Clear-channel station

A clear-channel station is an AM radio station in North America that has the highest protection from
interference from other stations, particularly concerning nighttime skywave propagation. The system exists
to ensure the viability of cross-country or cross-continent radio service enforced through a series of treaties
and statutory laws. Known as Class A stations since the 1983 adoption of the Regional Agreement for the
Medium Frequency Broadcasting Service in Region 2 (Rio Agreement), they are occasionally still referred
to by their former classifications of Class I-A (the highest classification), Class I-B (the next highest class),
or Class I-N (for stations in Alaska too far away to cause interference to the primary clear-channel stations
in the lower 48 states). The term "clear-channel" is used most often in the context of North America and the
Caribbean, where the concept originated.

Since 1941, these stations have been required to maintain an effective radiated power of at least 10,000
watts to retain their status. Nearly all such stations in the United States, Canada and The Bahamas
broadcast at 50,000 watts, with several clear-channel stations in Mexico going as high as 150,000 watts,
and XEW in Mexico City having formerly operated at 250,000 watts for over 80 years before moving the
transmitter and reducing to 100,000 watts in 2016. Cuba was originally included in the plan and had
several stations given clear-channel status, but stopped participating after the Cuban Revolution of 1959.

Description
Sixty medium wave frequencies were set aside in 1941 under the North American Regional Broadcasting
Agreement (NARBA) for nighttime use by only one, two or three specific AM stations, covering a wide
area via skywave propagation. These frequencies were known as the "clear channels", and the stations on
them are thus clear-channel stations. NARBA set aside 37 Class I-A frequencies and 27 Class I-B
frequencies. The Class I-N stations in Alaska shared those same frequencies. Where only one station was
assigned to a clear channel, the treaty provides that it must operate with a nominal power of 50 kilowatts or
more. These were for the most part Class I-A. Stations on the other clear channels, with two or more
stations, must use between 10  kW and 50  kW, and most often use a directional antenna so as not to
interfere with each other. In addition to the frequencies, the treaty also specified the specific locations where
stations on Class I-B channels could be built.

Some of the original NARBA signatories, including the United States, Canada and Mexico, have
implemented bilateral agreements that supersede NARBA's terms, eliminating among other things the
distinction between the two kinds of clear channel: the original "I-A" and "I-B" classes, and the newer,
U.S.-only "I-N" class, which are now all included in class A. Classes "I-A" and "I-B" still mandate a
minimum efficiency of 362.10 mV/m/kW at 1 km, whereas Class "I-N" is permitted to use the lower Class
B minimum efficiency of 281.63 mV/m/kW at 1  km. There exist exceptions, where a former Class B
station was elevated to Class A, yet it maintained its previous antenna system, or made only minor changes
thereto.

Clear-channel stations, unlike all other AM stations in North America, have a secondary service area; that
is, they are entitled to protection from interference with their nighttime skywave signals. Other stations are
entitled, at most, to protection from nighttime interference in their primary service area—that which is
covered by their groundwave signal.
Many stations beyond those listed in the treaty have been assigned to operate on a clear channel (and some
had been long before NARBA came into effect in 1941). In most cases, those stations operate during the
daytime only, so as not to interfere with the primary stations on those channels. Since the early 1980s, many
such stations have been permitted to operate at night with such low power as to be deemed not to interfere;
these stations are still considered "daytimers" and are not entitled to any protection from interference with
their nighttime signals. Another group of stations, formerly known as class II stations, were licensed to
operate on the former "I-B" clear channels with significant power at night, provided that they use
directional antenna systems to minimize radiation towards the primary stations.

History
For the U.S., a form of clear channels first appeared in 1922 when the Commerce Department moved
stations which had all used three (initially two) frequencies (two for entertainment stations, one for
"weather and crop reports") onto 52 frequencies. Two were set aside for low-power local and regional
stations, while the large stations in major cities each got their own frequency. A few frequencies were used
on both the East and West coasts, which were considered far enough apart to limit interference. At that
time, large stations were limited to 1,000 watts and some licences were revoked.

On November 11, 1928, the United States implemented General Order 40, which classified each allocation
in the AM band as either Local, Regional or Clear. The classification system considered stations in Canada
as well. Gradually maximum power was increased to 50,000 watts: additionally there were some short-
lived experiments with 250–500 kilowatt "super-power" operations. This system was continued in the 1941
NARBA system, although almost all stations shifted broadcast frequencies. The FCC's intent behind
licensing 50,000 watt clear-channel stations was to provide reliable radio service to the thousands of
Americans who lived in the vast rural areas of the United States.[1] As a result, these stations usually
reached large portions of North America at night. Radio fans (and staff at those stations) often affectionately
call such stations "flamethrowers" or "blowtorches" because of their high power, and boast about their
reach by a combined state and provincial count of their coverage area.

As early as the 1930s, debate raged in Washington, D.C., and in the U.S. broadcasting industry over
whether continuation of the clear-channel system was justifiable. The licensees of clear-channel stations
argued that, without their special status, many rural areas would receive no radio service at all. Rural
broadcasters pointed out that most of the clear-channel stations were licensed to serve large cities on the
two coasts, which made little sense for a service that was meant to provide radio to the vast rural areas in
the middle of the country. The clear-channel licensees requested that the power limit on the "I-A" channels
in the U.S., set at 50 kW by the FCC, be lifted entirely. They pointed to successful experiments made by
WLW in Cincinnati before World War II, and in later years successful implementation by state broadcasters
in Europe and the Middle East, as evidence that this would work and improve the service received by most
Americans. Other broadcasters, particularly in the western states, argued to the contrary; that if the special
status of the clear-channel stations was eliminated, they would be able to build facilities to provide local
service to those rural "dark areas".

One of the most outspoken of the small-town broadcasters, Ed Craney of KGIR in Butte, Montana, went
so far as to apply to move his station, then on the 1370  kHz regional channel, to a class I-A signal on
660 kHz, asking the FCC to downgrade the NBC New York flagship, WEAF, to make way for the Butte
station.[2] The FCC denied Craney's petition.

In 1941 several existing clear-channel stations applied for power increases to between 500 and
750  kW;[3][4] dissemination of national defense information is cited as one reason this would be in the
public interest. In October 1941 the FCC's engineering department presented a report on a complete
reorganization of the clear-channel service; the report considered the possibility of "some 25 superpower
stations of 500,000 watts or more, strategically located to provide maximum service" (as Broadcasting
described it), and suggested that stations would have to be relocated away from the east and west coasts in
such a scenario, as coastal stations waste energy over the oceans. One complication the FCC considered
was the "Wheeler resolution", passed by the United States Senate in 1938, expressing the view of the
Senate that radio stations should be limited to a maximum power of 50 kW.[5]

One station, KOB in Albuquerque, New Mexico, fought a long legal battle against the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) and New York's WABC for the right to move from a regional channel
to a clear channel, 770 kHz, arguing that the New York signal was so weak in the mountain west that it
served no one. KOB eventually won the argument in the late 1960s; it and several other western stations
were allowed to move to eastern clear channels. (Western clear channels, such as 680 in San Francisco, had
been "duplicated" in the eastern states for many years.) These new class II-A assignments (in places like
Boise, Idaho; Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; Lexington, Nebraska; Casper, Wyoming; Kalispell, Montana;
and others) began what would later be called "the breakdown of the clear channels". The class I-A station
owners' proposal to increase power fifteenfold was not immediately quashed, but the new II-A stations
would make it effectively impossible for stations on the duplicated channels to do so, and the owners
eventually lost interest. That proposal was finally taken off the FCC's docket in the late 1970s.

On May 29, 1980, the FCC voted to limit the protection for all clear-channel stations to a 750-mile
(1,207 km) radius around the transmitter. Stations on those frequencies outside the area of protection were
no longer required to sign off or power down after sundown.[6]

In 1987 the FCC changed its rules to prohibit applications for new "class-D" stations. (Class-D stations
have night power between zero and 250 watts, and frequently operate on clear channels.) However, any
existing station could voluntarily relinquish nighttime authority, thereby becoming a class-D, and several
have done so since the rule change.

Daytimers

Daytimers (also known as daytime-only stations) are AM radio stations that are limited to broadcasting
during the daytime only, as their signals would interfere with clear-channel and other radio stations at night,
when solar radiation is reduced, and medium wave radio signals can propagate much farther. Such stations
are allowed three manners of operation after sunset; to sign off the air completely until sunrise, reduce
power (sometimes dramatically, to only a few watts), or switch to a nighttime-only frequency (such as the
Detroit area's WNZK, which broadcasts on 690 during the day, and on 680 at night). Their broadcast class
is Class D. A great number of these stations use FM translators to continue their broadcasts overnight, and
some also broadcast on the internet and have separate streams that air when the station's over-the-air signal
has signed off.

Daytime-only stations first originated in the late 1920s shortly after General Order 40 was imposed. One of
the first to do so was WKEN in Kenmore, New York (now WUFO). WKEN proposed the concept to
avoid the then-common practice of having to share one frequency between multiple stations; under General
Order 40, WKEN would have had to share its frequency with WKBW, and the daytime-only proposal
allowed both stations their own frequency.[7] WUFO remains a daytime-only station to the present day,
albeit with a 24/7 FM translator introduced in mid-2017.

As of 2013, daytimers only exist in the United States and Mexico. The last Canadian daytime station,
CKOT, signed off on February 17 of that year after converting to the FM band. There were 61 daytimers in
Mexico in 2015.[8]

List of all clear-channel stations

The following two tables show all of the class-A stations in North America.

First is the Canada, Mexico, and contiguous United States table, for the former class I-A and class I-B
stations. General Order 40 allocations are in bold.

Second is the Alaska table, for the former class I-N stations.

Under the most recent treaty, Mexican Class A stations that previously operated with 50 kW or less (but a
minimum of 10  kW nights) may increase power to 100  kW days while retaining their 10  kW night
operation. This created some anomalies where stations licensed for 10 kW during all hours could increase
power to 100 kW days and 10 kW nights, unless a directional antenna system was installed for nights, in
which case the maximum night power was 50  kW. Additionally, one Class B station that had been
operating non-directionally with 100 kW days and 50 kW nights was required to reduce power to 50 kW
during all hours.
 Class A (former I-A/I-B) stations
Call Transmitter
kHz
sign
City of license State / province Country kW[9] coordinates

540 CBK Watrous Saskatchewan 50 51.68°N 105.446667°W

22.157944°N
540 XEWA San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí 150
100.92625°W

Newfoundland and 47.568889°N

640 CBN St. John's 10
Labrador 52.8125°W
33.879722°N
640 KFI Los Angeles California 50
118.013056°W

35.998194°N
650 WSM Nashville Tennessee 50
86.790833°W

40.859722°N
660 WFAN New York City New York 50
73.785278°W
41.934167°N
670 WSCR Chicago Illinois 50
88.073333°W

37.547222°N
680 KNBR San Francisco California 50
122.233333°W

690 CKGM[a] Montreal Quebec 50 45.2953°N 73.7217°W

77.5 /
690 XEWW Tijuana Baja California 32.297778°N 117.03°W
50

700 WLW Cincinnati Ohio 50 39.353056°N 84.325°W

47.398611°N
710 KIRO Seattle Washington 50
122.433333°W

710 WOR New York City New York 50 40.7975°N 74.09°W

42.011667°N
720 WGN Chicago Illinois 50
88.035278°W

730 CKAC Montreal Quebec 50 45.5139°N 73.9733°W

60 / 19.36505°N
730 XEX Mexico City Mexico City
100 98.957703°W

740 CFZM[b] Toronto Ontario 50 43.575°N 79.817222°W

33.843889°N
750 WSB Atlanta Georgia 50
84.253333°W

760 WJR Detroit Michigan 50 42.168056°N 83.215°W

40.880556°N
770 WABC New York City New York 50
74.069444°W
41.990556°N
780 WBBM Chicago Illinois 35 / 42
88.027778°W

31.695556°N
800 XEROK Ciudad Juárez Chihuahua 50
106.383611°W

37.526389°N
810 KGO San Francisco California 50
122.100556°W
42.792336°N
810 WGY Schenectady New York 50
74.011937°W
 32.610556°N
820 WBAP Fort Worth Texas 50
97.167778°W
45.178889°N
830 WCCO Minneapolis Minnesota 50
93.349722°W

38.261111°N
840 WHAS Louisville Kentucky 50
85.428611°W

39.506111°N
850 KOA Denver Colorado 50
104.765833°W

860 CJBC Toronto Ontario 50 43.575°N 79.8175°W

29.837222°N
870 WWL New Orleans Louisiana 50
90.131944°W
40.859806°N
880 WCBS New York City New York 50
73.785444°W

41.555833°N
890 WLS Chicago Illinois 50
87.848333°W

900 CKBI Prince Albert Saskatchewan 10 53.2008°N 105.7538°W

19.36505°N
900 XEW Mexico City Mexico City 100
98.957703°W

940 CFNV[c] Montreal Quebec 50 45.3928°N 73.6981°W

19.360217°N
940 XEQ Mexico City Mexico City 30
98.992194°W

49.836111°N
990 CBW Winnipeg Manitoba 50 / 46
97.512778°W

Newfoundland and
990 CBY Corner Brook 10 48.9328°N 57.9061°W
Labrador
47.463611°N
1000 KNWN Seattle Washington 50
122.440833°W

41.818056°N
1000 WMVP Chicago Illinois 50
87.988333°W

1000 XEOY Mexico City Mexico City 50 / 10 19.3883°N 99.1247°W

1010 CBR Calgary Alberta 50 50.9380°N 113.9616°W

1010 CFRB Toronto Ontario 50 43.5110°N 79.6300°W

1020 KDKA Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 50 40.55948°N 79.9526°W

1030 WBZ Boston Massachusetts 50 42.2788°N 70.8761°W

41.652778°N
1040 WHO Des Moines Iowa 50
93.350278°W

25.698056°N
1050 XEG Monterrey Nuevo León 150
100.175°W
40.103333°N
1060 KYW Philadelphia Pennsylvania 50
75.248889°W

100 / 19.363972°N
1060 XECPAE Mexico City Mexico City
20 99.027194°W

33.859722°N
1070 KNX Los Angeles California 50
118.349722°W
 32.890281°N
1080 KRLD Dallas Texas 50
96.645561°W
41.7775°N
1080 WTIC Hartford Connecticut 50
72.805278°W

1090 KAAY Little Rock Arkansas 50 34.6°N 92.225°W

39.375833°N
1090 WBAL Baltimore Maryland 50
76.7725°W

Rancho del Mar, 32.402278°N

1090 XEPRS Baja California 50
Rosarito 117.086722°W

41.280556°N
1100 WTAM Cleveland Ohio 50
81.622778°W
41.119722°N
1110 KFAB Omaha Nebraska 50
96.001667°W

35.132222°N
1110 WBT Charlotte North Carolina 50
80.889722°W

38.722778°N
1120 KMOX St. Louis Missouri 50
90.055278°W
49.157601°N
1130 CKWX Vancouver British Columbia 50
123.067024°W

1130 KWKH Shreveport Louisiana 50 32.705°N 93.881944°W

1130 WBBR New York City New York 50 40.810833°N 74.04°W

37.403611°N
1140 WRVA Richmond Virginia 50
77.316389°W

25.764444°N
1140 XEMR Monterrey Nuevo León 50
100.253056°W

1160 KSL Salt Lake City Utah 50 40.78°N 112.0975°W

36.146944°N
1170 KTSB Tulsa Oklahoma 50
95.8075°W
40.101944°N
1170 WWVA Wheeling West Virginia 50
80.867222°W

1180 WHAM Rochester New York 50 43.081944°N 77.725°W

45.422222°N
1190 KEX Portland Oregon 50
122.565833°W

20.736389°N
1190 XEWK Guadalajara Jalisco 50 / 10
103.347778°W
29.502111°N
1200 WOAI San Antonio Texas 50
98.128806°W

1210 WPHT Philadelphia Pennsylvania 50 39.979444°N

74.986944°W

19.308611°N
1220 XEB Mexico City Mexico City 100
99.058889°W
45.025556°N
1500 KSTP Saint Paul Minnesota 50
93.051667°W[10]
39.041944°N
1500 WFED Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. 50
77.046389°W
 36.271944°N
1510 WLAC Nashville Tennessee 50
86.757778°W
35.333333°N
1520 KOKC Oklahoma City Oklahoma 50
97.504444°W

42.769444°N
1520 WWKB Buffalo New York 50
78.842778°W

38.848333°N
1530 KFBK Sacramento California 50
121.482778°W
39.065278°N
1530 WCKY Cincinnati Ohio 50
84.6075°W

1540 KXEL Waterloo Iowa 50 42.18°N 92.310556°W

25.003917°N
1540 ZNS-1 Nassau New Providence 50
77.350333°W

1550 CBEF[d] Windsor Ontario 10 42.2156°N 82.9208°W

35.308333°N
1560 KNZR[e] Bakersfield California 25 / 10
119.046111°W

40.716667°N
1560 WFME[f] New York City New York 50
73.917778°W

1570 XERF Ciudad Acuña Coahuila 100 29.35°N 101.033333°W

43.871944°N
1580 CKDO[g] Oshawa Ontario 10
78.764722°W
 Alaskan class A (former class I-N) stations

kHz Call sign City of license Nation kW[9] Transmitter coordinates

640 KYUK Bethel 10 60.78175°N 161.885639°W

650 KENI Anchorage 50 61.166111°N 149.826111°W

660 KFAR Fairbanks 10 64.808056°N 147.492778°W

670 KDLG Dillingham 10 59.045278°N 158.451944°W

680 KBRW Barrow 10 71.256667°N 156.525556°W

700 KBYR Anchorage 10 61.206944°N 149.922222°W

720 KOTZ Kotzebue 10 66.839444°N 162.568056°W

750 KFQD Anchorage 50 61.338333°N 150.034167°W

770 KCHU Valdez 9.7 61.111111°N 146.260833°W

780 KNOM Nome 25 / 14 64.487778°N 165.299444°W

820 KCBF Fairbanks 10 64.878889°N 147.668333°W

850 KICY Nome 50 64.4875°N 165.314722°W

890 KBBI Homer 10 59.670556°N 151.443889°W

1020 KVNT Eagle River 10 61.483889°N 149.762222°W

1080 KOAN Anchorage 10 61.12°N 149.895278°W

1170 KJNP North Pole 50 / 21 64.759444°N 147.323889°W

Notes
a. 690 kHz at Montreal was originally assigned under NARBA to CBF (that station migrated to
FM in 1998), and was later reused by CINF; after CINF closed in January 2010, CKGM
applied for and was granted the frequency, and moved from 990 kHz to 690 kHz in
September 2012.
b. 740 kHz was used by CBC Radio One's CBL in Toronto until 2000 when the station moved
to 99.1 FM. CFZM, known at the time as CHWO, acquired 740 in 2001.
c. 940 kHz at Montreal was originally assigned under NARBA to CBM (that station migrated to
FM in 1998), and was later reused by CINW, which ceased operations in 2010. Despite
leaving the air, it remained notified to the U.S. as a class-A allotment. A new license has
since been granted to Tietolman-Tétrault-Pancholy Media (TTP) to broadcast a French
news-talk format at 940 AM by the CRTC. After numerous delays, the station began
broadcasting a series of test tones intermittently on October 26, 2016. Official testing began
on November 16, 2016, with music and recorded announcements with a phone number to
report signal interference. Although the station was given a deadline of November 21, 2016,
by the CRTC to launch its French news-talk format, the station has yet to do so.
d. 1550 kHz was originally CBE (AM), which shut down the AM station after moving to 97.5
CBEW-FM in 2011. On November 1, 2012, CBEF, traditionally on 540 kHz, also started
broadcasting on the same AM transmitter and frequency that CBE had used.
e. KNZR is the only U.S. class-A station licensed to operate with less than 50 kilowatts full-
time.
f. WFME is currently operating at 1,000 watts under a special temporary authority after airing
on a new transmitter site in West Orange, New Jersey. It is currently unknown if the station
 will return as a Clear-channel station.
g. 1580 kHz was originally used by CBJ in Chicoutimi, Quebec. After that station moved to FM
in 1999, CHUC applied for and was granted 1580 kHz in Cobourg, Ontario, with 10 kW, but
chose instead to move to FM itself (despite being notified to the U.S. as an existing station
on 1580). CKDO moved from 1350 to 1580 kHz on August 13, 2006, and became that day a
class A station using 10 kW. U.S. FCC record is at [1] (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?state=
&call=CKDO&freq=530&fre2=1700&type=0&list=0&size=9)

List of former clear-channel stations

Freq. Call City of State /
Country Fate
(kHz) sign license province

540 CBT Grand Falls- Newfoundland Moved to FM on December 31, 2022.

Windsor
850 XETQ- Ixhuatlancillo Veracruz Migrated to FM as XHTQ-FM in 2013. At its
AM height XETQ was authorized for 100 kW
day/50 kW night. In the 1990s it lowered its
power to 10 kW day/1 kW night.

1070 CBA Moncton New Moved to FM in April 2008. Canada has not
Brunswick withdrawn the international notification for CBA.

1190 WOWO Fort Wayne Indiana Downgraded to class B in 1998 by reducing

night power to 9.8 kilowatts with a three tower
directional antenna; Inner City Broadcasting
purchased WOWO so that its station in New
York, WLIB, could remain on air 24 hours a day.
WOWO was later purchased by Pathfinder
Communications, the current owners.
1510 KGA Spokane Washington Downgraded to class B in 2011 to make room
for co-channel sister station KSFN, Piedmont,
California, reducing night power to 15 kW[11]

1550 XERUV- Xalapa Veracruz A bad permit renewal, made in 2005, required
AM this station to shut down in June 2016. When
the university applied to resume operation on
AM, it was denied, and the station moved to FM
and launched XHRUV-FM on a frequency of
90.5 MHz on June 1, 2016.

See also
Regulation of radio broadcast in the United States
Clear Channel Communications
MW DX

References
1. Rural Radio Magazine, Vol. 1 No. 1, Clear Channel Group (November 1938), p. 2
2. "KGIR, Butte, Requests 50 kw. On WEAF Clear Channel". Broadcasting and Broadcast
Advertising. Washington, D.C.: Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 21 (9): 16. September 1,
1941.
 3. "WHAS Superpower". Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising. Washington, D.C.:
Broadcasting Publications, Inc. 21 (17): 52. October 27, 1941. "A half-dozen other
applications ranging from 500,000 to 750,000 watts now are pending"
4. "WSB Revives Its 500-kw. Application, Seventh Stations Seeking Superpower".
Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising. 21 (18): 57. November 3, 1941. "Already pending
before the Commission were the applications of WLW, Cincinnati, for 650,000 watts, WOAI,
San Antonio, seeking 750,000 watts, KSL, Salt Lake City, for 500,000 watts, and WSM,
Nashville asking 500,000-watt operation. Similarly the application of WHO, Des Moines, for
an increase to 500,000 watts is reported to be about ready for filing."
5. "Superpower, Clear Channels Slated for Early FCC Probe". Broadcasting and Broadcast
Advertising. 21 (16): 12. October 20, 1941.
6. Facts on File 1980 Yearbook, p. 519
7. Fybush, Scott (February 26, 2010). "Remembering Buffalo's BBC" (https://www.fybush.com/
sites/2010/site-100226.html). Tower Site of the Week. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
8. Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones. Infraestructura de Estaciones de Radio AM (http://
www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/contenidogeneral/industria/memoriaam160518.pdf). Last
modified 2018-05-16. Retrieved 2015-12-15. Technical information from the IFT Coverage
Viewer (http://mapasradiodifusion.ift.org.mx/CPCREL-web/).
9. When two figures are listed, the first is daytime power, the second is nighttime.
10. Nighttime site.
11. FCC license BL-20100527AGH

External links
AM Station Classes - Clear, Regional, and Local Channels (https://www.fcc.gov/media/radio/
am-clear-regional-local-channels#block-menu-block-4) (FCC Website)
Big USA, Mexico, and Canadian AM radio stations (http://www.ac6v.com/clearam.htm)

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