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Saving AM Radio

So just to drop a thought into this thread about the realities of AM radio from someone whos lived it and worked it...

I worked for a 3 station cluster... BIG 50kw equivalent signal relatively clear on other nearby channels, a 25kw Equivalent FM a bit mroe hemmed in and a 1kw AM full time Non D with super translator (250 Watts at what amounted to about 700 feet due to tower location).

The AM was the second oldest in the region.. had the AM not had an FM to prop it up, it wouldve gone dark and gotten deleted ages ago. Despite sales people whod been there 20-30 years... the station barely billed enough to pay its power bills. There were some Sundays where the AM had 3 commercials... not 3 clients,.. 3 commercials all day. When the AM would drop to 1/3 power due to icing on the skirt antenna, no complaints.. tells me where the majority of the AM listeners are. When the AM would go off, theyd call and complain, and wed have to remind them to tune over to the FM. We promoted the station left right backwards forwards and sideways with both frequencies.. they were in its slogan.... and we still struggled.

There is VERY little that AM Can do that isnt duplicated by someone else.
 
I bought a new Lincoln Nautilus for my wife. It came with AM, FM, and Alexa. You can just ask it to play the stream to hear her FM station or you can fumble around with multiple screens to hear it on the radio.
 
secondchoice said:
Correct if a FM channel is available. If my math is correct, there are 75 commercial FM channels. With 3rd channel spacing you would be lucky to get 18 class C FMs in major market not counting translators and IF.

There are places that had decent 24 hour AMs that still have AM listeners.
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this is a small market.
 
secondchoice said:
Correct if a FM channel is available. If my math is correct, there are 75 commercial FM channels. With 3rd channel spacing you would be lucky to get 18 class C FMs in major market not counting translators and IF.

There are places that had decent 24 hour AMs that still have AM listeners.
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But you ignore several key points.

First, except in a few limited legacy cases, listeners are generally not looking to AM for any reason (if they even know or care about it).

Second, there are not many AM signals that completely cover a metro area (or the areas that matter)

Third, the sound quality and noise is awful. There is superior technology.

Fourth, more signals mean more contention for revenue. To the extent they actually want radio, advertisers will seek listeners who fit certain demographics. They are generally not listening to AM. More stations do not mean more revenue.

Fifth, the real estate required to support this infrastructure is becoming (or has become) more valuable than the actual facility. There is no realistic way to earn a reasonable return.

So, who is actually going to sign up for this?
 
I'm not saying the future is so bright the AM owner's need sunglasses 😎. Streaming has made all OTA stations equal. If you correctly program you will have listenors. AM is dead but they forgot to tell WABC which built a lot of their audience in the last 5 years.

Most of the class A and the market covering class B's with the exception of WBT are still on the air. Some have played the land game but they were moved to another tower instead of the licenses being turned in.
 
CTListener said:
But the content preferred by today's generation of listeners (or would-be listeners) is often only the style of music they like, with as few ads and DJ chatter -- and news, weather and traffic reports -- as possible.
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That's more easily accomplished by streaming. iHeart, Audacy, and others offer those options on their streaming sites.
 
Grudgingly I think I've been forced to side with those of you who say that the increased noise levels are going to be the undoing of AM. I am noticing while driving around listening to AMs I've enjoyed for years that the noise problem just keeps getting worse and worse. Even at a rural property I have where the reception used to be outstanding I am now having issues caused by the smart meter.
 
Since GA Power has buried most of it's power lines in town, my AM reception in town is better than on the country roads that have Co-op power.
I am fortunate enough to live close a roadside "lookout" on a hill top which has excellent AM DXing even just using a car radio.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
Grudgingly I think I've been forced to side with those of you who say that the increased noise levels are going to be the undoing of AM. I am noticing while driving around listening to AMs I've enjoyed for years that the noise problem just keeps getting worse and worse. Even at a rural property I have where the reception used to be outstanding I am now having issues caused by the smart meter.
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It's even awful here in rural Vermont. Sizzling, buzzing, hash ... you name it. Glad that both AMs I'm interesting in listening to here (sports and classic country) have FM translators. AM is just an aggravating extra button push for me now -- I have to push the "Band" button in my car at least twice to get from my two banks of FM channels to my three banks of SiriusXM channels, because there are two banks of AM channels separating FM from SiriusXM. If there were some way to block AM on my car radio, I'd do it.
 
secondchoice said:
I don't know how many markets have their EAS set up with the FEMA trailers at AM stations for really bad emergencies but according to postings on this site, there are several markets. Hopefully this is a waste of taxpayers money. I was CompTIA certified in Web design and networking. Unfortunately the Internet is not bulletproof. AM radio is the "lowest common denominator" of electronic media. BTW in some class B FM areas the class A AM stations have more car "coverage" than the FM stations. Especially when the power grid is down.

Think about you smoke detector. Hopefully it's a waste of money. For less manufacturing cost than the retail price of a smoke detector, Americans have a backup communication system.
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My smoke detector runs on batteries. My under financed and under maintained AM stations are likely to fail in an extreme event. Few local stations even have back up power when the utility fails. You will most likely find a cell phone signal as all have a bit of back up power. Even with the loss of some towers you will probably get as much from you phone as you will from the radio, even if the power is on and the computer switches to whatever incompetent script the government spokes individual reads to you
 
Hyrum said:
My smoke detector runs on batteries. My under financed and under maintained AM stations are likely to fail in an extreme event. Few local stations even have back up power when the utility fails. You will most likely find a cell phone signal as all have a bit of back up power. Even with the loss of some towers you will probably get as much from you phone as you will from the radio, even if the power is on and the computer switches to whatever incompetent script the government spokes individual reads to you
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Last time I checked T-Mobile uses battery back up. I believe they are rated for 12 hours.

Depending on your state or county there were grants available for back up generators for "critical infrastructure". Check with you local emergency management folks.

I personally was on one "advisory" committee for a county in Kentucky back in the early 1990's. They had a really good grant writer who got us, the police station and 911 center, and the fire and ambulance building service's generator's upgraded to propane with tanks, filled with propane, and paid to have the old desiel tanks drained and hauled away.
 
www.insideradio.com

Broadcasters Take AM Radio Fight To Capitol Hill.

After building broad bipartisan support, the radio industry enters what may be its toughest fight yet. Broadcasters from more than 30 states are on Capitol Hill today for a lobbying
www.insideradio.com www.insideradio.com

radioink.com

Trump 'Pushing Hard' on AM Act as State Broadcasters Hit The Hill - Radio Ink

Trump tells Hugh Hewitt he is 'pushing hard' for the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act as state broadcasters converge on Capitol Hill to lobby Congress.
radioink.com radioink.com

President Trump said, “A lot of our people are on AM radio. The answer is I’m very much onto it. We’re backing it 100%. Nothing’s going to happen to AM radio that’s bad.”
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So public safety isn't the real motivation?

They're using the tools of the government to protect conservative talk, while the same government is attacking and challenging the licenses of companies that do late night talk or news? It's interesting that the TV broadcasters they're fighting don't own any AM radio stations. They just signed a rather weak consent agreement with iHeart, and they own hundreds of AM stations.
 
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