The United States’ licensed AM-radio count fell by 42 during the third quarter of 2026, according to Radio Ink’s October 6 analysis of Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, station totals.
The report places the September 30 count at 4,258 AM stations. Commercial FM declined by 20 to 6,540, while educational FM increased by nine to 4,815. Together, those three categories declined by 53 licenses.
Radio & Television Business Report separately reported the broader decline. RNN has not independently inspected the original FCC totals document, so the specific figures remain attributed to Radio Ink.
The distinction between licenses and operating service matters. A reduction in the licensed total does not establish that 53 operating stations suddenly went silent during the quarter, nor does it identify which communities lost locally produced programming.
For Ownership Watch, the next step is station-level reporting: identify deleted authorizations, their prior operating status, the communities served and whether another outlet continues providing local news, weather or emergency information.
Ownership transactions and format changes should be tracked separately from license deletions. Each can alter service, but they are different events.
The RNN Question
Which communities are losing useful local service—and which changes exist only in the licensing totals?
Sources: Radio Ink analysis · RBR report