The latest quarterly broadcast station totals have been released from the FCC.
And, when one compares the numbers to the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, one big takeaway is obvious.
There are more commercially licensed radio stations in the U.S. than at the end of 2021, but just one more total FM in the mix, signaling a shift from noncommercial status.
That seems rather surprising, given the high volume of transactions involving non-commercial religious and educational entities of late.
Also of note: The total number of AM stations declined by just 1, but is now down by 38 from July 1, 2021. This includes the surrendering of licenses by Crawford Broadcasting in Portland, Ore., and Saga Communications in Norfolk in addition to December 2021 actions reported by RBR+TVBR.
Meanwhile, the incessant growth of FM translator and booster stations hasn’t ceased … again. There are 378 more of this facilities as of the end of Q3 2021 and 1,085 more when compared to the end of Q2 2018.
For the TV industry, there are far more TV translator stations, the latest FCC data show.
Meanwhile, VHF low-power stations are down in count while UHF LPTVs are on the rise.
BROADCAST STATION TOTALS AS OF MARCH 31, 2022
(Compared to Dec. 31, 2021)
TOTAL BROADCAST STATIONS: 33,569 (up 102)
All comparisons below to the end of Q4 2021
AM STATIONS 4508 (minus 1)
FM COMMERCIAL 6763 (plus 87)
FM EDUCATIONAL 4119 (minus 85)
TOTAL 15,390 (plus 1)
UHF COMMERCIAL TV 999 (unchanged)
VHF COMMERCIAL TV 374 (unchanged)
UHF EDUCATIONAL TV 263 (minus 3)
VHF EDUCATIONAL TV 121 (plus 2)
TOTAL 1,757 (minus 1)
CLASS A UHF STATIONS 352 (plus 1)
CLASS A VHF STATIONS 31 (no change)
FM TRANSLATORS & BOOSTERS 8,919 (up 33)
(up from 7814 as of June 30, 2018)
UHF TRANSLATORS 2462 (up 28)
VHF TRANSLATORS 769 (up 128)
UHF LOW POWER TV 1516 (plus 28)
VHF LOW POWER TV 324 (minus 116)
LOW POWER FM 2,049 (down 20)
