User:Hillrhpc/North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement
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The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement, usually referred to as NARBA, is a treaty made in 1941 between the United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti relating to the allocation of frequencies for AM radio stations in these countries. In accordance with the treaty, clear channel frequencies were set aside across the radio dial, at a rate of about one per 100 kHz. It also officially expanded the upper limit of the AM broadcast spectrum from 1500 kHz to 1600 kHz. It required that most existing AM stations change frequencies, resulting in a massive shuffling of radio station dial positions. The new frequencies took effect at 3:00 a.m. Eastern on March 29, 1941.
NARBA is no longer in effect. It has been superseded by working agreements made in the early 1980s between the U.S. and Canada and between the U.S. and Mexico, and by an ITU-sponsored agreement covering all of the Western Hemisphere.
Among the most significant changes were:
| Old Freq. (kHz) |
Moved (kHz) |
New Freq. (kHz) |
Allocation | Station(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 540 | unchanged | 540 | Canadian clear | CBK, Watrous, SK | |
| 550–630 | unchanged | 550–630 | Regional | all | |
| 640 | unchanged | 640 | Clear | KFI, Los Angeles | |
| 650 | unchanged | 650 | Clear | WSM, Nashville | |
| 660 | unchanged | 660 | Clear | WEAF (now WFAN), New York | |
| 670 | unchanged | 670 | Clear | WMAQ, Chicago | |
| 680 | unchanged | 680 | Clear | KPO (now KNBR), San Francisco | |
| 690 | unchanged | 690 | Canadian clear | CBF, Montreal | CFRB moved to 860; CBF moved from 910 |
| 700 | unchanged | 700 | Clear | WLW, Cincinnati | |
| 710 | unchanged | 710 | Clear | WOR, New York et al. | |
| 720 | unchanged | 720 | Clear | WGN (& WLIB), Chicago | |
| 730 | unchanged | 730 | Canadian clear | CKAC, Montreal | CFPL moved to 1570 |
| — | — | 740 | New Canadian clear | CBL, Toronto | CBL moved from 840 |
| 740 | up 10 | 750 | Clear | WSB, Atlanta | |
| 750 | up 10 | 760 | Clear | WJR, Detroit KGU, Honolulu |
|
| 760 | up 10 | 770 | Regional | WJZ (now WABC), New York | |
| 770 | up 10 | 780 | Clear | WBBM, Chicago KFAB, Lincoln, Nebraska |
|
| — | 790 | New Regional | |||
| — | 800 | New Canadian clear | CKLW, Windsor | CKLW moved from 1030 | |
| 790 | up 20 | 810 | Clear | WGY, Schenectady KGO, San Francisco |
|
| 800 | up 20 | 820 | Clear | WFAA, Dallas WBAP, Ft. Worth |
|
| 810 | up 20 | 830 | Clear | WCCO, Minneapolis-St. Paul | |
| 820 | up 20 | 840 | Clear | WHAS, Louisville | |
| 830 | up 20 | 850 | Clear | KOA, Denver WHDH, Boston WRUF, Gainesville, FL WEEU, Reading |
WWL stayed here at 850 |
| 840 | up 20 | 860 | Canadian clear | CFRB, Toronto | CFRB moved from 690; CBL moved to 740 |
| 850 | up 20 | 870 | Clear | KIEV, Los Angeles | WWL stayed at 850; KWKH moved to 1130 WKAR {East Lansing MI) moved here from 1040 |
| 860 | up 20 | 880 | Clear | WABC, New York WHB, Kansas City |
|
| 870 | up 20 | 890 | Clear | WLS/WENR, Chicago | |
| — | — | 900 | New Canadian clear | CHML, Hamilton CJBR, Rimouski |
CHML moved from 1010; CJBR moved from 1020 |
| 880–900 | up 30 | 910–930 | Regional | all | |
| 910 | up 30 | 940 | Canadian clear | CBM, Montreal et al. | CBM moved from 960 |
| 920–950 | up 30 | 950–980 | Regional | ||
| 960 | up 30 | 990 | Canadian Clear | CKY, Winnipeg | CKY moved from 910; CBM moved to 940 |
| 970 | up 30 | 1000 | Clear | KJR, Seattle WCFL, Chicago |
WINS moved here from 1180 |
| 1010 | KQW, San Jose KLRA, Little Rock CFCN, Calgary |
||||
| 980 | up 40 | 1020 | Clear | KDKA, Pittsburgh | |
| 990 | up 40 | 1030 | Clear | WBZ, Boston | |
| 1000 | up 40 | 1040 | Clear | WHO, Des Moines | |
| 1010 | up 40 | 1050 | Clear | WHN New York NY WDZ Tuscola IL |
WDZ moved here from 1070; KQW (now KCBS)moved to 740, but not until 1947; CHML moved to 900 |
| 1020 | up 40 | 1060 | Clear | KYW, Philadelphia KFVD Los Angeles CA |
CJBR moved to 900; CKLW moved to 800; KFVD moved from 1000 |
| 1050 | up 20 | 1070 | Shared Clear | CBA, Sackville, NB KNX Los Angeles CA KFBI Wichita KS WIBC Indianapolis IN |
|
| 1040 | up 40 | 1080 | WTIC, Hartford KRLD, Dallas KWJJ, Portland, OR |
WTIC and KWJJ moved from 1060 | |
| 1060 | up 30 | 1090 | WBAL, Baltimore | ||
| up 40 | 1110 | WJAG, Norfolk, NE | this was later traded for 780 with KFAB | ||
| 1070 | up 30 | 1100 | Clear | WTAM, Cleveland KJBS San Francisco |
WCAZ moved to 1080; WDZ moved to 1050 |
| 1080 | up 30 | 1110 | Clear | WBT, Charlotte WJAG, Norfolk, NE |
WJAG moved from 1060 |
| 1090 | up 30 | 1120 | Clear | KMOX, St. Louis | |
| 1100 | up 30 | 1130 | Clear | WNEW, New York, KGDM, Stockton | KWKH Shreveport here moved from 850; WDGY Minneapolismoved here from 1180 |
| 1110 | up 30 | 1140 | Clear | WRVA, Richmond KSOO, Sioux Falls, SD |
|
| 1120 | up 30 | 1150 | Regional | ||
| 1130 | up 30 | 1160 | Clear | KSL, Salt Lake City WJJD, Chicago |
WOV moved to 1280 |
| 1140 | up 30 | 1170 | Clear | WAPI, Birmingham KVOO, Tulsa |
WWVA here moved from 1160 |
| 1150 | up 30 | 1180 | Clear | WHAM, Rochester | |
| 1160 | up 30 | 1190 | Clear | WOWO, Ft. Wayne | WWVA moved to 1170; KEX moved here from 1180 |
| 1170 | up 40 | 1210 | Clear | WCAU (now WPHT), Philadelphia | |
| 1180 | WMAZ Macon GA moved to 940; WDGY (now KFAN) Minneapolis MN moved to 1130; KOB (now KKOB) Albuquerque NM moved to 770; WINS New York NY moved to 1000; KEX Portland OR moved to 1190 |
||||
| 1190 | up 10 | 1200 | WOAI, San Antonio | WSAZ moved to 930; WATR moved to 1320 | |
| 1200-1450 | up 30 | 1230-1480 | Regional, Local | ||
| 1460 | up 40 | 1500 | KSTP-AM WSJV (now WTOP) |
||
| 1470 | up 40 | 1510 | KGA WLAC |
WMEX (now WWZN) moved here from 1500 | |
| 1480 | up 40 | 1520 | KOMA WKBW (now WWKB) |
||
| 1490 | up 40 | 1500 | KFBK WCKY (now WSAI) |
||
| 1500 | down 10 | 1490 | Local | all | |
| 1510 | down 20 | 1490 | CKCR (later CHYM), Kitchener CFRC, Kingston |
||
| 1530 | up 60 | 1590 | W1XBS to WBRY (later WQQW; now dark) |
Since 1934 U.S. frequencies above 1500 had been allocated only to four experimental stations that broadcast with a signal 20 kHz wide for "high fidelity." The stations were converted to regular broadcasting (and regular call signs) with the NARBA frequency move. |
|
| up 20 | 1550 | W9XBY to KITE (now dark) |
|||
| 1550 | up 10 | 1560 | W2XR to WQXR (now WQEW) |
||
| up 10 | 1560 | W6XAI to KPMC (now KNZR) |
|||
| — | 1570 | New Canadian clear | CFPL (AM), London | CFPL moved from 720 |
