Can The AM Band Be Saved?

[radiophiler]

But here's the question:

Given the already crowded nature of FM in the U.S., would it be possible for a migration, a la Canada or Mexico, of AMs to FMs? Even a 75% migration, or 50%? Seems as though the FM band is too crowded already.

Possible or not?

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Given the already crowded nature of FM in the U.S., would it be possible for a migration, a la Canada or Mexico, of AMs to FMs? Even a 75% migration, or 50%? Seems as though the FM band is too crowded already.

Has the FCC or any industry group done a computer modeling of this question?

My "off the top of my head" guess is that the people who could afford to staff or fund such a study have no interest in finding a solution that is equitable to "small potatoes" operators and communties. The financially stable organizations simply hire a consulting firm to find themselves the best possible moves and changes. Everyone else can do their own thing.

When I travel across country to visit my ancestral home or visit my children in another state, I observe a number of stations and markets that have a hard time just staying alive... much less have the time, energy and funding to play "high-tech what-if". The easy answer is: Darwin at work. If they are to small, too weak, too dumb to find their own improvement in the spectrum, they deserve to become extinct.

The more profound observation is: I'm not worried about the loser who owns the station with the unpainted building with the gravel parking lot. I am concerned that the regulatory system look after the people, the listeners that live in that geography. If their station owner won't do, can't do the right thing.... the SYSTEM should do the right thing."

 

[secondchoice]

But here's the question:

Given the already crowded nature of FM in the U.S., would it be possible for a migration, a la Canada or Mexico, of AMs to FMs? Even a 75% migration, or 50%? Seems as though the FM band is too crowded already.

Possible or not?

With the current 88 to 108 MZ band, in a lot of big cities: no. There are some 250 watt "translator" opportunities for some AM's to get a FM but a lot are being gobble up by big existing FM's for HD. In some rural low populated areas there could be a migration. I am not current on the "protections" (distant and frequency) the existing classes of FM get, but with the various "move in's" over the years the chances of a "B" (C2) 50 KW @ 500 ft or better signal in a top market are very slim. Some of the old analog TV channels would work but there is no receiver base.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I am not current on the "protections" (distant and frequency) the existing classes of FM get, but with the various "move in's" over the years the chances of a "B" (C2) 50 KW @ 500 ft or better signal in a top market are very slim.

To do something as "radical" or "disruptive" as the Canadian plan, and do it with any resemblance of even-handedness, there would need to be some even-handedness exercised by Congress and the FCC. Spread the misery! That could mean something like changing the maximum power from 50KW to 30Kw (from 100KW to 60KW in the Western states) to make room.

If it is essential to tell the guy running the 3rd generation family ownership of an AM station in a thriving rural market that he has to shut down if he can't find an FM channel, then it is also essential to tell the owners of 50KW FMs in Cleveland or NYC or Boston they are going to have to throttle back to make room for others.

What's the old joke I heard in Oklahoma years ago? Local industry? Yup. In our town we make the front end of horses. (at this point there is a pause by the story teller as you wrap your brain around what was just said.) Then we ship them to Washington for final assembly.

They got some horse's rear ends in Washington, but I'm not sure they are extreme enough, tough enough, to ever tackle the broadcast spectrum allocation with integrity.

 

[semoochie]

With the advent of the Class C0, I don't suppose there's really any need for a full C anymore.

 

[w9wi]

One reason the Canadian "plan" works is that Canada didn't authorize the massive number of non-signal-viable AM stations the U.S. did. In 1970 there were nine AM stations and seven FMs, and about 350,000 people, in Omaha. In Calgary, there were five AMs, one FM, and about 400,000 people.

ALL of the Calgary AMs ran at least 10,000 watts at night. Only one of the Omaha stations (KFAB) did. Four of the Omaha AMs were daytimers, and two more Class IV operations.

Under Canadian technical standards, chances are KFAB, KOIL, and WOW would have been the only AM stations in Omaha.

It's a LOT easier to find FM homes for everyone when you only have five stations to find homes for.

 

[K6JHU]

My wife an I were in an antique store today. She noticed some low prices on old radios (all AM). She asked me why I didn't buy one at such a bargain. I waited until we were a little ways out of town in the car. Then I hit FM scan and got a half dozen plus FM with full limiting and stereo. Then I hit AM scan and got only one listenable station (a 50kW blowtorch) carrying Rush. The rest were not above the noise level or were being intefered with by other stations. Can the AM band be saved. Not as it exists now.

 

[ddsparxx]

About 4 years ago I was in an antique store near Culpeper, VA, and the radio at that store was tuned to Culpeper's WCVA AM 1490, an adult standards station, and I didn't hear any noise from the station.

 

[K6JHU]

I can list the exceptions (e.g. 1220 in Stillwater, Minn.) but I can also list AM stations that can't even cover their city of license with a listenable signal at night. BTW, while I like adult standards. MOYL just grates on my nerves. I seem to remember a company that will sell a Part 15 AM transmitter and music package specifically designed for antique stores

 

[KeithE4]

I seem to remember a company that will sell a Part 15 AM transmitter and music package specifically designed for antique stores

That would redefine the term "covering your market," but that's exactly what an in-store Part 15 station would be doing. ;D

 

[bmcglynn]

One reason the Canadian "plan" works is that Canada didn't authorize the massive number of non-signal-viable AM stations the U.S. did. In 1970 there were nine AM stations and seven FMs, and about 350,000 people, in Omaha. In Calgary, there were five AMs, one FM, and about 400,000 people.

ALL of the Calgary AMs ran at least 10,000 watts at night. Only one of the Omaha stations (KFAB) did. Four of the Omaha AMs were daytimers, and two more Class IV operations.

Under Canadian technical standards, chances are KFAB, KOIL, and WOW would have been the only AM stations in Omaha.

It's a LOT easier to find FM homes for everyone when you only have five stations to find homes for.

Canada has a very different view of broadcasting. In the US, the only regulation scheme seems to be technical. In the case of FM - how many signals can be possibly put into the spectrum.

In Canada, the regulators view broadcasting as a contract between the Canadian Radio-Telecommunications Commission and the broadcaster. Formats are regulated, content is regulated, and technical standards are regulated on a one-off basis as well. As an example, in the US - new frequency allocations are decided upon by auction.

North of the Border, new station applications are decided upon by public hearings. At the public hearings, the CRTC seems to be concerned about growing the revenue pie in a market versus pulling revenue from other stations. To prove that, applicants for a new frequency need to submit market studies in addition to technical design and prove financial wherewithal. The system is fraught with other issues up here, albeit different ones; yet it does lead to a somewhat healthier industry based on average revenue per person in a given market.

 

[Chuck]

I collect some old radios. About the only way they are useful is by using a small Part 15 AM transmitter to feed a signal from a CD player or FM tuner. Inside my shop, which is in the country, I can't get any AM stations sufficiently above the noise floor to be listenable.

 

[w9wi]

Canada has a very different view of broadcasting. In the US, the only regulation scheme seems to be technical. In the case of FM - how many signals can be possibly put into the spectrum.

In Canada, the regulators view broadcasting as a contract between the Canadian Radio-Telecommunications Commission and the broadcaster. Formats are regulated, content is regulated, and technical standards are regulated on a one-off basis as well. As an example, in the US - new frequency allocations are decided upon by auction.

North of the Border, new station applications are decided upon by public hearings. At the public hearings, the CRTC seems to be concerned about growing the revenue pie in a market versus pulling revenue from other stations. To prove that, applicants for a new frequency need to submit market studies in addition to technical design and prove financial wherewithal. The system is fraught with other issues up here, albeit different ones; yet it does lead to a somewhat healthier industry based on average revenue per person in a given market.

That is in part why they haven't licensed scores of puny AM stations that now can't cover their markets & can't find an FM frequency to move to. (nor even a frequency for a translator)

Auctions are of course relatively new in the U.S. (the handwriting was already on the wall for AM by the time spectrum auctions came around) and regulation is a lot looser in Canada than it used to be. But I think it's really *past* regulatory action in Canada that's allowed so many AM=>FM moves there. They used to be more strict than they are today about not authorizing a station if they feel the market can't support it. And as a result, by the time they loosened things up, nobody wanted AM -- and they didn't build up the huge inventory of non-viable AM licenses we have in the U.S..

 

[davideduardo]

Canada has a very different view of broadcasting. In the US, the only regulation scheme seems to be technical. In the case of FM - how many signals can be possibly put into the spectrum.

Aside from the "economic impact" considerations in licensing, one big advantage Canada has had for AM was the ability to put big transmitters to the south of a Canadian market, push the signal over the market and to the north, and never worry about interfering with another station.

My favorite was CKEY in Toronto... towers on a pier in the lake, signal pushed over the city. IIRC, 1430 did that, too. As long as the market was to the north, the US to the south, Canada even managed to put 10 kw on at least one Class IV station.

Of course, stations from Louisiana to CA pushed excess power towards Mexico in the years when Mexico had few stations and the US had many more.

 

[kenglish]

Speaking of all this...
I got home last night and found all the outside lights in my apartment complex forced "on".
Looks like they are changing all the bulbs to those "green" monsters...funny, the new light all looks "yellow" to me.

They haven't gotten to the buildings closest to me, yet. I'll have to see if they finish-off the AM and HF bands, or not.

Or, could it be that they are REMOVING all the fluorescent ones, and going back to "old-fashioned" (but quiet) incandescents?
Wow! I can only hope.

 

[TheBigA]

Or, could it be that they are REMOVING all the fluorescent ones, and going back to "old-fashioned" (but quiet) incandescents?
Wow! I can only hope.

Nope...a new law took effect Jan 1 that makes the old fashioned incandescents illegal.

 

[GeneSavage]

I keep hearing this, but it's not true; they did NOT "make incandescents illegal."

From http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/environment/2007-12-16-light-bulbs_N.htm:

Under the measure, all light bulbs must use 25% to 30% less energy than today's products by 2012 to 2014. The phase-in will start with 100-watt bulbs in January 2012 and end with 40-watt bulbs in January 2014. By 2020, bulbs must be 70% more efficient.

In other words, if you can make an incandescent bulb that puts out the lumens of a 100 watt bulb but only uses 66 - 75 watts, you can make and sell it.

...Oh... and they haven't even implemented the law yet; it was moved to October:

From http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_772480.html:

...They've reached a deal to delay until October enforcement of standards...

It may just be semantics, and I may disagree with the legislation... but that's no reason to sensationalize it by distorting the facts.

 

[JustPastBuffalo]

Or, could it be that they are REMOVING all the fluorescent ones, and going back to "old-fashioned" (but quiet) incandescents?
Wow! I can only hope.

Nope...a new law took effect Jan 1 that makes the old fashioned incandescents illegal.

Actually A, you're close. The date has been pushed back to October this year and the cutback in sales will be incremental.

For reliable daytime service, there are not that many US stations that get good signals into of Canada. The parts of Canada that adjoin Maine, VT, NY and upstate NY either are Francophone or not near any major, listenable US stations. Except for the Windsor, Vancouver and Niagara Falls, not much of interest hits Canada with a good, good signal... and the US signals that do get there (like KFYR, etc.,) are either so centered on the US or are so small they are on satellite or have little news and information. Yes, a few exceptions, but you won't find that much listening to US AM radio going on in Canada partly because Canada has made AM quite obsolete.

You covered the bases quite well on this, David. I'd only add that Buffalo AM and FM stations "cross the boarder" quite effectively. WGR with 5kw on 550, WBEN with 5kw on 930 and WNED-AM with 5kW highly directional north on 970 each break into Toronto, population 5+ million very well. Even some of the Class D's make it across the border, daytime. Night time, you could shoot a hockey puck further. Ironically, the 50kw blowtorch once known as WKBW (now WWKB) is so directional that it only skirts Ontario's Niagara Peninsula and has a better signal at night in Montreal than it does in Toronto, a mere 40 miles across lake Ontario.

The Buffalo Class B FMs also penetrate Canadian airspace fairly well. The problem, however, is the the CRTC has licensed lower power FMs in many cases on second, and in some cases in the lower end of the FM band (88.1 - 91.9, considered "non com" in the US, but quite commercial in Canada) first adjacent channels.

There's quite a bit of RF cross pollination, which often makes for diverse listening. Canadian signals from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Hamilton and Toronto are easily heard "south of the border." Toronto is a world class city and aside from the Can-Con music influence, the air personalities also offer a different perspective. Toronto is a BBM (Bureau of Broadcast Measurement) market which employs a PPM type of audience measurement.

With much of that FM RF coming off the CN Tower, it can get quite messy. Buffalo and Western New York share similar traits with Detroit / Windsor as to US-Canadian signal saturation. We who live and work here sometimes take it for granted that we can hear a representation of a different culture at the tips of our fingers. A drive along the Niagara River reveals not another state or county, but a sovereign country. Pretty damn impressive when you think about it. We're good neighbors at that, except perhaps when the Buffalo Sabres play the 'Leafs or Canadiens.

Radio junkies who visit are often fascinated with what can be heard on Canadian radio (English and/or French, FM or AM) and very soon become aware of the fact that Canada isn't our 51st state. Anybody who crosses the border, and most of us do quite regularly, gets an up-close view of that reality.

Back to this discussion about AM's future, I'd ask only this question: If you had the money, would you buy an AM? And ten years down the line, could you sell it (for what you think it'd be worth)?

 

[borderblaster]

I'm going to say heck no. Even if I could pull a few profitable years from it, no way it would sell in 5-10 years

 

[davideduardo]

You covered the bases quite well on this, David. I'd only add that Buffalo AM and FM stations "cross the boarder" quite effectively. WGR with 5kw on 550, WBEN with 5kw on 930 and WNED-AM with 5kW highly directional north on 970 each break into Toronto, population 5+ million very well.

I only ran coverage on WGR, and found that it's 10 mV/m misses almost half of Niagara County (the half with less population). So by the time it gets to Toronto, it's way way below the minimum levels for reception in urban areas today. Maybe occasionally useful for in-car listening, but not for the in home and at work locations that make up about 70% of listening.

Your comments on the fundamental differences between US and Canadian content, taste and outlook are excellent. And that applies to the Anglophone areas... got to the Francophone parts of Canada and the differences are even more marked. Of course, Toronto and Montréal are two of my 4 or 5 favorite cities in North America, so I take delight in those differences.

Back to this discussion about AM's future, I'd ask only this question: If you had the money, would you buy an AM? And ten years down the line, could you sell it (for what you think it'd be worth)?

The only way I'd do that is if the deal looked like an MLP where it appeared that it threw off enough cash to make the broadcast cash flow look like a return of capital and even if the station had zero value after 5 years, I would have a good return. That would take very high margins, though, and few properties can do that... and the returns, unlike an MLP, are taxable as income.