WDCN-LD,

VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Technology and computing Hardware *Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals **Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...

channel 6, branded on air as La Nueva 87.7, is a low-powered

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

-language

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. WDCN-LD markets itself as a conventional

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

broadcasting Spanish contemporary hits.

History

In the

analog television Analog television is the original television technology that uses analog signals to transmit video and audio. In an analog television broadcast, the brightness, colors and sound are represented by amplitude, instantaneous phase and frequency, ...

era, stations on television channel 6 broadcast an FM audio signal at 87.75 MHz which is receivable by ordinary FM radios. These stations, colloquially known as "

Franken-FM This is a list of low-power television stations (LPTV) in the United States, transmitting on VHF channel 6, which operate as radio stations capable of being picked up by standard FM receivers. These stations are colloquially known as "Franken FMs" ...

s", took advantage of this fact and a loophole in

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC) regulations that only require a television station to broadcast some kind of video content, not that the video and audio content are related. Low-powered analog stations were exempt from the 2009

digital television transition The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is conv ...

, allowing WDCN-LP to continue operating as a Franken-FM. However, the later set a 2021 deadline for all low-powered stations to cease operating in analog. Several Franken-FMs proposed experimentally embedding an FM carrier at 87.7 MHz inside an

ATSC 3.0 ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards for television broadcasting created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). The standards are designed to offer support for newer technologies, including HEVC for video channels of u ...

signal, which tests later showed to be technically feasible; the FCC is allowing this under

special temporary authority Special Temporary Authority (STA) in U.S. broadcast law is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stat ...

, provided the stations broadcast at least one accompanying television service, and the FM and television signals have similar coverage. WDCN-LP signed off on July 13, 2021, the day on which the FCC ended all analog television operation nationwide. It restarted operations on October 5, 2021, carrying

The Country Network The Country Network is an American cable, streaming and broadcast television network that specializes in broadcasting country music videos and exclusive original music-based content; its playlist of videos extends from the 1990s through the pre ...

and the embedded "La Nueva" FM signal. WDCN-LP previously simulcast on co-owned WOWZ-LP, another low-power channel 6 station, licensed to

Salisbury, Maryland Salisbury () is a city in and the county seat of Wicomico County, Maryland, Wicomico County, Maryland, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Shore of Maryland, the state's Eastern Shore region. The population was 33,050 at the 2020 United ...

and serving the Ocean City-Salisbury area; that station has since switched to a simulcast of WVES.

Sports programming

From 2010 through 2012, WDCN-LP was the home for Spanish-language broadcasts of

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

soccer games. WDCN-LP carried all of the team's games, including those not broadcast on television. Since the

2019 NFL season The 2019 NFL season was the 100th season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 54th of the Super Bowl era. The season began on September 5, 2019, with the NFL Kickoff Game, in which Green Bay defeated Chicago. The season concluded w ...

, WDCN-LD is the flagship Spanish-language radio station of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

Digital television

References

External links

Radio La Nueva 87.7 Online
* Television channels and stations established in 1989 1989 establishments in Virginia Television channels and stations disestablished in 2021 2021 disestablishments in Virginia DCN-LP DCN-LP ATSC 3.0 television stations {{Virginia-tv-station-stub