This is the Broadcast History section of
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550 - 630: REGIONAL |
It was on March 29, 1941 that the Federal Communications Commission mandated that most stations move to a new location on the dial. This was at the same time that the 1500-1600 portion of the band was opened up for use by commercial stations.
As in 1928, the FCC hoped, by "spreading out" the assignments, to reduce "congestion" on some channels, in turn reducing the interference exchanged by stations, and conform to the international agreement, NARBA, that was negotiated with Mexico and Canada.
The following appeared in the St. Petersburg Times on March 29, 1941:
802 RADIO STATIONS GET NEW DIAL HOMES TODAY
St. Petersburg Times, March 29, 1941
Dear Mrs. Jones: Let's be a good sport about one of life's dizzier difficulties
you're going to experience today. As on dozens of other Saturdays, you will buzz
into the living room, push your radio dial button and whisk back to the kitchen
to fluff Saturday night's pie meringue to the dulcet tones of your favorite
crooner.
But for the sake of all those meringues and custards, Mrs. Jones, let's face it.
This morning was spring moving time on the airways. Your push button dial
system, if hubby forgot to change it last night, is as useless as yesterday's
salad. Because this morning, Mrs. Jones, at exactly 3 a.m., 802 of the nation's
893 standard broadcast stations changed wave lengths.
Local stations WTSP, WDAE and WFLA all are affected.
This isn't any spring cleaning orgy cooked up in an idle moment by the Federal
Communications commission. It will mildly inconvenience thousands of radio set
owners. Commission hopefuls beg them to be Polyannas.
"Nobody likes moving day," quoth Chairman James Lawrence Fly in an
address broadcast last night via NBC. "But the nuisance soon will be over
while the benefit - better reception and less interference -will continue to
accumulate during the years."
Today's dial jam session is the direct result of a conference at Havana, Cuba,
called in 1937 to co-ordinate the assignment of air space to radio stations in
North America and minimize interference.
Canada, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti joined the United States
in ratifying the resulting agreement.
"Bootleg" stations, such as some which had operated across the border
in Mexico, were outlawed by the agreement.
Here are the changes made by United States stations:
Ninety-one stations between 550-720 kilocycles remained unchanged.
Twenty-one stations between 740-780 kilocycles advanced 10 points.
Twenty-two stations between 790-870 kilocycles advanced 20 points.
Six hundred thirty-three stations between 880-1450 kilocycles advanced 30
points, and 11
stations in that group advance 40 points.
Eleven "clear channel" stations between 1460-1490 kilocycles advance
40 points.
Sixty-three stations on 1500 kilocycles moved back 10 points.
Forty-one stations changed at variance with the general pattern.
Local Station Changes
Previous New
WTSP 1370 1380
WSUN 620 620
WDAE 1220 1250
WFLA 940 970
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For a complete list of frequency changes, see the OLDRADIO infobase.
Copyright 2000 by Barry Mishkind. This material may not be reproduced or reposted in whole or part without express approval.
Many thanks to Thomas White, Donna Halper, Xen Scott, and many more, who have contributed to the information flow.
Additional information is welcome (see email below) or mailed to Barry Mishkind at 2033 S. Augusta Place, Tucson, AZ 85710
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