Superstation - Radio Superstations

Radio Superstations

Radio stations in North America are permitted to uplink to satellite. WSM (AM) got a lot of attention in the 80s as it was delivered via c-band alongside The Nashville Network. Very few stations actually distribute themselves through c-band, as there's not much reason to do so and stations' audio can be dialed in through either ISDN lines, or listened to via an audio stream over the internet (if the station offers such). Ones that do, like WEEI, often do so to feed their station to others which simulcast it. This is the case with several stations in Mexico, as radio in Mexico is very nationalized and most local stations are merely 24-hour-a-day affiliates of a national network.

Some local radio stations are, or have been distributed on satellite radio throughout the United States, and Canada in select cases. Stations once distributed on satellite radio include WLTW New York (XM), KHMX Houston (XM), KIIS-FM Los Angeles (XM), KNEW San Francisco (XM), WTKS-FM Orlando (XM), WLW Cincinnati (XM), WSIX-FM Nashville (XM), and WSM Nashville (Sirius). XM, in particular, used superstations owned by Clear Channel Communications for much of its early programming, and still had two superstations from Clear Channel as recently as late 2008 (talk-radio WLW and country music WSIX); both of those have been dropped as of March 2009. WSIX, KIIS, and WLTW returned to the now-merged Sirius XM lineup in June 2011, along with new additions WHTZ New York and WGCI Chicago.

Two other stations, both of them specialty stations, are currently distributed on satellite radio; these are WBBR New York (Bloomberg Radio) and WCSP-FM Washington DC (C-SPAN Radio). Most of WBBR's programming is also syndicated terrestrially to other stations through United Stations Radio Networks; as of 2011, it is the only terrestrial superstation (KPIG-FM ended its terrestrial syndication deal with Dial Global in 2010).

CBS Radio has begun using HD Radio technology to introduce its major market stations to other markets. For instance, KFRG San Bernardino is carried on KTWV-HD3 Los Angeles, KSCF San Diego is heard on KAMP-HD2 Los Angeles, WBZ-FM Boston is heard on WTIC-HD3 Hartford, KROQ-FM Los Angeles is heard on KSCF-HD2 San Diego and an as of yet to be determined affiliate in New York City (likely current K-Rock WXRK-HD2), and WFAN New York is simulcast on three affiliates in Florida (WOCL-HD3 Orlando, WLLD-HD3 Tampa Bay, and WEAT-HD3 West Palm Beach).

In many of these cases where stations are distributed outside of their market area, some concessions are made, such as the original local advertising being replaced with either national advertising or a bed of production music which plays over commercial breaks. Also in the example of WFAN, that station's play-by-play coverage of the Mets, Giants, Devils and Nets is not carried on the Florida HD Radio affiliates and replaced with alternate programming, as the station only has rights to broadcast the programming in the New York metro area.