There's Tennessee ground conductivity, but it's still a 50,000 watt Class A. I only included WLAC because it would have information, such as the middle Tennessee floods awhile back. The groundwave doesn't get here
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
KNX numbers, FM vs AM
- Thread starter leethalweapon
- Start date
They just won't be getting it from AM radio or radio at all for that matter!
We have better news sources now than someone reading stories to us on the radio.
But it's a different process. It's push rather than pull. I can cook my own food too, but it's easier to get it delivered.
So there's opportunity for both, depending on circumstance.
I think that perspective does not apply to the most recent two generations...
If you think that, then you haven't been to a restaurant lately.
When radio is done well, it's more social than streaming. Radio can use social to its advantage with millennials.
These are the attitudes of defeatists. Either you believe in the medium and it's future (what I choose to believe), or you believe it is a forgone conclusion that radio is at the end of the road. If that is really what you believe, why are you here?
Traditional AM and FM have a very finite life expectancy.
The only thing prolonging the life of terrestrial radio is the impossibility of free streaming being profitable due to the artist and label royalties that apply to digital only.
But users don't care about royalties. They will pick the audio sources that provide their favorite mix of music.
The distribution channels will change as we now see with over a third of households without a single operating radio. Radio companies have to look at new media but some type of adjustment needs to be made to royalties to permit ad supported free media to continue to exist.
Nobody is budging on that. At all. In fact if anything, the cost of streaming will be going up next year.
Musicians and labels will not take a pay cut so big tech and Spotify can make more money.
I've posted on this board for over 15 years, around the time Clear Channel went through their leveraged buyout. In that time, the business outlook for radio has surely declined precipitously.
If you disagree, I'd suggest picking up a copy of "Pollyanna" for some evening reading.
I've said this before: Radio needs another revenue stream. Depending 100% on ad revenue is limiting options. Other audio services have multiple revenue streams.
And that will prolong somewhat the life of broadcast radio.
I am not naive, nor am I blind to the plight of the industry. If indeed radio broadcasting goes the way of the Edsel, history will show that it was an unwillingness on the part of those in the industry to adapt, overcome, improvise. It was owners getting drunk on other people's money (Wall Street). It was a lot of things.
Innovation, determination, and a willingness to think outside the box are all part of what can take us to the next level. The industry is never again going to look like it did in 1970, 1980, or even 2010, nor should it. We need to stop trying to make it look like that and embrace a new way of thinking.
The question then is this.... other than bemoaning that "it's all but over", what are you doing to champion the strengths of the medium?
People are still predicting the demise of radio. Nothing new there. The difference between 1939 and 2022 - it wasn't the radio "experts" predicting the demise in 1939.
So again, if you feel strongly that it's all over but the crying, I'm not here to convert you, But before you attack me, maybe ask yourself why you even bother to come here?
Here's what happened in 1939: All of the founders of the radio business adapted and invested in TV. We're at the same crossroads now. A handful of companies have recognized the challenge, and are making the investment. But the vast majority aren't.
But they also adapted their thinking to keep radio relevant.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
I wonder how many here know how such advertising, known as "co-op" ads, works. One station I worked for got a lot of local ad buys by using co-op campaigns for a brand that the client carried. When aftermarket car stereos were all the rage in the 1970s I did lots of those hawking Pioneer, and I also did many spots for local drug stores who were part of the Good Neighbor Pharmacy network. (Just to name a couple.)
We also had a sales manager at that station who had the perfect counterargument to a business that wanted to instead promote some lesser-moving merchandise "because we sell that (co-op'd) brand just fine without having to advertise it" ... without missing a beat, he'd say "what's wrong with running an ad which the brand will pick up part of the tab for, to get people into your store and give you the opportunity to sell all the other great merchandise you carry?" Worked nine out of ten times.
The Edsel is a poor comparison. That car failed because no consumer research was done and the result was a car that was ugly, overpriced and in a vehicle category that was too crowded to begin with.
Radio uses extensive research and pays attention to listeners. The challenge is dealing with new media that has ad-free options as well as one-to-one music choices.
When consolidation and the huge increases in pricing ratios occurred, nobody could anticipate the Internet, smart phones, iPads and all the options for entertainment that have become available in the last 27 years.
Since at present the FCC won't allow "scrambled" radio services that could be used for subscription propositions such as was tried on TV briefly in the early 80's, we have to use the ad supported model and the "mass appeal" format system. It's questionable if that will be viable for newer generations.
Honestly, we are targeting people who find ad-supported radio acceptable. But we see the huge decline in listening: in 2020 the AQH rating of radio was around 20 in the US while today it is around 6. In other words, during the 18 hours of the day, on average one out of five people had a radio on. Now, it is one out of 18.
Unfortunately, in the industry we look at share, which always adds up to 100 percent of people using radio. If we look at rating, we see that 350% decline in listening levels.
Nobody predicted the demise of radio in 1939 except, maybe, the megalomaniac Sarnoff. TV had been a dream since the very late 20's and was still nearly a decade away from being a reality. On the other hand, the Internet and streaming and TicTok are realities and competing right now.-
I am a realist. I'm currently involved with a nation-wide project outside the US to build over 80 stations along with a smartphone based version that includes non-banking financial services in the Sub-Saharan African model that all bear the radio station's brand. The OTA service will use a modified model of stations like France's Nostalgie national service (Webradios Nostalgie : Ecoute en direct gratuite et illimitée) with a variety of cross-polinating channels covering at least 60 years of contemporary music that appeals to mid-level income people of all ages.
Note: Nostalgie has over 60 separate channels that include not just eras but styles of contemporary music in French, English and the combination of the two.
The idea is to use the radio stations with limited commercials as the brand to bond the financial and even merchandise services to listeners who are intended to be proud of their association with the overall brand.
In this case, the concept is to use radio as a loss-leader to bond all the rest with the emotional value of radio.
Last edited:
I think some companies are realizing they need to develop something to sell. They can't just sell share. There's more money in creating unique content. That's what Disney does.
Disney is the worst stock in DJ 30. A lot of people aren't buying what Disney is selling.
That has nothing to do with what I was saying.
- Status