There are no "radio people" anymore. There have been lots of opportunities for radio people to swoop in and buy AM stations for pennies on the dollar. They're not buying. So the future of AM won't be defined by radio people. They know AM is a lost cause. The only people fearless enough to even try to do something with an AM station are people like Tavis. He doesn't care if it's "better radio" or even if anyone listens. That's not his goalpost. Same with the Pacifica people. They don't care how many people laugh at them for their terrible ratings. That's not their goalpost. Those are the people who will be the future of AM radio. Because all the people who think in terms of ratings & revenue aren't buying.
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What If AM Radio Was Discontinued?
- Thread starter blackgold
- Start date
There are no "radio people" anymore. There have been lots of opportunities for radio people to swoop in and buy AM stations for pennies on the dollar. They're not buying. So the future of AM won't be defined by radio people. They know AM is a lost cause. The only people fearless enough to even try to do something with an AM station are people like Tavis. He doesn't care if it's "better radio" or even if anyone listens. That's not his goalpost. Same with the Pacifica people. They don't care how many people laugh at them for their terrible ratings. That's not their goalpost. Those are the people who will be the future of AM radio. Because all the people who think in terms of ratings & revenue aren't buying.
Bringing up Pacifica is appropriate. I've talked with a good number of Pacifica people over the years, and they almost to a person believe that the ratings are wrong and their listeners a) don't participate because they don't believe in "the system", b) the ratings are controlled by oligarchs who hate them or c) the government does not want contrarian views to be propagated.
So, despite the obvious lack of audience and the huge opportunity to convert the radio content into a national and multifaceted group of podcasts, the Pacifica people continue to try to make a success out of a few FM stations with half hour and hour block programs that have no show-to-show continuity. In a sense, Pacifica invented (or refined) the podcast concept 70 years ago but never realized that they had the wrong delivery system.
Not sure if I'd call either of them "radio people." Especially John. He had no experience in radio except as part time host.
But they are two examples of the future of AM. They're willing to overlook the reality to live out their dreams.
I don't know how you define "radio people" but my understanding is that Buddy has worked for decades in nearly every aspect of radio -- on-air, production, promotions, sales and now as an owner with an undeniable passion for the business he's spent his career in. I'm not sure what else you want, but to me that's actually the model of a radio person.
Cats is a businessman first but he's clearly someone who has a passion for radio and who enjoys being on air as much as running the business. He doesn't treat radio as merely a means to an end like he's selling insurance or something. To me, he fits the definition.
I believe you are correct in that the future of AM is for small owners to take over whatever is left after corporate radio gets out of it. In many cases I don't think there will be much left after big radio sells the land, though.
And he is likely looking at the cost as pocket change. Yet he has more than doubled the numbers
Buddy is likely getting the vast bulk of his audience from his translators. The AM is needed to justify them.
My comment was in response to this: "This is what we have gotten going back decades when non-radio people and groups think that they can do better radio than those involved in the business." Ask him.
I don't have a problem with "non-radio people" buying AM stations. The future won't look like the past. You need people who will buy AM stations for reasons that go beyond traditional ratings and revenue.
I'm not here to defend AM radio but I thought Buddy mentioned in one of the threads on the Buffalo board that the AM got a pretty good chunk of the tuning.
I meant the car dealer who was so enthralled by recording his own spots that he wanted a station. Or the person who used to be a minor recording artist who wants to remain in "entertainment". Or a group of local businessmen who meet for lunch and a beer or two and hear that the local station is for sales and figure they could do better and get "free ads" too.
My favorite was a guy who had multiple carpet stores in San Juan. He spent a lot of money on ads, and he was always giving us "advice" on how to run our stations. When one came up for an estate sale, he bought it. It did so badly and accumulated so much debt that he had to sell the carpet business and declare bankruptcy.
Other cases I have heard of include a farmer association where they thought the market needed more farm and agrinews. Lost a ton of money, sold the station.
Considering it is a low power high dial position AM, I'd be surprised if anything over 25% of the audience comes from AM.
From all the breaks of AM / FM simulcasts I've seen, I'd say that even 40/60 is too high for the AM. It's an old Class IV on a crowded channel that has, particularly, terrible night coverage and that means that nearly half of drive time in deep winter is at night.
Is there a specific reason HD radio signals aren't used (or allowed?) on FM translators?
It seems to me that using HD on FM translators would:
a. Obviously increase the number of AMs that could be "translated" (maybe because the content would be mostly talk, all 8 HD program spaces could be used).
b. Increase the demand for (FM) HD radios, driving down the cost of HD receivers.
Kirk Bayne
It seems to me that using HD on FM translators would:
a. Obviously increase the number of AMs that could be "translated" (maybe because the content would be mostly talk, all 8 HD program spaces could be used).
b. Increase the demand for (FM) HD radios, driving down the cost of HD receivers.
Kirk Bayne
That's why Coke's original diet drink wasn't called, "hole punched in can".
Are the AM and FM signals of WECK separately encoded? Does Nielsen keep track of that info? Or are we relying on fans of the station to remember whether they were listening to the AM or the FM in casual conversations with Buddy? I'm sure many people don't really remember.
I know that folks who listen to other simulcast stations don't always have reliable recall of which frequency they tuned in. In the NYC market, for years, WPAT AM got much better ratings than it should have. Folks likely were listening to WPAT-FM as the two stations simulcast or shadowcast the same easy listening format. But they wrote WPAT AM in their diaries. That's why the ratings pre-People Meters and post-People Meters showed wide swings in what folks were listening to.
I know that folks who listen to other simulcast stations don't always have reliable recall of which frequency they tuned in. In the NYC market, for years, WPAT AM got much better ratings than it should have. Folks likely were listening to WPAT-FM as the two stations simulcast or shadowcast the same easy listening format. But they wrote WPAT AM in their diaries. That's why the ratings pre-People Meters and post-People Meters showed wide swings in what folks were listening to.
They aren't encoded at all. Buffalo is a diary market.
Depends on the Demo if AM went away t would have no effect on the younger demos. However there are stations like WINS-AM (prior to having 92.3 WINS-FM), WFAN-AM/FM, WCBS-AM that have been some of the top 10 stations for revenue on AM and at the time they were some of the ones that were listed as making the most revenue for Audacy.
Yes primary FM Stations make the most revenue like Hubbards WTOP Washington DC and Ihearts KIIS-FM Los Angeles which are usually on the top 2 spots in a top 10 list.
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They're allowed. But there aren't enough translators because there aren't enough open frequencies.
Atlanta's WWWQ-HD2 shows up in the ratings because it's attached to an FM translator W255CJ.
Another reason is I think translators count against ownership caps.
There's no rule against doing HD radio on any FM translator, even if fed the same audio as an AM station.
It goes to the penetration of HD radio listening verses analog. Currently, there are still far more analog-only radios in the market, with an estimated 26% having HD capabilities. Given the significant additional capital expense to convert an FM translator for HD use, the juice wouldn't be worth the squeeze for the licensee of just a translator.
There's no promotion for HD radios. Without promoting it, few consumers will go out of their way to buy one. Just putting HD on some translator, definitely wouldn't move the needle to justify the expense and trouble.
Even when there was a promotional campaign for HD, as there was 20 years ago, people aren't buying radio-only devices.
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