As FCC Chairman Brendan Carr looks to clean up outdated and inactive proceedings as part of his “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative, four radio groups in Texas, Wisconsin and New York are asking the commission to keep a rule that allows them to operate in the expanded AM band, 1605-1705 kHz.
In newly filed joint comments to the FCC, Bryan Broadcasting, Mid-West Management, Multicultural Radio Broadcasting and Way Broadcasting asked the commission formally to recognize the continued operation of so-called “dual-band” AM stations.
The groups note that two relevant proceedings are proposed for termination as part of Carr’s deregulatory effort: the “Revitalization of the AM Service” and “Promoting Diversification of Ownership in the Broadcasting Services.” They say the termination of these initiatives is acceptable if it means their expanded-band operations can continue, but “if there remains any open issue with respect to the licensees’ expanded-band stations, these dockets should remain open until such issues can be resolved.”
[Related: “Special Report: AM Advocates Watch and Worry“]
According to the July 9 comments, when the commission adopted its rules for operation in the expanded band in the 1990s, it provided certain AM stations with the opportunity to operate both their existing station and a paired new station in the expanded band. At the time, the commission did not require that these dual-band operations simulcast programming; and many such stations, including those operated by these four companies, developed new programming to be aired on their expanded-band stations.
“In the commission’s original expanded-band policy, there was a tentative conclusion that, at the end of a five-year period after an expanded-band station’s initial license date, its licensee would relinquish either its expanded band station or its original standard AM band station,” the broadcasters wrote in the joint filing. “This five-year transition period, however, was not a hard and fast deadline.”
In 2006, the licensees and other broadcasters submitted a request for waiver seeking changes to that tentative relinquishment requirement, and asked that these expanded-band stations be allowed to broadcast indefinitely in the name of the public interest.
In the years that followed, the FCC said it would “monitor progress” to assess how the expanded band was used. Over time, the FCC granted renewals and, in many cases, acknowledged that keeping both stations on the air served the public interest and served as a way to preserve the AM service.
Per the filing, dual-band stations have continued operating for almost 20 years since the request to extend the relinquishment period, and there have been no formal pleadings filed on the issue in either the AM revitalization docket or the ownership diversification docket in almost a decade.
Now, the groups argue that, assuming continued operation of dual-band stations is permissible, the termination of the proceedings is warranted. If there are remaining questions about dual-band operations, however, those dockets should remain open for consideration.
“Much has changed with the AM band in the 20 years that these issues have been under consideration,” wrote the broadcasters. “In today’s media environment, the commission has been looking for ways to keep broadcasters operating their AM stations. The commission does not need to take actions that would instead silence stations and abandon their listeners.”
According to the FCC’s latest report on the number of licensed broadcast stations in the U.S., at mid-year of 2024 there were 4,360 AM stations. The total has been dropping slowly but steadily in recent years. The AM category peaked in the early 1990s at around 5,000 licenses, according to FCC data.
Earlier this month, as laid out in his “build agenda for America,” Carr announced that the commission will soon unveil “a streamlined process for removing regulations at scale without having to go through years of unnecessary legal procedures.”
In a batch to be voted on this month, Carr said: “We will move directly to delete 40 rules or requirements, spanning more than 17 pages and 7,600 words.” He said the current FCC rules still include “regulations for telegraph, rabbit-ear broadcast receivers and phone booths.”
The FCC’s “Delete, Delete, Delete” initiative, introduced in March, is “seeking public input on identifying FCC rules for the purpose of alleviating unnecessary regulatory burdens.” This notice brings the recent executive orders and DOGE efforts to reduce government regulation home to the communications industries.
