I make fun of the hysterics of those who fear that when something bad happens, no one will know to run and hide unless AM radio broadcasts the warning. And I am amused when I say AM will be dead in two years and a bunch of people correct me as if I have a countdown clock.
Okay, I have read your diatribes for about a week now and I am sick of them. You misrepresent facts and misunderstand the objectives of the interest in preserving AM radio.
First, when there is a disaster or situation that knocks out all cable, landlines and internet, only over the air broadcasting might survive and offer service.
Of course, the power will be out so you can't recharge your chargeable battery devices. Yeah, for a couple of cycles you can charge in the car, but eventually its battery will also give out.
In case you did not notice, the transition to digital TV meant that hand-held portable OTA TVs were no longer useful in emergencies as they hold charge for an hour or two at best.
So in a true emergency, radio is the only way of getting information.
If the local infrastructure is down, then the folks in that area will have to listen to distant stations. That does not work on FM as it is strict line of sight and the locals will be off the air. But even if your local AMs are off, too, you will be able to hear others from farther away. And at night, from even thousands of miles away.
As I mentioned, the 2017 hurricane in Puerto Rico left only one source of information. No phones, no cellular phones, no TV, no Internet, no email. Power was 100% out, so no TV even if a station were on the air (which they were not). But AM 580, WKAQ, Puerto Rico's first radio station was also, at that time, its last and only station. It's microwave STL worked, its transmitter building constructed above flood level, was intact and and part of the studio building did not loose its roof.
My point? In about the most dreadful natural disaster conceivable, 3,500,000 people had one source of information. Some had battery radios, others did not. Some could turn on their car (although essentially all roads were closed an laden with nails, broken glass and worse). Some would take their radio out to the street and neighbors would congregate and listen. Batteries were shared, along with beer and Don Q.
Oh, and radio was all that was initially useful as recently as the storm flooding in western North Carolina. I can name lots of other examples, from the New Orleans flooding to the recent power outages around Houston where radio was the most reliable backup data source. And if "the Big One" hits California, those techies in San José are gonna' hafta' listen to an AM out of Fresno or Sacramento or LA for information as there will be no local communication at all.
Most AM stations today are useless because their technical facilities are useless: too low power, too high on the dial, daytime only, too directional and more. But in nearly every area, AM stations are the only signals that would be usable in a real emergency.
