Clear channel station

History

The Federal Radio Commission (FRC) was formed in March 1927, and one of its key tasks was to reorganize the chaotic broadcast band. A May 1927 reallocation began the process, in part by eliminating "split frequency" operations. A report on the FRC's ongoing work was issued December 1, 1927, which reviewed operations on 600 to 1000 kHz, and divided these frequencies into ones that were considered "clear" and "unclear". Its 1928 implementation of General Order 32 was only partially successful in reducing the number of stations. On November 11, 1928, the FRC implemented General Order 40, which classified AM band frequencies as Local, Regional or Clear. Under restrictions imposed by the Davis Amendment, eight clear channels were assigned to each of 5 U.S. regions. This classification also reserved a small number of frequencies for use by Canada. The maximum power for clear channel stations was gradually increased to 50,000 watts: additionally there were some short-lived experiments with 250–500 kilowatt "super-power" operations, most prominently by WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio