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170-523: WREN (590 AM , "The Mighty 590") was an American radio station licensed to serve the community of Carrollton, Alabama , United States. The station began broadcasting in 1951 as "WRAG" and fell permanently dark in 2010 due to economic and other issues. The WREN broadcast license was cancelled by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in September 2011. The station's license

340-465: A "chain". The Radio Corporation of America (RCA), General Electric , and Westinghouse organized a competing network around its own flagship station, RCA's WJZ (now WABC) in New York City, but were hampered by AT&T's refusal to lease connecting lines or allow them to sell airtime. In 1926 AT&T sold its radio operations to RCA, which used them to form the nucleus of the new NBC network. By

510-513: A "local marketing agreement" may refer to the sharing or contracting of only certain functions, in particular advertising sales. This may also be referred to as a time brokerage agreement ( TBA ), local sales agreement ( LSA ), management services agreement ( MSA ), or most commonly, a joint sales agreement ( JSA ) or shared services agreement ( SSA ). JSAs are counted toward ownership caps for television and radio stations. In Canada, local marketing agreements between domestic stations require

680-841: A 10 shilling receiver license fee. Both highbrow and mass-appeal programmes were carried by the National and Regional networks. The period from the early 1920s through the 1940s is often called the "Golden Age of Radio". During this period AM radio was the main source of home entertainment, until it was replaced by television. For the first time entertainment was provided from outside the home, replacing traditional forms of entertainment such as oral storytelling and music from family members. New forms were created, including radio plays , mystery serials, soap operas , quiz shows , variety hours , situation comedies and children's shows . Radio news, including remote reporting, allowed listeners to be vicariously present at notable events. Radio greatly eased

850-530: A 47% stake in WLYK's licensee, Border International Broadcasting. In 2022, the principal owners of My Broadcasting Corporation acquired Border International Broadcasting via 1234567 Corporation, and assumed operations in February 2023. Similarly, Entravision Communications Corporation controls XHDTV-TDT , a Tijuana , Mexico-based station owned by Televisora Alco, which operated as an English-language station serving

1020-465: A JSA with Citadel Communications to handle advertising sales for the station under a revenue sharing agreement, integrating it with its cluster in nearby Buffalo, New York . In an associated agreement, the station also contracted Citadel employees to produce some of its programming. Due to the structure of this JSA, and because the aforementioned programming was overseen by local producers, the CRTC deemed that

1190-557: A central station to all parts of the United States", he was unable to overcome the inherent distance limitations of this technology. The earliest public radiotelegraph broadcasts were provided as government services, beginning with daily time signals inaugurated on January 1, 1905, by a number of U.S. Navy stations. In Europe, signals transmitted from a station located on the Eiffel Tower were received throughout much of Europe. In both

1360-596: A concerted attempt to specify performance of AM receivers through the 1993 AMAX standard, a joint effort of the EIA and the NAB, with FCC backing... The FCC rapidly followed up on this with codification of the CQUAM AM stereo standard, also in 1993. At this point, the stage appeared to be set for rejuvenation of the AM band. Nevertheless, with the legacy of confusion and disappointment in the rollout of

1530-617: A consortium, the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), established on 18 October 1922, which was given a monopoly on broadcasting. This enterprise was supported by a tax on radio sets sales, plus an annual license fee on receivers, collected by the Post Office. Initially the eight stations were allowed regional autonomy. In 1927, the original broadcasting organization was replaced by a government chartered British Broadcasting Corporation . an independent nonprofit supported solely by

1700-552: A continuous-wave (CW) transmitter. Fessenden began his research on audio transmissions while doing developmental work for the United States Weather Service on Cobb Island, Maryland. Because he did not yet have a continuous-wave transmitter, initially he worked with an experimental "high-frequency spark" transmitter, taking advantage of the fact that the higher the spark rate, the closer a spark-gap transmission comes to producing continuous waves. He later reported that, in

1870-545: A digital subchannel of WABM (although the WBMA-LD simulcast was placed on WABM's subchannel instead while MyNetworkTV programming was retained on its main channel). Similarly, in Charleston, Sinclair planned to surrender WCIV's license and move its ABC affiliation and programming to WMMP. In both cases, Sinclair believed that its own stations had superior technical facilities than those of the stations it intends to surrender. Sinclair

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2040-568: A few " telephone newspaper " systems, most of which were established in Europe, beginning with the Paris Théâtrophone . With this in mind, most early radiotelephone development envisioned that the device would be more profitably developed as a "wireless telephone" for personal communication, or for providing links where regular telephone lines could not be run, rather than for the uncertain finances of broadcasting. The person generally credited as

2210-463: A few hundred ( Hz ), to increase its rotational speed and so generate currents of tens-of-thousands Hz, thus producing a steady continuous-wave transmission when connected to an aerial. The next step, adopted from standard wire-telephone practice, was to insert a simple carbon microphone into the transmission line, to modulate the carrier wave signal to produce AM audio transmissions. However, it would take many years of expensive development before even

2380-512: A home audio device prior to the introduction of the high-fidelity , long-playing record in the late 1940s. Listening habits changed in the 1960s due to the introduction of the revolutionary transistor radio (Regency TR-1, the first transistor radio released December 1954), which was made possible by the invention of the transistor in 1948. (The transistor was invented at Bell labs and released in June 1948.) Their compact size — small enough to fit in

2550-544: A joint sales agreement pertaining to CHNO-FM in Sudbury , Ontario, but community interests and the lobby group Friends of Canadian Broadcasting presented substantial evidence to the CRTC that in practice, the agreement was a de facto LMA, going significantly beyond advertising sales into program production and news-gathering. In early 2005, the CRTC ordered the agreement to cease. For a time, CKEY-FM in Fort Erie, Ontario had

2720-580: A legal duopoly, Gray proposed the sale of WAGT's broadcast spectrum during the incentive auction, and for WAGT to go silent upon completion of the deal so the company would not be running more than one of the top four stations in the market. Gray also requested special temporary authority for WAGT's signal to be replaced on its existing technical facilities and UHF channel 30 by the co-owned low-power station, WRDW-CD ; low-power stations are not subject to ownership caps and restrictions on duopolies. The FCC, however, required that Gray continue to operate WAGT as

2890-469: A listening site at Plymouth, Massachusetts. An American Telephone Journal account of the December 21 alternator-transmitter demonstration included the statement that "It is admirably adapted to the transmission of news, music, etc. as, owing to the fact that no wires are needed, simultaneous transmission to many subscribers can be effected as easily as to a few", echoing the words of a handout distributed to

3060-427: A local marketing agreement must give the company operating the station (the "senior" partner) under the agreement control over the entire facilities of the station, including the finances, personnel and programming of the station. Its original licensee (the "junior" partner) still remains legally responsible for the station and its operations, such as compliance with relevant regulations regarding content. Occasionally,

3230-479: A majority of early broadcasting stations operated on mediumwave frequencies, whose limited range generally restricted them to local audiences. One method for overcoming this limitation, as well as a method for sharing program costs, was to create radio networks , linking stations together with telephone lines to provide a nationwide audience. In the U.S., the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T)

3400-555: A majority ownership in that station's network affiliation, The CW . In March 2024, the FCC fined Nexstar and Mission $ 1.2 million and $ 612,395 respectively, and ordered Mission to sell WPIX within twelve months; the FCC found that Mission's agreements with Nexstar to operate WPIX amounted to an "unauthorized transfer of control" of the station, thus exceeding the FCC's 39% market share limit for broadcasters. Nexstar must either divest other stations so it can legally own WPIX, or Mission must sell

3570-457: A national scale. The introduction of nationwide talk shows, most prominently Rush Limbaugh 's beginning in 1988, was sometimes credited with "saving" AM radio. However, these stations tended to attract older listeners who were of lesser interest to advertisers, and AM radio's audience share continued to erode. In 1961, the FCC adopted a single standard for FM stereo transmissions, which was widely credited with enhancing FM's popularity. Developing

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3740-399: A policy allowing AM stations to simulcast over FM translator stations. Translators had previously been available only to FM broadcasters, in order to increase coverage in fringe areas. Their assignment for use by AM stations was intended to approximate the station's daytime coverage, which in cases where the stations reduced power at night, often resulted in expanded nighttime coverage. Although

3910-482: A prototype alternator-transmitter would be ready, and a few years beyond that for high-power versions to become available. Fessenden worked with General Electric 's (GE) Ernst F. W. Alexanderson , who in August 1906 delivered an improved model which operated at a transmitting frequency of approximately 50 kHz, although at low power. The alternator-transmitter achieved the goal of transmitting quality audio signals, but

4080-457: A purchase option that "may counter any incentive the licensee has to increase the value of the station, since the licensee may be unlikely to realize that increased value." Under the new provisions, broadcasters must demonstrate in their transaction applications as to how such deals would serve the public interest. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) – which, along with station groups such as Sinclair Broadcast Group, have disapproved of

4250-516: A request for comment on policies to address other agreements, such as shared services agreements. The prohibition on television JSAs had been proposed as early as 2004, a year after the FCC voted to treat JSAs between radio stations as duopolies. Despite this fact, broadcasting companies criticized the ban, accusing the Commission of using it as a move to encourage participation in a spectrum incentive auction then set to occur in 2015, and stating that

4420-482: A result of the FCC's scrutiny on any new station sharing agreements, on October 23, 2014, Meredith would backtrack on this plan and instead sell KASW to the Nexstar Broadcasting Group, which would operate the station independently of KTVK and KPHO. Following Gannett's split into independent broadcasting and publishing companies, Tegna, Inc. —the owner of Gannett's stations following the split, bought back

4590-423: A result, AM radio tends to do best in areas where FM frequencies are in short supply, or in thinly populated or mountainous areas where FM coverage is poor. Great care must be taken to avoid mutual interference between stations operating on the same frequency. In general, an AM transmission needs to be about 20 times stronger than an interfering signal to avoid a reduction in quality, in contrast to FM signals, where

4760-406: A seemingly separate newscast on the brokered station in the duopoly may ultimately consist of repackaged news content from the other station. Alternatively, the stations may consolidate their news programming under a single joint brand. Redundant staff members are often laid off as part of the consolidation process, and the sharing of news content reduces the number of unique editorial voices in

4930-449: A separate station through the end of the auction, and not enter into any joint sales agreements. Upon the closure of the sale, Gray unwound the shared services and joint sales agreements that Schurz had established with WJBF-TV and Media General , and replaced its previous news programs with simulcasts from WRDW. Gray also accused WJBF of "[refusing] to agree to a smooth transition of personnel [from WAGT]", as WAGT's employees fall under

5100-468: A shared services agreement established under Belo ownership, but Gannett would still handle advertising sales for the stations. In December 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice blocked Gannett from using an agreement with Sander Media to operate CBS affiliate KMOV in St. Louis alongside its own NBC station KSDK , and ordered Gannett to sell KMOV. Even though Gannett planned to operate KMOV separately from KSDK,

5270-452: A shirt pocket — and lower power requirements, compared to vacuum tubes, meant that for the first time radio receivers were readily portable. The transistor radio became the most widely used communication device in history, with billions manufactured by the 1970s. Radio became a ubiquitous "companion medium" which people could take with them anywhere they went. The demarcation between what is considered "experimental" and "organized" broadcasting

WREN (AM) - Misplaced Pages Continue

5440-427: A short-range "wireless telephone" demonstration, that included simultaneously broadcasting speech and music to seven locations throughout Murray, Kentucky. However, this was transmitted using induction rather than radio signals, and although Stubblefield predicted that his system would be perfected so that "it will be possible to communicate with hundreds of homes at the same time", and "a single message can be sent from

5610-401: A single company to own more than one full-powered television station in a given market if there are at least eight distinct station owners, and also prohibits the ownership of two or more of the four highest-rated stations (based on total day viewership) in a market. An LMA or similar agreement does not affect the ownership of the station's license, meaning that they do not require the approval of

5780-409: A single company to own two television stations in the same market in August 1999, Sinclair restructured the deal to acquire KOKH outright. In 2001, the FCC issued a $ 40,000 fine against Sinclair for illegally controlling Glencairn. In 1999, the FCC modified its media ownership rules to count LMAs formed after November 5, 1996 that cover more than 15% of the broadcast day toward the ownership limits for

5950-528: A subchannel of WISE-TV due to a reverse compensation dispute, Nexstar (ironically, given its use of similar practices in other markets) filed an antitrust lawsuit against the station's managing partner, Granite Broadcasting, arguing that it had built a monopoly on local advertising sales by having effective control of the outlets for four major networks ( ABC and MyNetworkTV on WPTA , and NBC , Fox, and The CW on WISE-TV ; owned by Malara Broadcast Group and operated under agreements by Granite). The lawsuit

6120-454: A subchannel of WSBT-TV ), in exchange for WHOI's ABC and CW affiliations, which moved to subchannels of WEEK-TV . In 2018, Quincy re-purchased WISE and KDLH, under an assertion that both stations were not within the top 4 of their respective markets. In February 2016, Gray Television acquired Schurz Communications ' stations, including Augusta, Georgia 's WAGT . As Gray could not own both WAGT and its existing CBS affiliate WRDW-TV as

6290-416: A television station's facilities and assets, but sells the license to an affiliated third-party "shell" corporation, who then enters into agreements with the owner of the facilities to operate the station on their behalf. Activists have argued that broadcasters were using these agreements as a loophole for the FCC's ownership regulations, that they reduce the number of local media outlets in a market through

6460-486: A two-station deal for a reported combined sale price of $ 200,000. The deal was approved by the FCC on June 5, 2006, and the transaction was consummated on August 2, 2006. In April 2008, Kingdom Radio of Chattanooga, LLC, agreed to sell this station to Serendipity Ventures II, LLC, based in Festus, Missouri . The deal was approved by the FCC on May 8, 2008, and the transaction was consummated on May 9, 2008. The new owners had

6630-691: A wave of mass consolidation in the radio industry. However, broadcasters still used local marketing agreements to help transition acquired stations to their new owners. The first local marketing agreement in North American television was formed in 1991, when the Sinclair Broadcast Group purchased Fox affiliate WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania. As Sinclair had already owned independent station WPTT (now MyNetworkTV affiliate WPNT ) in that market, which would have violated FCC rules which at

6800-427: A way to expand their reach, and smaller broadcasters a means of obtaining a stable stream of revenue. In 1992, the FCC began allowing broadcasting companies to own multiple radio stations in a single market. Following these changes, local marketing agreements largely fell out of favor for radio, as it was now possible for broadcasters to simply buy another station outright rather than lease it – consequentially triggering

6970-461: A widespread audience — dates back to the founding period of radio development, even though the earliest radio transmissions, originally known as "Hertzian radiation" and "wireless telegraphy", used spark-gap transmitters that could only transmit the dots-and-dashes of Morse code . In October 1898 a London publication, The Electrician , noted that "there are rare cases where, as Dr. [Oliver] Lodge once expressed it, it might be advantageous to 'shout'

WREN (AM) - Misplaced Pages Continue

7140-406: Is comparable to or better in audio quality than a standard analog broadcast". Despite the various actions, AM band audiences continued to contract, and the number of stations began to slowly decline. A 2009 FCC review reported that "The story of AM radio over the last 50 years has been a transition from being the dominant form of audio entertainment for all age groups to being almost non-existent to

7310-497: Is largely arbitrary. Listed below are some of the early AM radio broadcasts, which, due to their irregular schedules and limited purposes, can be classified as "experimental": People who weren't around in the Twenties when radio exploded can't know what it meant, this milestone for mankind. Suddenly, with radio, there was instant human communication. No longer were our homes isolated and lonely and silent. The world came into our homes for

7480-438: Is reported a new online station 590 WRAG is on air broadcasting gospel 24/7 to Pickens County covering Carrollton, Alabama and Aliceville, Alabama owned by Chris King Communications. The station is located at mighty590wrag.com. The online station will also pay tribute to the history of WRAG-AM as well. AM broadcasting The earliest experimental AM transmissions began in the early 1900s. However, widespread AM broadcasting

7650-645: Is simpler than later transmission systems. An AM receiver detects amplitude variations in the radio waves at a particular frequency, then amplifies changes in the signal voltage to operate a loudspeaker or earphone . However, the simplicity of AM transmission also makes it vulnerable to "static" ( radio noise , radio frequency interference ) created by both natural atmospheric electrical activity such as lightning, and electrical and electronic equipment, including fluorescent lights, motors and vehicle ignition systems. In large urban centers, AM radio signals can be severely disrupted by metal structures and tall buildings. As

7820-462: Is to create a "virtual duopoly", where the stations operated under the agreement are consolidated into a single entity. The operations of the stations can be streamlined for cost-effectiveness through the sharing of resources, such as facilities, advertising sales, personnel and programming. Many broadcasters that engage in the practice believe that such agreements are beneficial to the survival of television stations – especially in smaller markets, where

7990-545: The E. W. Scripps Company , Tegna Inc. , and Circle City Broadcasting. The divested stations included Tribune's New York City flagship WPIX ; the station was sold to Scripps, but with a $ 75 million option for Nexstar to buy it back between March 31, 2020 and December 31, 2021. Nexstar transferred this option to Mission Broadcasting, who subsequently exercised it in August 2020 (the following month, Scripps announced its intent to acquire Ion Media , including its New York station WPXN-TV ). In October 2022, Nexstar would acquire

8160-556: The Electronic Industries Association (EIA) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) with the intention of helping AM stations, especially ones with musical formats, become more competitive with FM broadcasters by promoting better quality receivers. However, the stereo AM and AMAX initiatives had little impact, and a 2015 review of these events concluded that Initially the consumer manufacturers made

8330-615: The Emergency Alert System (EAS). Some automakers have been eliminating AM radio from their electric vehicles (EVs) due to interference from the electric motors , but the lawmakers argue that this is a safety risk and that car owners should have access to AM radio regardless of the type of vehicle they drive. The proposed legislation would require all new vehicles to include AM radio at no additional charge, and it would also require automakers that have already eliminated AM radio to inform customers of alternatives. AM radio technology

8500-479: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) expressed concerns that this would reduce the effectiveness of emergency communications. In May 2023, a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the United States introduced legislation making it illegal for automakers to eliminate AM radio from their cars. The lawmakers argue that AM radio is an important tool for public safety due to being a component of

8670-431: The electrolytic detector and thermionic diode ( Fleming valve ) were invented by Reginald Fessenden and John Ambrose Fleming , respectively. Most important, in 1904–1906 the crystal detector , the simplest and cheapest AM detector, was developed by G. W. Pickard . Homemade crystal radios spread rapidly during the next 15 years, providing ready audiences for the first radio broadcasts. One limitation of crystals sets

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8840-430: The " capture effect " means that the dominant signal needs to only be about twice as strong as the interfering one. To allow room for more stations on the mediumwave broadcast band in the United States, in June 1989 the FCC adopted a National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) standard that limited maximum transmitted audio bandwidth to 10.2 kHz, limiting occupied bandwidth to 20.4 kHz. The former audio limitation

9010-507: The "major" networks, allow the broadcaster to charge higher fees for retransmission consent to television providers for carrying the stations, which could result in smaller cable companies not being able to afford the higher fees imposed. Cable television providers advocated barring sharing agreements between television stations for this particular reason. In the United States, the FCC no longer allows broadcasters to collude with one another in negotiating retransmission consent fees. Although

9180-587: The 1930s, most of the major radio stations in the country were affiliated with networks owned by two companies, NBC and CBS . In 1934, a third national network, the Mutual Radio Network , was formed as a cooperative owned by its stations. A second country which quickly adopted network programming was the United Kingdom, and its national network quickly became a prototype for a state-managed monopoly of broadcasting. A rising interest in radio broadcasting by

9350-660: The 1940s two new broadcast media, FM radio and television , began to provide extensive competition with the established broadcasting services. The AM radio industry suffered a serious loss of audience and advertising revenue, and coped by developing new strategies. Network broadcasting gave way to format broadcasting: instead of broadcasting the same programs all over the country, stations individually adopted specialized formats which appealed to different audiences, such as regional and local news, sports, "talk" programs, and programs targeted at minorities. Instead of live music, most stations began playing less expensive recorded music. In

9520-528: The AM radio industry in the United States developed technology for broadcasting in stereo . Other nations adopted AM stereo, most commonly choosing Motorola's C-QUAM, and in 1993 the United States also made the C-QUAM system its standard, after a period allowing four different standards to compete. The selection of a single standard improved acceptance of AM stereo , however overall there was limited adoption of AM stereo worldwide, and interest declined after 1990. With

9690-521: The British public pressured the government to reintroduce the service, following its suspension in 1920. However, the government also wanted to avoid what it termed the "chaotic" U.S. experience of allowing large numbers of stations to operate with few restrictions. There were also concerns about broadcasting becoming dominated by the Marconi company. Arrangements were made for six large radio manufacturers to form

9860-536: The Department ruled the agreement to be a violation of antitrust law , as it would reduce competition for advertising sales. Following the closure of the Belo purchase, Meredith Corporation announced a deal to purchase KMOV, along with KTVK and KASW. As Meredith would have a duopoly between KTVK and its Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO-TV , KASW was to be sold to SagamoreHill Broadcasting and operated by Meredith under an LMA. As

10030-551: The FCC assign this station the current call letters WREN on October 14, 2008. These historic call letters once belonged to a radio station in Topeka, Kansas . The station fell silent on September 29, 2008, and the licensee applied to the FCC for special temporary authority to remain silent for 180 days. The licensee cited "the current economic conditions in Pickens County, Alabama " and "some other personal family health issues" for

10200-494: The FCC began to increase its scrutiny regarding the use of such agreements—particularly joint sales—to evade its policies. On March 31, 2014, the commission voted to make joint sales agreements count as ownership if the senior partner sells 15% or more of advertising time for its partner, and to ban coordinated retransmission consent negotiations between two of the top four stations in a market. Wheeler indicated that he planned to address local marketing and shared services agreements in

10370-959: The FCC cannot manipulate its ownership rules without "[in] the previous four years, [fulfilling] its obligation to review [the] rule and determine whether it is in the public interest". On November 16, 2017, under the Trump administration , the FCC voted in favor of no longer having JSAs attributable to ownership. The increased scrutiny being imposed by the FCC regarding local marketing, shared services, and joint sales agreements have led to more drastic measures by broadcasting companies attempting to use them in acquisitions; in 2014, two broadcasting companies declared intents to shut acquired stations down entirely and consolidate their programming onto existing stations through multicasting, rather than attempting to use sidecars and sharing agreements or selling them to other parties that would assume full responsibility of their day-to-day operations. In May 2014, Sinclair informed

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10540-531: The FCC that it was unable to find buyers for WABM or WMMP – the company's MyNetworkTV stations in Birmingham, Alabama, and Charleston, South Carolina, that it planned to sell in its purchase of Allbritton Communications. In Birmingham, the company proposed surrendering the licenses of WCFT-TV and WJSU-TV – the two full-powered satellites of ABC affiliate WBMA-LD, converting WABM into a full-powered satellite of WBMA-LD – and moving its existing MyNetworkTV programming to

10710-481: The FCC to establish, and the two stations are still legally considered separate operations from a licensing standpoint. Both Tribune Media and the Gannett Company were required to use shared services agreements as a similar loophole to take control of certain stations in their respective 2013 purchases of Local TV and Belo , as they did not have exemptions to the FCC's newspaper cross-ownership restrictions in

10880-482: The Media Council of Hawaii complained to the FCC about Raycom's Hawaii News Now operation, stating that it would "directly reduce the diversity of local voices in a community by replacing independent newscasts on the brokered station with those of the brokering station." In response, the FCC stated it would begin to investigate into the matter. In 2011, after temporarily losing its Fox affiliation for WFFT-TV to

11050-457: The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council – under the condition that they would operate them independently from other stations in the market, and without the use of any sharing agreements. All six of the stations were owned by companies other than Gray, but their non-license assets are either owned by Gray, or were operated by stations now owned by Gray under agreements. Gray would operate

11220-411: The Twenties when radio exploded can't know what it meant, this milestone for mankind. Suddenly, with radio, there was instant human communication. No longer were our homes isolated and lonely and silent. The world came into our homes for the first time. Music came pouring in. Laughter came in. News came in. The world shrank, with radio. The idea of broadcasting — the unrestricted transmission of signals to

11390-434: The U.S., for example) subject to international agreements. Local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting , a local marketing agreement ( LMA ), or local management agreement , is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or time-buy . Under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations,

11560-662: The United States and France this led to a small market of receiver lines geared for jewelers who needed accurate time to set their clocks, including the Ondophone in France, and the De Forest RS-100 Jewelers Time Receiver in the United States The ability to pick up time signal broadcasts, in addition to Morse code weather reports and news summaries, also attracted the interest of amateur radio enthusiasts. It

11730-484: The affected markets. Both companies have since spun out their publishing arms as independent companies; the Tribune Publishing Company and Gannett Company. Tegna , who holds the former Gannett's broadcasting and digital media properties, re-acquired the licenses for most of the affected stations following the split. On November 16, 2017, under the Trump administration , the FCC voted in favor of removing

11900-480: The affected stations under LMAs until the sales and consolidation are complete. Aside from one, most of the stations involved in these changes were related to Gray's acquisition of stations from Hoak Media . Three of these stations were immediately shut down the same day, while the remainder remained operated by Gray until the sales were completed. Gray announced buyers for the stations on August 27, 2014. The six stations affected by Gray's move included: Following

12070-487: The aggregation or outright consolidation of news programming, and allow station owners to have increased leverage in the negotiation of retransmission consent with local subscription television providers . Station owners have contended that these sharing agreements allow streamlined, cost-effective operations that may be beneficial to the continued operation of lower-rated and/or financially weaker stations, especially in smaller markets. In 2014 under chairman Tom Wheeler ,

12240-603: The air within a year of falling silent. The license holder submitted a Notification of Suspension of Operations to the FCC on July 4, 2011, and formally submitted their license for cancellation in a letter dated September 14, 2011. Under the terms of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 , as a matter of law a radio station's broadcast license is subject to automatic forfeiture and cancellation if they fail to broadcast for one full year. The FCC cancelled WREN's broadcast license on September 21, 2011. In late February 2024, it

12410-523: The antenna wire. This meant that the full transmitter power flowed through the microphone, and even using water cooling, the power handling ability of the microphones severely limited the power of the transmissions. Ultimately only a small number of large and powerful Alexanderson alternators would be developed. However, they would be almost exclusively used for long-range radiotelegraph communication, and occasionally for radiotelephone experimentation, but were never used for general broadcasting. Almost all of

12580-472: The approval of Sinclair's purchase of Allbritton, commissioner Ajit Pai further criticized the FCC's new policies and its endorsement of Sinclair's proposal to shut down stations to comply with them. Describing the three Allbritton stations as being "victims" of the "crackdown" against joint sales agreements, he stated regarding WCIV that "apparently the Commission believes that it is better for that station to go out of business than for Howard Stirk Holdings to own

12750-662: The arrangements were legal, Free Press president Craig Aaron stated that "the FCC shouldn't let Gannett break the rules. Media consolidation results in fewer journalists in the newsroom and fewer opinions on the airwaves. Concentrating media outlets in the hands of just a few companies benefits only the companies themselves." The deal would have given Gannett a virtual triopoly in Phoenix, consisting of its NBC station KPNX , independent station KTVK and CW affiliate KASW . In Tucson, Fox affiliate KMSB and MyNetworkTV affiliate KTTU were already operated by Raycom Media's CBS affiliate KOLD-TV under

12920-474: The audience has continued to decline. In 1987, the elimination of the Fairness Doctrine requirement meant that talk shows, which were commonly carried by AM stations, could adopt a more focused presentation on controversial topics, without the distraction of having to provide airtime for any contrasting opinions. In addition, satellite distribution made it possible for programs to be economically carried on

13090-524: The ban would place them at a disadvantage during retransmission consent negotiations with pay television providers. On December 19, 2015, as a rider to the federal budget, the grace period for unwinding or modifying existing JSAs was extended to 10 years. On May 25, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit struck down the restrictions on joint sales agreements, ruling that

13260-522: The border market of San Diego . Public interest organizations have disapproved of the use of LMAs for virtual duopolies that circumvent the FCC's rules due to their effects on the broadcasting industry, particularly the results of consolidation through the irregular use of LMAs. In markets where duopolies are not legally possible, a company may elect to form one by purchasing a station's "non-license" assets (such as their physical facilities, programming rights, and other intellectual property ), and selling

13430-459: The brokered station may vary, for example: In February 2001, Clear Channel Communications subsidiary Citicasters was fined $ 25,000 for its use of time brokerage agreements and litigation for unlawfully controlling Youngstown , Ohio area radio station WBTJ (101.9 FM, now WYLR ); the company had also been the target of complaints for using KFJO (FM) to rebroadcast KSJO after it had nominally sold KFJO to minority-owned interests. In 2009,

13600-633: The brokering station's owner. Even still, the related joint sales and shared services agreement structures became increasingly common during the 2000s; these outsourcing agreements proliferated between 2011 and 2013, when station owners such as Sinclair and the Nexstar Broadcasting Group began expanding their portfolios by acquiring additional stations in an effort to drive scale as well as to gain leverage in retransmission consent negotiations with cable and satellite television providers. The most common use of an LMA in television broadcasting

13770-680: The case of former virtual duopolies in Harrisburg , Pennsylvania between Sinclair-owned CBS affiliate WHP-TV and Nexstar-owned CW affiliate WLYH-TV (which ended in 2015 amid Sinclair's acquisition of Allbritton Communications , which saw WHTM-TV sold to Media General to avoid conflicts with WHP, and WYLH's license sold to Howard Stirk Holdings ), and Rochester, New York between Nexstar-owned CBS affiliate WROC-TV and Sinclair-owned Fox affiliate WUHF (which ended in January 2014 after Deerfield Media acquired ABC affiliate WHAM-TV ). While not to

13940-404: The characteristics of arc-transmitters . Fessenden attempted to sell this form of radiotelephone for point-to-point communication, but was unsuccessful. Fessenden's work with high-frequency spark transmissions was only a temporary measure. His ultimate plan for creating an audio-capable transmitter was to redesign an electrical alternator , which normally produced alternating current of at most

14110-403: The commission estimated that fewer than 250 AM stations were transmitting hybrid mode signals. On October 27, 2020, the FCC voted to allow AM stations to eliminate their analog transmissions and convert to all-digital operation, with the requirement that stations making the change had to continue to make programming available over "at least one free over-the-air digital programming stream that

14280-464: The companies "effectively relinquished decision-making authority to Nexstar, which has served as the ringleader of a conspiracy to harm competition and violate the antitrust laws." Local marketing agreements are effectively prohibited under the regulations of the CRTC , which require that all broadcast undertakings be "operated in fact by the licensee itself". Rogers Media and Newcap Broadcasting maintained

14450-466: The consent of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), although Rogers Media has used a similar arrangement to control a U.S.-based radio station in a border market . The increased use of sharing agreements by media companies to form consolidated , "virtual" duopolies became controversial between 2009 and 2014, especially arrangements where a company buys

14620-475: The continued migration of AM stations away from music to news, sports, and talk formats, receiver manufacturers saw little reason to adopt the more expensive stereo tuners, and thus radio stations have little incentive to upgrade to stereo transmission. In countries where the use of directional antennas is common, such as the United States, transmitter sites consisting of multiple towers often occupy large tracts of land that have significantly increased in value over

14790-437: The continuous wave AM transmissions made prior to 1915 were made by versions of the arc converter transmitter, which had been initially developed by Valdemar Poulsen in 1903. Arc transmitters worked by producing a pulsating electrical arc in an enclosed hydrogen atmosphere. They were much more compact than alternator transmitters, and could operate on somewhat higher transmitting frequencies. However, they suffered from some of

14960-673: The deal in March 2014, choosing to sell WHP-TV, WMMP and WABM, and terminate an SSA with the Cunningham-owned Fox affiliate WTAT in Charleston to acquire the Allbritton-owned stations in those markets ( WCIV , WHTM-TV and WBMA-LD , while also creating a new duopoly between the ABC and CW affiliates in Birmingham), as well as foregoing any operational or financial agreements with the buyers of

15130-434: The decades, to the point that the value of land exceeds that of the station itself. This sometimes results in the sale of the transmitter site, with the station relocating to a more distant shared site using significantly less power, or completely shutting down operations. The ongoing development of alternative transmission systems, including Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), satellite radio, and HD (digital) radio, continued

15300-567: The decline of the popularity of the traditional broadcast technologies. These new options, including the introduction of Internet streaming, particularly resulted in the reduction of shortwave transmissions, as international broadcasters found ways to reach their audiences more easily. In 2022 it was reported that AM radio was being removed from a number of electric vehicle (EV) models, including from cars manufactured by Tesla, Audi, Porsche, BMW and Volvo, reportedly due to automakers concerns that an EV's higher electromagnetic interference can disrupt

15470-569: The demonstration witnesses, which stated "[Radio] Telephony is admirably adapted for transmitting news, stock quotations, music, race reports, etc. simultaneously over a city, on account of the fact that no wires are needed and a single apparatus can distribute to ten thousand subscribers as easily as to a few. It is proposed to erect stations for this purpose in the large cities here and abroad." However, other than two holiday transmissions reportedly made shortly after these demonstrations, Fessenden does not appear to have conducted any radio broadcasts for

15640-562: The employment of Media General due to the SSA. On February 26, 2016, Media General obtained a preliminary injunction against Gray for violating the SSA and JSA, which required that Gray return control of WAGT to Media General, and forbade Gray from selling WAGT in the spectrum incentive auction. The company accused Gray of using the spectrum auction and sale of the station to exit the agreements illegitimately, as they were to last through 2020, and apply to any future owner of WAGT. Gray attempted to block

15810-645: The expectation is that listeners will primarily be tuning into the FM signal rather than the nominally "primary" AM station. A 2020 review noted that "for many owners, keeping their AM stations on the air now is pretty much just about retaining their FM translator footprint rather than keeping the AM on the air on its own merits". In 2018 the FCC, led by then-Commission Chairman Ajit Pai , proposed greatly reducing signal protection for 50 kW Class A " clear channel " stations. This would allow co-channel secondary stations to operate with higher powers, especially at night. However,

15980-445: The fall of 1900, he successfully transmitted speech over a distance of about 1.6 kilometers (one mile), which appears to have been the first successful audio transmission using radio signals. However, at this time the sound was far too distorted to be commercially practical. For a time he continued working with more sophisticated high-frequency spark transmitters, including versions that used compressed air, which began to take on some of

16150-432: The family of Sinclair Broadcast Group founder Julian Smith controlled 97% of Glencairn's stock assets (which remains the case under its Cunningham structure) and the company was to be paid with Sinclair stock in turn for the purchases, KOKH and Sinclair-owned WB affiliate KOCB would effectively constitute a duopoly in violation of FCC rules. The Rainbow/PUSH coalition (headed by Jesse Jackson ) filed challenges against

16320-452: The financial aspects of its "sidecar" operations, and warned that in the three aforementioned markets, "the proposed transactions would result in the elimination of the grandfathered status of certain local marketing agreements and thus cause the transactions to violate our local TV ownership rules." It was asserted that the deal might only be legal if the affected stations were operated under shared services agreements. Sinclair restructured

16490-401: The first time. Music came pouring in. Laughter came in. News came in. The world shrank, with radio. Following World War I, the number of stations providing a regular broadcasting service greatly increased, primarily due to advances in vacuum-tube technology. In response to ongoing activities, government regulators eventually codified standards for which stations could make broadcasts intended for

16660-525: The former company's Fox affiliate in New Orleans , Louisiana , WVUE-DT ; while Louisiana Media Company retained the station's ownership and license, other assets were assumed by Raycom, which owns stations in markets adjacent to New Orleans (including Baton Rouge , Jackson , Biloxi , Lake Charles and Shreveport ) but not within New Orleans itself. Benson had received offers from Raycom and others to buy

16830-573: The four highest-rated stations in a single market would also be barred under the proposal. Wheeler also proposed an expedited process to review joint sales agreements on a case-by-case basis, granting a waiver of the rules if a broadcaster can prove a particular joint sales agreement arrangement serves the public interest. On March 12, 2014, the FCC Media Bureau released a notice that it would further analyze television station transactions that include sharing agreements, particularly those that include

17000-434: The future. The change in stance also prompted changes to then-proposed acquisitions by Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group , who, rather than use sharing agreements to control them, moved their existing programming and network affiliations to digital subchannels of existing company-owned stations in the market, or a low-power station (which are not subject to ownership caps), and then relinquished control over

17170-620: The general public, for example, in the United States formal recognition of a "broadcasting service" came with the establishment of regulations effective December 1, 1921, and Canadian authorities created a separate category of "radio-telephone broadcasting stations" in April 1922. However, there were numerous cases of entertainment broadcasts being presented on a regular schedule before their formal recognition by government regulators. Some early examples include: Because most longwave radio frequencies were used for international radiotelegraph communication,

17340-417: The general public, or to have even given additional thought about the potential of a regular broadcast service, and in a 1908 article providing a comprehensive review of the potential uses for his radiotelephone invention, he made no references to broadcasting. Because there was no way to amplify electrical currents at this time, modulation was usually accomplished by a carbon microphone inserted directly in

17510-542: The injunction by arguing that its actions were required in order to comply with the FCC's prohibition of joint sales agreements, but was denied. Media General took back control of WAGT on March 7, 2016. On March 10, 2016, FCC Deputy General Counsel David Gossett announced that the Commission would investigate Media General's actions as possibly being in violation of Section 310(d) of the Communications Act . Gossett argued that by legally blocking Gray's participation in

17680-541: The isolation of rural life. Political officials could now speak directly to millions of citizens. One of the first to take advantage of this was American president Franklin Roosevelt , who became famous for his fireside chats during the Great Depression . However, broadcasting also provided the means to use propaganda as a powerful government tool, and contributed to the rise of fascist and communist ideologies. In

17850-411: The lack of any way to amplify the signals meant they were somewhat weak. On December 21, 1906, Fessenden made an extensive demonstration of the new alternator-transmitter at Brant Rock, Massachusetts, showing its utility for point-to-point wireless telephony, including interconnecting his stations to the wire telephone network. As part of the demonstration, speech was transmitted 18 kilometers (11 miles) to

18020-419: The late 1960s and 1970s, top 40 rock and roll stations in the U.S. and Canada such as WABC and CHUM transmitted highly processed and extended audio to 11 kHz, successfully attracting huge audiences. For young people, listening to AM broadcasts and participating in their music surveys and contests was the social media of the time. In the late 1970s, spurred by the exodus of musical programming to FM stations,

18190-429: The license itself to a third-party "sidecar" company (which is often affiliated with the purchaser), which in turn, enters into an LMA or a similar agreement with the senior partner. The FCC only recognizes ownership of television stations by the ownership of their license and facility ID , and not by the ownership of these "non-license" assets; this means that the senior partner becomes the de facto owner and operator of

18360-477: The licenses for WCIV and the full-powered repeaters of WBMA-LD (WJSU and WCFT), and moving their ABC programming to Sinclair's existing stations WMMP and WABM respectively – which would shift their existing MyNetworkTV programming to digital subchannels. After nearly a year of delays, Sinclair's deal to acquire Allbritton was approved by the FCC on July 24, 2014. Nexstar Media Group acquired Tribune Media in 2019; to meet ownership limits, it divested 21 stations to

18530-648: The licenses to the Sander Media stations, placing them back under its full control. As part of its planned acquisition of Allbritton Communications , Sinclair originally planned to sell its existing stations in three markets – Charleston, South Carolina , Birmingham, Alabama and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania – where Allbritton already owned stations, but continue to operate them under local marketing agreements. WABM and WTTO in Birmingham and WHP-TV in Harrisburg were to be sold to Deerfield Media , and WMMP in Charleston

18700-507: The majority of LMAs involve the outsourcing of one television station's operations to another, occasionally, a company may operate a station under an LMA, JSA or SSA even if it does not already own a station in that market. One example occurred in December 2013, when the Louisiana Media Company (owned by New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Hornets owner Tom Benson ) entered into a shared services agreement with Raycom Media to run

18870-423: The market. This in particular is one of the caveats of pushes to ban outsourcing agreements by media consolidation critics, who also suggest that LMAs result in a decreased amount of local news coverage on the brokered station. Depending on how the outsourcing agreement is structured, as well as how the brokered station is programmed, how the stations are consolidated and the amount of news programming featured on

19040-399: The marketplace decide" which was best. The lack of a common standard resulted in consumer confusion and increased the complexity and cost of producing AM stereo receivers. In 1993, the FCC again revised its policy, by selecting C-QUAM as the sole AM stereo implementation. In 1993, the FCC also endorsed, although it did not make mandatory, AMAX broadcasting standards that were developed by

19210-432: The message, spreading it broadcast to receivers in all directions". However, it was recognized that this would involve significant financial issues, as that same year The Electrician also commented "did not Prof. Lodge forget that no one wants to pay for shouting to the world on a system by which it would be impossible to prevent non-subscribers from benefiting gratuitously?" On January 1, 1902, Nathan Stubblefield gave

19380-448: The multiple incompatible AM stereo systems, and failure of the manufacturers (including the auto makers) to effectively promote AMAX radios, coupled with the ever-increasing background of noise in the band, the general public soon lost interest and moved on to other media. On June 8, 1988, an International Telecommunication Union (ITU)-sponsored conference held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil adopted provisions, effective July 1, 1990, to extend

19550-537: The necessity of having to transmit a high power carrier wave to overcome ground losses, and the large antenna radiators required at the low broadcast frequencies, but can be sent over long distances via the ionosphere at night; however, they are much more susceptible to interference, and often have lower audio fidelity. Thus, AM broadcasters tend to specialize in spoken-word formats, such as talk radio , all-news radio and sports radio , with music formats primarily for FM and digital stations. People who weren't around in

19720-423: The network while the acquisition pended; independent station WMYD would carry the network for the remainder of the television season, before ultimately returning to WKBD. In response to criticism of the virtual duopolies and sharing agreements, the FCC began to consider potential changes to address these loopholes. In March 2013, the Commission first tabled a proposal that would make joint sales agreements count

19890-405: The new frequencies. It was now estimated that the expanded band could accommodate around 300 U.S. stations. However, it turned out that the number of possible station reassignments was much lower, with a 2006 accounting reporting that, out of 4,758 licensed U.S. AM stations, only 56 were now operating on the expanded band. Moreover, despite an initial requirement that by the end of five years either

20060-428: The new policy, by 2011 there were approximately 500 in operation, and as of 2020 approximately 2,800 of the 4,570 licensed AM stations were rebroadcasting on one or more FM translators. In 2009 the FCC stated that "We do not intend to allow these cross-service translators to be used as surrogates for FM stations". However, based on station slogans, especially in the case of recently adopted musical formats, in most cases

20230-425: The new rules on joint sales agreements, believing that they would discourage the ownership of television stations by minority-owned companies . Tom Wheeler, however, proposed the restrictions in the hopes of encouraging more women and minorities to own stations, due to the ongoing consolidation in the television industry through company mergers and sharing agreements. On March 31, 2014, the FCC voted 3–2 to approve

20400-411: The original station or its expanded band counterpart had to cease broadcasting, as of 2015 there were 25 cases where the original standard band station was still on the air, despite also operating as an expanded band station. HD Radio is a digital audio broadcasting method developed by iBiquity . In 2002 its "hybrid mode", which simultaneously transmits a standard analog signal as well as a digital one,

20570-445: The original stations by selling their licenses to third-parties, such as minority-owned broadcasters. Due to the FCC's limits on station ownership at the time (which prevented the common ownership of multiple radio stations), local marketing agreements in radio, in which a smaller station would sell its entire airtime to a third-party in time-buy, were widespread between the 1970s and early 1990s. These alliances gave larger broadcasters

20740-463: The overall audience reach is considerably less than that of markets that are centered upon densely populated metropolitan areas , and the cost savings achieved through the consolidation of resources and staff may be necessary to fund a station's continued operation. Sharing agreements may also be used as a loophole to control television stations in situations where it is legally impossible to own them outright. For instance, FCC regulations only allowed

20910-433: The overheating issues of needing to insert microphones directly in the transmission antenna circuit. Vacuum tube transmitters also provided high-quality AM signals, and could operate on higher transmitting frequencies than alternator and arc transmitters. Non-governmental radio transmissions were prohibited in many countries during World War I, but AM radiotelephony technology advanced greatly due to wartime research, and after

21080-441: The primary early developer of AM technology is Canadian-born inventor Reginald Fessenden . The original spark-gap radio transmitters were impractical for transmitting audio, since they produced discontinuous pulses known as " damped waves ". Fessenden realized that what was needed was a new type of radio transmitter that produced steady "undamped" (better known as " continuous wave ") signals, which could then be "modulated" to reflect

21250-404: The proposal to ban JSAs – presented a compromise proposal, in which the brokered licensee in a sharing agreement would retain control over at least 85 percent of the station's programming, maintain at least 70 percent of ad sales revenue and "maintain at least 20 percent of station value in the license itself". FCC commissioner Ajit Pai , and Gordon Smith, president of the NAB, were also opposed to

21420-449: The proposed ban on joint sales agreements and voted 5–0 to approve the proposed ban on coordinated retransmission consent negotiations between two of the four highest-rated stations within a given market; the JSA ban went into effect on June 19, 2014. Under the restrictions, the FCC would rule on waivers to maintain select existing JSAs within 90 days of the application's filing. The FCC also began

21590-637: The reception of AM transmissions and hurt the listening experience, among other reasons. However the United States Congress has introduced a bill to require all vehicles sold in the US to have an AM receiver to receive emergency broadcasts. The FM broadcast band was established in 1941 in the United States, and at the time some suggested that the AM band would soon be eliminated. In 1948 wide-band FM's inventor, Edwin H. Armstrong , predicted that "The broadcasters will set up FM stations which will parallel, carry

21760-507: The requirement for a market to still have eight distinct station owners in order to allow duopolies, but the prohibition of owning two of the top four stations in a market remains. Broadcasters could also collect carriage fees for the stations they operate under sharing agreements on behalf of their owner, often bundling its carriage agreements with those of stations they own outright. This could, especially in LMAs between two stations affiliated with

21930-425: The sale with the FCC, citing concerns over a single company holding two broadcast licenses in a single market and argued that Glencairn was masquerading as a separate minority-owned company (Edwards, who served as Glencairn's president, is African American ) when it was really an arm of Sinclair that the company used to gain control of the stations through LMAs. After the FCC updated its media ownership rules to allow

22100-414: The same as ownership. In January 2014 town hall meeting, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler disclosed that he planned to place more scrutiny on the use of LMA-style agreements and shell companies, stating that "there were a couple of references in a couple of recent decisions in which we've said that we're going to do things differently going forward on what were called these shell corporations." Later that month, it

22270-799: The same deficiencies. The lack of any means to amplify electrical currents meant that, like the alternator transmitters, modulation was usually accomplished by a microphone inserted directly in the antenna wire, which again resulted in overheating issues, even with the use of water-cooled microphones. Thus, transmitter powers tended to be limited. The arc was also somewhat unstable, which reduced audio quality. Experimenters who used arc transmitters for their radiotelephone research included Ernst Ruhmer , Quirino Majorana , Charles "Doc" Herrold , and Lee de Forest . Advances in vacuum tube technology (called "valves" in British usage), especially after around 1915, revolutionized radio technology. Vacuum tube devices could be used to amplify electrical currents, which overcame

22440-519: The same market, creating a legal duopoly). Sinclair's use of local marketing agreements would lead to legal issues in 1999, when Glencairn, Ltd. (since restructured as Cunningham Broadcasting ) announced that it would acquire Fox affiliate KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma from Sullivan Broadcasting; Glencairn subsequently announced plans to sell five of its 11 existing stations that were operated by Sinclair under LMAs to that company outright. As

22610-400: The same program, as over their AM stations... eventually the day will come, of course, when we will no longer have to build receivers capable of receiving both types of transmission, and then the AM transmitters will disappear." However, FM stations actually struggled for many decades, and it was not until 1978 that FM listenership surpassed that of AM stations. Since then the AM band's share of

22780-525: The same, wide extent as Sinclair and Nexstar, some broadcasters have similar business relationships with specific sidecar companies as partners for these agreements: The stations partnered through a sharing agreement may also consolidate their programming operations: local newscasts on the junior partner in the LMA, if it operated a separate news department before the LMA's formation, may be rescheduled or scaled back to prevent direct competition with newscasts airing on

22950-429: The senior partner sells 15% or more of advertising time of a competing junior partner station in the JSA; the ban applies to both existing sharing agreements under such a structure as well as pending station transactions that include a JSA. Station owners would be given a two-year grace period to unwind or modify joint sales agreements in violation of the policy; coordinated retransmission consent negotiations between two of

23120-410: The sounds being transmitted. Fessenden's basic approach was disclosed in U.S. Patent 706,737, which he applied for on May 29, 1901, and was issued the next year. It called for the use of a high-speed alternator (referred to as "an alternating-current dynamo") that generated "pure sine waves" and produced "a continuous train of radiant waves of substantially uniform strength", or, in modern terminology,

23290-570: The spectrum auction, Media General had "[sought] injunctive relief that interferes with a licensee's ultimate control of a station". He also stated that the FCC could consider a license revocation hearing against Media General under Section 312 of the Communications Act. On March 23, 2016, the Supreme Court of Georgia struck down the injunction without addressing the litigation, and Gray took back control of WAGT. On July 13, 2016, Media General

23460-404: The station acting as the senior partner (the latter aspect is less common with LMAs involving only stations affiliated with one of the four largest broadcast television networks ). The stations may share news-gathering resources, but maintain separate news telecasts that are differentiated by their on-air presentation, anchors, and overall format, with varying degrees of autonomy; in these cases,

23630-516: The station and participate in a joint sales agreement with Sinclair. I strongly disagree. And so too, I'll bet, would consumers in Charleston." In September 2014, Sinclair backtracked on its original plans, and reached deals to sell WCIV, WCFT and WJSU's license assets to Howard Stirk Holdings for $ 50,000 each and lease them studio space, pending FCC approval. Unlike Howard Stirk Holdings' other stations, they are operated and programmed independently, and Sinclair did not enter into any agreements to operate

23800-409: The station silent again on July 5, 2010. They again sought permission from the FCC to remain silent and this was granted on September 16, 2010. The special temporary authority was scheduled to expire on March 15, 2011. In March 2011, with the deadline fast approaching and family health and economic concerns unresolved, the station filed for an extension. This time, however, the station did not return to

23970-456: The station to a third-party. Mission Broadcasting also scrapped its planned acquisition of Detroit's MyNetworkTV station WADL (which briefly became Detroit's new CW affiliate in September 2023 after CBS News and Stations dropped long-time affiliate WKBD ) after the FCC imposed conditions on Nexstar's involvement in the station. WADL had dropped The CW in late-October following demands that it be compensated for its "transitional" carriage of

24140-413: The station's studio band. Sauceman was elevated to program director in 1954 then general manager of the station in 1955. The Green Valley Boys' broadcasts are credited with popularizing Bluegrass in central Alabama and eastern Mississippi . In June 1990, after nearly 40 years of ownership, Pickens County Broadcasting Company, Inc., made a deal to sell WRAG to Vintage Broadcasting Corporation. The deal

24310-680: The station, but the sidecar is still the legal owner. Although the FCC determines a sidecar firm to be an independent entity from the company using it to outsource station operations for licensing purposes, the Securities and Exchange Commission does not make such a designation, requiring reports on sidecars to be included in a broadcaster's financial statements. Both Sinclair and Nexstar became infamous for their frequent use of sidecars as part of their expansion and consolidation tactics, partnering with companies like Cunningham Broadcasting, Deerfield Media , Mission Broadcasting , and even each other in

24480-480: The station, but was not prepared to sell WVUE outright. On April 4, 2017, Raycom acquired the station for $ 51.8 million. LMAs can also allow companies to control foreign stations from outside of their respective country; Canadian media company Rogers Media used a joint sales agreement to operate Cape Vincent , New York radio station WLYK as a station targeting the nearby Canadian market of Kingston , Ontario , where it owns CKXC-FM and CIKR-FM . Rogers owned

24650-576: The stations being sold to other parties. In May 2014, Sinclair disclosed in an FCC filling that it was unable to find buyers for the three affected stations, requiring changes to its transaction. In Harrisburg, Sinclair chose to retain WHP-TV, and divest WHTM to Media General. However, in Charleston and Birmingham, the company proposed to shut down stations entirely (rather than selling them to other buyers that would also handle their operational responsibilities) so it could maintain legal duopolies; surrendering

24820-455: The stations on Stirk's behalf. In Quincy Newspapers' acquisition of Granite Broadcasting's remaining stations, the acquisition was briefly re-structured to have Malara Broadcast Group —which served as a virtual duopoly partner for Granite with WISE-TV (NBC) Fort Wayne and KDLH-TV Duluth (CBS), retain the stations and their current agreements with WPTA and KBJR-TV in lieu of having them sold to SagamoreHill Broadcasting. The acquisition

24990-457: The suspension of operations. They stated they expect to resume operations in "the Spring of 2009". The application was accepted for filing by the FCC but later dismissed when the station resumed broadcasting on May 28, 2009. WREN fell silent again on July 16, 2009, and Serendipity Ventures again applied to the FCC for authority to remain off the air temporarily. The station's owners sought to "resolve

25160-411: The technology for AM broadcasting in stereo was challenging due to the need to limit the transmissions to a 20 kHz bandwidth, while also making the transmissions backward compatible with existing non-stereo receivers. In 1990, the FCC authorized an AM stereo standard developed by Magnavox, but two years later revised its decision to instead approve four competing implementations, saying it would "let

25330-517: The terms of a potential time brokerage agreement " and made the request "out of an abundance of caution". This time the Commission granted the request and on November 2, 2009, gave the station until May 2, 2010, to return to the air or ask for an extension. Citing "economic conditions" the station filed for the extension in January 2010 but this application was dismissed when the station resumed broadcasting on June 29, 2010. Citing "staffing" and "continuing economic conditions", WREN's licensed holder took

25500-478: The time had prohibited television station duopolies, Sinclair decided to sell the lower-rated WPTT to the station's manager Eddie Edwards, but continued to operate the station through an LMA (Sinclair eventually repurchased the station – then assigned the call letters WCWB – outright in 2000, after the Federal Communications Commission began permitting common ownership of two television stations in

25670-401: The translator stations are not permitted to originate programming when the "primary" AM station is broadcasting, they are permitted to do so during nighttime hours for AM stations licensed for daytime-only operation. Prior to the adoption of the new policy, as of March 18, 2009, the FCC had issued 215 Special Temporary Authority grants for FM translators relaying AM stations. After creation of

25840-492: The upper end of the Region 2 AM broadcast band, by adding ten frequencies which spanned from 1610 kHz to 1700 kHz. At this time it was suggested that as many as 500 U.S. stations could be assigned to the new frequencies. On April 12, 1990, the FCC voted to begin the process of populating the expanded band, with the main priority being the reduction of interference on the existing AM band, by transferring selected stations to

26010-548: The war the availability of tubes sparked a great increase in the number of amateur radio stations experimenting with AM transmission of news or music. Vacuum tubes remained the central technology of radio for 40 years, until transistors began to dominate in the late 1950s, and are still used in the highest power broadcast transmitters. Unlike telegraph and telephone systems, which used completely different types of equipment, most radio receivers were equally suitable for both radiotelegraph and radiotelephone reception. In 1903 and 1904

26180-404: The youngest demographic groups. Among persons aged 12–24, AM accounts for only 4% of listening, while FM accounts for 96%. Among persons aged 25–34, AM accounts for only 9% of listening, while FM accounts for 91%. The median age of listeners to the AM band is 57 years old, a full generation older than the median age of FM listeners." In 2009, the FCC made a major regulatory change, when it adopted

26350-565: Was 15 kHz resulting in bandwidth of 30 kHz. Another common limitation on AM fidelity is the result of receiver design, although some efforts have been made to improve this, notably through the AMAX standards adopted in the United States. AM broadcasts are used on several frequency bands. The allocation of these bands is governed by the ITU 's Radio Regulations and, on the national level, by each country's telecommunications administration (the FCC in

26520-446: Was able to retain WBMA-LD in any event as the FCC does not impose any ownership limits on low-power stations. On June 13, 2014, Gray Television announced that it would shutter six stations and consolidate existing programming onto subchannels of Gray-owned stations in their respective market. Unlike Sinclair, however, Gray stated that it would sell the licenses of the shuttered stations to minority-owned broadcasters in collaboration with

26690-474: Was approved by the FCC for use by AM stations, initially only during daytime hours, due to concerns that during the night its wider bandwidth would cause unacceptable interference to stations on adjacent frequencies. In 2007 nighttime operation was also authorized. The number of hybrid mode AM stations is not exactly known, because the FCC does not keep track of the stations employing the system, and some authorized stations have later turned it off. But as of 2020

26860-479: Was approved by the FCC on August 7, 1990, and the transaction was consummated on October 1, 1990. In May 1994, Vintage Broadcasting Corporation agreed to sell this station to Firststar Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 3, 1994, but the transaction was not consummated and WRAG was placed back on the market. In September 1994, Vintage Broadcasting Corporation reached an agreement to sell this station to Grant Radio Group, LLC. The deal

27030-519: Was approved by the FCC on December 14, 1994, and the transaction was consummated on February 15, 1995. In July 1997, Grant Radio Group, LLC, contracted to sell this station to Willis Broadcasting subsidiary Birmingham Christian Radio, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on October 16, 1997, and the transaction was consummated on June 30, 1998. In April 2006, Willis Broadcasting-owned Birmingham Christian Radio, Inc., reached an agreement to sell this station to Kingdom Radio of Chattanooga, LLC, as part of

27200-400: Was immediately recognized that, much like the telegraph had preceded the invention of the telephone, the ability to make audio radio transmissions would be a significant technical advance. Despite this knowledge, it still took two decades to perfect the technology needed to make quality audio transmissions. In addition, the telephone had rarely been used for distributing entertainment, outside of

27370-407: Was issued a $ 700,000 fine by the FCC. WAGT's spectrum sold for $ 40,763,036. In March 2023, DirecTV sued Nexstar Media Group, alleging that it was conspiring with the sidecar companies Mission Broadcasting and White Knight Broadcasting to manipulate retransmission fees for its stations. The company, which had been in a carriage dispute with Mission and White Knight since October 2022, stated that

27540-449: Was last held by Serendipity Ventures II, LLC. Before falling silent, it had most recently broadcast a traditional Black Gospel music format branded as "The Mighty 590". Over the six decades of its operation, WRAG had also aired Top 40 , country , and rhythm and blues music formats. The class D station was originally assigned the call letters WRAG by the FCC and began broadcasting in August 1951. The 1,000 watt daytime-only station

27710-521: Was licensed to Pickens County Broadcasting, Inc., which was itself owned by Roth E. Hook and W.E. Farrar. Carl Sauceman and his brother John Paul, also known as the Sauceman Brothers , were among the early pioneers of Bluegrass music . After performing at radio stations in North Carolina and Tennessee , Carl Sauceman brought his Green Valley Boys to WRAG in early 1952 for a decade-long run as

27880-703: Was not established until the 1920s, following the development of vacuum tube receivers and transmitters. AM radio remained the dominant method of broadcasting for the next 30 years, a period called the " Golden Age of Radio ", until television broadcasting became widespread in the 1950s and received much of the programming previously carried by radio. Later, AM radio's audiences declined greatly due to competition from FM ( frequency modulation ) radio, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), satellite radio , HD (digital) radio , Internet radio , music streaming services , and podcasting . Compared to FM or digital transmissions , AM transmissions are more expensive to transmit due to

28050-478: Was reported that the FCC had placed all pending acquisitions involving the use of shell companies on hold, so the Commission could discuss changes to its policies. Among the deals affected by this decision included the aforementioned Sinclair/Allbritton purchase. On March 6, 2014, the FCC announced that it would hold a vote on March 31 on a proposal to ban joint sales agreements involving television stations outright, making them attributable to FCC ownership limits if

28220-611: Was restructured in July 2015 to, again, have SagamoreHill Broadcasting acquire the two stations, but have their current SSAs wound down within nine months. Following the end of the SSA, the two stations retained The CW as independently run stations, with their remaining affiliations moved to subchannels of KBJR and WPTA. Quincy similarly wound down an SSA in Peoria, Illinois with Sinclair-owned WHOI by trading its South Bend Fox affiliation (previously held by WSJV-TV ) to Sinclair (where it moved to

28390-723: Was settled in February 2013 via mutual agreement, after which the Fox affiliation was given back to WFFT. Gannett Company's 2013 acquisition of Belo was opposed by organizations such as the American Cable Association and Free Press , due to Gannett's plans to use LMAs and two shell companies owned by former Belo and Fisher Communications executives (respectively, Sander Media and Tucker Operating Co.) to dodge FCC newspaper cross-ownership restrictions in Louisville , Phoenix , Portland, Oregon and Tucson . Although Gannett contended that

28560-468: Was the first organization to create a radio network, and also to promote commercial advertising, which it called "toll" broadcasting. Its flagship station, WEAF (now WFAN) in New York City, sold blocks of airtime to commercial sponsors that developed entertainment shows containing commercial messages . AT&T held a monopoly on quality telephone lines, and by 1924 had linked 12 stations in Eastern cities into

28730-406: Was the lack of amplifying the signals, so listeners had to use earphones , and it required the development of vacuum-tube receivers before loudspeakers could be used. The dynamic cone loudspeaker , invented in 1924, greatly improved audio frequency response over the previous horn speakers, allowing music to be reproduced with good fidelity. AM radio offered the highest sound quality available in

28900-466: Was to be sold to Howard Stirk Holdings–a broadcasting company owned by conservative pundit Armstrong Williams . Howard Stirk Holdings was first established in 2013 with its acquisition of two conflicting stations in Sinclair's earlier acquisition of Barrington Broadcasting . In December 2013, FCC Video Division Chief Barbara Kreisman sent a letter demanding information from the Sinclair Broadcast Group on

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