NorthEast Radio Watch 6/22/2026: Here Comes the Non-Comm Window

In this week’s issue… FCC, licensees prepare for translator window – Ithaca exec moves on – Border gets the Lake back – Malloy returns to NJ 101.5 – AMs sell in MA, CT – Windsor vet retires

By SCOTT FYBUSH

*We knew that the FCC was planning to open a window for noncommercial FM stations to apply for new translators, but we didn’t know it was coming this soon.

Your editor, and his colleagues in the consulting engineering business, will be busy this summer getting broadcasters ready to put in their filings in the window that will open at 12:01 AM on August 11 and closes on August 25.

Here’s how it will work: if there’s available space on the 88.1-91.9 part of the FM band, non-commercial stations can apply for brand-new translators on those channels for the first time since in several decades. There are some restrictions, of course – after being deluged with applications in past windows, the Commission is limiting full-power licensees to a maximum of ten applications, total, in this window. It’s also restricting who can apply; unlike past windows, only the licensee of a station can apply for a translator, in hopes of restraining speculative bids.

Because these translators will be in the non-commercial part of the dial, they don’t have to serve as “fill-in” operations – they can be fed by satellite or internet from a distant primary station in most, but not all, cases. The exceptions are translators for LPFM stations, which operate under stricter rules that require them to be fed over the air and to have 60 dBu overlap with their primary station. (LPFM licensees are also limited to just two applications.)

So how will this window play out in real life? As full as the FM dial has become in most places, it’s going to be a tough or even impossible squeeze to put new translators in most urban or suburban areas in our region. The lack of available channels means some broadcasters are likely to not bother even trying to apply, while others look for specific holes to reach small communities that don’t currently receive their services, whether it’s public radio or religious networks.

The window means the FCC is about to freeze any applications for changes to existing translators, boosters and LPFMs on the 88.1-91.9 spectrum, a freeze that will run from July 11 to August 26.

And of course, here at Fybush Media we’re ready and willing to help broadcasters who think there might be a hole in their area for a noncommercial signal. Drop us a line – let’s talk!