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Is AM Already Doomed? Or Can It Be Saved?

kevtronics said:
They will regret it the first summer day when tropo kicks in and makes their wimpy FM translator(s) unlistenable.
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Anecdote only, but a reasonable example nonetheless: KFRU in Columbia, Mo. (1400) got a translator on 98.9, mounted on a nice 1000-foot tower, not all the way, but high enough that its ERP is 99 watts. It's intended to cover a small city of over 100 thousand people. Guess what? Almost every morning there's interference from KQRC in Kansas City. It's my understanding that there have been a lot of complaints about this, but there's not a lot they can do about it.
 
Mark Roberts said:
I should have known that journalism wasn't for me when I got an A in advanced calculus. The professor in that class begged me to switch to the College of Engineering (at the University of Missouri). Well, I guess I ultimately listened because I went back about 10 years later and got a masters' degree...in computer science. But I know the reputation.

On the other hand, in my day, the College of Engineering had no foreign language requirement!
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That Syracuse did not require its journalism majors to take any math or science (although I wouldn't have minded a biology course if one were required) was definitely a factor in my choosing to go there. That was in the '70s and is not the case there now.
 
Kelly A said:
The thing about the theory of switching to FM translators and abandoning AM is the viable sales-theoretical coverage zone would likely collapse in size with a listenable signal during the day, to the point where selling in that zone likely would be unsustainable from a business perspective.
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In a huge majority of situations, the translator has better day and night coverage than the old Class IV stations, and is, of course, superior to most daytimers... particularly those on the higher end of the dial. Lots of highly directional "regional" AMs are no better with current noise levels than a nicely located translator with decent antenna height.

While a translator will not replace WNAX or kFYR, it will be better than all but one or two of the AMs in Albuquerque. I think that as many as 2000 to 2500 AMs could be eliminated if they were allowed to obtain a permanent translator license with protection.

For example, I'd take a translator on the Terminal Tower in Cleveland over 1260, 1300, 1420 and 1490. And that only leaves 850, 1220 and 1100 in that market that would outdo a translator.
 
CTListener said:
A TV station with better writing than a newspaper? The apocalypse now must surely be upon us!
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Of course, the other local TV operator has a prime time weather person who says "temper-ture" every time she refers to the temperature.
 
DavidEduardo said:
In a huge majority of situations, the translator has better day and night coverage than the old Class IV stations, and is, of course, superior to most daytimers... particularly those on the higher end of the dial. Lots of highly directional "regional" AMs are no better with current noise levels than a nicely located translator with decent antenna height.

While a translator will not replace WNAX or kFYR, it will be better than all but one or two of the AMs in Albuquerque. I think that as many as 2000 to 2500 AMs could be eliminated if they were allowed to obtain a permanent translator license with protection.

For example, I'd take a translator on the Terminal Tower in Cleveland over 1260, 1300, 1420 and 1490. And that only leaves 850, 1220 and 1100 in that market that would outdo a translator.
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Sure, there are colocated translators at decent sites in a metro, but take FM sites located miles away with decent height, but are plenty of either adjacent channel restrained, or simply lack the coverage of even a 10kW AM station.
 
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