# Listening to TV channels on the FM dial **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244 "2003-01-17T16:25:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/1 "2003-01-17T16:25:03Z")
Has anyone here ever done that? I did it years ago on a car radio–it was perfect; there was something that I wanted to watch on TV, and I had to go out, but I was able to hear the program. Well OK, if I could watch the picture too, _that_ would be perfect, but at least I was able to hear it. But I can’t remember what the frequencies were, and I’m not sure it’s possible with the newer digital tuners. But I know I was able to hear the audio from Channel 4 and Channel 6. Does anyone know what the FM frequencies of these TV channels are? ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/2 "2003-01-17T16:29:16Z")
I remember being able to do this with my childhood local channel 6. The frequency was somewhere near 88.x. I don’t remember exactly. I know it was low, low, low on the dial. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/3 "2003-01-17T16:39:49Z")
According to this page ([http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/catvfreq.html](http://www.chem.hawaii.edu/uham/catvfreq.html)), the audio carrier for over-the-air Channel 6 would be 83.25 + 4.5 = **87.75** , technically just below FM band 1 which is at 88.1. I suppose if your radio dial will go that low, you can pick up the audio. Newer digital tuners may very well start at 88.1, though, but I haven’t paid attention. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/4 "2003-01-17T16:42:42Z")
ah, that might explain it. And channel 4 would presumably be lower still on the dial. But I imagine I ought to be able to hear higher channels. ---
**Author:** ![NotBob13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19b73/32.png) [@NotBob13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotBob13)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/5 "2003-01-17T16:46:17Z")
Over in KY, the channel six (nbc) broadcasts on 88.x, and will occaisonally remind us of this fact with commercials, especially during tornado season. It is meant to be on the radio. I’d try the low end of the band, if searching, and I have found a few tv stations over the years. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/6 "2003-01-17T16:55:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by javaman \* > \*\*But I imagine I ought to be able to hear higher channels. \*\* Yes, but the chart on the link I posted lists TV Channel 7 (there’s a break between 6 and 7) as being at 175.25 MHz, so it’s audio carrier is at 179.75 MHz, _well_ above the highest FM frequency of 107.9 MHz. Also, Channel 4’s audio carrier would be at 71.75, and I’ve never personally seen a radio dial that could go that low. With the good old analog dials, though, who knows! 🙂 NotBob13, by channel 6 in KY I guess you mean WPSD? That’s the station I listened to as a kid (I grew up in S. Illinois, near Carbondale). It’s funny, because I’d get grounded and have TV privileges taken away. . .I’d keep up (at least with NBC shows) by slyly listening to the radio, which hadn’t been taken away 😉 . ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/7 "2003-01-17T17:00:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by javaman \* > \*\*ah, that might explain it. And channel 4 would presumably be lower still on the dial. > > But I imagine I ought to be able to hear higher channels. \*\* Not unless you muck with the tuner circuitry and get it to receive frequencies well outside the established “fm band.” There’s no overlap of signals, and if I recall correctly there’s other stuff in between the top of the fm band and the bottom of the next tv channel allocation. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/8 "2003-01-17T17:12:26Z")
You can buy radios with TV bands, such as these… [http://www.buy.com/techtv/retail/electronics/product.asp?sku=90114614](http://www.buy.com/techtv/retail/electronics/product.asp?sku=90114614) [http://ww3.onecall.com/PID\_14798.htm](http://ww3.onecall.com/PID_14798.htm) [http://www.1-electronics-store.com/product+Jensen-AMFM-TV-B00005RE2G.html](http://www.1-electronics-store.com/product+Jensen-AMFM-TV-B00005RE2G.html) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/9 "2003-01-17T19:13:22Z")
I had a rental car with a digital FM in Moline, Ill. not long ago, and was able to tune down far enough (I think it was 87.9) that I could get their Channel 6. Reception was not as good as with the old analog tuners, though. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/10 "2003-01-17T20:13:55Z")
I can tune down to 87.7 on my car system and 87.5 on my home system. I can get the audio for channel 6 at 87.7. A friend of mine who is an electronics buff explained to me that the FM radio band lies between channels 6 and 7. Several years ago I remember seeing portable TVs in Radio Chack which had analog tuners (like a radio, in fact, I think these TVs also functioned as radios). There was a wide gap between channels 6 and 7 on but I never understood why until my friend told me about it. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/11 "2003-01-17T20:55:14Z")
But many TV stations air some programming, especially news, directly on the standard FM band. Could this have been it? Modern FM radios with synthesized tuning just wouldn’t be able to tune past the standard FM band. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/12 "2003-01-17T21:02:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CurtC \* > \*\*But many TV stations air some programming, especially news, directly on the standard FM band. Could this have been it? Modern FM radios with synthesized tuning just wouldn’t be able to tune past the standard FM band. \*\* I do think that some TV stations essentially run their own radio stations as well, so if you _did_ listen to something like your local Channel 4 (which would seem to me to be quite a bit below the range of even most analog tuners I’ve seen) they could’ve been transmitting a copy of their audio stream on a regular FM band. I do think, though, that when you tune to 87.7 you’re actually getting the audio carrier for TV channel 6. . .which is useful (especially since it always seemed to me that TV stations have better weather coverage than most radio stations, in the event of a severe storm), and since it’s so close to the FM band it wouldn’t surprise me if many digital tuners _do_ start at 87.7. I’ll have to check when I leave work 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/13 "2003-01-18T03:03:59Z")
Doesn’t a station in Anchorage use TV Channel 6 to play their radio station??? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/14 "2003-01-18T03:08:00Z")
KZND-LP channel 6 Network Service: modern rock “87.7 the End” ID: Anchorage AK Co-owned: KNIK-FM Netcast: Web Site: [http://www.kznd.com/](http://www.kznd.com/) Note: KZND-LP actually uses its facilities to act as a radio station, taking advantage of the fact that TV channel 6 audio is receivable on 87.7FM Well a low power TV Station at that ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/15 "2003-01-18T05:12:44Z")
All this is made possible by the rather interesting fact that television audio signals is encoded with Frequency Modulation (FM). For this reason, television cards that go in computers often include a radio FM tuner, since they needs one to decode television audio anyway, but not an AM tuner. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/16 "2003-01-18T06:46:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by troub \* > \*\*I do think that some TV stations essentially run their own radio stations as well, so if you _did_ listen to something like your local Channel 4 (which would seem to me to be quite a bit below the range of even most analog tuners I’ve seen) they could’ve been transmitting a copy of their audio stream on a regular FM band. \*\* This isn’t likely. Not for technical issues, but for union issues. Actors’ unions (SAG and AFTRA, namely) would demand extra compensation for their members’ performances being used in another medium. This is already a sticky issue with broadcast radio stations being rebroadcast on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2003, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/listening-to-tv-channels-on-the-fm-dial/149244/17 "2003-01-18T07:17:17Z")
Sometimes when I go down to Orlando, FL, I can get one of their TV stations on my car’s radio. Don’t remember the station it was, but it came in low on the dial, something like 87.75 or something like that.