| ATSC 3.0 station | |
|---|---|
| |
| City | Fairfax, Virginia |
| Channels | |
| Programming | |
| Affiliations | 6.1: The Country Network |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Signal Above LLC |
| Operator | Costa Mesa Boston |
| History | |
| Founded | 1996 |
Former call signs |
|
Former channel number(s) |
|
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 20450 |
| Class | LD |
| ERP | 3 kW |
| HAAT | 189.9 m (623 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 38°52′28.2″N 77°13′23.6″W / 38.874500°N 77.223222°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Radio station information | |
| Frequency | 87.7 MHz |
| Branding | DC 87.7FM |
| Programming | |
| Format | Spanish contemporary hits |
| Links | |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website | www |
WDCN-LD (channel 6), branded on air as DC 87.7FM, is a low-power television station licensed to Fairfax, Virginia, United States, serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Owned by Signal Above LLC, WDCN-LD markets itself as a conventional FM radio station, broadcasting Spanish contemporary hits.
WDCN-LD has its studios on Old Gallows Road in Tysons. The transmitter is on Lee Highway (US 29) near Interstate 495 (The Capital Beltway) in Merrifield.[2]
In the analog television era, stations on television channel 6 broadcast an FM audio signal at 87.75 MHz which is receivable by ordinary FM radios. These stations, colloquially known as "Franken-FMs", took advantage of this fact and a loophole in Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations that only require a television station to broadcast some kind of video content, not that the video and audio content are related.[3]
Low-powered analog stations were exempt from the 2009 digital television transition, allowing WDCN-LP to continue operating as a Franken-FM. However, the later set a 2021 deadline for all low-powered stations to cease operating in analog. Several Franken-FMs proposed experimentally embedding an FM carrier at 87.7 MHz inside an ATSC 3.0 signal, which tests later showed to be technically feasible; the FCC initially allowed this under special temporary authority grants, provided the stations broadcast at least one accompanying television service, and the FM and television signals had similar coverage.[4] On July 20, 2023, an FCC "Report and Order" included this station as one of 13 "FM6" stations allowed to continue to operate an FM radio broadcast, as a "ancillary or supplementary" service.[5]
WDCN-LP signed off on July 13, 2021, the day on which the FCC ended all analog television operation nationwide.[6] It restarted operations on October 5, 2021, carrying The Country Network and the embedded FM signal.[7]
WDCN-LP previously simulcast on co-owned WOWZ-LP, another low-power channel 6 station, licensed to Salisbury, Maryland, and serving the Ocean City–Salisbury area. That station has since switched to a simulcast of WVES.[8]
From 2010 through 2012, WDCN-LP was the home for Spanish-language broadcasts of D.C. United soccer games. WDCN-LP carried all of the team's games, including those not broadcast on television.[9]
Since the 2019 NFL season, WDCN-LD is the flagship Spanish-language radio station of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.[10]
| Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | 1080p | 16:9 | WDCN | The Country Network |