Top Menu

Tag Archives | FrankenFM

they live

They Live! FCC Permanently Authorizes 14 FrankenFMs

MeTV FM and 13 other FrankenFM stations now have an official and permanent home on the far left end of the FM dial. Like I expected, on July 20 the FCC approved a report and order allowing these now-digital low-power TV channel 6 stations to keep their experimental analog radio transmitters on the air.  It’s a very narrow ruling, premitting only […]

Continue Reading
#LPFM feature image

Podcast #331 – New Low-Power FM Opportunity Coming this November

It’s been nearly three years since the FCC first announced that a new low-power FM (LPFM) application window would be forthcoming. Now we know that November 1 – 8, 2023 will be the third-ever opportunity for qualified non-profits to apply for a license. Jennifer, Eric and Paul review all the pertinent details, explaining why there […]

Continue Reading
Franken FM Radio

FrankenFMs Up for Final Vote at FCC

Today there are 13 FrankenFM radio stations broadcasting in the US. These are vestiges of the analog TV past, given a short term lease by the Federal Communications Commission, now with a chance at a longer life. Until July 2022 FrankenFMs were the analog audio signals of low-power TV (LPTV) stations on channel 6, which […]

Continue Reading
Franken FM Radio

FCC’s Proposal to Legitimize FrankenFMs Proves It Isn’t in the Business of Taking Stations off the Air

The FCC is not in the business of taking licensed radio stations off the air. This is something I’ve been telling community and college radio folks for well over a decade, especially when they get themselves tied up in knots of anxiety trying to read certain regulations like literary theory, worried that a fine over […]

Continue Reading
87.7 FM dial - the final five

A Few More Franken FMs Stay on the Radio

Last Tuesday, July 13, was the last day for analog low-power TV in the US, also marking the last broadcasts of most Franken FMs – legacy channel 6 stations’ whose audio is heard at the low end of the FM dial at 87.7 FM. As I noted then, two stations have retained their FM signals […]

Continue Reading
87.7 FM dial - the final two

Just 2 Franken FMs Remain (but the Era Is Over)

July 13, 2021 was the last day on-air for 95% of the Franken FMs still around. That’s because 11:59 PM marked the final deadline for low-power TV stations to turn off their analog signals, 12 years and 31 days after full-power stations went all-digital. These vestigial analog broadcasts were primarily of use to a few […]

Continue Reading
Franken FMs foot in the door

It’s Alive! FCC Authorizes Last-Minute Franken FM Experiment

“Special Temporary Authority” kind of sounds like “Double Secret Probation,” but it’s actually a foot in a closing door for Franken FMs. The FCC has granted this “temporary authority,” known as an STA, for channel 6 TV station KBKF-LD to continue broadcasting an analog FM radio signal while its main television signal broadcasts in digital.  As we’ve noted […]

Continue Reading

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes