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AM OR NOT AM

Kids are still doing Dx'ing like we did when we were kids.

They're just using iPhones and an Internet connection. :)
 
HCochet said:
Oh, I think I know who you mean. Bugs did meet a Martian at least once. Is that who you mean? I don't know the Martian's name. The Martian had a ray gun and was always threatening to disintegrate Bugs

Marvin the Martian was another marginal Warner Brothers cartoon character created by the overrated animator/producer Chuck Jones. Among the other awful characters he created were (from Wikipedia): Claude Cat, Marc Antony and Pussyfoot, Charlie Dog, Michigan J. Frog, and his three most popular creations, Marvin the Martian, Pepe LePew, the Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote.

But meanwhile, back to popular culture, there are some interesting gaps in pop culture references. On "Project Runway" last night, one of the contestants knew nothing about Marlo Thomas and "That Girl", but knew of Joan Crawford.

Likewise radio. Many people are familiar with Howard Stern but don't know a thing about Don Imus, though Imus has been on the air longer and had a TV version of his radio show for many years.
 
People now what they use. People under 40 don't know Warner Brothers cartoons because, for the most part, they stopped getting made around the time they were born. My nephew was shocked that there actually is a guy named Madden and that he once coached football teams. His frame of reference is a video game.

Which brings us back to AM. What frame of refernce does someone under 30 have for AM radio? They weren't raised carrying a transitor, listening to The Big Daddy on KYA. So it doesn't exist. They know what they know. They're not stupid because they don't share the same frame of reference. But it doesn't bode well for a technology that depends on popular usage for its existance. If no one uses it, it will go away. Just like lots of other products and devices.
 
I still listen to AM

I even listen to RD for Top 40 music on AM

I don't know if it's my Walkman or the station..It doesn't sound right

Also AM1310 is running IBOC
 
DavidKaye said:
HCochet said:
Oh, I think I know who you mean. Bugs did meet a Martian at least once. Is that who you mean? I don't know the Martian's name. The Martian had a ray gun and was always threatening to disintegrate Bugs

Marvin the Martian was another marginal Warner Brothers cartoon character created by the overrated animator/producer Chuck Jones. Among the other awful characters he created were (from Wikipedia): Claude Cat, Marc Antony and Pussyfoot, Charlie Dog, Michigan J. Frog, and his three most popular creations, Marvin the Martian, Pepe LePew, the Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote.
I only remember those last four.

But meanwhile, back to popular culture, there are some interesting gaps in pop culture references. On "Project Runway" last night, one of the contestants knew nothing about Marlo Thomas and "That Girl", but knew of Joan Crawford.

"No wire hangers!"

Likewise radio. Many people are familiar with Howard Stern but don't know a thing about Don Imus, though Imus has been on the air longer and had a TV version of his radio show for many years.

Stern did a better job marketing himself, especially when he went national....
 
TheBigA said:
According to the 12+ ratings in Las Vegas, the highest rated AM station gets a 1 share. Chances are pretty good that almost no one listens to AM radio in Las Vegas.
Maybe all the lights of Las Vegas makes AM radio unbearable
 
If I had money, I would not mind living on the strip... but, I would be unhappy about not being able to DX AM radio at night.
 
I used to have an AM radio in my shower. It was built for the shower and the kind that stayed on the wall with suction cups. It didn't stay in place very well and I didn't keep it very long.
 
AM radio still can be useful.
The FCC helped to ruin AM radio by allowing so many devices that interfere with the AM band and now in some cases with the FM band.

There is talk about moving all AM's to a new FM band located in what is now Channel 5 & 6 TV and allowing the stations that move to simulcast on AM & the new FM band for 5 years or so ,if they want to.
Then any station that wants to continue to operate on AM can do so at maybe powers higher then 50kw.
Plus there will be less clutter on the revamped AM band.

Many countries in Europe have done away with AM or MW as it is known there ,but in many of these places private broadcasters are planning to put new stations back on AM.

A skip signal at night within say 400-700 miles of a clear channel station is still a listenable thing ,if you don't mind occasional fading.
Yes you can listen on the Internet . . . if that is what you want . . . go ahead.

But you can't beat the simplicity of an inexpensive radio on batteries picking up a station 400 miles or so away at night . . . it works.
And if the crap ever hits the fan in a big way and Internet circuits and cell phone circuits are down . . . it could be the only source for info from the outside world.

Al
 
alok said:
There is talk about moving all AM's to a new FM band located in what is now Channel 5 & 6 TV and allowing the stations that move to simulcast on AM & the new FM band for 5 years or so ,if they want to.

The talk is only among some radio people. No one at the FCC or Congress has been talking about it, so it won't happen.

The biggest problem with the idea is it instantly makes millions of radios obsolete, requiring the entire country to buy new radios to receive these channels. After the HDTV disaster, it's clear the government has no stomache for putting the country through another changeover. The FCC has said repeatedly that it won't mandate digital radio.
 
TheBigA said:
alok said:
There is talk about moving all AM's to a new FM band located in what is now Channel 5 & 6 TV and allowing the stations that move to simulcast on AM & the new FM band for 5 years or so ,if they want to.

The talk is only among some radio people. No one at the FCC or Congress has been talking about it, so it won't happen.

The biggest problem with the idea is it instantly makes millions of radios obsolete, requiring the entire country to buy new radios to receive these channels. After the HDTV disaster, it's clear the government has no stomache for putting the country through another changeover. The FCC has said repeatedly that it won't mandate digital radio.

Al's comments . . .

Yes it is just an idea ,it could get consideration from the FCC or Congress eventually. I hear that present FM broadcasters don't want it because they don't want the additional competition.

As far as AM radios becoming obsolete ,not true. They are not doing away with the AM band ,stations that want to operate on it will be on a band that is less crowded and remaining or new AM stations will maybe be able to operate with more power then 50kw once stations move to the new FM band. So your AM radio will have something to pick up.
Stations that want to move to FM as I said will be able to simulcast on AM and new FM band for a certain amount of time.
Again ,the AM band and radios will still be there.
As far as buying a new radio to hear new FM band ,the way people buy electronics today a new radio would be a "minor" purchase.

Al
 
alok said:
I hear that present FM broadcasters don't want it because they don't want the additional competition.

You hear wrong. Current owners would love to have the same opportunity to buy digital spectrum that the telecom companies have. The FCC and Congress are against this plan because they feel they can get more money for this spectrum from AT&T and Verizon than they can from Clear Channel or CBS. So radio is forced to stay in analog land.

alok said:
As far as AM radios becoming obsolete ,not true.

You misunderstand my point. I didn't say that AM Radio was becoming obsolete. I said that opening a new FM band would make all current radios without those new channels obsolete. But that having new channels would not be enough of a motivation to get the public to replace their obsolete FM radios.

alok said:
As far as buying a new radio to hear new FM band ,the way people buy electronics today a new radio would be a "minor" purchase.

People are not buying radios of any kind. That includes satellite or internet radios. People get satellite radios installed for free in all new cars. Then they decide if they want to subscribe. But no one pays for a satellite radio. And internet radios are selling at a slower rate than HD radios, if that's possible. The Consumer Electronics Association has done nothing to promote new radio sales. So there is no chance that the entire population would go out and spend money to buy new radios just because it's digital. The majority would be satisfied to continue listening to what they already own. They prove it every day.
 
I bought a radio last November (a Grundig G8 AM/FM/SW model). So I did buy a radio after all! :)

-crainbebo
 
crainbebo said:
I bought a radio last November (a Grundig G8 AM/FM/SW model). So I did buy a radio after all! :)

-crainbebo

You're not a normal person; you're a DXer. Nobody in their right mind sits up late at night to hear a station clear across the country just to say they heard it.
 
crainbebo said:
I bought a radio last November (a Grundig G8 AM/FM/SW model). So I did buy a radio after all! :)

Hooray for you. The sale of one radio in a country of 350 million really moves the meters. :)

DavidKaye said:
Nobody in their right mind sits up late at night to hear a station clear across the country just to say they heard it.

Especially when it's most likely a syndicated show, also available locally.
 
DavidKaye said:
crainbebo said:
I bought a radio last November (a Grundig G8 AM/FM/SW model). So I did buy a radio after all! :)

-crainbebo

You're not a normal person; you're a DXer. Nobody in their right mind sits up late at night to hear a station clear across the country just to say they heard it.

Agree. This breed of person is dying off. I received Z100 on clear as day in Sacramento, CA last night... on my iPhone.

Being someone that used to DX, I get the nostalgia, it's just lost it's appeal to me. :(
 
Well I do enjoy listening to AM at night, away from power sources. Listening to KGO, KFBK, KSL, KOA and KEX at night is NOT what a lot of people do anymore, yes, but I do enjoy that feeling when I get a new station on FM or AM.

Did you know there's no listen live link for 1340 KQJZ in Evergreen, MT, which I've logged in the past before in the graveyard mess? Or no listen live link for Talk Radio 1400 KSPT in Sandpoint, ID? Both I've logged at night with IDs or format matches.

-crainbebo
 
stewie said:
Agree. This breed of person is dying off.

No, DXing hasn't been a mainstream activity since the 1920s when radio was a hobby much the way cars are today. In the 1920s there were radio magazines that taught people how to wind coils and DX across the country. But as companies began to manufacture radios and they became cheaper the radio hobby pretty much became extinct.

Since the late 1920s the only people interested in DX were elderly men and 13 year old boys, and fairly anti-social ones at that. That's it. Nobody else was interested. This is why radio stations, even those clear channel monsters like KGO and KNBR don't try to sell their out-of-market audience. It's not significant.
 
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