According to RadioWorld, The recently formed AM Radio Preservation Alliance has submitted 147 pages of suggestions, comments and exhibits, arguing that some of the Federal Communications Commission’s recent proposals would be a “potentially irreversible step toward extinction” for most licensees on the AM band. The broadcasters also responded to comments from other filers that some of its earlier interference descriptions were “overstated” and “incorrect.”
The AM Radio Preservation Alliance includes many of the country’s largest and most familiar radio companies: iHeartMedia, CBS, Cumulus, Alpha Media, Townsquare, Cox, Bonneville, Entercom, Family Stations, Grand Ole Opry (WSM), Greater Media, Hearst, Hubbard, NRG, Scripps, Tyler Media and Tribune.
In its reply comments — filed as industry leaders gathered in Las Vegas at the NAB Show — the alliance focused on interference protections for Class A stations and on reducing protected daytime contours for Class B, C and Ds. It reiterated its earlier comments that changes suggested in a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, as well as variations suggested by certain commenters, will do more harm than good. “If adopted, [the FNPRM proposals] would undermine the efforts to revitalize the AM radio service.”
The alliance said that protecting Class A AMs only to their 0.1 mV/m groundwave contour from co-channel stations and eliminating critical hours protections for Class A AM stations would deprive potentially tens of millions of listeners — especially those in remote and Native American areas — of access to quality programming and emergency information.
Not only that, the changes would weaken key links in the nation’s IPAWS EAS emergency networks, deny listeners access to favored sports programming carried on Class A stations, and undermine the already-tenuous economic underpinnings of AM broadcasting.
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