Editing Low-power broadcasting (section)

===Television===
[[File:Figure 4 Low Power Television (LPTV) Stations' Communities of License as of May 2016 (30977386063).jpg|thumb|Low Power Television stations in the US by community of license]]
There are more than 2,450 licensed low-power television (LPTV) stations in the U.S., which are located in markets of all sizes, from [[New York City]] (five stations, though more exist in the market from other [[city of license|cities of license]]) down to [[Junction City, Kansas]] (two stations).{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}

LPTV (-LP) and LPTV Digital (-LD) are common in the U.S., Canada and most of the [[Americas]], where most stations originate their own programming. Stations that do not originate their own programming are designated as [[broadcast relay station#Broadcast translators|translator]]s (-TX). The Community Broadcasters Act of 1998 directed the FCC to create a classification of LPTV licenses called [[Class A television service|Class A]] (-CA) and Class A Digital (-CD). Digital low-power and Class-A television stations have an ERP limit of 3,000 watts (3&nbsp;kW) for VHF, and 15 kilowatts for UHF.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/files/afcce.ppt|title = FCC Slideshow, slide 56}}</ref>

The LPTV service is considered a secondary service by the FCC, which means the licensee is not guaranteed protection from interference or displacement. An LPTV station must accept harmful interference from full-service television stations and may not cause harmful interference to any full-service television station (the FCC defines interference levels deemed to be "harmful"). The problem with potential displacement was made evident during the [[Digital television transition in the United States|transition of broadcasting in the United States from analog to digital]]. All television stations operating on UHF channels 38 and above were required to move to channel 36 or below. Full-service stations were guaranteed a place to land in the new compressed band while LPTV stations operating on channels 38 and above were required to either enter a channel-sharing agreement with another station or lose their license.

====Class A LPTV stations====
The FCC provided a one-time filing opportunity for existing LPTV stations to become Class A stations. The designation was only available to LPTV stations that were producing two hours per week of local programming. Class A stations had to maintain a production studio within their Grade B contour, and comply with many of the requirements placed on full-service television stations. This allowed them to obtain protected channel status.

====Must-carry====
One of the key distinctions between full-service television stations and low-power stations is [[cable television]] and [[direct broadcast satellite]] (DBS) carriage. Full-service stations are guaranteed carriage in their local [[media market|television market]] through "[[must-carry]]" whereas LPTV stations are not. In 2008, there was an effort put forward by FCC chairman Kevin Martin to grant must-carry rights to Class A LPTV stations. The effort failed due to a lack of support from the other FCC commissioners.

====Network affiliates====
Though many low-power television stations are either unaffiliated, or broadcast programming from small networks meant for their use, some LPTV stations are affiliated with minor broadcast networks like [[The CW]] or [[MyNetworkTV]]. Examples include in [[Boston, Massachusetts]] with [[NBC]] on [[WBTS-CD]]; [[Youngstown, Ohio]], where a pair of LPTV stations based at [[WYFX-LD]] broadcast [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] programming, along with the [[digital subchannel]] of the co-owned [[CBS]] affiliate, [[WKBN-TV]]; or in the [[Lima, Ohio]] area, whose low-power stations are affiliates of major networks, such as [[CBS]] and [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]].

====Digital transition====
{{See also|Digital television transition in the United States}}
On July 15, 2011, the FCC issued an order to low-power broadcasters that effectively required all remaining television transmitters to vacate channels 52 to 69 by December 31, 2011. Originally, all low power analog TV stations were required to shut off by September 1, 2015, however, the deadline for low-power television stations and translators was postponed due to a spectrum auction that took place. While Class-A television stations were required to sign off on September 1, 2015, the last remaining low-powered analog television stations had signed off by July 13, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0720/FCC-11-110A1.pdf |title=FCC 11–110 Second Report and Order |access-date=July 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314024932/http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0720/FCC-11-110A1.pdf |archive-date=March 14, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2015/db0424/DA-15-486A1.pdf FCC Public Notice: "SUSPENSION OF SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 DIGITAL TRANSITION DATE FOR LOW POWER TELEVISION AND TV TRANSLATOR STATIONS", April 24, 2015.]</ref><ref>[https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-17-442A1.pdf FCC Public Notice: "The incentive auction task force and media bureau announce procedures for low power television, television translator and replacement translator stations during the post-incentive auction transition", May 17, 2017]</ref>

Unlike AM and FM, unlicensed use of television bands is prohibited for broadcasting. The [[amateur television]] channels do allow for some very limited non-entertainment transmissions however, with some [[repeater]]s airing [[NASA TV]] during [[Space Shuttle]] [[Space exploration|mission]]s when they are not in local use.

The low-power television industry was represented by the [[Community Broadcasters Association]] (CBA), which held its annual convention each year in October and an annual meeting each year in April at the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in [[Las Vegas]]. The meeting was open to anyone interested in the low-power television industry.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} On August 13, 2009, the CBA announced in a statement that it would shut down after 20 years of representing LPTV stations. One reason given was the "restrictive regulations that kept the Class A and LPTV industry from realizing its potential". Another was the inability to reach most viewers, partly due to [[multichannel video programming distributor]]s refusing to carry these channels. In addition, Amy Brown, former CBA executive director, said, "some 40% of Class A and LPTV station operators believe they will have to shut down in the next year if they are not helped through the digital transition."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/327560-Community_Broadcasters_Association_to_Shutter.php?rssid=20068&q=digital+tv|title=Community Broadcasters Association to Shutter|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable]]|date=August 13, 2009|access-date=August 14, 2009}}</ref>

In February 2006, the FCC released its Notices of Proposed Rules for Digital Radio. The Commission reaffirms its commitment to provide broadcasters with the opportunity to take advantage of [[digital audio broadcasting]] (DAB) technology, proposed criteria for evaluating models and systems, such as the [[In-band on-channel]] (IBOC) system, and inquired on the needs for a mandatory DAB transmission standard.

In section 39 of the Notice, the FCC inquires as how to balance incentives for broadcasters to switch to digital systems with incumbents of new entrance opportunities, stating that they “seek analyses of the minimum power levels that would preserve service within protected service areas in an all-digital environment, and alternatively, the levels that would not result in significant disruptions to current listening patterns.”<ref>{{cite web|website = Prometheus Radio Project, Initials|date = February 12, 2006|title =  Review of fcc proposed rules for digital radio and impact for lpfm|url = http://prometheusradio.org/node/139}}</ref>

The DAB system that was identified as the best fit for LPFM was IBOC. This hybrid system uses existing frequencies and can operate carrying digital information along with analog broadcast signal on the sidebands. However, the digital carriers require the bandwidth to be widened, which would cause interference to stations on the first adjacent channel. If LPFM adopts IBOC, then LPFM would also need to accept a second adjacent channel restriction between two LPFM stations, as there is a potential that the sidebands of two LPFM stations would overlap causing interference. {{as of|2008}}, imposing a second adjacent channel restriction would impact less than 10 LPFM stations.<ref>{{cite web|author = Michelle Eyre|date = September 21, 2008|title =  A {{sic|Compa|rative|nolink=y}} overview of digital audio broadcasting (dab) systems|url = http://home.recnet.com/dab}}</ref>