The FCC has closed public comment on whether it should give further consideration to a petition from Commander Communication Corp., which asks the commission to create a new FM class with a maximum power of 10,000 watts at 100 meters height above average terrain.
Supporters of the proposal for the new station class — Class A10 — say it would bring a more efficient use of FM spectrum and allow hundreds of small broadcasters to improve the reliability of their FM Class A stations without impacting secondary services.
REC Networks estimates that 1,400 stations would have a path to upgrade to Class A10, most of which are located in rural areas.
In the latest batch of comments, some smaller broadcasters told the FCC that the new FM class would benefit them by expanding their coverage areas. For instance, Heart of Wisconsin Media told the FCC that granting the petition would enhance its ability to serve its listeners by providing them with a higher quality signal.
The broadcaster’s WCWI(FM) operates in a rural part of Wisconsin, and “the ability to increase the station’s ERP from 6 kW to 10 kW would 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,” Heart of Wisconsin Media told the FCC.
Marcus Jaeger, president of Wisconsin Media, continued: “Expanding WCWI’s service area by upgrading to Class A10 would allow it to continue providing high quality entertainment and local news to its listeners through increased advertising revenues enabled through an expanded audience base.”
The FCC received about a half-dozen reply comments on the Commander petition for rulemaking, some of which show just how narrow the window may be for existing Class A radio stations to take advantage of the power increase.
Broadcast engineer Timothy Sawyer, principal at T.Z. Sawyer Technical Consultants, said the proposed class of A10 may turn out to be useful to relatively few stations, and allow for “minimal or no improvement” for stations in the largest markets.
“Class A facilities located in zones I and IA in all but the rarest locations would not qualify for any improvement,” Sawyer told the FCC in his reply comments. “These are the heaviest populated areas of the country, and they would see minimal or no improvement. The proposal is highly unbalanced in opportunity for signal improvement.”
Cumulus in previous comments opposed the creation of a new FM station class, citing the risk of increased interference. The radio broadcaster says Class A10 presents an “unacceptable risk” and could harm LPFM stations and FM translators.
[Related: “Cumulus Opposes a New FM Station Class“]
Broadcast engineering consulting firm Cohen, Dippell and Everist, P.C. said it believes changes would need to be made to the current petition if the FCC decides to proceed.
The firm told the FCC it is in favor of a revised table of Separations Requirements presented by REC Networks as part of the proceeding. “This will fix some of the separation distance irregularities in the original proposal,” the engineering firm told the commission.
Commander Communication Corp. — in reply comments on its own petition — acknowledged that small changes could be made to its original proposal, such as a revised table.
“Commander believes that the commission could easily correct these spacing values and that the underlying concept of the FM Class A10 station would not be affected negatively,” it told the commission.
The National Association of Broadcasters, which did not file reply comments on the petition for rulemaking, said previously it needs to see more technical analysis to fully understand the overall impact of the proposal.
Several groups, including Cohen, Dippell and Everist, P.C. and One Ministries, Inc., told the FCC in their reply comments that they agree with a previous suggestion from REC Networks, in which the community radio advocate asked the FCC to tie the A10 proceeding with another (RM-11909) that would allow some existing LPFMs to boost their maximum power from 100-watts to 250-watts.
[Related: “FCC Hears From a Range of Voices on Class A10“]
Comments on the request for rulemaking (MB Docket No. 24-583) can be viewed online at the FCC website. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking soliciting further public comment on specific FCC proposals to implement a Class A10 would be needed before a new class of FM station could be adopted.
