Another quarter-by-quarter increase in the number of noneducational FM radio stations was during the first quarter of 2024, as commercial AM radio stations saw double-digit declines in number, continuing a trend that began earlier in the year.
That’s the key learning from the FCC’s updated broadcast station total list, for the three-month period ending March 31.
With the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act poised to gain Congressional approval, pending a floor vote, some 17 kHz-band stations disappeared during the first quarter of 2024.
Some 19 kHz-band radio stations disappeared in the second half of 2023.
Meanwhile, the continued increase in the number of noncommercial FM radio frequencies was seen — this time, the result of a NCE construction permit window opened by the FCC and not by conversions of commercially licensed FMs.
The other big takeaway: the FM translator and booster boom indeed ended in 2023, as the total has again declined. That said, it remains higher than at the end of Q2 2018.
On the TV side, the number of LPTV stations dipped again in Q1, continuing a trend that began in the third quarter of 2023.
BROADCAST STATION TOTALS AS OF MARCH 31, 2024
(Compared to December 31, 2023)
TOTAL BROADCAST STATIONS: 33,344 (down 84)
All comparisons below to the end of Q4 2023
AM STATIONS 4427 (minus 17)
FM COMMERCIAL 6663 (unchanged)
FM EDUCATIONAL 4286 (plus 34)
TOTAL 15,393 (minus 13)
UHF COMMERCIAL TV 1015 (minus 1)
VHF COMMERCIAL TV 367 (plus 3)
UHF EDUCATIONAL TV 267 (unchanged)
VHF EDUCATIONAL TV 116 (unchanged)
TOTAL 1,765 (plus 2)
CLASS A UHF STATIONS 349 (unchanged)
CLASS A VHF STATIONS 30 (unchanged)
FM TRANSLATORS & BOOSTERS 8,913 (down 14)
(up from 7813 as of June 30, 2018)
UHF TRANSLATORS 2459 (up 3)
VHF TRANSLATORS 669 (up 4)
UHF LOW POWER TV 1516 (down 45)
VHF LOW POWER TV 313 (down 4)
LOW POWER FM 1,960 (down 7)
