The FCC approved the higher levels in January and began allowing stations to file for them on May 10. Now three months later, the NAB’s Tech Check newsletter does a census of stations that have notified the Commission that they’re taking advantage of the new freedom. It finds 51 commercial and 35 non-commercial stations are doing so. Only six of the 86 have hiked digital power to the maximum allowed. About one-third are running below the so-called “blanket” power level that is a compromise between the highest level now allowed (-10 dBc) and no change at all. For many stations, raising HD Radio power would require new equipment purchases in a difficult economy. Originally, the Commission allowed the HD Radio signal to run at just 1% of the analog power, and that’s where the vast majority are today. iBiquity says that about 2,078 stations have converted to its digital audio broadcasting system, counting both AMs and FMs. The FCC is only allowing FM stations to raise power.