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Media consultancy BIA/Kelsey has added approximately 6,000 FM radio translators and their associated criteria to its Media Access Pro database product.
Information includes data like estimated population served and signal maps.
BIA/Kelsey Vice President Mark Fratrik noted the changing nature of how broadcasters use translators:
“While translators were originally used to provide underserved areas with the signals of distant stations, today they are providing services for AM and multicast stations looking to broaden their reach … As the industry transitions to digital there is great value in translators’ ability to give the public more programming options.”
The company supplied an example graphic: “The map … illustrates the increased range of WJFN in Brandon, Miss., with the use of an FM translator during the nighttime hours.”
The FCC last year began allowing AM stations to retransmit their signals via FM translators in certain circumstances. Further, a “growing number” of FM digital multicast stations are using translators to rebroadcast in analog as a way to expand audience with alternative formats, the company said.
