Reserved Channels
On the FM broadcast band, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has reserved the lowest 20 channels, 201~220 (88.1~91.9 MHz) for NCE stations only. This is known as the reserved band. It also includes channel 200 (87.9 MHz), but only for class D NCE stations. This is only for "full-service" stations forced to move by a full-power station (KSFH being the only one as of 2008), however one broadcast translator (K200AA, parented to KAWZ) has been allowed to use this channel anyway.
On the TV band, individual channels are reserved, such that there is at least one in every area, and almost always two or three in each metropolitan area. This is also the case for FM along international boundary zones, within 320 kilometers (just under 200 miles) of the U.S.-Mexican border and the U.S.-Canadian border. This is because many of the reserved-band channels are used by stations in the other country, such as with broadcasting in the San Diego/Tijuana metropolitan area. Additionally, neither the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission nor CoFeTel have such a reserved band in Canada or Mexico, respectively.
NCE stations may also operate on a non-reserved channel. However this is rare due to the high cost of buying a commercial broadcasting station, and because for years the FCC failed to maintain a process that would ensure that non-commercial applicants would have a chance against those who could afford to bid at spectrum auctions. Two such stations are WGPB FM in Rome, Georgia and WNGH-FM in Chatsworth, Georgia, former commercial stations purchased in 2007 and 2008 and operated by Georgia Public Broadcasting, serving the mountains northwest of Atlanta which previously had no GPB radio service.
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