Re: 5 of the top 10 US billers are AM.
> Music on AM is dead.
So? There is plenty else one can do with AM.
> That leaves talk, brokered, religion or foreign language.
> And talk (conservative, liberal, advice, lifestyle and
> sports)are the only commercially viable AM formats.
In smaller markets, music mixed with community news and events and happenings is still very viable where sales are based on results, not ratings. Only 1600 of 14,000 US stations are in market 200 or higher... the rest are small town, community stations.
>
> Except for sports, they all skew old. And FM - all things
> anywhere near equal - bills better better than AM.
Actually, talk can skew any way you want it. The liberal talk station in Portland is something like #2 or #3 in 25-54 in the market, in fact.
And several dozen of the top billers are AM. In fact, 28 of the 106 stations that billed over $20 million in 2004 were AM, including many that were the #1 biller in their market.
Remember, most markets only have a couple of full AM signals, vs. a dozen or more full FMs. Yet the good AMs nearly always are at the top in ratings and revenues.
>
> Does talk skew old because it's on AM (or because the
> inherent appeal of AM talk formats is to older audiences)?
I can not answer that, as your premise is wrong. Talk appeals to 35+ no matter what band it is on, and the format is broad after that. In many markets, AM talkers lead 25-54, too.
>
> AM talk may not get the rates FM formats get and it does
> skew old, but it still sells to advertisers.
Actually, the good ones get higher rates than the FMs. One of the reasons is that talk is a forground format, which has definite value among retailers who measure effectiveness by sales, not Arbitron.
> AM must
> formats (Real Oldies, Standards or Classic County) get
> numbers - not great, but not bad in many markets. Yet,
> advertisers stopped buying AM music, but they still by AM
> talk. Same demos, different billings.
In smaller markets, AM music is very much alive and vibrant. You are just wrong here.
> Why is that?
> Stations flip from AM music to AM talk; audience numbers go
> down usually but bills often improve. Curious.
No, going talk increas3es numbers, unless you have no signal and are the third station in the format. Even low rated sprots AMs are actually very highly rated in 25-44 and 35-54 men, so they bill exceedingly well... many beating nearly all the FMs in their market.
>
> Younger, more affluent, better educated demos go to
> satellite or mp3s for music. FM because talk and music for
> lower class demos. What's left for AM?
For the good signals, lots of money is waiting,a s always. For the bad signals, there are many niche formats from gospel and religion to ethnic and such that will make money based on the low purchase prices these stations command.
>
