The FCC licenses FM radio stations using a “Class” system, which defines a number of things – the most important being how much “Protection” the station’s signal gets from interference. Just to confuse people, FM classes are the opposite of AM. In AM, “A” is the most important (10-50kw full time on clear channels, “B” is the regional station (250-50kw full time), Class “C” is the local AM station (250-1000 watts) and Class D are the castaways – old daytimer stations or stations with night time power of 250 watts or less.
http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/audio/amclasses.html
For FM, “A” is the small town station, “B” and “B1” are the bigger stations in the densely populated areas (Southern California and East Coast) and “C” have the biggest footprints in the less populated areas – C is subdivided into C, C0, C1, C2 and C3…. C is the most powerful, then C0, then C2, then C3.
http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/audio/fmclasses.html
Class D exists in FM – they are high school and college stations which have a frequency and nobody else wants it. They have no protected service area.
So who owns the largest numbers of each category? To be in this list, an owner needs 10 licenses of that class:
+----------------------------+--------------+----------+ | parentname | StationClass | LicCount | +----------------------------+--------------+----------+ | Private College | D | 23 | +----------------------------+--------------+----------+ | State College / University | A | 163 | | EMF | A | 130 | | Private College | A | 125 | | Clear Channel | A | 99 | | Cumulus | A | 93 | | Public TV/Radio Networks | A | 89 | | American Family | A | 81 | | Community College | A | 44 | | Alt/Confer Trusts | A | 24 | | Nassau | A | 22 | | Saga | A | 16 | | Radio One | A | 16 | | Family Stations | A | 15 | | Withers | A | 14 | | Lazer | A | 14 | | Entravision | A | 14 | | Family Worship Center | A | 13 | | Cherry Creek | A | 13 | | George Flinn | A | 12 | | Minnesota Public Radio | A | 12 | | First Media | A | 11 | | Main Line Broadcasting | A | 11 | | Moody | A | 11 | | Townsquare Media | A | 11 | | Bible Broadcasting | A | 10 | | Mapleton | A | 10 | | Commonwealth Broadcasting | A | 10 | +----------------------------+--------------+----------+ | EMF | C3 | 44 | | State College / University | C3 | 39 | | Cumulus | C3 | 38 | | Clear Channel | C3 | 35 | | American Family | C3 | 25 | | Public TV/Radio Networks | C3 | 25 | | Private College | C3 | 12 | +----------------------------+--------------+----------+ | Clear Channel | C2 | 57 | | Cumulus | C2 | 53 | | EMF | C2 | 44 | | State College / University | C2 | 37 | | American Family | C2 | 26 | | Townsquare Media | C2 | 25 | | Public TV/Radio Networks | C2 | 22 | | Private College | C2 | 10 | +----------------------------+--------------+----------+ | Clear Channel | C1 | 108 | | Cumulus | C1 | 60 | | State College / University | C1 | 46 | | Townsquare Media | C1 | 36 | | Public TV/Radio Networks | C1 | 28 | | EMF | C1 | 28 | | American Family | C1 | 23 | | Three Eagles | C1 | 18 | | Minnesota Public Radio | C1 | 17 | | Cherry Creek | C1 | 14 | | James River (Ingstad) | C1 | 13 | | Armada | C1 | 12 | | Eagle Communications | C1 | 11 | | Community College | C1 | 10 | +----------------------------+--------------+----------+ | Clear Channel | C0 | 46 | | Cumulus | C0 | 23 | | Entercom | C0 | 12 | | EMF | C0 | 11 | | Cox Radio | C0 | 10 | +----------------------------+--------------+----------+ | Clear Channel | C | 103 | | Cumulus | C | 57 | | CBS | C | 27 | | Cox Radio | C | 25 | | State College / University | C | 18 | | Public TV/Radio Networks | C | 17 | | Entercom | C | 15 | | Univision | C | 13 | | Townsquare Media | C | 11 | +----------------------------+--------------+----------+ | Clear Channel | B1 | 22 | | EMF | B1 | 18 | | State College / University | B1 | 17 | +----------------------------+--------------+----------+ | Clear Channel | B | 147 | | Cumulus | B | 74 | | CBS | B | 52 | | State College / University | B | 40 | | Public TV/Radio Networks | B | 25 | | Entercom | B | 25 | | Saga | B | 19 | | EMF | B | 17 | | Townsquare Media | B | 13 | | Univision | B | 13 | | Family Stations | B | 13 | | Alt/Confer Trusts | B | 11 | +----------------------------+--------------+----------+