User:Hillrhpc/North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement

The North American Radio Broadcasting Agreement, usually referred to as NARBA, is a treaty made in 1941 between the United States, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti relating to the allocation of frequencies for AM radio stations in these countries. In accordance with the treaty, clear channel frequencies were set aside across the radio dial, at a rate of about one per 100 kHz. It also officially expanded the upper limit of the AM broadcast spectrum from 1500 kHz to 1600 kHz. It required that most existing AM stations change frequencies, resulting in a massive shuffling of radio station dial positions. The new frequencies took effect at 3:00 a.m. Eastern on March 29, 1941.

NARBA is no longer in effect. It has been superseded by working agreements made in the early 1980s between the U.S. and Canada and between the U.S. and Mexico, and by an ITU-sponsored agreement covering all of the Western Hemisphere.

Among the most significant changes were: