So when does the great AM die-off begin?

[w9wi]

The noises from a Genachowski-led FCC seem to indicate that there may be more translators, or LP FMs helping along more small market AMs before long.

LPFMs can not run commercials. Translators, if I read it right, can only be issued one to a licensee, and would only fill in some coverage, not replace it.

I suspect "SirRoxalot" wasn't referring to the literal LPFM service but to some new FCC program authorizing low-power FM transmitters for AM stations.

I don't know of any restriction limiting AM licensees to one FM translator. I know of two AM stations (WGNS Murfreesboro TN and WKDZ Cadiz KY) which have two FM translators each. (ironically, both of WGNS's translators are on the same tower!)

The protected coverage of each FM translator is restricted to a particular daytime contour of the AM station -- I want to say 2mV/m but that figure could be wrong.

For AM stations which must sign off at sunset, which must greatly reduce power at sunset, or which have desirable audiences in nighttime pattern nulls, one or more translators could certainly replace that daytime AM coverage that disappears at night.

 

[gr8oldies]

It would have been a huge help at one AM station I worked at. We had 34 watts at night, which made us number one in the mall parking lot, but no where else. We'd sell high school sports and no one would be able to hear the games.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

If they are all only going to be able to be hard drives run out of someone's spare bedroom, what's the point?

I ponder that question also. There are a few of the current LPFMs that are doing a really great job. They pull community leaders in for discussions, interviews. They have volunteers who act as "stringers" bringing in content to serve the masses. (That was intended to be a bit humorous! A circle with a 3-1/2 mile radius seldom contains masses.)

Unfortunately, Ooodles of LPFMs are nothing more than a computer in a closet somewhere. We have to hope that eventually more industrious sorts will gain control of some of those licenses and breath new life into the operation. Here's the BIG RUB: The minute someone devises a plan where the FCC will regulate their programming to the extent they are forced to "come out of the closet" so to speak, pandora's box has been opened and the fear will be that the FCC would then be required to start regulating programming at ALL classes of stations. I don't think the political climate is going to stand for that.

All of this would be totally off-topic in our discussion of "Is there going to be a big die-off of AM" and the original post assumes there will be, so When? Everybody had their hopes up that little 250watt translators will be the salvation of AM radio. Well, not everybody. I suspect some FM owners in overcrowded markets are PRAYING that AM does die off and thin the herd a bit.

If you have done any channel searches for LPFMs... and translators... you learned rather quickly there are not enough available frequencies to meet every want. So that introduces a whole new thread: If there is a scarcity of channels.... even at flea-power, is it to be a dog-eat-dog free-for-all first-come, first-served, or will there be some magic formula to ration out the channels to "the most deserving" ???? How would you like to be the bureaucrat in charge of THAT Goat Rodeo?

 

[TheBigA]

We have to hope that eventually more industrious sorts will gain control of some of those licenses and breath new life into the operation.

That's the POV expressed by critics of the current big radio owners. They're all praying for bankruptcy, assuming that anyone who comes in will do a better job than the current owners. It's been my experience that's not true.

The bottom line in the American system is that in order for broadcasting to be more than a hard drive in a closet, there needs to be motivated by profit. The "industrious sorts" usually want money for what they do. Then you have hobbyists, who do it for love. But those hobbyists are limited by their own finances. The dream is to be a hobbyist, and get your hobby funded by a government agency or corporate sponsor. Then the issue is either government control or corporate control of the media. So it all comes down to money. It reminds me of the paradox where our economy is driven by oil that is mostly held by countries that wish us harm. Radio hobbyists need money, and the battle is over the compromises they have to make in order to get it.

Which gets us back to reviving AM radio. That isn't going to come simply from profit-making companies, because there's no profit motive in that kind of investment. Ultimately it comes down to the owners of the airwaves, the Congress and the government, to make reviving AM a priority. To me, the answer is so obvious. The agenda of the government for the past few years has been minority-owned media. So simply create a mechanism where there is a benefit for companies owning AM stations to donate them to minority-owned companies. The problem with that is minority companies don't want to be on AM. In Chicago where a minority company owns WVOX-AM, they struggle for ratings and money, even though they do more than the big corporate radio stations in serving their community. The struggle is because they're on AM, and their signal isn't that good. But the discussion always comes back to money, and the role of the government.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Which gets us back to reviving AM radio. That isn't going to come simply from profit-making companies, because there's no profit motive in that kind of investment. Ultimately it comes down to the owners of the airwaves, the Congress and the government, to make reviving AM a priority. To me, the answer is so obvious. The agenda of the government for the past few years has been minority-owned media. So simply create a mechanism where there is a benefit for companies owning AM stations to donate them to minority-owned companies. The problem with that is minority companies don't want to be on AM. In Chicago where a minority company owns WVOX-AM, they struggle for ratings and money, even though they do more than the big corporate radio stations in serving their community. The struggle is because they're on AM, and their signal isn't that good. But the discussion always comes back to money, and the role of the government.

That's an interesting thought, but I suggest you look for some other beneficiaries of such a plan. Offering the AM band to minorities via tax incentive would be dead-on-arrival. Think about it. That's like going to Birmingham and offering a grant to create a new transit group called The Rosa Parks Bus Company, "where every seat is a back seat."

The industry and the government need to get their heads together and decide if there is a purpose, a need for AM radio in this country. If NO, then come up with a plan to shut down the band, and who, if anybody, get compensated for being evicted, and how much. If YES, then what needs to happed to technical standards to make AM viable. Make everybody 2,500 watts night and day? Strip off the frequency response mask and return to the somewhat sparkling fidelty of years ago? Promote the stero that almost caught on? Go fully digital? This route may also require some kind of compensation for eviction.

These issues may be important or somewhat important to station owners, those who currently work in radio, and those of us who remain as real gear-head fans of broadcasting. Beyond that, most of the people and power brokers in this nation are like me first thing in the morning: Radio? It's much more important to decide- Do I go hunt down a paper towel to blow my nose for the first time of the day, or do I ruin the perfectly good handkerchief in my pants pocket.

 

[TheBigA]

That's like going to Birmingham and offering a grant to create a new transit group called The Rosa Parks Bus Company, "where every seat is a back seat."

I'm sure that's exactly the way some will present it, but they're viewing it in a negative way. They can still pay fuill price for FM frequencies, but if they want to be part of this "urban renewal process, they have to accept the bad with the good. And I imagine some Hispanics won't be burdened with the same history as other minorities.

When the government created public broadcasting in 1967, it chose to place it on an under-developed piece of real estate known as FM. As the band increased in popularity, the value of those non-commercial radio stations at the lower end of the spectrum increased in value. That would be the same goal for AM. Create a certain level of sweat equity where new licensees get their frequencies for free, but recognize they have to do the work of attracting audiences back to AM.

I think there is still some value in AM, especially as FM becomes even more over-crowded. I think it's a great place for educational radio to move, and allow them to sell or lease their valuable FM stations to profit-making companies. That way colleges can benefit financially from their FM frequencies. There are lots of ideas to inspire more investment and development in AM. But the ideas will require Congressional action and regulatory approval. And right now those two groups don't seem to have a clue how to do much of anything.

 

[firepoint525]

Found this on a small AM station's website. This is the first time that I have seen a station admit (on their website) that they get their primary format (in this case, country) from a satellite service, the Jones Radio Network.

http://www.wntt1250am.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=2

I suspect that we may see more of this in the future. (This station is in east Tennessee, so I cannot listen to them.)

 

[gr8oldies]

When an AM/FM combo I worked for was sold to Cox, Cox had no interest in keeping the AM that came with it. We continued with Westwood One Adult Standards until the station was spun off. The FM studios were moved to the city, the AM remained in the rimshot town. Guy did come down and say he wanted to show something to Jeff Rollins (morning host on the net). I explained that this programminfg all came by satellite, and being such a small town, the reality was we wouldn't have been able to afford even one of the personalities on the network. But, I explained, when a couple of hundred stations like ours pool their limited resources, then we can get top talent like the folks heard every day on the station.

 

[Nostalgia]

The agenda of the government for the past few years has been minority-owned media. So simply create a mechanism where there is a benefit for companies owning AM stations to donate them to minority-owned companies.

Whooooooooa there Big A. Why not create a mechanism where there is a benefit to donating their stations to qualified white males? How about senior citizens? How about Viet Nam Era veterans? How about any qualified entity that is not a fortune 500 company who will swear and declare that they will operate it, kinda like the ownership restrictions placed on LPFM's but get real and allow for commercials. This would allow for diversity and meet the other big buzz from Washington- Localism in Broadcasting (anyone remember the Localism Task Force?) These are the public airwaves. If they make a decision to ressurect AM in the manner you suggest, then open it up to any and all qualified applicants who will be owner/operators and have ties to the community of license and may the best man, or woman, regardless of race, creed, or whatever, win! Its the American way.

 

[TheBigA]

Whooooooooa there Big A. Why not create a mechanism where there is a benefit to donating their stations to qualified white males? How about senior citizens? How about Viet Nam Era veterans?

Right back atcha babbaloo. Don't ask me. It's not my agenda. This past week, the FCC Commissioners testified in front of Congress, and they said that minority ownership of radio is one of their top priorities. President Obama campaigned on it last year.

My view is getting the frequency is the easy part. The hard part is paying for it. The government gives any of these groups, other than a Fortune 500 company, and my question is how do they pay for it? Especially knowing that for the first few years they won't have any audience.They won't be getting any money from the government with their station, and the Small Business Administration won't give radio stations loans. All these declarations about the airwaves belonging to the public are wonderful plattitudes. But the public doesn't want to pay for them. Not with their own money, not with tax money, and definitely not by sitting through commercials. Whoever gets these frequencies won't have an easy job reviving the AM band. It will be as tough as the pioneers who set up homesteads in the 1800s.

 

[congsec51]

The great AM die off is underway.

Bonneville took its AM all news station in D.C. and just moved it from AM to FM and they are doing very well. The AM radio station is now wasting electricty broadcasting - heck, something that modulates the carrier.

I can't think of any technoloy more old fashioned than AM. Perhaps we could call it OM - for Old Man.

There's a new iPod with an FM tuner. Great for FM, another kick in the pants for AM.

The standard AM format appeals only to aging white folks who are becoming the minority.

 

[smedge2006]

Bonneville took its AM all news station in D.C. and just moved it from AM to FM and they are doing very well. The AM radio station is now wasting electricty broadcasting - heck, something that modulates the carrier.

After a disastrous start with Washington Post Radio and their AOR (all over the road) talk format, 1500 AM is finally stable with Federal News Radio, an established product that does have a commercial base advertising to midlevel federal managers with ability to spend the taxpayers' money. For a one-of-a-kind niche product, the weekday content sounds pretty good.

The one reason to root for an AM die-off is the hope that stations that are actually doing something would be able to expand their signals when all the computer-in-a-closet and schlock business models
("you can have an hour for less than the cost of a shoe shine") go down. My pipe dream would be to give every surviving Class B in this country interference-free coverage out to their 2-millivolt at night.

 

[pocket-radio]

The headline should say great consolidator die-off

Looks like more than AM radio is in trouble, as bankruptcies are coming from some groups that are to big to fail.. LOL

 

[davideduardo]

My pipe dream would be to give every surviving Class B in this country interference-free coverage out to their 2-millivolt at night.

With CFLs, computers, dimmers and every other kind of news generators, the 2 mVm ceased to be usable decades ago in urban areas. In LA, if you don't have a 15 mV/m in a particular ZIP code, you don't get ratings there.

That is Chapter 5 in the book "Why AM is Dead."

 

[davideduardo]

The headline should say great consolidator die-off

Looks like more than AM radio is in trouble, as bankruptcies are coming from some groups that are to big to fail.. LOL

The issue here is debt in a recession. Just as people are losing their homes due to loss of employment and the economy, radio stations all over are in forclosure. It's just that we hear abou the bigger groups, not the guy who took out a loan and mortgaged his house to buy a station in Flagstaff or Ludington or Sheridan or Bartow and now can't pay it off because business is off so much that it is hard even to stay on the air.

Unlress it can be proved that radio consolidation caused the current pseudo-depression, then the issue is the economy, the lack of controls on the banks, etc., and not consolidation.

 

[SirRoxalot]

Unlress it can be proved that radio consolidation caused the current pseudo-depression, then the issue is the economy, the lack of controls on the banks, etc., and not consolidation.

Really? So what you're saying is "We told them that we would be able to pay them back, showed them a business plan based on "synergies" and "rate control", and they were stupid enough to believe us. They gave us the money to overpay for a group of radio stations, so it's THEIR fault that we can't pay them back."

 

[Rusty Blades]

Unlress it can be proved that radio consolidation caused the current pseudo-depression, then the issue is the economy, the lack of controls on the banks, etc., and not consolidation.

Really? So what you're saying is "We told them that we would be able to pay them back, showed them a business plan based on "synergies" and "rate control", and they were stupid enough to believe us. They gave us the money to overpay for a group of radio stations, so it's THEIR fault that we can't pay them back."

Isn't that the American way? You start a business, pay yourself a lot of money, go bankrupt and do it all over again.

 

[davideduardo]

Unlress it can be proved that radio consolidation caused the current pseudo-depression, then the issue is the economy, the lack of controls on the banks, etc., and not consolidation.

Really? So what you're saying is "We told them that we would be able to pay them back, showed them a business plan based on "synergies" and "rate control", and they were stupid enough to believe us. They gave us the money to overpay for a group of radio stations, so it's THEIR fault that we can't pay them back."

The same thing has happened in every industry; growth using someone else's money is the keystone for business because the assumption that if it is worth doing, it will yield in excess of bank lending rates.

Nobody predicted the currrent downturn and recession. There is no business plan that could have anticipated the economic events of the last two years, and those companies in all fields that had expanded or built new factories, etc. were placed in a very bad situation just as small businesses that used debt to finance inventories, etc, found that they could no longer get financing and closed.

Blaming situation this just on radio management is absurd.

 

[ratingsgeek]

Unlress it can be proved that radio consolidation caused the current pseudo-depression, then the issue is the economy, the lack of controls on the banks, etc., and not consolidation.

Really? So what you're saying is "We told them that we would be able to pay them back, showed them a business plan based on "synergies" and "rate control", and they were stupid enough to believe us. They gave us the money to overpay for a group of radio stations, so it's THEIR fault that we can't pay them back."

The same thing has happened in every industry; growth using someone else's money is the keystone for business because the assumption that if it is worth doing, it will yield in excess of bank lending rates.

Nobody predicted the currrent downturn and recession. There is no business plan that could have anticipated the economic events of the last two years, and those companies in all fields that had expanded or built new factories, etc. were placed in a very bad situation just as small businesses that used debt to finance inventories, etc, found that they could no longer get financing and closed.

Blaming situation this just on radio management is absurd.

Actually, Joseph Stiglitz and Paul Krugman were among a number of prominent economists who had warned early in the decade about possible recession and/or depression based on America's bubble-dependency. Friends in the housing sector were talking about the abuses in lending and the unsustainability of the real estate boom/housing bubble in 2004-2005, so it was no big secret.

And even in radio there have been plenty of broadcasters cautious enough to avoid the kind of stupid situations that folks like Citadel and Nassau have gotten themselves into.

The entire notion that business plans can be rooted in never-ending, never-wavering growth is absurd. Real life doesn't work that way.

 

[TheBigA]

And even in radio there have been plenty of broadcasters cautious enough to avoid the kind of stupid situations that folks like Citadel and Nassau have gotten themselves into.

And yet the same problems affecting Citadel and Nassau are affecting radio companies that DIDN'T over-expand, and didn't go public. This isn't a problem that if you fire a couple of CEOs or bankrupt a couple of companies, we'll all return to the prosperity of the past. This is an industry-wide problem that involves all of ad-supported media, including TV and the internet.

I thought it was interesting that Citadel almost had a deal to sell their DC stations to Bonneville last week. Reportedly, the deal-breaker was WMAL-AM. Bonneville didn't want to buy that heritage AM station, because Bonneville has been moving its content from AM to FM. In keeping with this thread, the companies that will be owning radio into the next decade will be avoiding buying AM radio stations. I don't expect Larry Wilson to be buying a lot more AM properties either. That isn't where the future or the growth will be.