Radio, HDTV adn emergencies

[davideduardo]

A SoCal engineering newsletter, in part, says, "In the event of a major disaster, most portable battery
operated TVs will become useless as of February 2009; people
might actually have to listen to radio, imagine that."

Radio has a preparadness and information opportunity and responsibility in light of this. But my concern is that most Americans under 45 or 50 are minimally if at all aware of AM, and most information programming is on that band.

 

[Roger That]

Great points. I have a feeling that some of that unawareness will be overcome by necessity. If there's only one source for information, word will likely spread pretty fast, if by no other way than word of mouth. Also, if the disaster is big enough, even music FM's will likely punt regular programming in favor of information.

This places an even greater burden to make sure the products have the best content possible.

Good post.

 

[KeithE4]

A SoCal engineering newsletter, in part, says, "In the event of a major disaster, most portable battery
operated TVs will become useless as of February 2009; people
might actually have to listen to radio, imagine that."

Radio has a preparadness and information opportunity and responsibility in light of this. But my concern is that most Americans under 45 or 50 are minimally if at all aware of AM, and most information programming is on that band.

??? ??? ???

Unaware? Doubtful. They probably don't listen to AM much, if at all, with the possible exception of sports (and then, that would be mostly guys). But I'm quite sure that pretty much everybody has at least heard of Ancient Modulation, and I'll bet they probably even know how to tune in an AM station (Hint to you young'ns: The frequencies end in "0"). ;D

 

[davideduardo]

Unaware? Doubtful. They probably don't listen to AM much, if at all, with the possible exception of sports (and then, that would be mostly guys). But I'm quite sure that pretty much everybody has at least heard of Ancient Modulation, and I'll bet they probably even know how to tune in an AM station (Hint to you young'ns: The frequencies end in "0"). ;D

In years of talking with under-45's by the tens of thousands, I can really say that the bulk of 12-44's are only marginally aware of AM or, in many cases, totally unaware of what is on the band or what it is useful for.

In an emergency, two generations of web-thinking Americans may find the "D" in DSL stands for "Dead" and that the TV does not turn on, even the portable.

(Sidebar and true story: Jock at a downtown studio location calls engineer to report that the station was off the air. Engineer asks if there is electricity. Jock says, "In the studio, no, but the cars down on the street have power.")

Remember, in many markets AM in some markets cumes about a couple of percent of the under-35 crowd. The rest just don't think about it. And in a disaster, thinking is often by habit or instinct, which does not favor AM.

 

[FredRichards]

Dave, I wouldn't count out the youth of the nation, nor young adults, when it comes to discovering AM.

The reason they don't know about AM radio is simply, there is nothing of interest there.

Like so many things in the near past, Torrent file exchange, Wii, Rock-Star, etc, once something is hot and the "in" thing, people will flock it it. The fact is ... there is no attraction to 99% of AM radio programming. No reason to seek it. No reason to call a friend and tell them how cool it is, or give them a compelling reason to try to access it.

Radio's problem is not technology driven. It's a content issue.