FCC Should Convert 'Franken-FM' Frequencies to FM, Says Broadcaster
Using analog TV channel 6 to provide primarily audio content as a “Franken FM” radio station is “a waste of spectrum,” said Mark Heller, president of Wisconsin AM licensee WTRW, in comments filed early in FCC docket 03-185. Low-power TV…
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stations broadcasting signals receivable on FM typically air only a title slide and station identification on the visual portion of their transmission, Heller said. “There is absolutely no audience” for title slides or weather radar images, he said: Open up those frequencies for FM stations, Heller said. The approximately 50 LPTV stations running as “Franken FMs” could be converted to FM “without a single listener complaint” and cease “generating heat, wasting electricity” with unwatched visual feeds, Heller said.