MeTV FM and 13 other FrankenFM stations now have an official and permanent home on the far left end of the FM dial. Like I expected, on July 20 the FCC approved a report and order allowing these now-digital low-power TV channel 6 stations to keep their experimental analog radio transmitters on the air. It’s a very narrow ruling, premitting only […]
Last Tuesday, July 13, was the last day for analog low-power TV in the US, also marking the last broadcasts of most Franken FMs – legacy channel 6 stations’ whose audio is heard at the low end of the FM dial at 87.7 FM. As I noted then, two stations have retained their FM signals […]
July 13, 2021 was the last day on-air for 95% of the Franken FMs still around. That’s because 11:59 PM marked the final deadline for low-power TV stations to turn off their analog signals, 12 years and 31 days after full-power stations went all-digital. These vestigial analog broadcasts were primarily of use to a few […]
“Special Temporary Authority” kind of sounds like “Double Secret Probation,” but it’s actually a foot in a closing door for Franken FMs. The FCC has granted this “temporary authority,” known as an STA, for channel 6 TV station KBKF-LD to continue broadcasting an analog FM radio signal while its main television signal broadcasts in digital. As we’ve noted […]
The clock is still ticking for FrankenFMs, legacy analog low-power TV stations broadcasting on channel 6 with signals heard at 87.7 FM, on the far left end of the dial. The FCC has determined all analog television signals must convert to digital by July 13 of this year, and just issued a public notice reminding broadcasters of […]
In a few dozen markets around the country there is a rare species of FM station that is only heard on the far left end of the dial. Because of the unusual spot on the dial, and sometimes unusual programming, some listeners may think they’ve tuned in a pirate. But these stations are legal, if […]
“Franken FM” is the name writer Ernie Smith of Tedium.co calls TV broadcasters who use analog Channel 6 to be heard at 87.7 on the FM dial. Paul talks with Ernie about their mutual fascination with these stations, which Paul has written about extensively on Radio Survivor. Also included in the interview, Ernie Smith explains […]
Chicago may be the home of the highest rated channel 6 TV station dressed in a radio station’s clothes. I wrote about MeTV FM in February when it hit the airwaves. The station broadcasts on the audio channel of WRME-LP channel 6, which is receivable at 87.7 FM. I call these “back door” radio stations […]
[polldaddy poll=8719402] We received lots of responses to our call for feedback on the general accessibility of 87.7 FM. The frequency is mostly deployed by Low Power TV stations with access to channel six. Please do give our poll a quick response. Thanks!
Respond to our poll on 87.7 FM! Here at Radio Survivor we’ve been following the Great Debate over whether Low Power TV stations should be able to stream the 87.7 portion of their channel 6 frequency as an FM signal. A week ago Paul Riismandel noted that in Chicago Weigel Broadcasting is poised to run […]
