NPR’s argument rests on a technical analysis concluding that digital TV signals are far more interference-resistant than analog, and that modern TV tuners are selective enough to make interference from FM negligible for even analog LPTV signals.

Predictably, fellow noncommercial FM broadcasters are lining up in support of NPR’s proposal, while the ABC network and the National Association of Broadcasters have filed comments in opposition, calling into question NPR’s engineering data. There’s a few sparks coming from these opposing comments, but the real fun is buried in comments from Chicago Public Radio.

Without naming names, CPR  pointedly complains,

LPTV stations have begun to invade FM radio, broadcasting audio signals that were licensed for TV broadcast as if they were commercial radio stations on 87. 7 MHz. Not only are these signals inappropriately being broadcast as radio, they are also bleeding 24·hour dance music, with commercial advertising, over into the noncommercial stations that are on the lower NCE FM channels. Like squatters moving into recently-vacated homes, these LPTV stations are, in effect, intentionally broadcasting commercial radio which spills over onto the reserved portion of the FM band, trespassing on the limited territory of their noncommercial neighbors. Before this phenomenon becomes entrenched, the Commission owes the public, as well as public radio stations, a reasoned consideration of this problem.

Not surprisingly Chicago Public Radio has one of these channel 6 LPTV’s broadcasting in its own backyard, though it plays a commercial smooth jazz format. I’m not sure why CPR doesn’t refer directly to Chicago’s WLFM-LP. Instead CPR apparently calls out recently departed “24-hour music format” Pulse FM in New York City.

Nevertheless, it looks like WLFM’s owners already feel the heat. In comments filed the same day as CPR’s, WLFM owner Venture Technologies Group actually writes in support of NPR’s proposal:

VTG believes that these regulations are no longer needed. As NPR rightly points out modern digital television receivers are far less susceptible to adjacent FM-band interference than the analog television receivers that were in use when Section 73.515 was enacted in 1985.

Likewise, without directly naming its local opposition, VTG acknowledges the low-level animosity going on:

For too long NCE FM broadcasters have been at odds with Channel 6 television stations. VTG sees no reason why everybody can’t get along.

But supporting NPR’s proposal doesn’t mean VTG intends to cut its own throat, asking for “flexibility” from the FCC, and strongly urging “the Commission to adopt a formal policy allowing LPTV and Class A television stations broadcasting on Channel 6 the option to… continue broadcasting in analog if they choose to serve their audiences with a portion of their spectrum as an FM audio service at 87.7 FM.”

I’m certain VTG’s qualified support for NPR’s proposal is offered as an olive branch to noncommercial stations, like CPR, with the hope of a little quid pro quo to get them to back off on their decidedly “off-label” use of TV spectrum to become radio broadcasters. I think there’s little chance of the Commission taking seriously VTG’s request to stay analog in order to remain as unofficial radio broadcasters, nor of noncommercial broadcasters extending a little more tolerance. The best VTG can hope for is that the FCC will continue to put off dealing with their use of the channel 6 backdoor until the transition to digital is mandated for LPTV.

The Pulse Flatlines

Perhaps it was too good to be true. The overcrowded FM dial of the New York City metroplex offered no easy opportunity to bring a new cutting edge dance music station to the radio. But an opportunity was found at the far left end of the dial in the space occupied by TV channel 6 audio. So in February, 2008 87.7 FM the Pulse went on the air using the analog audio of low-power TV channel 6. Then, just 20 months later, the station pulled the plug yesterday at 5 PM, only four hours and forty-five minutes after announcing its imminent demise on air.

The death of the Pulse was not unexpected, given that the station’s owner Mega Media Group filed for bankruptcy in August. No doubt, commercial radio is a tough business in the 21st century, especially following nearly thirteen years of rampant industry consolidation which triggered ruthless cutting of ad rates in order to drive independent operators out of business and into the arms of megabroadcasters like Clear Channel and Cumulus. It’s fair to say that the Pulse had an uphill battle to begin with. Even with a unique format and a potentially very loyal audience, there’s fewer and fewer ad dollars to go around.

WNYZ's signal coverage area

But exploiting the channel 6 backdoor arguably made the climb all the steeper, putting the station at a spot on the dial that made it difficult to stumble upon. On top of that, being a low-power station limited it’s coverage area more than if it were a real FM station. With a transmitter located in Long Island City, Queens, according to the FCC its coverage area misses lower Manhattan and most of Brooklyn, which strike me as areas that the station would want to cover.

Mega Media leased the station from its owner Island Broadcasting Co., which acquired a minority stake in Mega Media back in May. However, Mega Media still owed Island $500,000 when its lease for the station ran out yesterday at 5 pm.

A post to the Radio-Info dance music board reports that WNYZ is now stunting with dance music in anticipation of new programming. (“Stunting” is radio jargon for when a station plays constrained and often unidentified programming for a short period before it changes format.) According to the Wikipedia page for the Long Island dance music station WPTY, that station’s programming will take over 87.7 FM this coming Monday, Nov. 2. If that turns out to be true then it may be too soon to write the obituary for dance music on LPTV channel 6 in New York, even if the Pulse is now dead.

Last month I wrote about the quasi pledge drive that The Pulse held to try and stave off financial disaster. I found irony in the station begging for donations given that it’s commercial station run by a for-profit corporation. As it turns out, it’s for-profit in name only, since Mega Media Group only lists assets worth $180,000, less than half of the $414,000 it owes the IRS.

There’s been no report of how much The Pulse listeners donated. The station held a “87.7 is Alive Celebration” on July 24, with all proceeds from the event going to “keeping the radio station alive.” But the New York Daily News reports that the station announced that it didn’t need the donations after all. Maybe the company’s management figured out that taking listener’s money might mess up their bankruptcy plans?

It’s difficult to draw any generalizations from The Pulse’s bankruptcy. While finding a backdoor into the country’s largest radio market via a low-power TV station might be cheaper than buying an existing station, that doesn’t mean it comes without cost or risk. And, as I noted before, we don’t know to what extent management fumbled the ball, either. There were apparently plans to launch a record label in concert with the station. At this point it’s hard to know which is the worse business to get into right now, commercial radio or records.

Mega Media Group filed for chapter 11 protection, which means it’s hoping to reorganize. Presumably, the station will remain on air in the meantime.

Arcane Radio Trivia alerted me to Pulse 87′s call to listeners to donate to the station in order to keep it in good stead with creditors. Nevermind that Pulse 87 is a commercial station (ostensibly operating in the noncommercial part of the dial at that).

As of July 21 it looks like loyal listeners came through with the much needed cash, gaining the station “a reprieve from some of our creditors” and the opportunity “to attempt to raise money through more conventional means.” The station also promises to return the donations, presumably once replacement capital is raised.

I’m not really sure what to make of this situation. Commercial media is having a hard time, whether broadcast, internet or print, so I’m hesitant to place blame on the weakness of radio or the channel 6 LPTV method. We have no idea what the books at Pulse 87 look like, so it’s hard to say whether the culprit is insufficient revenue, poor management, or some mixture of both.

However, I do think it’s safe to say that the particular dance music format of Pulse 87 has tapped into some kind of loyal niche audience otherwise insufficiently served by other stations. The real test will be whether or not Pulse 87 can keep up the quality of the programming that keeps a loyal listenership in the face of cashflow problems. The temptation to cost-cut by automating and embracing other Clear Channel tactics may be too strong, even if that’s the surest route to undercut the qualities that make the station unique.

Perhaps the station would be better off going non-profit and relying on its listeners who’ve apparently already demonstrated a willingness to cough up bucks to keep Pulse 87 on air.

WLFM 87.7FM & Channel 6

Still listening to the station on the way home I heard commercials, but still no station ID, leaving me more confused. Listening a bit longer at home gave no more clues, so the internet I did search. I quickly learned that the station at 87.7 FM is not a radio station, but actually TV channel 6, WLFM-LP. And I was right that the broadcast was a direct reaction to the shuttering of WNUA.

You see, analog TV channel 6 bumps right up against the bottom of the FM radio dial. TV sound is also frequency modulated, just like radio, so the sound for channel 6 can be heard at the very bottom of the dial. But, you might be thinking, “didn’t analog TV go away on June 12? Wouldn’t that kill WLFM?” Well, if you’re talking about a full-power station on channel 6, you’d be right. But WLFM is a low-power TV station (LPTV) and the digital changeover didn’t happen for LPTV.

There had been some hope amongst non-commercial radio supporters that the DTV transition would free up 87.7 FM for new stations in all of the markets with full-power TV stations on channel 6. Right now that’s an unknown possibility, since in April the FCC said it won’t be processing applications that would take over vacated channel 6 spectrum until it makes another public notice or opens a rulemaking proceeding.

But for those seventy-seven licensed LPTV stations on Channel 6 there’s a golden opportunity to make radio. Some of those stations have already seized the opportunity, including Anchorage’s KABA and New York City’s WNYZ. In fact Chicago’s WLFM originally planned to syndicate WNYZ’s “The Pulse” dance music programming, but the deal fell through.

Those wanting to get into radio–especially in large metropolitan markets without any open frequencies–might be tempted to find an open channel 6 for an LPTV station. However, the FCC only accepts LPTV applications during a narrow window period, and currently no window is scheduled. Still, it might be cheaper to buy an existing LPTV on channel 6 than an actual existing radio station.

Nevertheless I find it ironic that while many in the media business are waiting to call the time of death for radio there are enterprising LPTV operators choosing to turn their stations into overgrown radio outlets. Of course, with the full-power DTV transition completed there are many fewer viewers scanning the last holdouts in the analog TV spectrum, so perhaps radio really does have promise for more audience and revenue.

Maybe even the LPTV stations on other channels besides 6 might have some chance at becoming radio stars, too. Quite a few models of AM/FM radios also included TV sound of channels 2 – 13. A quick search online  shows at least a couple of dozen still readily available for sale. While a much smaller audience than regular FM radio listeners, there might be some inveterate radiogeeks who could be hooked in to listening to a dedicated audio feed on the otherwise abandoned VHF TV dial.

Of course, the UHF LPTV stations would still be left out of the game, since few radios include UHF coverage, given that it’s much higher frequency range than FM or VHF TV. Yet, perhaps that’s a use for the millions of now-obsolete analog TVs out there. They could become newfangled radio receivers — radio with pretty pictures!

OK, I recognize that’s stretching the TV-as-radio idea into the realm of the improbable. But it still goes to show that in the digital broadcast age good old radio could be the future of analog TV.