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Are there any big AM music stations anymore?
- Thread starter radiogal
- Start date
The surviving Moms-and-Pops facilities out this way playing music seem to be holding their own, even after there have been many stations that have gone 'dark'. None of them get sizable ratings, radiogal.
(Lol -- now this is me observing, a bit past the 54+ demo,)
The most notable facility to've turned off the turntablea and lights was one of the first to so so. It was a full time regional-frequency station at the huge 550 dial spot, too. They went off in 1998 !
But our locale is a county otherwise in a largely non-surveyed place surrounded by five markets that do get listed. With that 'freedom', some half-dozen AM stations offer music at times, and three regard music as their full time format. But other music ones that have pulled the plug (with the exception of that WHLM 550) all had weak signals or were albatrossed by daytime-only restrictions and/or picayune nighttime wattage.
1290, 1480, 1590, 1530, 1510 and 1450 were casualties.
The most recent big-signal music station I remember getting listeners and money was WOWO. In these times, if you hear an AM station playing music at night, it's probably from Canada.
(Lol -- now this is me observing, a bit past the 54+ demo,)
The most notable facility to've turned off the turntablea and lights was one of the first to so so. It was a full time regional-frequency station at the huge 550 dial spot, too. They went off in 1998 !
But our locale is a county otherwise in a largely non-surveyed place surrounded by five markets that do get listed. With that 'freedom', some half-dozen AM stations offer music at times, and three regard music as their full time format. But other music ones that have pulled the plug (with the exception of that WHLM 550) all had weak signals or were albatrossed by daytime-only restrictions and/or picayune nighttime wattage.
1290, 1480, 1590, 1530, 1510 and 1450 were casualties.
The most recent big-signal music station I remember getting listeners and money was WOWO. In these times, if you hear an AM station playing music at night, it's probably from Canada.
I like listening to 1630 KCJJ, which is Hot AC, but I stream or watch the morning show and past videos on YouTube, not on the radio. Even when I lived near Iowa City, I usually streamed them, because the audio sounded better than listening on AM. No idea where they show up in the ratings because they don't buy the book as far as I know.
WSM hasn't subscribed to the ratings in years, so it's hard to know how they're really doing. But even when they did subscribe, they were lucky to earn a 3 share, and were often the 3rd most listened country format in the market.
But there's probably a good chance you're right. The universe of music-on-AM is pretty slim, and many of the stations which do run music on AM are class C and D facilities in small markets. WSM is a Class A in a large market with some heritage.
It would take a 10 share in Fort Wayne to match a 2.5 share in Nashville for listenership (and WOWO doesn't run music any longer AFAIK)
@PTBoardOp94
I should have worded that WOWO observation as 'the most recent station I recall that HAD played music.' Dunno what they're doing nowadays, either.
Ditto on WSM 650's ratings. From the numbers I'd seen from back when they used to be listed, my eyes widened at the indifference. I might be mistaken by saying that WSM is the only 50K omni in the state, let alone from Nashville, but time plus the demos and the swerves of Country music have changed things.
In another case, Country AM omni WDAF 610 in Kansas City was *top-rated* there for a while when it changed format and put the Country on FM. That disappearance of music -- on the #1 rated station in the market -- was twenty years ago.
I should have worded that WOWO observation as 'the most recent station I recall that HAD played music.' Dunno what they're doing nowadays, either.
Ditto on WSM 650's ratings. From the numbers I'd seen from back when they used to be listed, my eyes widened at the indifference. I might be mistaken by saying that WSM is the only 50K omni in the state, let alone from Nashville, but time plus the demos and the swerves of Country music have changed things.
In another case, Country AM omni WDAF 610 in Kansas City was *top-rated* there for a while when it changed format and put the Country on FM. That disappearance of music -- on the #1 rated station in the market -- was twenty years ago.
WDIA Memphis TN a class B WITHOUT a FM translator is doing OK in the crowded Urban part of the market.*
*Radio Industry News, Radio Show Prep, Radio Promotions, Radio Station Data, Podcast News
*Radio Industry News, Radio Show Prep, Radio Promotions, Radio Station Data, Podcast News
WOWO went News/Talk in the mid-1990s
Is the question strictly for AM's with no FM presence? Only WDIA, WSM, already mentioned, and CFZM., don't know of others.
Now if we're talking AM's with a simulcast FM frequency or translator, there are A LOT of success stories there. However, most are listening to the FM.
Now if we're talking AM's with a simulcast FM frequency or translator, there are A LOT of success stories there. However, most are listening to the FM.
They were listed through 2019 and varied between a 0.9 and a 2.7 in the monthlies between 2017 and 2019 that I could see. Almost all the listening was with people over 55. Billing is guessed at around $25 thousand a month.
CFZM does have a low-power FM simulcast. They advertise as "96.7 FM in downtown Toronto, and 740 AM everywhere else".
And maybe you can count WABC, since they've been adding more and more music shows on weekends. (They do have an FM simulcast, but it's not in-market.)
Regardless of low numbers, I’m glad there’s a company out there that says “the heck with it” and still pushes through
The reason they do it is to promote the Opry, the Opryland Hotel, and other tourist attractions they own. The radio station is a marketing tool. They have sustaining sponsorship for the Opry that includes the live broadcasts on Fridays & Saturdays. That may be the only real revenue the station gets. They keep costs low, they simulcast the morning show on their Circle TV network, and simulcast the Opry on Circle and Sirius. So they have multiple platforms for the station, not just the 50KW AM. It's a business, and the radio station is part of their overall strategy. Not too many other stations are as well integrated. Someone told me WSM has more listeners streaming than from the transmitter.
They're not saying "the heck with it", they're saying "there's nothing else we can do with this dying dinosaur." AM is dying.
They could’ve sold it by now. No one is stopping them
There is WION 1430 kHZ, Ionia Michigan.
I have no idea if they subscribe for ratings or instead do local sales, but their station - in AM Stereo - sounds great.
WION AM STEREO 1430
Their web audio stream is fed from an AM Stereo tuner. Sounds almost as good as FM stereo.
They are not in a rated market.
Not sure how we are defining BIG ratings for an AM, but will throw this one out there: KTUC Tucson, and with no FM.
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