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Saving AM Radio

Maybe someone should lobby congress to add preservation of smoke signals and the telegraph. What if that newfangled AM radio stops working and there’s an emergency!!??

Anything that caused "AM radio to stop working" implies there wouldn't even be skywave reception. After something that cataclysmic, the smoke would merely signal humanity's grand finale, not where to find pop-up food and water distribution points.
 
Is there anything in the proposed bill that prevents car makers from burying the mandatory radio tuner five levels deep in the infotainment menu, hidden behind the subscription options they can make money from?
 
If I were in the market for a new car, it's bad enough I have to pay lots of money (or make payments on a loan) to buy the car, then pay for maintenance and repairs, fuel, etc., and pay for registration and insurance.

But if, in addition to all that, I would have to "subscribe" and pay a monthly or yearly fee just to access basic infotainment features, that would really be a big turnoff.

Plus, if the whole point is ostensibly to provide for public safety, paywalling the AM radio would be disingenuous and dishonest on the part of this hypothetical automaker.

c
 
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The band was starting to die out 40 years ago. Conservative talk radio only delayed the inevitable but even the shelf life on that started to run out before Rush died.

Agreed. Fox News Radio, Newsmax and a myriad of other stations, some of which have to reduce to ridiculously low power can be streamed perfectly. One local one by me reduces to 600 watts and it's unusable. Even though I'm in it's nighttime coverage area
 
Agreed. Fox News Radio, Newsmax and a myriad of other stations, some of which have to reduce to ridiculously low power can be streamed perfectly. One local one by me reduces to 600 watts and it's unusable. Even though I'm in it's nighttime coverage area
Same.

The local AM reduces power to 97 watts nighttime, and it's useless even though I'm only 10 or so miles from the tower.

c
 
This boomer (70) has not one AM preset on his car radio.
I have six and that's not enough.

One for 50s and 60s music, one for the better signal I get with 60s through 80s but with a number of songs I don't like. One is still there for a station that used to play 60s through 80s but I just don't bother because the other two can give me what I want.

One is for classic country when I go to the mountains, but even though it's the best classic country station, the signal is very limited.

One is for a classic country station in the mountains that also has a lot of new music, some of which is terrible, but there aren't really other options.

And one is for classic country I can hear at home with a lousy signal or when I go to the mountains and the other stations can't be picked up yet, or America's Best Music when I go to the beach, for a few miles.

I used to have a Rush Limbaugh station. I'd like to hear what is said by whoever replaced him but I haven't tried so far since I removed the preset.

There are also classic country stations in the mountains and at the beach.
 

[SIZE=4]KC8UOK[/SIZE] you are not every person. Radio dials get a good workout every day. Radio listening is in the upper 80s percentile now. Your posts seem to project your personal view as fact, something I have noticed in a few of your posts. I'm not saying your opinion will not be true in the future, maybe near future, but it isn't factual now. Figures from the Radio Advertising Bureau.

 
Radio listening is in the upper 80s percentile now.... Figures from the Radio Advertising Bureau.

Pfft. The RAB is going to cherry pick an unrealistic number that sells their agenda and it's useless without specifics. What demographic? Listening for how long? Does their claim include non-commercial stations and if so, what percentage? It's like quoting 6+ PPM ratings as if they mean anything.
 
I have six and that's not enough.
What is the callsign for the "50s and 60s" station you're referring to? And if any of the classic country stations you mentioned are "real" classic country (nothing Garth Brooks or later), may I have their calls as well?

I like adding these kinds of gems to my Winamp bookmarks.
 
What is the callsign for the "50s and 60s" station you're referring to? And if any of the classic country stations you mentioned are "real" classic country (nothing Garth Brooks or later), may I have their calls as well?

I like adding these kinds of gems to my Winamp bookmarks.
WAIZ is the 50s/60s station. The owner has a classic hits FM that is doing quite well 12-plus.

All the classic country stations play Garth except possibly WMNC. I can't seem to find a stream because the web site only seems to have the FM station which is newer country.

But the other classic country stations are WAME (70s, 80s, 90s), WBRM (includes some new stuff), and WWHK. I think all three stream.
 
Theater of the Mind - Are you kidding? Certainly you don't believe an organization is making up numbers and presenting them as fact. If what you imply is true, them millions, if not a billion or two dollars were spent on a lie. Such organizations have checks and balances. Their integrity is on the line while yours isn't. You sound like a friend that tried to tell me radio ratings were bogus and not worth the paper they were written upon.
 
Theater of the Mind - Are you kidding? Certainly you don't believe an organization is making up numbers and presenting them as fact. If what you imply is true, them millions, if not a billion or two dollars were spent on a lie. Such organizations have checks and balances. Their integrity is on the line while yours isn't. You sound like a friend that tried to tell me radio ratings were bogus and not worth the paper they were written upon.

Maybe your friend is onto something...
 
I still listen to AM all the time, but I'm an outlier who likes things from a good 20 to 30 years before I was born, so as a datapoint, I'm almost worthless...

However, in my defense, now that I'm up in the far north bay again, the Bay Area FMs I care about (KFRC, aka KCBS 106.9 and KOSF 103.7) don't have very listenable signals, so AM is pretty much it. Can't do anything about KOSF but stream (internet speeds are iffy too), but KCBS still exists on AM, so I listen to that. And as a substitute for 103.7, I have KYNO 940, especially now that their signal is reliably booming in like a local. It's just as well, since I like the playlist better. It's well programmed for an oldies station in 2025. And on AM with 50,000 watts, no less!

I just wish car radios had better AM sections in them. The AM in my '94 GMC truck has excellent bandwidth, but suffers from old age and bad acoustics. My next oldest car radio – a '97 Ford truck – is relatively good too (especially with new speakers). Everything newer sounds like mud.

c
I'm in Fresno and this sounds like me, I use the 3 AM sports stations in town as well as KCBS and KNBR. KYNO sounds fantastic on my 2024 Ford. I wouldn't be nearly as happy if it didn't have AM.
 
My interest in AM is in what I can find at night, and three music stations. While I like the frequency spectrum, its days are, and deserve to be numbered.

If I were a manufacturer of audio gear, I'd come up with a technology that used a form of RDS data to switch a broadcast signal to its internet stream, provided it has one, and get other electronic and car manufacturers on board with it. Both AM and FM. All the licensing and proprietary BS kept to a minimum so it gets adopted faster.

The frequency spectrum/band is less important than the programming on it.

Unlike HD, it has to be ready for prime time, and easy to use. Beta test the hell out of it before its released.
 
Unlike HD, it has to be ready for prime time, and easy to use. Beta test the hell out of it before its released.

I don't see anyone investing money into something with no hope for a return. That's why you're asking for. At one time, FM was a proprietary technology. Radio companies had to pay to use it. Then the patent ran out. HD is still under patent. Any new technology would also still be under patent laws.
 


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