remained flat, there’s been a big expansion in educational FM stations. Lets’ review the stats in QA form.

Q. How many Federal Communications Commission licensed full power radio stations are there United States?

A. As of December 31, 2008 the FCC counted 14,253. These break down to 4786 AM stations and 9467 FM stations.

Q. How many of those FM stations were commercial versus educational?

A. 6427 were commercial. 3040 were educational (“educational,” of course, includes public radio stations).

Q. How many FM translators and boosters are there?

A. 6120.

Q. How many Low Power FM stations are there?

A. 859. There could be a lot more if the FCC made it easier to get licenses.

Q. Are these license numbers growing?

A. Yes, and no. There were 13,383 full power radio stations at the end of March 2003, so the aggregate is going up. But the number of AM stations has declined by 18 and the number of FM commercial stations has remained nearly the same (up 248 from 2003—a 4 percent increase). Meanwhile the number of FM educational stations has grown by 640—a 25 percent boost in that sector’s growth. So basically educational FM is pulling most of the weight when it comes to conventional radio license expansion. Were it not for that sectors’ strength, the total number of licenses would have increased by 230, a 1.5 increase in growth.

Sources:
BROADCAST STATION TOTALS AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2008, FCC, February 27, 2009.
BROADCAST STATION TOTALS AS OF March 31, 2003, FCC, May 5, 2003