3 ms·

The Great Translator Invasion of 2003 created a situation where the portions of the band where community radio, run by and for residents (local information, for

The Great Translator Invasion of 2003 created a situation where the portions of the band where community radio, run by and for residents (local information, for local people), was instead occupied by "translators," replicating signals from religious broadcast networks like Moody. Between that and NPR behaving as if they were about to be blasted off the air by third adjacent-channel interference from tiny station with pitiful transmitters, it is very difficult to come up with situations where the band is being used as promised. I am not surprised that pirate radio is still a thing, given this kind of outcome.

thedoir 7y ago
What happened in 2003 and where can I learn more about the translator situation? It doesn't seem to be limited to religious programming. For example, KUSC, a non-profit classical station, has 4 translators. I don't understand why. NPR affiliate KCRW has 5 translators.
- at_a_remove 7y ago
  "A 2003 FCC licensing window for new translator applications resulted in over 13,000 applications, most from religious broadcasters. Due to the number of license applications, LPFM advocates called it the Great Translator Invasion." It isn't limited to religious programming but it the major component. Translators are really just re-broadcast mechanisms, and because of the various oversights in the regulations, the original signal does not have to be over the air or local, so networks can spawn off in parts of the band that were, in the spirit of things, intended for programming created by the same people the LPFM signal could reach: those in the nearby area. There's a long, long history of lower power stations and tons of inside baseball on the topic. Unfortunately, removing market caps in the nineties caused a wave of consolidation in the radio industry that swallowed up many local stations with higher power. The Great Translator Invasion similarly purged the local stations with lower power. Despite that consolidation and what you would think would be efficiencies of scale at the cost of programming from locals, many of the media companies that "borged up" the little guys have gone bankrupt. I won't pretend to know too much about all of this, I can only say that due to my contacts in the radio industry I have had multiple points of input giving me an overall negative opinion of how this has worked out over the years.

thedoir 7y ago

What happened in 2003 and where can I learn more about the translator situation? It doesn't seem to be limited to religious programming. For example, KUSC, a non-profit classical station, has 4 translators. I don't understand why. NPR affiliate KCRW has 5 translators.

at_a_remove 7y ago
"A 2003 FCC licensing window for new translator applications resulted in over 13,000 applications, most from religious broadcasters. Due to the number of license applications, LPFM advocates called it the Great Translator Invasion." It isn't limited to religious programming but it the major component. Translators are really just re-broadcast mechanisms, and because of the various oversights in the regulations, the original signal does not have to be over the air or local, so networks can spawn off in parts of the band that were, in the spirit of things, intended for programming created by the same people the LPFM signal could reach: those in the nearby area. There's a long, long history of lower power stations and tons of inside baseball on the topic. Unfortunately, removing market caps in the nineties caused a wave of consolidation in the radio industry that swallowed up many local stations with higher power. The Great Translator Invasion similarly purged the local stations with lower power. Despite that consolidation and what you would think would be efficiencies of scale at the cost of programming from locals, many of the media companies that "borged up" the little guys have gone bankrupt. I won't pretend to know too much about all of this, I can only say that due to my contacts in the radio industry I have had multiple points of input giving me an overall negative opinion of how this has worked out over the years.