Channel 6 radio stations in the United States


This is a list of low-power television stations in the United States that operate on VHF channel 6 as radio stations. This is because the audio on NTSC-M channel 6 can be picked up on 87.75 FM on the radio dial; as the FM radio bandplan is separated by odd-numbered 0.2 MHz intervals, these stations, also colloquially known as "Franken-FMs" usually market their radio frequency as "87.7". These stations are still required to play some sort of video signal to comply with FCC regulations; it does not specify what kind of signal it must be, and thus the video usually consists of still frames, test patterns, automated weather conditions and news, or unrelated silent films. As low-power stations, they are excluded from educational and informational programming mandates and are thus not required to interrupt their program schedules for three hours of educational children's programming per week.
Until the 2009 digital television transition in the United States, full-power stations on channel 6 could also be heard on the same frequency, and these stations often marketed it as a feature to commuters and in emergency situations. Digital television's format, in contrast, is incompatible with both U.S. analog radio and the U.S. digital standard. Low-power broadcasters face a deadline in July 2021 to convert to digital, which will end the stations' operations on radio. Venture Technologies Group, which owns several channel 6 radio stations in major markets, has proposed a system that would allow an analog subcarrier to be used on the main digital channel. (WRGB, a full-power operator on channel 6, had previously attempted a similar concept in 2009 but it was determined not to be a success and the FCC ordered the station to cease.

List of stations

Alaska