The Day(s) AM Radio Died

[del_griffith]

Had a chat with an owner who is familiar with Columbus. We were discussing the state of the state of AM radio.

Now while WTVN still does pretty well, the rest of the AM stations in Columbus are beyond life support. It's telling when the second highest rated AM station in the market is a public radio outlet.

We were trying to pinpoint when AM radio in Columbus died. I point to two dates:

When Bob James left WRFD, that to me said daytimer AM radio was terminal. The effort at great entertainment ended.

When Jack and Dick were let go at WBNS, that said AM radio was terminal.

WRFD gave a real fight until that time. Even during the Country days, they were an active outlet with tight playlists, great jingles and identifiable personalities. After that, it was the same for their oldies but goodies product.

It seems most markets have a blow torch AM (or two in the major markets) that still command an overall decent rating. The rest seem to have no chance.

 

[Al Timiter]

Now even the blow torch AMs are migrating their programming to FM. I hate to say it, but the owners may as well sign off the signals that aren't producing. Manufacturers don't even put decent AM tuners in radios anymore.

 

[Rusty Muck]

Personally, the fact WTVN's news department now only exists as a mere satellite of WLW also serves as a terrible sign for the AM band. They don't even have a news director!

 

[radiogeek07]

Could we see eventually digital radios mandated and then
FM programming moves to HD2 signals and what's on AM moves to regular FM?

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

It seems most markets have a blow torch AM (or two in the major markets) that still command an overall decent rating. The rest seem to have no chance.

Yes, as usual, Columbus got the shaft on that count too, way back when. Even markets like Ft. Wayne had 50kw clear channel AM's.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

Now even the blow torch AMs are migrating their programming to FM.

True, but some have NOT done that, and are doing very well. Look at some of the big News (NOT Talk or News/Talk) outlets like WBBM Chicago. And of course WLW still burns up the ratings in Cincy. None of this changes the fact that, for most AM stations the future (hell, the present) is not bright unless there are some unexpected developments.

 

[gabigley1]

Had a chat with an owner who is familiar with Columbus. We were discussing the state of the state of AM radio.

Now while WTVN still does pretty well, the rest of the AM stations in Columbus are beyond life support. It's telling when the second highest rated AM station in the market is a public radio outlet.

It seems most markets have a blow torch AM (or two in the major markets) that still command an overall decent rating. The rest seem to have no chance.

WTVN has about 80% share of all the persons tuned into the AM band after you take out WOSU-AM and the out of town stations that were rated
in the PPM's for January. The pickings are not very good after that for sure, at least not in Columbus.

Personally, the fact WTVN's news department now only exists as a mere satellite of WLW also serves as a terrible sign for the AM band. They don't even have a news director!

Didn't realize WTVN's news department now only exists as a mere satellite of WLW. ???

 

[flashback]

Now even the blow torch AMs are migrating their programming to FM. I hate to say it, but the owners may as well sign off the signals that aren't producing. Manufacturers don't even put decent AM tuners in radios anymore.

in the 1960`sand 1970`s with a good am reciever(sometimes part of an am /fm set) you could pick up stations from all over the country.now you are lucky to hear the local statipns on new recievers..

i`m talking table radios.

 

[schmave]

Had a chat with an owner who is familiar with Columbus. We were discussing the state of the state of AM radio.

Now while WTVN still does pretty well, the rest of the AM stations in Columbus are beyond life support. It's telling when the second highest rated AM station in the market is a public radio outlet.

It seems most markets have a blow torch AM (or two in the major markets) that still command an overall decent rating. The rest seem to have no chance.

WTVN has about 80% share of all the persons tuned into the AM band after you take out WOSU-AM and the out of town stations that were rated
in the PPM's for January. The pickings are not very good after that for sure, at least not in Columbus.

Personally, the fact WTVN's news department now only exists as a mere satellite of WLW also serves as a terrible sign for the AM band. They don't even have a news director!

Didn't realize WTVN's news department now only exists as a mere satellite of WLW. ???

Our amount of subpar AM signals definitely doesn't help, but look also at how some of these signals are being run. 820 is doing well, as of course is 610. 920, I can't really speak to since I don't listen to it and can't really hear it where I live. Clear Channel has run 1230 into the ground, flopping this format and that on it for at least 10 years now. They're a throwaway signal anymore.
The Dispatch easily could be doing something better with 1460, but chooses to make it 97.1's red-headed stepchild (although the fact that they broadcast a lot of separate events is a big plus for me). 1580 used to be a great servant to the local African-American community. Not any more.

 

[ohgary]

I suspect the death of AM is due to the poor audio quality.. In the day of CD quality audio, people are just not willing to listen to buzz, cracks and fades from an AM radio. I am any AM and SWL dxer so I love the AM sound, but my wife and son are driven crazy by the "noise"

Granted the lack of content doesnt help either.

NOTHING is better than listening to the Grand Olde Opry on WSM AM on a cold winters night with the light fade and crackle of the radio. Even better when doing it on a 60+ year old tube console radio.

 

[Al Timiter]

I suspect the death of AM is due to the poor audio quality.. In the day of CD quality audio, people are just not willing to listen to buzz, cracks and fades from an AM radio. I am any AM and SWL dxer so I love the AM sound, but my wife and son are driven crazy by the "noise"

Granted the lack of content doesnt help either.

NOTHING is better than listening to the Grand Olde Opry on WSM AM on a cold winters night with the light fade and crackle of the radio. Even better when doing it on a 60+ year old tube console radio.

You paint a very romantic, nostalgic picture of how many of us used to have a love affair with radio, primarily AM.

When it was mandated that radios had to have an FM receiver, manufacturers started skimping on the AM receiver portion, figuring people were migrating to FM in large numbers, which was true. However, with a good table or car radio with those big oval speakers and an AM transmitter that was properly maintained, you could have an excellent listening experience. Many AMs sounded almost as good as FMs under those conditions.

Also, there is sooooo much more electrical interference now as our urban and suburban centers have grown, that it's nearly impossible to have a good experience with AM. It's become a vicious cycle too, for as AM listening has dropped off, transmitter maintenance has become doing only the very basic (ie keeping the damn thing on), adding to the problem.

Say goodbye to AM, it's going bye-bye.

 

[smedge2006]

When it was mandated that radios had to have an FM receiver,

This is an old piece of false history. What happened around 1974 was that one house of Congress passed a bill requiring FM radios. It DIED in the other house. The President (Gerald Ford) never signed it. It NEVER became law. But some trades, carelessly looking back through their morgues, report its passage in that one house as if it had.

Believe me, you could find AM-only radios at Radio Shack into the early 1980's. To this day, there is NO mandate of FM anywhere in this country. It is true that FM tuners improved markedly, especially in portables, during the 1970's. That was entirely a marketplace thing.

 

[jharmon]

Interesting discussion about AM radio, but mostly missing the point.
Technology marches on, never standing still.
Otherwise...
We would be driving Model-T's instead of a Toyota Prius.
We would be playing 78 rpm records instead of our I-Pod, I-Phone, I-Pad, PDA, etc.

AM radio will always be around, never the king that it was.
FM radio will always be around, never the king that it was.

I-Pod replaced waiting around listening to some dj talking about winning a free t-shirt, or while you patiently waited through endless minutes of terrible commercials to hear your favorite song.

You now just punch it up on your I-pod, programmed the way you want it, not by some programming expert in some corporate hq.

Pandora is a real threat to radio. AM,FM or otherwise.

When people are willing to PAY for Sirius/XM, you have to know that over the air is done.

 

[Nu_Roo_2]

One thing that shows how times have changed...

In the early 70's the FCC had to help FM get attention, not by requiring the inclusion of FM in all radio receivers, but rather by requiring that FMs stop merely simulcasting their AM sisters.

Today it's unimaginable that we would need that kind of government-mandated boost to help get a "new" technology some traction.  But back then it really sped up the development of the band as compelling content was added that appealed to listeners -- who simultaneously discovered the high fidelity and other benefits of FM..

 

[flashback]

One thing that shows how times have changed...

In the early 70's the FCC had to help FM get attention, not by requiring the inclusion of FM in all radio receivers, but rather by requiring that FMs stop merely simulcasting their AM sisters.

Today it's unimaginable that we would need that kind of government-mandated boost to help get a "new" technology some traction. But back then it really sped up the development of the band as compelling content was added that appealed to listeners -- who simultaneously discovered the high fidelity and other benefits of FM..

the digital tv mandate did that and then some.

 

[Al Timiter]

But some trades, carelessly looking back through their morgues, report its passage in that one house as if it had.

smedge, thanks for setting me straight on this. I took those trades at their word back then....

jharmon: my point was that tecnolology IS marching on which makes me think that AM will disappear in my lifetime.

 

[Elephant]

jharmon, the numbers of people paying for Sirius/XM is relatively small and no threat to terrestrial radio. That's another myth that the radio haters like to perpetrate. Pandora is great, but Cumulus and CC are developing their own versions. And I-Pods didn;t invent the instant gratification of hearing your favorite song. We were doing that in the 80s with cassettes.

I also don't think having 93% of all adults listening to radio at least once during the week is a death knell. AM suffers from poor quality and signal.

 

[Ford GP]

I agree that content is the greatest loss in AM radio and a close second is quality/strength of signal. There is so little entertainment anymore. It is mostly political and mostly syndicated. Note how the shows that prosper, the Bob Connors and John Corbys do extremely well with just maybe a hint of political bias. Heck, even Rush used to be way more entertaining. The music stations are out of touch.
One other killing factor are the damn endless cheesy call for your free sample/ get out of debt commercials. Perhaps a result of the mega-clear channel type consolidations. Please enough already!

 

[pioneer71]

AM radio will never be king again. AM stations hurt themselves in their heyday by running as many commercial units that the FCC would allow in morning and afternoon drive. I hated doing moring drive at the time where I would play a song and perhaps two and the we had a stop set. Remember, how many AM stations sold adjacent spots to a newscast or other programming elements. FM got its first steps of people listening because the ban had so few spots.

The air staffs all sounded the same except for the big one in each market. Russ may have saved the AM band but it started a tidal wave of carbon copy shows. Let's face it WKRC in Cincinnati is an example of what so many markets have gone too. A local morning show and then network shows the rest of the day. At least now 1160 Real Talk in Cincinnati has the guts to change things up a bit.

With all this said about AM I would love to own an AM station today if I could find an investor. I would make money for them. Why? Because you have to be willing not to play it safe and boring but offer what the market needs and ( I am sorry to say your budget will allow).

Some stations go look at ALL News now that TRN has some programs to suppement tne format and keep down the costs to run the operation. Anyone who want me to explain further just ask?

Some AM's could do well in going Alls Business Radio. You use the combo of local and the Busines Network. There are a number of elements that advertisers would be interested in and the audince too when you consider the sjuccess of sch publications as the "Business Courier."

WBNS could pick away at WTVN with a different programer and perhaps GM. WBNS ought to be the number one station in the market to get local news. They have the TV station resources to pull from and now is an excellent time since WTVN's news department and committment is a shell of what it used to be. WBNS ought to go on the offense and not the defense.

I don't have all the answers but I believe there are pros such as jcr (who is an the Cincinnati threads a lot) others and myself who know how to make an impact on the AM dial.


Look to Joe Mullins and the success he has had on the AM band. It woud be a lot of fun to turn a poorly run AM into a vital radio station. Not every AM STATIONS CAN BE SAVED but there are still several that can be.

 

[markbohach]

With all this said about AM I would love to own an AM station today if I could find an investor.
on the AM band. It woud be a lot of fun to turn a poorly run AM into a vital radio station. Not every AM STATIONS CAN BE SAVED but there are still several that can be.

Here's your chance, WPTW in Piqua. Decent town, ok signal, lots of local stuff to cover.
And needs a buyer according to Tom Taylor and others.

You may want to look into it.


And yes I agree that a standalone AM can make money and be successful in the right market and with some good old fashioned programming savvy and business sense.