See RW article:

http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0044/t.777.html

The Tease:

" Commentary: Allow AMs on FM Translators
Even If the FCC Only Adopted the Proposal in Part, It Would Be the Biggest News in the Industry Since the Introduction of Solid-State Transmitters"

The FM band is already full of translators and a few LPFMs, therefore it's largely a moot point.

Most metros are too crowded with FM's allready...would serve well certain mid to small markets...especially those AM's that are daytimers still...

One idea in Vancouver (Canada) that makes sense is an FM repeater in B.C. Place for the AM sports station on 1040. From what I've read on a Vancouver radio board, B.C. Place already has a 10 watt AM repeater on 1040. That proves, to me, that there is a (perceived) interest by the station's listeners in having the ability to listen to the play-by-play while in the stands watching a game.

But, here is the issue: iPODs and similar devices only have FM receivers, without any AM. So, there are lots of people who don't have a portable AM radio. Which is why I think the idea of a low powered FM repeater, effectively limited to the stadium itself, has merit.

Sports stadiums to me seem a very good place for FM repeaters of AM sports stations.

I wish they would install a repeater in GM Place for the Canucks games...

Last football season at BC Place I saw quite a few Lions fans with portable radios listening to the games.(Now if BC Place could just get scoreboards that wouldn't malfunction every few minutes or a roof that wouldn't tear off like a cheap pop top, that would be great...)

Just checked the Vancouver radio board again, and it was GM Place (not BC Place, sorry for the misinformation!) where the 1040 same-frequency repeater is, according to the person who originally installed it.

Cool. I'll have to try it out next time I'm there. Last year I was barely able to get CKNW inside GM Place when they carried the Canucks.

CKNW's 50KW transmitter on 980 is in Cloverdale, quite a way out from Vancouver, but to the East, so their pattern shoots lots of watts to the West without interfering with other stations on the frequency. When originally constructed and tested in the '60s, it covered all of Vancouver very nicely.

But, a "funny thing" happened beginning in the 1970s. Downtown Vancouver and later other areas of Greater Vancouver began building tall buildings. Who would have thunk it could happen?

For years now, Regina, Saskatchewan, on 980 is dominant many a night in and between buildings. Or at least bothersome.

The original transmitter site in Richmond, just South of Vancouver, and presumably still their 10KW auxiliary site, suddenly looks much more inviting.

My advice to the owners of this almost perpetual #1-rated station: move your 50KW transmitter closer, or, better yet, swap frequencies with your perpetually low ratings mostly-traffic-some-sports station on 730. 730 has a beautiful new 50KW site and an unimpaired signal well beyond the CKNW coverage area, day and night. You might not think so looking at a list of U.S. stations on the frequency, but all the Western stations cut down their power at night to almost nothing. And I've never heard of any complaints about interference from the Manitoba, Canada, station.