Starting an AM Station in Austin, TX (Newbie!)

[davideduardo]

You'd probably have said the same thing about FM in 1968. Sure... it has better sound quality, but the signal doesn't travel as far and most car radios don't even have FM receivers...

One of the real benefits full signal FMs had in the 60's was a signal advantage. While most metros had outgrown all or most of their AMs with the urban sprawl of the 50's, FMs (what were later B's and C's) with "full power and tower" vastly outcovered those AMs.

Using today's market definitions (Arbitron MSA's), there are only about 160 AMs in the entire top 100 markets that fully cover (80% of population) their markets with a usable signal, day and night. Yet there are well over 1200 FMs that do that.

At the beginning of 1967, the FCC made FMs stop simulcasting AM sister stations. This forced many new formats on the "vacated" band. While there were very, very few profitable FMs prior to '67 (and thus the FCC's action) the band rapidly became popular and receivers came way down in price. Since most radio listening was not (and is not) done in the car, FM could quickly take audience away from commercially heavy, talky and stodgy AMs. And in many parts of the major markets, they were used even more since AM options were few, particularly at night.

 

[musicsweep]

You'd probably have said the same thing about FM in 1968. Sure... it has better sound quality, but the signal doesn't travel as far and most car radios don't even have FM receivers...

One of the real benefits full signal FMs had in the 60's was a signal advantage. While most metros had outgrown all or most of their AMs with the urban sprawl of the 50's, FMs (what were later B's and C's) with "full power and tower" vastly outcovered those AMs.

Using today's market definitions (Arbitron MSA's), there are only about 160 AMs in the entire top 100 markets that fully cover (80% of population) their markets with a usable signal, day and night. Yet there are well over 1200 FMs that do that.

At the beginning of 1967, the FCC made FMs stop simulcasting AM sister stations. This forced many new formats on the "vacated" band. While there were very, very few profitable FMs prior to '67 (and thus the FCC's action) the band rapidly became popular and receivers came way down in price. Since most radio listening was not (and is not) done in the car, FM could quickly take audience away from commercially heavy, talky and stodgy AMs. And in many parts of the major markets, they were used even more since AM options were few, particularly at night.

As informative as this was, my point was that with radio (and most forms of media) it takes time for newer technologies, like FM was in the 1940s-1960s, or HD Radio is today, to become mainstream and profitable as it takes time for the receivers to get into the hands of the public.

 

[Starbucks]

It takes an average of 10 years to know if a certain type of media is going to stay or not. HD radio , the way that it's going if it's going to stay...will just become common and automatically come standard with the AM/FM receivers of some kind. It won't be it's own entity like satellite, WIFI, or Netflix. Because to this day and year...it's failing as it's own receiver. And the odds are that it may go down by the wayside like the mini-disc, DAT, and the Laser Disc.

 

[fredcantu]

Hybrid Digital is failing because it has no obvious advantages to the listener.
FM gave us static free listening and introduced high fidelity and stereo, a quantum leap from AM radio. HD Radio offers no such leap forward from analog FM.

 

[DMcCloy]

Hybrid Digital is failing because it has no obvious advantages to the listener.
FM gave us static free listening and introduced high fidelity and stereo, a quantum leap from AM radio. HD Radio offers no such leap forward from analog FM.

HD radio is failing because there is already a superior technology in existence. The smartphone allows every radio station to stream in either their own app or in an aggregator app. Why buy an HD radio that gives clear sound and allows multicasting when all of those multi casts and clear sounds already stream on a device you already own?

HD is a good idea, just too late to be effective.

 

[Mediafrog+]

the band rapidly became popular and receivers came way down in price.

Prior to the late 1960's serious FM listening was done with comparatively more expensive component tuner/receiver setups in one's living room--pretty much the domain of the tech geeks and audiophiles of the day. Cheap FM receivers, while available, had absolutely abysmal performance--drifting signals, poor sensitivity, selectivity issues, etc. I remember many of those turkeys.

In the late 60's/early 70's receiver design, especially in portables and desktop units, was greatly improved. AGC/AFC circuitry was added which made for solid signal locks, making tuning easier. Overall sensitivity and selectivity improved.

Improvements also were made at the time in FM station transmitting facilities--higher power, taller antennas, circular polarization (I recall when Austin's KASE went on the air in 1969 the station frequently promoted its CP antenna in on-air announcements as "providing better reception on portable and car radios.")

So a convergence of technical advances helped FM along at the time.

 

[Starbucks]

FM owners at that time were frustrated due to the drifting of frequency...where they would try it for a few years and ended up selling it off thinking FM will never have a future. When AFC was developed (especially on transistor radios like the old Motorola beigh case portable with white and yellow colorful AM/FM dial....with AFC.) Owners took a more serious perspective of FM and that's when the competition began.

 

[fredcantu]

HD radio is failing because there is already a superior technology in existence. The smartphone allows every radio station to stream in either their own app or in an aggregator app. Why buy an HD radio that gives clear sound and allows multicasting when all of those multi casts and clear sounds already stream on a device you already own?

An engineer friend of mine believes the new IP number system that's coming will allow cell phones to approximately duplicate the coverage of broadcast signals, so that radio stations will be able to stream locally 100% of the time without running into the copyright issues that come with streaming beyond your home market.