Why the new world order wants rid of am radio

[JohnSmith1976]

I know this seems like a stupid title for a post but this is something that needs to be said. AM Radio has disappeared in Europe, replaced with this digital garbage and many would like it to disappear here as well. Well friends, this is why we can NEVER allow this to happen. AM Radio is the best kind of radio next to Shortwave, because it does NOT need sophisticated equipment to receive the signal nor does it need extremely sophisticated equipment to build transmitters for them. Add in the fact that Skywave can allow this small AM signal to go a long way, and you have the ability to reach a lot of people from one location. In fact a simple Crystal Radio Science Fair set, if you're like me, not much of a fabricator will do the deed. I figured out how to rig my Crystal set to a bluetooth speaker and surprise surprise, it puts out loud enough to hear it in other rooms of the house.

FM Radio normally needs a radio to receive, but it is true some have built crystal sets for FM radio, but of course being short-distance broadcasting, in the scheme of things FM is just about worthless if the day comes the power grid is fried. If the power grid was fried tomorrow, potentially and I'm not sure whether it is secure or not, 700 WLW could power up and be on the air. At least thats what the rule was during the Cold War. If AM was gone and our power grid were gone with it, we would be stuck in silence for a long time. As long as we have old-fashioned AM Radio and Shortwave, we can stay connected.

If I said what my response wanted to be to the FCC for the idiot who proposed ending AM and replacing with DIGITAL AM. I'd be hauled off by the FBI. Now I have no problem with digital FM allowing a simulcast of the AM on the FM Band or an FM repeater, because in some situations in Small towns, the local AM cant be heard after 8PM. However we must save AM and keep it as she always was. Primitive Static and All. Its a matter of survival

 

[davideduardo]

I know this seems like a stupid title for a post but this is something that needs to be said. AM Radio has disappeared in Europe, replaced with this digital garbage and many would like it to disappear here as well. Well friends, this is why we can NEVER allow this to happen. AM Radio is the best kind of radio next to Shortwave, because it does NOT need sophisticated equipment to receive the signal nor does it need extremely sophisticated equipment to build transmitters for them. Add in the fact that Skywave can allow this small AM signal to go a long way, and you have the ability to reach a lot of people from one location. In fact a simple Crystal Radio Science Fair set, if you're like me, not much of a fabricator will do the deed. I figured out how to rig my Crystal set to a bluetooth speaker and surprise surprise, it puts out loud enough to hear it in other rooms of the house.

FM Radio normally needs a radio to receive, but it is true some have built crystal sets for FM radio, but of course being short-distance broadcasting, in the scheme of things FM is just about worthless if the day comes the power grid is fried. If the power grid was fried tomorrow, potentially and I'm not sure whether it is secure or not, 700 WLW could power up and be on the air. At least thats what the rule was during the Cold War. If AM was gone and our power grid were gone with it, we would be stuck in silence for a long time. As long as we have old-fashioned AM Radio and Shortwave, we can stay connected.

If I said what my response wanted to be to the FCC for the idiot who proposed ending AM and replacing with DIGITAL AM. I'd be hauled off by the FBI. Now I have no problem with digital FM allowing a simulcast of the AM on the FM Band or an FM repeater, because in some situations in Small towns, the local AM cant be heard after 8PM. However we must save AM and keep it as she always was. Primitive Static and All. Its a matter of survival

You make some true points, but the main reason why AM is being eliminated in some countries and the herd is being thinned out in others: listeners, in their majority, don't like it or use it.

If we look at Canada, a DAB system was tried and discarded. Instead, many AMs were allowed to close and move the FM. The reason was, of course, declining audience and increased noise and interference. Both government and private stations have enthusiastically done this. And many large market AM channels have been repurposed as minority and community stations.

Mexico's legislators declared AM not to be viable economically, based on a study. So they allowed about 70% of stations to migrate to FM with new assignments. The AMs that remain are in large cities where there were not FM channels, or on the US border, where treaty agreements did not allow for extensive FM expansion; a few "moved" stations have to keep the AM running as otherwise certain remote areas might be left with less service. Of course, Mexico's most successful radio group just closed 4 of its Mexico City AM stations as they could not see them being viable in the future, even in a market of 23 million.

Governments are not conspiring to eliminate AM; listeners just don't like it.

 

[TheBigA]

However we must save AM and keep it as she always was. Primitive Static and All. Its a matter of survival

So your case for saving AM is strictly in case of atomic war? Really? Then that's the government's problem, not the problem of the independent companies that own AM stations.

 

[JohnSmith1976]

While all that may be true that listeners don't like AM as much these days that's largely because they have so many different forms of audio to listen to. The thing is since the 1960's when FM was pushed onto the public what has changed? Up until the 1980's when I was a kid, most car radios were only AM unless you paid extra to get the AM-FM and I'm only 41 and when I was young we had a 78 chevy truck that had AM FM but our cars only had AM, we didnt have FM in a car till 1986! What changed is this the connectiveness our people had. Long before radio syndication, everyone at night listened to the big guns on AM. I can remember listening to 66 WNBC before it became WFAN and WOWO Fort Wayne when they were a big stick, before the Black station in NYC bought them out and lowered their power. People all over listened to the same guys because we all listened to AM, of course in Arbitron your market only counts locally but still everyone knew who the jocks were in NY back then because we all listened to them, Chicago too. I still listen to WSM out of Nashville.

FM Radio served to divide up people into small localities and end the connectedness we all had with one another, something that to me was a bad thing and IPODS and other things have done much worse than that. I shudder to think what a world would be like without AM Radio, yes I understand that in many cases it's not as profitable, but the loss of it just serves to isolate the population from one another and remove the bands that connect us.

The thing is whether you believe in a government conspiracy or not, the fact is this. If an EMP went off tomorrow and most of the radio receivers were fried as was the electrical grid, provided 700 WLW and some of the other big stick AM boys could get up and running, any backyard MacGyver can get radio back. In a world without AM no grid-silence.

 

[JohnSmith1976]

There has been a concerted effort to turn the people against AM since the 1960's for various reasons and that is sad and I believe the FCC has been complicit in that in many different ways for the precise reason that AM Radio BINDS A NATIONAL POPULATION TOGETHER, FM Radio binds a local population together. During the 1930s 700 WLW broadcasted at 500,000 watts, so loud that it could be heard in the Soviet Union. I think the FCC keeping the 50,000 clear channel limit has been one way they have conspired against AM Radio. Raise that limit to 100,000 and now you're cooking with gas. There is many ways to revitalize the public and re-interest them in AM at least I believe that. The problem is no one will dare do it. Proof that the government wants AM gone.

 

[davideduardo]

There has been a concerted effort to turn the people against AM since the 1960's for various reasons

The FCC recognized that, by the end of the 50's, there were very few "good" new AMs that could be licensed. FM stations, despite an initial post-war surge in the 40's, were declining in number. The only way to get service to under-served areas and towns was to encourage FM. So, starting in January of 1967, the Commission disallowed simulcasting of AM stations by FMs in most markets and situations. This encouraged licensees to find new program formats.

As new alternatives on FM developed and started getting good ratings in the early 70's, applications were made for many new FMs, increasing the options for listeners.

In many cities, given the post-war urban sprawl to the suburbs, the AMs for the most part did not cover the entire market, while FMs did... all day and all night.

And FMs just sounded a heck of a lot better than AMs.

and that is sad and I believe the FCC has been complicit in that in many different ways for the precise reason that AM Radio BINDS A NATIONAL POPULATION TOGETHER,

As TV grew in the 50's, listening to AM radio declined severely. Radio became a truly daytime medium, with far fewer listeners at night than by day. And that happened before AM registered ratings. In any case, very few AMs cover reliably outside their local market.

FM Radio binds a local population together.

Listening to distant AM stations pretty much disappeared by the end of the 70s as every market got multiple FMs. I once resided in Leelanau County, MI. In the daytime, we got two Traverse City, MI, AM stations. At night we got no local station, and listened to Chicago or Detroit. In the summer, those stations were often covered with static and noise. Now, there are about 20 FMs with local signals over the town I was in.

During the 1930s 700 WLW broadcasted at 500,000 watts, so loud that it could be heard in the Soviet Union.

Not regularly. Maybe on rare occasions with a very good radio. The Russians today have a dozen 1,000,000 stations... how many can you hear?

WLW only ran 500 kw for a few years, and it never was licensed for that power.

I think the FCC keeping the 50,000 clear channel limit has been one way they have conspired against AM Radio. Raise that limit to 100,000 and now you're cooking with gas.

You could not raise powers that way today, as the band is full of stations that all have to be protected. In any case, to double the coverage of a 50 kw station, you have to go to 200 kw. And at night, the band is filled with stations all over the Hemisphere, so coverage would not be increased.

There is many ways to revitalize the public and re-interest them in AM at least I believe that. The problem is no one will dare do it. Proof that the government wants AM gone.

The government does not want AM gone. The problem is that noise levels are so high today that useful coverage has been reduced by at least half. And AM sound is just not as good as streaming or MP3s or FM. We have plenty of alternatives that all sound much better; AM can not compete. But it is the marketplace that has moved listeners to FM, leaving only (for the most part) seniors still listening.

 

[davideduardo]

... of course in Arbitron your market only counts locally

Arbitron, and Pulse and Hooper before them have always credited listening to all stations, local and distant. The issue is that in any market large enough to have ratings, the local stations always had nearly all the audience. And if an out of market station had significant listening, it was because it could be heard locally all day long, not just at night.

FM Radio served to divide up people into small localities and end the connectedness we all had with one another,

There was very little listening to out of market stations going back to the 50's because AM's only reached outside the local and adjacent markets at night... when TV was dominant.

The thing is whether you believe in a government conspiracy or not, the fact is this. If an EMP went off tomorrow and most of the radio receivers were fried as was the electrical grid, provided 700 WLW and some of the other big stick AM boys could get up and running, any backyard MacGyver can get radio back. In a world without AM no grid-silence.

30% of US homes no longer have a radio of any kind. AM or FM. The consumer has rejected AM and the remaining listeners are predominantly in their 50's and 60's and beyond. AM declined because it is not a technology suitable for today's world.

Nobody is going to sustain AM stations based on what they can do in the event of a major disaster... whether it is an enemy attack or a hurricane or earthquake or flood. Unless the government sets up emergency stations, you are not going to get what you are asking for.

 

[semoochie]

"Arbitron, and Pulse and Hooper before them have always credited listening to all stations, local and distant. The issue is that in any market large enough to have ratings, the local stations always had nearly all the audience. And if an out of market station had significant listening, it was because it could be heard locally all day long, not just at night." In the late 1970s, KGO, some 650 miles distant, had a 26 share at night in Portland, Oregon because there were no local full-time talk stations. This was not wasted on the KGO sales staff. Listening infrequently, I heard local ads! Of course, it couldn't happen now because not long after that, the FCC authorized the adjacent channel nighttime power.

 

[JRH]

There has been a concerted effort to turn the people against AM since the 1960's for various reasons.

Not completely, in the 1970s the FCC licensed several new 50KW AMs in western states to cover areas with inadequate AM reception. One of those was 720/KDWN in Las Vegas. And there were several others.

 

[TheBigA]

There is many ways to revitalize the public and re-interest them in AM at least I believe that. The problem is no one will dare do it. Proof that the government wants AM gone.

Huh? Makes no sense. You're talking about the public, and then putting responsibility on the government, as if one has anything to do with the other. Faulty logic.

Why is this topic on the Columbus Ohio board? Also makes no sense.

 

[JohnSmith1976]

Because I accidently posted it in the wrong spot

 

[davideduardo]

Not completely, in the 1970s the FCC licensed several new 50KW AMs in western states to cover areas with inadequate AM reception. One of those was 720/KDWN in Las Vegas. And there were several others.

Even more than a couple: 50 kw in places like Boise, Roswell, Reno, Las Vegas (two of them), Window Rock, Lexington, Eugene, Casper, Grand Junction, and 10 kw stations on the clear channels in Guymon, st George, Kalispell. And probably I forgot a couple.

 

[JohnSmith1976]

There was very little listening to out of market stations going back to the 50's because AM's only reached outside the local and adjacent markets at night}

David I am not sure what you meant here, Clear Channel Class A's reach far beyond adjacent markets at night. You are right there is way too much interference and noise on the AM Dial I can hear it now from when I was a kid how different it is. When I was a boy, we only listened to CKLW Windsor Ont in the daytime AM 800 and thats over 150 miles away. Plenty of AM's such as 650 WSM and others had a sizeable following throughout the country, even where they couldn't be heard day and night. As for AM being worthless to our modern world, I'd hate to see society place all her eggs in the basket of digital everything only to see their world destroyed. If the internet and Power Grid were destoyed tomorrow, AM Radio would still be there.