In broadcasting, program test authority (PTA) is an authorization to conduct on-air testing of broadcast station facilities authorized to be built under a construction permit. Once this testing is successfully completed, and all measured parameters match what was authorized in the permit, the permittee can apply to the broadcasting authority for a broadcast license to cover the permit. PTA lasts until the license is issued (or, rarely, denied).
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum, in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began with AM radio, which came into popular use around 1920 with the spread of vacuum tube radio transmitters and receivers. Before this, all forms of electronic communication were one-to-one, with the message intended for a single recipient. The term broadcasting evolved from its use as the agricultural method of sowing seeds in a field by casting them broadly about. It was later adopted for describing the widespread distribution of information by printed materials or by telegraph. Examples applying it to "one-to-many" radio transmissions of an individual station to multiple listeners appeared as early as 1898.
A parameter, generally, is any characteristic that can help in defining or classifying a particular system. That is, a parameter is an element of a system that is useful, or critical, when identifying the system, or when evaluating its performance, status, condition, etc.
A broadcast license is a type of spectrum license granting the licensee permission to use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum in a given geographical area for broadcasting purposes. The licenses generally include restrictions, which vary from band to band.
A radio program or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
A test card, also known as a test pattern or start-up/closedown test, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast. Used since the earliest TV broadcasts, test cards were originally physical cards at which a television camera was pointed, and such cards are still often used for calibration, alignment, and matching of cameras and camcorders. Test patterns used for calibrating or troubleshooting the downstream signal path are these days generated by test signal generators, which do not depend on the correct configuration of a camera. Digitally generated cards allow vendors, viewers and television stations to adjust their equipment for optimal functionality. The audio broadcast while test cards are shown is typically a sine wave tone, radio or music.
Station identification is the practice of radio or television stations or networks identifying themselves on-air, typically by means of a call sign or brand name. This may be to satisfy requirements of licensing authorities, a form of branding or a combination of both. As such, it is closely related to production logos, used in television and cinema alike.
In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gives most stations automatic program test authority if they are using an omnidirectional antenna. For stations with a directional antenna, PTA is only for half of regular power, and is not granted until the permittee's broadcast engineer certifies that the antenna is installed properly so that the station's radiation pattern is correct. Stations must apply for a license within 30 days of starting broadcasts under program test authority. Upon issuance of the license, directional stations then commence full-power operation.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government created by statute to regulate interstate communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable. The FCC serves the public in the areas of broadband access, fair competition, radio frequency use, media responsibility, public safety, and homeland security.
In radio communication, an omnidirectional antenna is a class of antenna which radiates equal radio power in all directions perpendicular to an axis, with power varying with angle to the axis, declining to zero on the axis. When graphed in three dimensions (see graph) this radiation pattern is often described as doughnut-shaped. Note that this is different from an isotropic antenna, which radiates equal power in all directions, having a spherical radiation pattern. Omnidirectional antennas oriented vertically are widely used for nondirectional antennas on the surface of the Earth because they radiate equally in all horizontal directions, while the power radiated drops off with elevation angle so little radio energy is aimed into the sky or down toward the earth and wasted. Omnidirectional antennas are widely used for radio broadcasting antennas, and in mobile devices that use radio such as cell phones, FM radios, walkie-talkies, wireless computer networks, cordless phones, GPS, as well as for base stations that communicate with mobile radios, such as police and taxi dispatchers and aircraft communications.
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Low-power broadcasting refers to a broadcast station operating at a low electric power to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region, but often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" and broadcast translators. LPAM, LPFM and LPTV are in various levels of use across the world, varying widely based on the laws and their enforcement.
WHA is a non-commercial AM radio station, licensed since 1922 to the University of Wisconsin and located in Madison, Wisconsin. It serves as the flagship for the Wisconsin Public Radio talk-based "Ideas Network". WHA's programming is also broadcast by two low-powered FM translators, and by WERN FM's HD3 digital subchannel. The station airs a schedule of news and talk programs from Wisconsin Public Radio, NPR, American Public Media, Public Radio International, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the BBC.
WXID-LP is a defunct low-power television station which formerly broadcast on channel 49 in north-northwest metro Atlanta. Formerly licensed to serve Marietta, Georgia, the station's TV transmitter was atop Sweat Mountain, north-northwest of Atlanta. Since being permitted in 1988, it was W55BM until March 2008, becoming W49DE after it was forced to change TV channels due to the DTV transition in the United States. The station was previously owned by the Trinity Broadcasting Network, which sold it in 2010 to Word of God Fellowship, which changed the station to its current broadcast callsign in mid October 2010.
WSKC-CD is a low-power television station in metro Atlanta, operating on TV channel 22. The station is owned by KM LPTV of Atlanta, LLC and has Atlanta as its city of license.
WDTA-LD is a low-power television station in Atlanta, owned by Word of God Fellowship. It is an affiliate of Daystar. Broadcasting from the SunTrust Plaza in downtown Atlanta, its city of license is Atlanta. The office is located with WPXA-TV next to Six Flags White Water on Cobb Parkway in Marietta, and it uses a wireless studio/transmitter link.
WKTB-CD is a digital low-power class A Telemundo-affiliated TV station on channel 47 in metro Atlanta. Capital Media Group manages and broadcasts Spanish-language network, Telemundo on digital subchannel 47.1 & 47.2; conversely the 47.1 signal is rebroadcast on Rome-licensed Ion Television station WPXA-TV to provide a full-power Telemundo signal to the entire market, which also maps to 47.1 via PSIP.
KNX is an Entercom-owned all-news radio station broadcasting on 1070 kHz in Los Angeles, California. It is also one of the oldest stations in the United States, having received its first broadcasting license, as KGC, in December 1921, in addition to tracing its history to the September 1920 operations of an earlier amateur station.
WYGA-CD is a low-power television class A station serving Atlanta, Georgia. Its city of license is Atlanta and it transmits digital TV on physical RF channel 16. The station is owned by HC2 Holdings.
WHNE-LD, channel 14, is a low-power television station licensed to Detroit, Michigan. With its transmitter and studio offices located in Oak Park, Michigan.
WSUI is a public AM radio station in Iowa City, Iowa. It is operated by the University of Iowa and is a member of Iowa Public Radio's news network. Its signal serves most of eastern Iowa. WSUI is one of two National Public Radio member stations in the region, along with 90.9 KUNI in Cedar Falls. WSUI's sister station is classical music outlet 91.7 KSUI.
A coupon-eligible converter box (CECB) was a digital television adapter that met eligibility specifications for subsidy "coupons" from the United States government. The subsidy program was enacted to provide over-the-air television viewers with an affordable way to continue receiving free digital over-the-air television services after the nation's television service transitioned to digital transmission and analog transmissions ceased. The specification was developed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), with input from the broadcast and consumer electronics industries as well as public interest groups.
KMJ is a news/talk radio station located in Fresno, California, owned by Cumulus Media. Its studios are located at the Radio City building on Shaw Avenue in North Fresno and its transmitter is in Orange Cove, California. While 580 kHz is a Regional broadcast frequency, the station broadcasts with 50,000 watts, the highest power for an AM station permitted by the FCC, covering most of Central California.
WJWZ, also known as 97.9 Jamz, is an urban contemporary formatted radio station that serves the Montgomery Metropolitan Area, broadcasting on the FM band at a frequency of 97.9 MHz and licensed to Wetumpka, Alabama. The station is locally owned and operated by Bluewater Broadcasting Company, LLC. The station's transmitter is located in Montgomery. The station's studios are located on Wall St. in Midtown Montgomery.
A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats the signal of a radio or television station to an area not covered by the originating station. It expands the broadcast range of a television or radio station beyond the primary signal's original coverage or improves service in the original coverage area. The stations may be used to create a single-frequency network. They may also be used by an FM or AM radio station to establish a presence on the other band.
In the United Kingdom, Community Radio refers to a system of licensing small, micro-local, non-profit radio stations, which started in 2002. In its early days, the pilot scheme was known as Access Radio. New legislation paved the way for this additional tier of radio, starting in 2005, and hundreds of community stations have since been set up. Unlike commercial radio licensing, which is generally advertised to cover a specific region, community radio stations are usually limited to broadcast areas smaller than commercial or BBC local stations, nominally within a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) radius of their transmitter.
KGOW is a Vietnamese language terrestrial radio station based in Houston, Texas, United States, owned by Gow Media, LLC. KGOW's programming schedule is leased to a third party group that utilizes the broadcast day to air Vietnamese focused programming for southwest Houston, Bellaire, and the areas in southwest Harris County where 1560's signal is strongest. The daytime transmitter site is located in Lochridge, Texas, across from Brazos Bend State Park. The nighttime transmitter site is in western Harris County, halfway between Katy, Texas and Hockley, Texas. KGOW used its nighttime authorization at 15 kilowatts full-time, as the 46 kilowatt daytime site was damaged by floodwaters during a flooding event in 2016, then again in Hurricane Harvey. KGOW did not operate on the day power for over one year, authorized by the Federal Communications Commission through a Special Temporary Authority that allows KGOW to operate at reduced power until which time the daytime site could be repaired. This occurred in March 2018.
In U.S. broadcast law, a special temporary authority (STA) is a type of broadcast license which temporarily allows a broadcast station to operate outside of its normal technical or legal parameters. In the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) station database (CDBS), broadcast STA applications have a prefix of BSTA (general), BLSTA (legal), BESTA (engineering), or BLESTA (both). STAs can also be issued for other telecommunication services under FCC regulation. Often an STA is necessary due to an unforeseen event. A station operator must exhibit why the STA is necessary and serves the public good.
KKXA is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Snohomish, Washington and serving the Seattle metropolitan area. The station's broadcast license is held by CAAM Partnership, LLC., an entity controlled by the Skotdal family, which also publishes the Everett Post newspaper. The KKXA studios are shared with sister station AM 1380 KRKO at the Key Tower building in downtown Everett, Washington. The transmitter is off Short School Road in Snohomish. KKXA airs a classic country radio format.
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