Broadcasters Call for A-10 NPRM; Others Want More LPFM Power

Supporters of an A-10 high-power Class A FM station designation told the FCC that spacing and interference issues with the proposal are fixable, though some engineers and broadcast groups remain skeptical. Reply comments responding to broadcaster Commander Communications' petition were due Wednesday in docket 24-183. NAB and Cumulus have said the new class would further degrade the FM noise floor (see 2407230035). “Were the Commission to approve the FM Class A-10 classification, Commander believes that hundreds of FM Class A operators would be able to realize improvements in coverage,” the broadcaster said.

Commander said its petition contained technical errors in the way it calculated the required spacing for A10 stations, but that can be addressed. The FCC “can easily correct these spacing issues and the underlying concept of the FM Class A-10 station would not be affected negatively.” SSR Communications, a longtime supporter of power increases for Class A FM stations, urged the FCC to take A-10 to the NPRM stage. “SSR believes that the NPRM will show that the benefits of the potential A10 service will far outweigh any possible downside.” Allowing Class A stations that are eligible to upgrade to A-10 would help rural stations reach more listeners with a clearer signal, making them more economically viable, Heart of Wisconsin Media said. The upgrade would let the company’s station, WCWI Adams, Wisconsin, “not only enhance its service to its current listeners, but would expand service to listeners in surrounding rural areas that do not currently receive sufficient FM radio service,” it added.

The A10 proposal doesn’t help enough stations and favors a primary service over secondary ones, said TZ Sawyer Technical Consultants engineer Tim Sawyer in his reply filing. The country's most heavily populated areas would see “minimal or no improvement” in reception from the A-10 class.

“Continuing to favor one type of station (primary) over that of another (secondary) does little for improvement to the radio listener reception experience," Sawyer said. "The public has no concept of what a secondary signal is, and what a primary signal is.” REC Networks reiterated calls to pair creation of an A-10 class with approval of a long-stalled power increase proposal for low-power FM stations. An LPFM power increase would partially offset the interference that a power increase for Class A FM could create for LPFM stations, said REC, which opposes A-10 without that accompanying boost for LPFM.