FCC data shows nearly 1800 U.S. full-power TV stations on-air in 2010
New FCC data reveals that as of Dec. 31, 2010, there were 1781 full-power TV stations on the air in the United States.
The tally, part of an FCC report released Feb. 11 listing all broadcast stations on-air, consists of UHF and VHF commercial TV stations as well as educational TV stations. Specifically, the number of full-power TV stations on-air includes 1022 UHF commercial stations, 368 VHF commercial stations, 284 UHF educational stations and 107 VHF educational stations.
The FCC also tallied Class A and low-power TV stations. The figures reveal that last year, there were 522 Class A stations on-air, of which 441 were UHF and 81 VHF. A total of 2191 LPTV stations broadcast in 2010. UHF LPTV stations numbered 1667, and VHF LPTV stations totaled 524. TV translator stations on-air reached 10,658 last year. Of those, 3073 were UHF translators and 1454 were VHF translators. Including all radio categories, there were 30,630 broadcast stations on-air in 2010.
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Phil Kurz is a contributing editor to TV Tech. He has written about TV and video technology for more than 30 years and served as editor of three leading industry magazines. He earned a Bachelor of Journalism and a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism.