The latest broadcast station count from the Federal Communications Commission is out. Quick headline: AM stations down; FM stations up. And the numbers please . . .
“AM STATIONS
4728
FM COMMERCIAL
6613
FM EDUCATIONAL
3989”
Those figures are as of September 30, 2013. When Radio Survivor’s Jennifer Waits looked into the situation in January, the numbers as of December 2012 crunched as so:
“AM Stations: 4,738 (down from 4,745 in 9/12 and 4,754 in 6/12)
FM Commercial Stations: 6,598 (up from 6,580 in 9/12 and 6,568 in 6/12)
FM Educational Stations: 3,860 (up from 3,803 in 9/30 and 3,760 in 6/12)”
So we are seeing a continued slow drop in AM stations, and a continued rise in FM commercial and educational stations. These stats may or may not prompt more worrying over the fate of AM. And of course all those Low Power FM stations the FCC is expected to approve have yet to be added to the statistical mix. But it should be noted that latest figures show another drop in the LPFM total: down to 788 from 809.
Last but not least: FM translators are down. 6,075 in January. 6055 as of the end of September.
