List Of Broadcast Station Classes

This is the list of broadcast station classes. Domestic classes are listed as subitems under international ones. Effective radiated power (ERP) and height above average terrain (HAAT) are listed unless otherwise noted.

North America

The United States, Canada, and Mexico.

AM

  • A (I): clear channels, 10kW to 100kW day and night
  • B (II & III): unlimited time, 250W to 50kW (to 10kW on 1610 to 1710kHz)
    • D (U.S.; II-D, II-S, III-S): daytime 250W to 50kW, nighttime under 250W or off-air, field strength up to 140mV/m at 1km, no new stations except downgraded B
  • C (IV): unlimited time, 250W to 1kW (also grandfathered 100W)
See also: North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA)

FM

  • C: 250kW, 300m to 600m, 91.8km
  • C0: 100kW, 300m to 450m, 83.4km
  • C1: up to 100kW, under 300m, 72.3km
  • C2: up to 50kW, up to 150m, 52.2km
  • C3: up to 25kW, up to 100m, 39.1km
  • B: up to 50kW, up to 150m, 65.1km
  • B1: up to 25kW, up to 100m, 44.7km
  • A: 100W to 6kW, up to 100m, 28.3km
    • AA (Mexico): up to 3kW, the former limit for A
  • D: up to 250W ERP, except U.S. non-translators to 10W TPO
    • L1 (U.S., also LP100): 50W to 100W ERP, up to 30m, 5.6km
    • L2 (U.S., also LP10): 1W to 10W ERP, up to 30m
Notes:
  • Canada protects all radio stations out to a signal strength of 0.5mV/m, whereas only commercial B stations in the U.S. are. Commercial B1 in the U.S. is 0.7mV/m, and all other stations are 1.0mV/m.
  • Class C0 is for former C stations, demoted at request of another station which needs the downgrade to accommodate its own facilities.
  • In practice, many stations are above the maximum HAAT for a particular class, and correspondingly must downgrade their power to remain below the reference distance and may not increase power if they are above maximum HAAT.
  • All class D (including L1 and L2 LPFM) stations are secondary in the U.S., and can be bumped or forced off-air completely, even if they are not just a repeater and are the only station a licensee has.
  • The United States is divided into separate regions that have different restrictions for FM stations. Zone I (much of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest) and I-A (most of California, plus Puerto Rico) is limited to class B, while Zone II (everything else) can reach class C.
  • Power and height restrictions were put in place in 1962. A number of previously-existing stations were grandfathered in, such as KRUZ in Santa Barbara, California and WMC-FM in Memphis, Tennessee.

TV

  • full-service stations:
    • VHF low (2-6): 100kW video, 10kW audio; 20kW digital
    • VHF high (7-13): 316kW video, 31.6kW audio; 63.2kW digital
    • UHF all (14-69): 10MW video, 1000kW audio; 2MW digital
  • class A stations (U.S.):
    • VHF all (2-13): 3kW video, 300W audio
    • UHF all (14-69): 150kW video, 15kW audio
  • LPTV (secondary):
Translators, boosters, and other LPTV stations are secondary, unless they have upgraded to class A. Class A is still considered LPTV with respect to stations Canada and Mexico.

External links

  • http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/amclasses.html
  • http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/fmclasses.html

 

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