The number of commercial FMs, AMs and low-power FMs (LPFMs) all declined during 2021, as station owners weathered another year of the pandemic and shifting consumer media habits, notes Inside Radio. The FCC’s latest count of non-commercial FMs stood out as a segment that increased, as the overall number of radio stations fell for a second consecutive year.
There were 15,389 radio stations as of December 31, 2021, according to the FCC. That’s 56 fewer than the same time-frame in 2019.
While AM station totals have been dropping for years as profits shrink and the land they sit on becomes more valuable, now the number of commercial FMs has also dropped over the past two years. The FCC said at year-end there were 6,676 licensed commercial FMs. That was 23 fewer than at the end of the prior year.
The agency said about one of every 100 AMs was no longer licensed at year-end compared to the start of 2021. There were 4,509 as of December 31. That’s a decrease of 42 from December 2020. The drop included ten AMs that disappeared during the final quarter of 2021, notes Inside Radio.
FM translators, seen by some as a lifeline for AMs, continue to grow. There were 8,866 FM translators and boosters at year-end, an increase of 446 from one year earlier, according to the Media Bureau. The tally grew by 95 during the fourth quarter.
The number of non-commercial FMs grew by nine to a total of 4,204 at the end of December.
At year-end, there were 2,069 LPFMs, a decline of 67 from one year earlier.
The Commission reported the total number of full-power television stations was steady with 1,758 licensed at the end of December 2021 – the same number as December 2020. Overall, a total of 33,467 radio and television licenses were issued by the FCC at the end of 2021.
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