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Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 FCC 91-303 38244 In the Matter of ) ) Review of the Technical ) MM Docket No. 87-267 Assignment Criteria for the ) AM Broadcast Service ) REPORT AND ORDER (Proceeding Terminated) Adopted: September 26, 1991 Released: October 25, 1991 By the Commission: Commissioner Quello concurring in part and issuing a separate statement; Commissioners Barrett and Duggan concurri,ng and issuing separate statements. Table of Contents Paragraph 1. Introduction.................................................... 1 II. Summary 5 III. Technical Standards :.......................... 14 A. ReclassificationlPower Increases 15 B. Normally Protected Contours ............................ .. 26 C. E,.,;. and Noise ...................................... .. 40 D. Protection Ratios ...................... .. 48 E. Nighttime Interference Calculations 61 F. Nighttime Enhancement 76 G. Advanced Antenna. .................................. .. 90 H. Split Frequency Operations ............................. .. 94 1. Summary of Technical Standards 98 IV. Migration to the Expanded Band ,......... 99 ( A. Wide Station Separations and Low Interference Levels 101 \. B. Migration Eligibility 108 C. Existing Stations Causing Interference and Preferred Migrators 113 D. Allotment or Assignment Options 126 E. Sample Allotment Plan .................................. 130 F. The Selection Process for Migrating Stations ................... 135 G. Ownership Limitations and Transition Period 143 H. Expanded Band Technical Standards 149 I. City Coverage for Expanded Band Stations 153 V. Consolidation '.' 159 A. Voluntary Agreements 160 B. Common Ownership 165 C. AM-FM Programming Nonduplication Rule 171 VI. AM Stereo ................................................... 184 VII. Travelers Information Stations 191 VIII. Receiver Model 201 IX. Other Matters ... ... ...................................... .- ..... 210 X. Summary and Conclusions 215 / C XI. Administrative Matters 216 XII. Ordering Clauses 220 Appendix A- List of Commenters in MM Docket No. 87-267 Appendix B- Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Appendix C- RSS Illustration Appendix D - Sample Allotment Plan Appendix E- Rules I. Introduction 1. This Repon and Order concludes an imponant phase of this Commission's overall program for the transformation and revitalization of the AM broadcast service by the year 2000. AM radio was this country's first national medium of mass communications and, for more than a half century, its contribution to daily life in America was unquestioned. The AM 2 service was a unifying force throughout the country, providing a wealth of news, information, entertainment, education, and political dialogue readily -accessible to virtually all Americans. In the process, it literally revolutionized the fabric of our daily lives, our dialogue and our democracy. 2. Over the years, however, channel congestion and interference, both radio- and environmentally-induced, have dramatically increased in the AM band. Coincident with this growth has been a decline in the fidelity of AM receivers. As a consequence, during the last twenty years there has been a well-documented shift of AM listeners to newer mass media services that offer higher technical quality and better aural fidelity. This shift in listenership has clearly dulled the competitive edge of this once vital service. 3. Nonetheless, we believe that AM radio continues to hold a valuable place on the communications landscape. AM service provides a significant number of outlets that contribute to the vital diversity of viewpoints and programming available to Americans.1 Indeed, AM often offers the only radio setvice to listeners in a variety of circumstances, particularly those living in and traveling through rural areas. In view of the undisputed public importance of the AM service, we believe that innovative and substantial regulatory steps must be taken to ensure its health and survival. 4. For the past several years, the Commission -has made an intensive effort to identify the service's most pressing problems and, where relevant and feasible, to adapt the regulatory environment for AM stations that will ameliorate those problems. Following the Mass Media Bureau's 1986 Report on the Status of the AM Broadcast Rules, and the subsequent Notice of ( Inquiry (Inquiry), 2 FCC Rcd 5014 (1987), we took several actions. _These included improving our prediction of groundwave and nighttime skywave service and interference;2 accepting interference-reducing modifications without competing applications;3 eliminating grandfathered deleted AM station assignments;4 and adopting a new emissions standard for adjacent channel interference to improve aural fidelity.s In conjunction with these individual actions, we issued last year a Notice of Proposed Rule Making <Notice), 5 FCC Rcd 4381 lAs of June 30, 1991, AM stations accounted for nearly half of the 10,924 licensed radio stations in the country. 2Report and Order in MM Docket No. 88-510, 5 FCC Rcd 4489 (1990); Report and Order in MM Docket No. 88-508, 5 FCC Red 4482 (1990). 3Report and Order in MM Docket No. 89-46, 5 FCC Rcd 4492 (1990). 4Id. sReport and Order in MM Docket No. 88-376, 4 FCC Rcd 3835 (1989); recon. denied, 5 FCC Rcd 2598 (1990); Memorandum Opinion and Order in MM Docket No. 88-376 5 FCC Rcd 5191 (1990). 3 (1990), to initiate a comprehensive revision of the remaining AM technical and legal ( standards, rules and policies. Our goal was to facilitate an overall improvement and revitalization of the AM broadcast service, and to effectuate the necessary incorporation of new AM spectrum between 1605 and 1705 kHz into the existing AM band (535 to 1605 kHz).6 II. Summary 5. This Report and Order describes the actions resulting from our comprehensive review of the many regulatory areas which affect the AM service. As detailed below, our review has led us to adopt numerous revisions and adjustments, both major and minor, to the existing rules and policies governing the AM band. We intend and expect that these modifications will enhance the technical characteristics of AM broadcasting and thus provide the potential for improving AM service in the near future as well as in the long term. 6. The goal of this proceeding has been to refme and integrate various proposals into a comprehensive plan that will eventually achieve a significantly improved AM service. In response to the Inquiry, the commenters repeatedly emphasized the need to improve the technical quality of the AM service. The strategy initiated in the Notice and adopted in substantial part here consists of three essential and mutually supporting elements designed to serve that objective by reducing congestion and interference in the AM band. The first element ("Technical Standards") implements new and revised AM technical standards that ( should reduce over time the interference with which AM broadcasters must contend in their primary service areas. The next action ("Migration") selectively opens the ten newly available frequencies in the expanded band (1605-1705 kHz) to those existing AM stations which significantly contribute to congestion and interference in the existing band. Our action here initially restricting eligibility for expanded band authorizations to existing AM licensees is intended to redress the unique technical problems present in the AM service. It should be not be taken to suggest any generalized Commission policy favoring existing licensees over new entrants in other services where new or expanded opportunities may arise. The Commission remains fully committed to our diversity goals of providing opportunities for diverse voices in local communities. The third initiative ("Consolidation") affords broadcasters greater latitude and incentive to reduce interference through non-technical means. 7. To provide a specific structure for these revitalization efforts, we defined two models of AM station operation in the Notice, one for operation in the expanded band and one for operation in the existing band. (Notice at 4382.) Model I parameters, for expanded band stations, are intended to take advantage of the fact that there are currently no stations in the expanded band, and therefore defme idealized facilities. Model I parameters include 6In response to the Notice, more than 150 comments and reply comments were fl1ed. The parties are listed in Appendix A. 4 fulltime operation with stereo, technical quality competitive with FM, 10 kW daytime power, 1 kW nighttime power, non-directional (or simple directional) antenna, and a 400-800 km spacing between co-channel stations. Model II parameters, for stations in the existing band, reflect the realities in that band -- particularly dense station population coupled with wide variations in spacing, power, antenna patterns, and interference protection -- and represent. those attributes toward which the service can reasonably aspire. They include fulltime operation, competitive technical quality, and wide area daytime coverage with nighttime coverage at least 15% of daytime coverage. 8. Technical Standards. To facilitate movement in the direction of these models, we fIrst take a number of actions which will improve the quality of service in the existing AM band. Many of these actions are made realizable, in part, by the opportunity for reduced interference and congestion that will result from mutual agreements among existing licensees and from the migration of stations to the expanded band. Most notably, we: (1) increase