Is AM Already Doomed? Or Can It Be Saved?

[michael hagerty]

This is really just a simple case of "how ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paree?"

The devices that are hurting radio allow for endless choice, pause, replay, eclectic music and spoken-word topics that would be non-starters on broadcast radio.

ANYTHING radio does is handicapped by the fact that it cannot be made to deliver content on demand that can be played, paused or replayed at will by the listener and heard easily wherever the listener is, because it's on the device in their pocket, along with a pair of earbuds.

Seriously---would you go back? And even if you would, do you understand why most people wouldn't?

 

[Mark Roberts]

Gee, where have we seen that sort of thing before? Hmmm.,. Oh yes, LPFM!

I don't read or speak Dutch, so I don't know how much discussion there was of this in the local media before it happened. (The Dutch speaker in this household has very little interest in radio topics, or media topics in general.) There are also special-interest lower-powered FM stations so I have trouble imagining what the impetus was for LPAM except possibly to relieve political pressure for those FM signals, since the major national networks have most of them and it's a small, crowded country.

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

Over the weekend, the officials of the Emergency Preparedness Organization in this community came over to give instructions about emergency evacuations to all the neighbors in my building. My area is considered to be in high likelihood of a major earthquake or fire. The emergency preparedness officials asked each household to assemble a "go pack" to keep near the front door in case there was only a few minutes to evacuate.

I've said this before, but among the many items on this list is an AM /FM radio, either operated by batteries, or one that is hand-cranked. The hand-cranked radios are longer-lasting. The emergency evacuation people believe that everyone should be prepared to survive for at least 3 weeks without housing or power. I have a couple of transistor radios, but the best radios for emergency evacuations or living outside, are the hand-cranked ones which have 4 bands on them: AM, FM, Shortwave, and NOAA weather information.

Cell phone batteries don't last nearly as long as radio batteries or hand-cranked. There are portable chargers for cell phones, but of course eventually, the chargers need to be re-charged.

So, the only use I can see for a radio receiver is in an emergency evacuation situation in case of a severe natural disaster.

Otherwise, I'm convinced that there is no more need for any kind of radio receiver at all. It can all be streamed. - D.

 

[Daryl Lynn L.A.]

I wanted to add one thing. For people over the age of about 65, a good percentage of them don't have smart phones. They may not have any cell phone at all, or they may have a kind of flip-phone, or cricket, or Jitterbug phone, or one of those where you buy the minutes at Walgreens.
And, I realized this when I recently took some of the more elderly lady neighbors out to lunch. They wanted to try a new place in town they heard about through word-of-mouth. When we got there, the restaurant had no paper menus to give us. They had a QR code taped to the table, and it was necessary to scan the QR code in order to see an image of the menu. This was a problem, because I was the only one with a smart phone. I had to scan the code, then read the menu offerings to the other ladies.

In a society that is rapidly becoming paperless and more electronic, paper menus at restaurants are quickly going into obsolescence.
Problem is, that many seniors find it hard to read relatively small screens of electronic devices, and sometimes just as they start to read them, the phone goes to sleep, or an ad comes up on the screen, or something else.

I was hoping that in order to help seniors, restaurants who want to do away with paper menus could get a chalkboard or a whiteboard that they could hang on the wall, where the menu could be written with markers or chalk in larger print.
This is off-topic, I know, but it has to do with technological changes that impact consumers. JMO -- D.

 

[Voicetrack of Reason]

Someone needs to ask the FCC why AM stations need to wait for a filing window to open in order to file a "major change" application. AM stations should be able to file for any facilities change that will preserve their longevity at this point, without delays, or complications from the paperweights at the FCC.

 

[radiofan2023]

Someone needs to ask the FCC why AM stations need to wait for a filing window to open in order to file a "major change" application. AM stations should be able to file for any facilities change that will preserve their longevity at this point, without delays, or complications from the paperweights at the FCC.

Probably makes it easier for the FCC to process the applications and go through them carefully

 

[Voicetrack of Reason]

Probably makes it easier for the FCC to process the applications and go through them carefully

Oh, the poor overworked FCC. My heart bleeds... 🤣

It can YEARS for the FCC to open a filing window for a "Major Change". There are AM stations that can improve their facilities right now. But okay, sure, let's wait for a filing window to open in 2029, so they can do it "carefully" 🤣

Under a minor change, you can only move a couple of frequencies either way. It's my belief that an AM should be to move to any frequency and power level that works, WITHOUT waiting for a filing window to open, and WITHOUT dealing with competing applications.

We were involved with a lousy daytime AM facility at the high end of the dial. In the same area, a station on 1010 left the air, and the license was cancelled. Theoretically, we could have moved from our high dial frequency to 1010. All of the engineering on paper said so. But since that's a "major change" there was no way to change to the more desirable frequency. As a result, our high on the dial daytime AM is now gone too, just like the nearby station on 1010.

I'd like to see David or Big A chime in on this. Or Continuous Wave. What do you guys think?

 

[davideduardo]

I've said this before, but among the many items on this list is an AM /FM radio, either operated by batteries, or one that is hand-cranked. The hand-cranked radios are longer-lasting. The emergency evacuation people believe that everyone should be prepared to survive for at least 3 weeks without housing or power. I have a couple of transistor radios, but the best radios for emergency evacuations or living outside, are the hand-cranked ones which have 4 bands on them: AM, FM, Shortwave, and NOAA weather information.

Cell phone batteries don't last nearly as long as radio batteries or hand-cranked. There are portable chargers for cell phones, but of course eventually, the chargers need to be re-charged.

There are a variety of solar-rechargeable backup batteries that can power your cellular phone. They have little solar panels on one side and can charge in a day enough for several phones to run 24 hours or more.

There are also solar rechargeable battery chargers that can be used with a variety of battery sizes.

The advantage of either of those options is that they allow for recharging even if power is out and your disposable batteries are dead. I bought several of each kind of solar chargers.

 

[davideduardo]

Oh, the poor overworked FCC. My heart bleeds...

The FCC is supposed to be significantly self-financed through fees. It is indeed understaffed and well behind in some things, as we have seen in the past.

It can YEARS for the FCC to open a filing window for a "Major Change". There are AM stations that can improve their facilities right now. But okay, sure, let's wait for a filing window to open in 2029, so they can do it "carefully"

You are thinking of new station applications. Stations that lose their transmitter site are not impeded from filing for a new site with new power, pattern and coverage. But who would want to file for a new AM today?

But, yes, AMs should be allowed to make greater changes without falling into "major change" category classification. I just don't think many of them will want to pour good money after bad.

Under a minor change, you can only move a couple of frequencies either way. It's my belief that an AM should be to move to any frequency and power level that works, WITHOUT waiting for a filing window to open, and WITHOUT dealing with competing applications.

Again, who would want to do that today?

We were involved with a lousy daytime AM facility at the high end of the dial. In the same area, a station on 1010 left the air, and the license was cancelled. Theoretically, we could have moved from our high dial frequency to 1010. All of the engineering on paper said so. But since that's a "major change" there was no way to change to the more desirable frequency. As a result, our high on the dial daytime AM is now gone too, just like the nearby station on 1010.

I'd like to see David or Big A chime in on this. Or Continuous Wave. What do you guys think?

I think there are so few stations wanting to make such changes and so few opportunities to improve coverage that changing the whole procedure is just not worth the effort. My suggestion is to grant translators permanent status as something like an "A3" and allow the supporting AM to be deleted. At that point, open a window for remaining AMs to improve their facilities once all the AMs that go silent are gone.

 

[cc333]

Would AM stations be more economical, perhaps, if run by only regional companies that only have a station or two in a handful of geographically connected markets?

It seems like when companies went on their buying sprees, merging and acquiring small regional clusters into sprawling, nationwide ones, they bit off more than they could chew, so to speak, and they simply consolidated too much?

c

 

[davideduardo]

Would AM stations be more economical, perhaps, if run by only regional companies that only have a station or two in a handful of geographically connected markets?

The problem with AM is not ownership.

First, the band's regulations require lower quality (total cutoff at 10 kHz). Second, most metro area stations do not fully cover their market. Third, man made noise has reduced usable coverage of all AM stations. Fourth, nearly all AM radios today are very "low-fi" with few able to do better than about kHz response. Fifth, AM is subject to AM noise such as static and interference from electronic devices like dimmers, wallwarts and all kinds of other items.

The "best" AM signals were licensed around 80 to 90 years ago. All those signals have been outgrown by their markets.

The only practical use for most AMs is to allow the licensing of an FM translator.

It seems like when companies went on their buying sprees, merging and acquiring small regional clusters into sprawling, nationwide ones, they bit off more than they could chew, so to speak, and they simply consolidated too much?

No, they got a bunch of "heritage" AMs that were part of the deal. If AM were viable, the stations would be doing well. This is not a problem caused by owners. It is caused by limited coverage stations with low quality audio and subject to lots of man-made interference..