Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has opened a public comment period on draft changes that would give commercial AM broadcasters more frequency room, and more time, to shift listeners onto FM before switching AM transmitters off for good.
The draft amendment to the Frequency Usage Plan for Core Broadcasting keeps 90.1 to 98.9 MHz as the standard band for FM relay stations built to preserve broadcast coverage, but adds a proviso allowing 76.1 to 90.0 MHz when "truly necessary," a category MIC defines through specific scenarios rather than leaving it open-ended. The ministry's revised examination standards also promote synchronized FM broadcasting, a technical step meant to let more stations share a single frequency efficiently rather than each claiming separate spectrum.
The bigger practical change is time. Thirteen of Japan's 47 commercial AM operators used an existing special-measures window to test suspending AM broadcasts between November 2023 and January 2025. MIC's concept paper for this consultation lists extension periods running as far as October 31, 2028, with January 31, 2027 attached to related guidance, though the released text does not spell out which date applies to which specific measure.
The proposal would also loosen listener-notice rules: broadcasters going through the suspension or abolition process would no longer need to announce it over the air, and public notice could begin as soon as practical rather than a fixed three months ahead, though notice obligations remain when a suspension is extended or a station is formally abolished. The changes touch five separate instruments, including a ministry notice, a Radio Law examination-standards order and revised guidelines on keeping viewers informed when a relay station shuts down.
None of this is final. The filing, e-Gov case number 145210743, is a draft circulated under the Radio Law and the Administrative Procedure Act, and MIC can still revise the frequency ranges, the extension dates or the notice rules before issuing the actual orders.