Why I Don't Need AM?

[dhoule]

Here's why I don't need AM:
For News--WBUR or WGBH
For Talk--WTKK, WBUR, WGBH
For Business--WBUR, WTKK or XM
For Traffic--XM Traffic for Boston (every 10 minutes on the ones)
For Weather--XM Weather for Boston

 

[raccoonradio]

For news: there is WBZ for that
For talk: WBZ, if you like Rea, Leveille, Rich. And in my case, I need AM for Howie Carr.
For biz: True but RKO does have their Lunch Money show and as said on other threads,
maybe more biz radio could show up there
For traffic: yes I have XM too with that feature. Of course you need to wait till they tell you
about tie-ups on the Parkway West (Pittsburgh) and the Schuykill (Philly) first.

If you like WJIB's music you need AM.
I agree for the most part--AM radio may not seem all that necessary. But until Howie is on
FM in the Boston market (Greater Media?), I'll need it for that. (Then again, with that HD
radio, you could prob pick up RKO's signal on an HD2)

 

[ssetta]

You also need AM if you're catholic so you can listen to EWTN radio on 1060. They have something called "holy hour" every day at 3 pm, where they pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and recite the Holy Rosary every day.

AM is also necessary if you're hispanic. If you think about it, almost all AM stations of today are in Spanish, or some other foreign language. And if they can have an FM simulcast of Sports Radio or News Radio, why can't they have an FM simulcast on Radio Disney? Now THAT'S something on AM that I think belongs on FM more than sports. If Radio Disney were on FM, do you think more kids would actually listen to it?

 

[raccoonradio]

Radio Diz may be on some FMs but yes, generally AMs...For Hispanic, you have 97.3 in New Bedford,
a few weekend shows on WMWM, and some pirates perhaps (though most of those are on AM). It is true though, most kids only seem to know FM, so...

 

[carmen]

For Hispanic, you have 97.3 in New Bedford

a Portuguese station. choice 103 is spanish during afternoon hours., whenever i hear a car driving by, it's usually not that,it can't be 100.3 as theyre clobbbered by locals or WHEB, and fidelity is too good for AM, likely not radio. granted there are probably more options where a greater population exists. presumably Lawrence has several more pirates than 103, has anyone done a bandscan lately?

even as a kid in 1980s i never found AM radio particularly useful compared ot FM. DXing was mildly entertaining, but 77 and 42 meters are better for that plus it's a 2-way medium

 

[raccoonradio]

I think you're getting WNNW's simulcast which had been at 92.1 -- moved to 102.9. Forgot about them

http://power800am.com/
(Power 800 and 102.9, yes that's legal... though a pirate had operated for awhile as WCFM Choice FM
in Boston area)

 

[Blackroc]

recite the Holy Rosary every day.

Didn't 99.1 PLM used to do this at about 5:20 or some early time: maybe they still are?

Yeah it's a few selective out-of-state selections on the AM-band and that's about it. Most of the clear-ch 50k power stations are programing garbage (ask Phil Hendrie). Funny how Big-O's continually telling the listeners to grown up and dump 850. it's like they're on in signal only and it's not to be paid attention to.

I do miss 1070 Monction, NB the only station I ever heard opperating in the "Atlantic" Time Zone. They are no more.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

For Traffic--XM Traffic for Boston (every 10 minutes on the ones)

That's fine if you want to pay a monthly fee for your radio. I don't. There are enough other ever-inflating fees to pay in life.

 

[Tom Wells]

For Traffic--XM Traffic for Boston (every 10 minutes on the ones)

That's fine if you want to pay a monthly fee for your radio. I don't. There are enough other ever-inflating fees to pay in life.

And if you are willing to try to understand something as unintelligible as the XM traffic services.

 

[mescutia]

For news: The Internet or local TV stations.
For traffic: The Internet, primarilly the Twitter feeds for WMUR and WFXT, though smartraveler.com also comes in handy.
For weather: The Internet.
For talk: Podcasts, which is what I primarilly listen to in the car.

 

[WLYNWAZNgm]

Rest assured, AM radio is alive and well. It has
adapted with the times, but it is still going strong, and it
still has a role to play among the many media choices,
now available...

 

[JIBGUY]

AGREED! If an AM station does something different than what's elsewhere, it will thrive just fine; now and 20 years from now.

 

[carmen]

AGREED! If an AM station does something different than what's elsewhere, it will thrive just fine; now and 20 years from now.

doubtful. you have to add a ferrite loopstick to a phone to get AM reception in it, and then youd have CPU/LCD noise to contend with. FM radio at most requires a 2x2mm chip and headphone cable, and often FM capability is built into a GPS or Bluetooth chip already in there. plus isnt there a new regulation requiring FM in phones?

just one more reason it's listenership will continue to shrink

 

[KeithE4]

AGREED! If an AM station does something different than what's elsewhere, it will thrive just fine; now and 20 years from now.

There are fewer and fewer devices equipped with AM tuners being manufactured every day. As was said earlier, an FM tuner chip is small, and the antenna can be built into the earphone cable (with varying degrees of success).

An AM loopstick is too thick to be able to be put in a smartphone, even though the height and width of a smartphone is about the same as a pocket radio from the '60s. Plus, the noise emanating from the computer chips in the phone will make AM reception all but impossible. Proper shielding is too expensive for these devices.

Sorry, but AM is dying with the Korean War-and-earlier generations. Folks younger than 60 started moving to FM 40 years ago. The 50 kW blasters like WBZ are exceptions...for the time being.

WBZ will also have to move the AM 1030 programming to FM if they are to survive. 50,000 watts on AM doesn't mean squat if there are no devices to hear them. But the days of the All American Five, and even the pocket transistor radio are long gone. The smartphone is the new "transistor radio" - and they don't have AM.

 

[raccoonradio]

Indeed, mp3 players can sometimes come with a radio. FM only. There are HD radios like the portable I have, which literally dozens of other people have, and some AM stations like WBZ and WXKS AM are
on those, on HD2. Now that WEEI has moved to FM within the immediate Boston area, there may not nec. be a need for them to be on an HD2 but who knows.

I know there are some AM fans out there and AM does have some interesting stations like WJIB;
there are foreign language broadcasters, religious, children's etc., and I can't argue with the fact that
distant night-time reception can be interesting, but FM is the dominant band. AM, we will see how long it lasts. I know I depend on AM for Howie Carr but even he may be headed to FM eventually. I'm 49 and
mostly listen to FM, otherwise. WBZ may indeed have to move to FM eventually esp. if there are fewer
radios with AM. For now there are still quite a few AM radios out there but who knows.

And some of the folks on AM stations like WNNW (800) are simulcasting on FM (102.9)...

We'll see how long AM lasts. It may eventually exist as a curiosity with a few listeners who actually
possess radios that can receive it.

 

[KeithE4]

... I can't argue with the fact that distant night-time reception can be interesting, but FM is the dominant band.

FM has been "standard broadcasting" since the late '70s or early '80s. AM started to become a relic then.

We'll see how long AM lasts. It may eventually exist as a curiosity with a few listeners who actually possess radios that can receive it.

AM won't disappear completely, but it'll be populated with religious and foreign (other than Spanish) language stations. I can't see any secular, English- or Spanish-language stations on AM at all in 20 years. And I can't see any more than about 1000 AM stations total by 2030 - about the same as there were in 1945.

An online presence makes the 50 kW blowtorches obsolete. I can hear WGN, WBZ, WCBS, and WSCR. here in Phoenix whenever I want. I can't hear any of those on an AM radio in this part of the country.

 

[raccoonradio]

Wifi radio more and more in cars, too we hear.

 

[KeithE4]

Wifi radio more and more in cars, too we hear.

Universal WiFi/WiMax is already pretty much dead. An online presence in cars will probably be tied to your cellphone plan. I already use my smartphone as an online "transistor radio," with an FM transmitter plugged into my cigarette lighter accessory socket. Works well but I can't (and wouldn't, even if I could) change the station any more than I can answer the phone while I'm driving.

 

[raccoonradio]

Oh OK; Howie was mentioning "more Wifi in cars" in the past

 

[Laurence Glavin]

From here, I have no idea what the Valdosta, GA market is like, but according to some sources, Rama Communications is shutting down WRFV-AM there. It appears to have the best signal in the market: 5K NDA days on 910; 5K again directional at night. The other stations in the market can't seem to match that. Perhaps one of them will buy WRVF from Rama (which appears to be more Florider-oriented anyway; it owns AMs in that state that seem to have inferior facilities, so it doesn't appear they're giving up on AM altogether. "It doesn't appear they're giving up on AM" The previous, a gag in the movie "Airplane", in which people repeat what a person just said if he/she ends the sentence with "altogether".