• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

The Numbers

Lkeller said:
Well, sure Daaavid - when you've got commercially non-viable bandwidth to fill, why not?... Maybe I'm guilty of not thinking outside the box, but I think it's a waste to use an FM signal for news and talk.
Click to expand...

First off, there are four A's in Daaaavid, not three! Get it right! ;D

I think that Mr. Eduardo may have something to add about news and talk on FM, specifically in regard to how it was rolled out in Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C., and points eastward. It may actually be the future of the format/genre.

Mr. Eduardo?
 
Gee Whiz LKeller, forget the fee, I will give you my XM Sportcaster and have it Activated for a month for you! Dont even deprive yourself of Wolfman Jack or Bobby Ocean for one more day! Wake up listening to Phlash Phelps every morning, The guys been fired from 17 radio stations, i cant figure out why, The bay Area would have enjoyed him much more than Ron and Cammy! Im in Concord, Get in touch with me -Kenny-
 
BossRadioDJ said:
I think that Mr. Eduardo may have something to add about news and talk on FM, specifically in regard to how it was rolled out in Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C., and points eastward. It may actually be the future of the format/genre.

Mr. Eduardo?
Click to expand...

Nit to pick: Eduardo is a given name, not a last name... (file under: "who cares" if you like

Yeah, I have an opinion.

AM is dying. The average age of the band is over 50, and with every 18 months that goes by, it ages another year. Sports stations keep the band a bit younger, as do many of the religious stations. The big format, news talk, often has over 50% of its listeners over 55, a demo ad agencies don't buy... at all.

In most of the top 100 markets, there are only 1 or 2 viable AM signals. Some have none. Some have a few more. With out a variety of formats on a variety of good signals, there is no reason for most listeners to go to AM, ever. Most folks under 45 seldom do.

In DC, Bonneville had the best AM in the market. It barely covers DC daytime and the night signal is defective. The demos were very 55+. They moved to FM, with no AM simulcast even. The 35-44 lept up, and the total station has better ratings than ever.

Bonneville has switched from AM to FM in Phoenix, also. They simulcast KSL on FM in SLC, to imporve younger demos. They are rumored to be ready with the same for KIRO in Seattle which they just bought.

Cox is doing several AM FM simulcasts of NT, to see if the demos imporve.

Clear has moved several AM talk formats to FM, although in smaller markets like Tallahassee. They are obviously testing whther a demo improvement results.

The biggest thing Clear did was put a news talker on only FM in Pittsburgh a couple of years ago. It now beats KDKA in 25-54... in other words, it killed the US' oldest licensed commerical station. So now, a few months ago, they put a new n/t on FM in New Orleans. It is chewing up WWL nicely, proving that n/t gets the youger, salable demos on FM that it can not get on AM.

And it sounds better. Most people, amazingly, do not like the sound of AM. They don't like how it buzzes under power lines. They don't like summer lightening crashes. They don't like the fact that you can not have a computer on near an AM radio or it sounds like a tone generator gone crazy.

News / talk will move more and more to FM, because of signal, quality and the rejection of AM by younger demos.
 
OK, Mr. "Eduardo,"

I sincerely bow to the wisdom of an expert. It's interesting then to speculate about the future of terrestrial radio - if AM is virtually abandoned over the next..what?...20 years, and successful talk and news formats are moved to FM - at the same time more existing FM frequencies are being taken up by formats in other languages - it seems like we will really NEED those HD2 channels to have homes for the music formats that people want to hear.

Everyone is talking about what a failure HD is (so far, anyway), but it seems like we might need those secondary channels in the future. My primary car's factory stereo is dying (CD player already on the fritz), and I was thinking of replacing it with a new stereo with an MP3 jack and HD. I notice that Circuit City is advertising HD radios - Crutchfield too - so they are not being ignored by ALL retailers.

So, David E - what is your prediction for (1) the future of HD radio on FM; and (2) what eventually happens to the AMs - does the whole band eventually go dark?
 
BossRadioDJ said:
Lkeller said:
Well, sure Daaavid - when you've got commercially non-viable bandwidth to fill, why not?... Maybe I'm guilty of not thinking outside the box, but I think it's a waste to use an FM signal for news and talk.
Click to expand...

First off, there are four A's in Daaaavid, not three! Get it right! ;D

I think that Mr. Eduardo may have something to add about news and talk on FM, specifically in regard to how it was rolled out in Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C., and points eastward. It may actually be the future of the format/genre.

Mr. Eduardo?
Click to expand...
Karel from KGO has said FM will be the home of talk radio.
 
LKeller, dont spend a nickel on anything i will give you my Sportcaster XM reciever for free! And i will pay your activation for 30 days! You will enjoy it! Imagine its a long commute home stuck in 5 mph traffic ,huh, youve got Commercial Free XM and Bobby Ocean to get you home! and if its a real long ride Wolfman Jack on at 7 pm! Get a hold of me! Kenny in Concord
 
"LKeller, dont spend a nickel on anything i will give you my Sportcaster XM reciever for free! And i will pay your activation for 30 days! You will enjoy it! Imagine its a long commute home stuck in 5 mph traffic ,huh, youve got Commercial Free XM and Bobby Ocean to get you home! and if its a real long ride Wolfman Jack on at 7 pm!"

Thanks for the offer, Kenny - I may take you up on it sometime. I commute to work by walking and public transit, so I'm usually only in the car for a few minutes to pick up my kid, and on weekends. That's one of the reasons I haven't gone for satellite radio yet. A couple years ago, I almost accepted a job about an hour from home by car - my first purchase was going to be XM, but I decided not to take the job.

I have a co-worker who plays XM in her office. Being a fogey like me, she listens to Oldies and Classic Hits, though I haven't heard who the DJS are. The music mix I hear is very good.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom