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KULF AM
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Yes, they turned the license back in. I believe it had been on the block for a while.
Could someone help me explain why a company would turn in a license vs reducing the cost and selling it.
In the case of AM stations, especially inside (err outside) of a large market like Houston, it basically always has to do with the transmitter site land.
Either the land is worth more than the station is generating or the station owner doesn't own the land the towers sit on and the lease is lost or not being renewed.
Moving an AM to another location is incredibly expensive. Not just the actual hardware but permitting, engineering, legal, etc. It's also very time-consuming and under ideal conditions would probably take a year or more. Sometimes a lot more.
In the case of KULF, the owner has been selling off what they had around the country and apparently couldn't find a buyer. It also does not appear from the property tax roll that they own the transmitter site.
Another reminder that many AM stations are literally completely worthless.
Everyone inside the industry is aware the FCC plans to introduce rulemaking to sunset the AM band in a few years. It's not a question of if, it's a matter of when. What is uncertain is whether there will be a spectrum buyback at taxpayer's expense, will AMs get a channel in the new expanded FM band being considered, or will AM broadcasters just get told to shut down and kick rocks?
Do you have a source for that, because other than wild speculation, this is the first I've heard of it.
I've never heard of it either...it's not gonna happen
Link? I have not heard of any plan to sunset the AM band.
You are speculating based on a non-fact.
I don't understand the rational behind any forced moves in this case. The AM spectrum isn't useful for some other obvious purpose and there is no reason to force a buyback or move to an expanded FM band. What is more likely is just a slow die-off, with the AM stations that have compelling programming and billing worth preserving making the jump to FM, like we saw today with the WINS news.
The rest can ride their horses into the sunset as long as they can and it isn't hurting anyone.
I personally don't think the show is over for AM just yet.
The rest can ride their horses into the sunset as long as they can and it isn't hurting anyone.
I personally don't think the show is over for AM just yet.
In fact, a group financed by George Soros' investment firms just put up $60 million to buy AMs in NYC, LA, Chicago, Miami (2), Houston, San Antonio, McAllen, Las Vegas and Dallas to program to Hispanics, the group least likely to ever use AM!
There's always somebody that is clueless on how am radio performs at places/regions as well as heritage stations. The station I work for makes good money thanks to a translator and enjoys a huge listening audience.
Nobody seems to know about this 'sunsetting AM stations'. When you have millions made yearly by some AMs, that's lots of tax money 'buying back'
Nobody seems to know about this 'sunsetting AM stations'. When you have millions made yearly by some AMs, that's lots of tax money 'buying back'
I don't think it is lights out for AM radio in 2022 or 2023, but LMN's big ticket purchase of mediocre signals by people outside the radio business is not a good sign and makes me wonder if my sentiment is wrong.
I personally would like to see more MA3 (I love that The Gamut is experimenting), but I think that is a very unlikely shift and here is why: The licensing, equipment, engineering, and legal requirements are burdensome and costly. Many if not most AMs today are not very profitable or are used as a means to feed an FM translator. You can see this with the KULF news for example.
The remaining AMs that are very profitable are not going to turn off the money-making analog signals to go MA3, even though they have the means to buy and install the equipment, license the technology, and file the applications. There are so few standalone big, profitable AMs left. The others in clusters will just be simulcast/moved over to an underperforming FM sister station.
That doesn't even on touch the lack of receivers, outside of new cars, lack of consumer interest, etc.
Prolonging the life of AM is no longer up to the broadcasters. More and more auto manufacturers are dropping AM as a feature in stock radio.
And who can blame them? Seamless Apple Carplay integration makes you forget about that outdated technology.
A huge percentage of AMs have translators. To keep the translator, at least those granted translators as part of the oddly named AM improvement initiative by the FCC, they must keep the AM running.
They tried. No one wanted to buy it. If offered $50 for the license, I'm sure they would’ve taken it. The offer didn’t come.
I'm reminded of a company that sold its properties in Nebraska around 25 years ago. It had a directional AM that had heritage in the market, but it sold off the land where the towers sat. It offered the AM license to the buyer of its FM's for something like $100. The new owners took the deal and couldn’t find a way to rebuild the AM, at least not at any reasonable price. So, the license was lost, and the company essentially flushed $100 down the toilet.
What we're seeing with KULF is nothing new. The only real surprise is that we're now seeing large and major market AM's losing all value. It’s been going on in smaller markets since at least the late 90’s.
It won't be slow with all the electric vehicle mandates being implemented. The fact is that most radio listening takes place in automobiles. AM doesn't work in an EV. It barely works when you drive past one or get anywhere near one of those new electric buses being put in service around Shreveport. Automakers are eliminating AM from new cars. That spells a quick death for AMs that manage to hang on. https://www.thedrive.com/news/heres-why-some-automakers-tune-out-am-radios-in-new-cars
No, it does not. Less than half of listening is in cars.
As has been posted by Mr. Hagerty, only a few niche brands have eliminated AM... mostly brands from Europe where AM is a thing of the past.
Again, only a few makers of niche brand electric cars... and Tesla, which reverses its stance on everything with enormous frequency.
The average car is 12 years old. At the current rate, to get to 25% of cars without AM, we will be in the year 2030.
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