The final total on the number of FM translator station applications filed in March is 13,345. Of those, nearly one-third were tendered by just two groups – Radio Assist Ministry and Edgewater Broadcasting, Inc. – who filed more than 4,200 translator applications between them.
Other known abusers of the translator service are also in on this, like the Educational Media Foundation (875) and the Calvary Chapel syndicate, who applied for 385 stations under at least two names (Calvary Chapel of Twin Falls and CSN International).
REC Networks was kind enough to make a list of the top 15 translator applicants. From their own examination of the records it appears that at least some of these applications were filled willy-nilly-style, meaning they have a good chance of being tossed by the FCC on technical or procedural grounds.
Even so, the number of new translators approved from this en masse filing will still boggle the mind. If only 10% of the applications lead to new translators going on the air, that’s another 1,300 radio signals – or a 10% increase in the number of total radio stations in America – from this one filing alone: a coup by just about any standard.
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