The Future of AM Radio?

[congsec51]

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this topic.

It seems the AM dial has been slowly bleeding to death over the past 30 years, minus a few markets where it does very well, perhaps because of terrain issues.

Think of all the people alive today who have NEVER listened to AM radio and never will and why should they? Compared to FM and even internet streaming the audio sounds like crap and the only things to listen to are right wing talk, news (very few all news stations left) religion, Spanish and so on. How many cell phones and MP3 players have an AM radio tuner?

Tuning across the AM dial, even in major markets, can be a depressing experience.

How relevant will AM radio be when wireless internet is available in cars? How can AM radio remain profitable when it requires large, expensive towers, miles of copper in the ground of real estate which may be worth a fortune, expensive transmission lines, expensive electricity sucking transmitters and the list goes on? Compare that to the cost of operating an internet radio station. Any knucklehead in his mother's basement with an internet connection can go on the air.

I forsee a day when broadcasting companies will turn off their AM transmitters and use whatever means of broadcasting is then in vogue. Perhaps the FCC will require maintaining an operating transmitter and one tower in case of a nuclear attack when everything else is destroyed.

Is this assessment too grim or am I on target?

 

[Green Bay Radio News]

You are correct in your analysis of the problems of AM radio, but in many markets, what are stations supposed to do? There are no more available FM frequencies, so the stations are stuck on the AM band. Sure you can put news/talk or sports on an under-performing FM, but you probably wouldn't get the same coverage, anyways.

Unless the FCC decides to allow stations to broadcast on frequencies below 87 MHz (which could potentially happen with analog TV going away) I don't know what the stations can do.

 

[WTUX]

I look for the major AM stations to be around for a time, but the smaller suburban stations to disappear. AMer's with an FM can go on the HD-1 or HD-2 channel (and pray that someone buys HD radios), but stations without an FM in their cluster will vanish. This is how it should be. The FCC allowed far too many stations for the aavailable revenue base. At one time those stations made sense, because no one else was serving their community. But now the need for those stations does not exist.

The big stations today, such as WABC, are preparing for the days when car occupants can listen to internet streams. Every mention of WABC includes "listen on-line to WABCRadio.com." Some medium market AMer's also may be saved by this. But woe to those stations which think they cannot afford to stream. They cannot afford not to!

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I assume all of you have been through this process. You are traveling on an Interstate highway. Not bogged down in bumper to bumper traffic. You come across a sign which says "Left Lane Closed Ahead". Then the the one that says "Left Lane Close One Mile Ahead".

Depending on the state you are in, and what big city is nearby, the traffic will react in various ways. It is not unusual in rural areas to see people begin sorting themselves out. Get into passing gear long enough to make sure you don't get caught behind the big truck just ahead of you. Most people start migrating over to the surviving lane. There are always a couple of hot-dogs who stay in the doomed lane until the last minute and then turn on the blinkers and plead for mercy. The closer you are to a big city.... say Atlanta.... the less civilized the self discipline needed to make this transition work.

The problem with every civilized and logical idea on what should happen to the AM band in particular and aural broadcasting as a whole, is that all solutions require something like the Interstate Highway that needs to slim down a lane or two to get past the construction or the wreck.

Every station operator is sure that his/her personal agenda is far more important that is the need for civility and orderliness. There are a lot of AM day-times that need to disappear. There are (small) markets that would be without local service unless some full-time stations in multiple markets are forced to "give up their lane" so that it may be used in the small market that has no FM.

NAB and NPR may have to back off and let them make LPFM into a true community service... which means allowing some amount of advertising.... our newspaper friends will tell you that the ads may sell as many or more papers than the news and editorials. Retail advertising is a form of news to shoppers.

Broadcasters are like people who own nice homes but need a new expressway to get to work. Yeah,,,, but route the thing through some OTHER neighborhood. Don't take MY house through emminent domain, and don't put the noise and exhaust fumes in MY back yard... and can I plan on having it to go to work year after next?

 

[keystone.doug]

AM Radio Has A Future

Couldn't AM stereo and better audio processing improve the quality of many AM stations? They would certainly sound better to listeners. However, programming would become a concern. If the audio is better, there has to be something worth hearing on AM stations to attract an audience.

Program directors really need to step up and rise to the challenge. Try something other than news/talk/sports. How about music? It worked before FM radio became popular. If done right, it can still work now. Check out this thread (link) about Hot AC *music* stations broadcasting on AM radio.

Marketing is also key. If you have a great product on AM radio, advertise it. Listeners won't take notice or find you on their own when they are using some other station. Getting the word out will encourage people to try something new.

Don't give up because people believe that "AM radio is dead". Prove them wrong.

 

[country24]

One thing I would like to see happen, and I think there's a good chance it will, is for enough AM's to go dark that those which are left can transmit a reasonably good signal to cover their market without three or four towers. I would like to see directional stations pretty much disappear. Sometimes I think it would make sense for the FCC to assign stations a geographical area, more or less a radius around their market adjusted to allow for whatever affects porpagation, and let them use whatever power they need to cover that area without interfering with other stations on the same frequency. I suppose that would be a technical nightmare to enforce, but it would be better for each station to cover more or less the same area 24 hours a day than for some stations to have to sign off, drasticly reduce their coverage area or create a wierd shapped dirctional pattern at night so some distant big city station can cover thousands of square miles they have no intentuion or capability of serving.

I don't think it's that important to get rid of all daytimers. Sure unlimited is better than daytime for both listeners and broadcasters, especially in the winter. But daytime service is better than no service at all. And some daytimers are able to cover their small town and a significant part of the surrounding countryside with 50 to 100 watts.

I think more frequencies should be either for clear channel, or at least high power regionals, stations. And there needs to be a lot more frequencies for something like Class C stations. Maybe spaced out a little farther. The use of the expanded band, 1610-1700, is a good example of what I mean.

The big powerful stations should be expected to actually serve the areas they cover. Like 50 kw clear channels used to do. And the others could provide services that are crowded out of the FM band. There will always be more people wanting to broadcast than there is room for on the dial. It would be great if they had an opportunity to do so, even though a lot of them would not make it financially. That's the climate other small business operate in. Mom and pop cafes, hardware stores, taco stands, etc come and go all the time. A lot of them fail, but at least thay had an opportunity to try. And sometimes somone that by conventional wisdom has no chance to survive does really well.

I'm also hoping HD technology works as well as it's proponents say it will. Once it gets far enough along, the govenment may require all FM recievers to be HD. I don't generally think much of the govenment telling manufacturers what they have to produce, but it worked pretty well for UHF and FM. I remember when a lot of people were saying neither those would ever work.

 

[redneckriviera]

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this topic.

It seems the AM dial has been slowly bleeding to death over the past 30 years, minus a few markets where it does very well, perhaps because of terrain issues.

Think of all the people alive today who have NEVER listened to AM radio and never will and why should they? Compared to FM and even internet streaming the audio sounds like crap and the only things to listen to are right wing talk, news (very few all news stations left) religion, Spanish and so on. How many cell phones and MP3 players have an AM radio tuner?

Tuning across the AM dial, even in major markets, can be a depressing experience.

How relevant will AM radio be when wireless internet is available in cars? How can AM radio remain profitable when it requires large, expensive towers, miles of copper in the ground of real estate which may be worth a fortune, expensive transmission lines, expensive electricity sucking transmitters and the list goes on? Compare that to the cost of operating an internet radio station. Any knucklehead in his mother's basement with an internet connection can go on the air.

I forsee a day when broadcasting companies will turn off their AM transmitters and use whatever means of broadcasting is then in vogue. Perhaps the FCC will require maintaining an operating transmitter and one tower in case of a nuclear attack when everything else is destroyed.

Is this assessment too grim or am I on target?

Let's start with this. Those handful of AMs that run 50-kw fulltime with a non-directional signal day and night continue to be, largely, in great shape. WBZ, WGN, KFI, et al. Additionally, there are a smaller handful of AMs with low dial position running 5-kw fulltime non-directionals day & night (and some with advantageously positioned DA rigs) that are likewise in good condition. KABC, WIP, & WDBO come to mind. And a lot of those radio stations are doing GREAT radio. I'll put WBZ or WLW up against any FM, anywhere. WGN continues to kick ass and take names in America's #3 market. Most of us would kill to be able to say that about our radio stations.

What all of these have in common are signals that provide full-market coverage, day and night. Just like an FM.

Most people--even broadcasters who should know better--think that what killed AM in so many markets was the stereo effect and/or the better audio fidelity of FM. But what killed so many AM sticks was that after sundown all those folks who had moved to suburbia couldn't hear them. WEAM. WIBG. WIFE. WLCY. WLOF. WCAO. KLIF. KCBQ. They went quickly. It took longer for FM to take out WLS and WABC--and, in truth, those stations made relatively solid comebacks with non-music programming. WEAM & KLIF & WLCY & KCBQ are still toast. Because you can't hear them at night in the 'burbs.

In smaller communities--that is, in most Amercian communities--that never had a WGN or a WLW--AM has indeed been dead for the better part of 30 years, now. In Cincy, the old 1360/WSAI--whatever it's called at the moment--has been shifting formats every few years with no real effect. Nothing works. Same with the old KGB in SD, and 1290/KOIL in Omaha and... thousands of other stations. My company currently owns a dozen or so small-market AMs and all but one loses money. None make anything close to a serious profit.

I'd like to see the commission re-align the AM band to do away with all directional antenna systems and reduced night powers--instead assigning most AM channels with what were once called "local" or "Class IV" stations running 1-kw non-directional rigs day and night to serve smaller communities. On a much more limited geographic scale, those "local" stations on 1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450 & 1490 are still fairly viable--for very small communities.

And, on a handful of other AM channels, a handful of "clear channel" 50-kw non-directional day/night stations for major cities and rural night coverage--the original clear channel system. Variations? Few and far between. Should "clears" have two or three stations on them--a thousand miles apart? Yeah, probably.

What do y'all think?

But, generally, a good clean up would do wonders for AM.

 

[MW_FM_DT_DXer]

Those handful of AMs that run 50-kw fulltime with a non-directional signal day and night continue to be, largely, in great shape. WBZ, WGN, KFI, et al.

WBZ's radiation is directional 24 hours a day, with one pattern, so they won't waste power over the Atlantic Ocean (http://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProEngine.php?sCurrentService=AM&tabSearchType=Appl&sAppIDNumber=10513&sHours=U), and KFI hasn't been at 50 kW since a Cessna destroyed their main tower on 19 December, 2004, my 24th birthday.

 

[austingrace]

i think am will be full of part 15ers. i personally enjoy am. i think it has decent sound quality givin a good radio and transmitter set up.
I have a part 15 station i run from time to time . I also think am has gone down major hills as well.
but i've sceen am stations with real good coverage though .

 

[DG02816]

Wondering if it would make sense to do here what's been done in other areas of the world on medium wave, as the rest of the world calls the AM band. Most other countries don't have maximum power limits for high power as the US and Canada have.
Couple of examples: 530 kHz, which is a TIS frequency here, is used ad a Class C in Canada. CIAO, Brampton ON,with 250 watts at night, fights it out with Radio Vision Cristiana, and its 50 kW from the Turks and Caicos Islands, Tune to 540, 690, 730, 800, 940, 1050 and 1220. These are all Mexican clear frequencies, with the primairies on each running at least 150 kW power. At one time, religious PJB on Bonaire used to duke it out with CKLW, running 500 kW on 800 kHz. BBC's Radio 5 runs from Brookman's Park just outside London on 909 kHz with 150 kW; I bet it covers a good chunk of the country. Wondering if this is something we should be doing here in the US? Do away with the 50 kW upper limit for clears, and perhaps reassign the clears to the bottom of the band to take advantage of groundwave....

 

[redneckriviera]

Those handful of AMs that run 50-kw fulltime with a non-directional signal day and night continue to be, largely, in great shape. WBZ, WGN, KFI, et al.

WBZ's radiation is directional 24 hours a day, with one pattern, so they won't waste power over the Atlantic Ocean (http://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProEngine.php?sCurrentService=AM&tabSearchType=Appl&sAppIDNumber=10513&sHours=U), and KFI hasn't been at 50 kW since a Cessna destroyed their main tower on 19 December, 2004, my 24th birthday.

Yeah, I remembered WBZ's situation (and, for that matter, WWL--for the same reason) after posting--and too late to modify.

The point remains the same, though. The AM signals that can be heard loud & clear throughout their markets both day & night--and that's mostly the 50-kw-U/non-DA rigs--continue to do fine. The ones with DA signals at night whose metro areas have outgrown the signal (the old WTOP-AM/1500 in DC, for instance) can no longer compete. If they try to tune you in at 9 PM or 7 AM and your signal ain't there, they'll find something else.

Might as well have a daytimer. Might as well knock the towers down and send back the license.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Wondering if it would make sense to do here what's been done in other areas of the world on medium wave, as the rest of the world calls the AM band. Most other countries don't have maximum power limits for high power as the US and Canada have.

// ...snip... //

Wondering if this is something we should be doing here in the US? Do away with the 50 kW upper limit for clears, and perhaps reassign the clears to the bottom of the band to take advantage of groundwave....

I'm all for "thinking outside the box" Dave, but on this one you are going to need to help me. Let's assume for a moment we implement your proposal. Let's assume we have cleared out some underbrush and we now have... what maybe 8 to 15 stations with 150KW and just to make this really innovative, 4 to 8 stations are granted 300KW.

From a 'Public Policy' point of view, what is expected from these Big Boys. What will they program, and who will it be programmed "at".

In these discussion groups there is one phrase that is used more often than "Bless His Little Heart" is in the South, and that phrase is: <could we have a drum roll, please!> LIVE AND LOCAL.

If I live in Ft. Smith Arkansas and I can get 300KW out of Salt Lake City, what are they going to do for me?

If I live in Johnson City, TN and I can get 150 KW based in Omaha, what are they going to do for me?

If I live in Monterrey, CA and I can get 300KW based in San Antonio, TX.... you get the picture.

Would the FCC get new authority and be able to specify what narrow, useful programming style would be mandated to the licensee who gets this special assignment, or would we remain under the system where the direct descendants of the Robber Barons choose to broadcast any tripe they feel incllined to dump on society?

Would the licensee be incumbent in perpetuity, or would there be competitive applications encouraged at every license renewal?

What would be the new public policy that would be used to decide who is granted the honor of owning these super-bombs? Could one company own more than one of them?

I have a pretty good imagination but I am having trouble seeing what public purpose could be served by these new mega-channels.

 

[CW]

Those handful of AMs that run 50-kw fulltime with a non-directional signal day and night continue to be, largely, in great shape. WBZ, WGN, KFI, et al.

WBZ's radiation is directional 24 hours a day, with one pattern, so they won't waste power over the Atlantic Ocean (http://www.fccinfo.com/CMDProEngine.php?sCurrentService=AM&tabSearchType=Appl&sAppIDNumber=10513&sHours=U), and KFI hasn't been at 50 kW since a Cessna destroyed their main tower on 19 December, 2004, my 24th birthday.

Yeah, I remembered WBZ's situation (and, for that matter, WWL--for the same reason) after posting--and too late to modify.

The point remains the same, though. The AM signals that can be heard loud & clear throughout their markets both day & night--and that's mostly the 50-kw-U/non-DA rigs--continue to do fine. The ones with DA signals at night whose metro areas have outgrown the signal (the old WTOP-AM/1500 in DC, for instance) can no longer compete. If they try to tune you in at 9 PM or 7 AM and your signal ain't there, they'll find something else.

Might as well have a daytimer. Might as well knock the towers down and send back the license.

740 KTRH in Houston is lucky that they are directional at 50KW but are on the right side of town and can throw enough signal toward Houston proper and outlying areas to maintain listener base. 790 used to be a good signal but now that Houston is pushing north, 790 has deep nulls that direction at night and is totally gone...only 740 covers Houston worth a flip day AND night.....(AND directional 24 hrs a day)..1190 in Dallas (the former KLIF) is another good example of the area outgrowing the signal...daytime at 50kw is fine...but at night, the 5KW signal is soo narrow and beamed to the west from its famous 12 tower night array, the north side of Dallas (where all the expansion and MONEY is) is in a null!!! NOW Clear Channel could have fixed that when they bought 1190.....they own cochannel Class A KEX....so self interference is not a problem! especially with WOWO's downgrade, you would think CC would have jumped at the chance...NOPE!! They paid $18MILLION for that station and it has changed formats, LMAs, etc ever since and CC probably has not turned a profit on it....what a waste...a little money spent would have made it a billable station...but with Kansas City's 1190 and others upgrading due to WOWO's downgrade, the Dallas 1190 has probably lost its chance....way to go CC.......what a waste of a good AM...they could sell the night site for more than what they paid for the station since real estate is growing in that area (Rockwall, east side of Dallas)

 

[country24]

I don't know about 7 or 8 300 kw stations, but I can see 3 or 4 in the Desert Southwest and Rcoky Mountain States serving large sparcely populated rural areas of those states that are a long way from any big cities and often surrounded by mountains.

Broadcasters who have those super power stations should be required to continually show thay are serving the public interest in those large sparcely popuilated areas they would be licensed to serve since they would in fact have government protecdted monopolies. Well, not quite monopolies, but their competition would be strictly limited. I can see a real problem enforcing the public service aspect since the companies holding those licenses would have to be big wealthy companies or they couldn't afford to operate that type of station. And those kind of corporations ofthen have a lot of influence in government. I think it could be made to work as long as the government wasn't completely controled by big business Republicans who think corportions should be allowed to do anything the want, or big government Democrats who think nothing can be done right if the government isn't micro-managing it.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I can see 3 or 4 in the Desert Southwest and Rcoky Mountain States serving large sparcely populated rural areas of those states that are a long way from any big cities and often surrounded by mountains.

I think you have picked the same area, the same group I would have chosen as the first area that might benefit from such an arrangement.

The question I still am interested in hearing answers about: WHAT would super radio do for these people?

I know what radio did for areas like that in the 1940's. What would it do today?

 

[12 In a Row]

Wondering if it would make sense to do here what's been done in other areas of the world on medium wave, as the rest of the world calls the AM band. Most other countries don't have maximum power limits for high power as the US and Canada have.

// ...snip... //

Wondering if this is something we should be doing here in the US? Do away with the 50 kW upper limit for clears, and perhaps reassign the clears to the bottom of the band to take advantage of groundwave....

I'm all for "thinking outside the box" Dave, but on this one you are going to need to help me. Let's assume for a moment we implement your proposal. Let's assume we have cleared out some underbrush and we now have... what maybe 8 to 15 stations with 150KW and just to make this really innovative, 4 to 8 stations are granted 300KW.

From a 'Public Policy' point of view, what is expected from these Big Boys. What will they program, and who will it be programmed "at".

In these discussion groups there is one phrase that is used more often than "Bless His Little Heart" is in the South, and that phrase is: <could we have a drum roll, please!> LIVE AND LOCAL.

If I live in Ft. Smith Arkansas and I can get 300KW out of Salt Lake City, what are they going to do for me?

If I live in Johnson City, TN and I can get 150 KW based in Omaha, what are they going to do for me?

If I live in Monterrey, CA and I can get 300KW based in San Antonio, TX.... you get the picture.

Would the FCC get new authority and be able to specify what narrow, useful programming style would be mandated to the licensee who gets this special assignment, or would we remain under the system where the direct descendants of the Robber Barons choose to broadcast any tripe they feel incllined to dump on society?

Would the licensee be incumbent in perpetuity, or would there be competitive applications encouraged at every license renewal?

What would be the new public policy that would be used to decide who is granted the honor of owning these super-bombs? Could one company own more than one of them?

I have a pretty good imagination but I am having trouble seeing what public purpose could be served by these new mega-channels.

All excellent points.

You're constantly hearing, "live and local". now you want mega watt stations?
With the exception of a handful of AM's, with their strongest demos 60+, the future looks dim at best.

There are now so many superior choices to receive your information and music.

Let the free market determine if and when it dies on the vine.

 

[tomservo]

I can see 3 or 4 in the Desert Southwest and Rcoky Mountain States serving large sparcely populated rural areas of those states that are a long way from any big cities and often surrounded by mountains.

I think you have picked the same area, the same group I would have chosen as the first area that might benefit from such an arrangement.

The question I still am interested in hearing answers about: WHAT would super radio do for these people?

I know what radio did for areas like that in the 1940's. What would it do today?

I don't see any reason for the high powered stations to need to actually serve their coverage area with "all local" type programming. The mere fact that there is a regional signal dedicated to breaking news, weather and emergency information is what would matter. The rest of it could be syndicated programming targeting a specific metro area for all I care.

 

[KTN Corp]

It will be gone since it is virtually useless besides analog audio. I can expect the digitalizing craze of commercial radio band the same way the craze of DTV was implemented. The AM band is much easier to turn off than analog television because radios don't become completely useless after the shut-off (just listen to the FM band instead!) and right-wingers are the largest group to listen to AM so as to get their fix of Rush, Hannity, et al. while everyone else listens to FM music radio or public radio for news or centrist-talk (especially in the South).

Unless you live in a very large city, newsradio is non-existent especially in the South. The Southern big cities of DFW, Houston, and Atlanta don't have 24 h/day news like WBBM, KNX, KFWB, etc. in the North and West.

 

[redneckriviera]

I can see 3 or 4 in the Desert Southwest and Rcoky Mountain States serving large sparcely populated rural areas of those states that are a long way from any big cities and often surrounded by mountains.

I think you have picked the same area, the same group I would have chosen as the first area that might benefit from such an arrangement.

The question I still am interested in hearing answers about: WHAT would super radio do for these people?

I know what radio did for areas like that in the 1940's. What would it do today?

Although I know full well that XM/Sirius is not an option for everyone--that is, the poorest among us (and therefore doesn't quite --my guess is that satellite-delivered radio has already emerged as a logical choice for those living in such remote areas--perhaps supplemented by the old night-time stand-bys KOA, KKOB, KFAB, WCCO, KGO, KFI...

Turning back to the idea of a "clean-up" of the AM band, hasn't Canada been involved in something similar these past several years? Flipping all AM stations in specified markets to the FM band?

As jammed as the FM band is in many U.S. markets, this would seem to be a difficult process here. Could our current 88.1 to 107.9 FM dial be expanded to accomodate such moves?

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I don't see any reason for the high powered stations to need to actually serve their coverage area with "all local" type programming. The mere fact that there is a regional signal dedicated to breaking news, weather and emergency information is what would matter. The rest of it could be syndicated programming targeting a specific metro area for all I care.

Good morning, Zach. It would seem to me that one of the reasons we might consider granting some operators a super power station is that they would, with their power, and probably being based in some metro area, hopefully have some budget to do original things, useful things. To use a cooking analogy, they could cook from scratch instead of just microwaving some boxes from the supermarket.

The people in the hinterlands today have some access to their "local" stations who are running that syndicated programming because they don't have the budget to cook from scratch. If... that's a big IF... If I were writing the rules and we were going to have super-duper high powered stations, they would be forbidden to fill hours with the crap from the freezer-case (with freezer burns!!!) otherwise known as syndication. If the supers carry the syndication, we have just killed the ability of the struggling rural locals to carry the syndication and sell a few commercials tucked in there.

A second thought: Maybe the super powers should be forbidden to be within metro areas. If their primary purpose is to serve the rural folk of the hinter-lands, how will they know the needs and thoughts of their listeners unless the station and the staff are based in the same circumstances. Can you say Dateland, AZ, or Hayes, KS or Ord, NE?