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Would you miss most AMs if they went away?

R

Radiogeek500

This topic exists on the Indiana board talking about that state, but I thought, let's bring it to a national level. We all have those AMs that are junk. Signal wise Junk that is, most of them don't even cover the studio that is supposed to send out the programming to the transmitter! Would you miss those stations if they went away(there's a chance they might if HD takes off).

I'll bet I know what the answer is from most of you, but please reply anyways:)<P ID="signature">______________
Happy 20th Birthday Power 106

JOSH, Moderating the whole Radio-Info radio state of California and Indiana too!

www.myspace.com/radiogeek500</P>
 
> This topic exists on the Indiana board talking about that
> state, but I thought, let's bring it to a national level. We
> all have those AMs that are junk. Signal wise Junk that is,
> most of them don't even cover the studio that is supposed to
> send out the programming to the transmitter! Would you miss
> those stations if they went away(there's a chance they might
> if HD takes off).
>
> I'll bet I know what the answer is from most of you, but
> please reply anyways:)
>


Yes I would. I am an information junkie. Scanning AM I usually find something at least half way interesting to me, often times on fringe stations with poor signals and/or no ratings.

Most of America probably wouldn't miss it if many AMs went away, but I personally would.
 
> This topic exists on the Indiana board talking about that
> state, but I thought, let's bring it to a national level. We
> all have those AMs that are junk. Signal wise Junk that is,
> most of them don't even cover the studio that is supposed to
> send out the programming to the transmitter! Would you miss
> those stations if they went away(there's a chance they might
> if HD takes off).
>
> I'll bet I know what the answer is from most of you, but
> please reply anyways:)
>

Josh,

In my market, which is one of the lowest-rated in terms of AM radio listenership
in the country, I wouldn't miss the programming, since I've basically just listened to inyternet radio for the last few years.

What I DO miss, is the "personality" that used to exist on some of these
small/fringe/poor signal stations. When I was growing up, I always listened to stations on the AM band first.

If you have access to the Radio World newspaper, I wrote on this topic in the Jan. 4, 2006 issue in an article called "Recreating The Sound of The Country Giant," complete with a picture of the studio I'm using now to do just that on the internet. I received emails and replies from old-timers, radio engineers and programmers all over the country.

One person wrote, "It's no thrill to DX an AM carrying the same satellite drivel
you can hear on many other stations."

In a town in a neighboring state, there are 4 AMs that all have local programming on them. Whenever we're passing through there I always check them out.<P ID="signature">______________
WJJD The Country Giant Revisited streams at
http://www.live365.com/stations/alanmccall</P>
 
> This topic exists on the Indiana board talking about that
> state, but I thought, let's bring it to a national level. We
> all have those AMs that are junk. Signal wise Junk that is,
> most of them don't even cover the studio that is supposed to
> send out the programming to the transmitter! Would you miss
> those stations if they went away(there's a chance they might
> if HD takes off).
>
> I'll bet I know what the answer is from most of you, but
> please reply anyways:)
>
In a major metropolitan area (top 20 ARB markets), I'd miss traffic every ten minutes 24/7/365, frequent weather forecasts and real radio news reporting.

Given what some FMs feature, I'm surprised more markets don't have either a New Jersey 101.5 or an all-newser a la 103.5 WTOP in Washington, DC on the FM band.

I suppose if an AC or classic hits station decided to do "traffic and weather every ten minutes", that would give me one less reason to listen to AM.

But I'd still miss the type of radio news you get with a significantly sized all-news staff, such as WINS, WCBS, KYW, WBZ, etc.
 
> This topic exists on the Indiana board talking about that
> state, but I thought, let's bring it to a national level. We
> all have those AMs that are junk. Signal wise Junk that is,
> most of them don't even cover the studio that is supposed to
> send out the programming to the transmitter! Would you miss
> those stations if they went away(there's a chance they might
> if HD takes off).
>
> I'll bet I know what the answer is from most of you, but
> please reply anyways:)

Yes... all the good niche music programming is
brokered on local AMs:

Indian Music on WHSR
Jewish Music on WLVJ
Doo-Wop on WJNA

Plus there's syndicated talk and the rare local talk.

And DX.

If current FM content was all we had, I'd stick
with my CDs, LPs, and web radio. I can't listen
to any of those stations at length.

73s<P ID="signature">______________
"Infidel: In New York, one who does not believe
in the Christian religion; in Constantinople, one
who does." ...Ambrose Bierce</P>
 
Considering I work for one, yes, I would miss it.

Pretty impressive coverage area for a 5kw DA-2, too.<P ID="signature">______________
</P>
 
> Considering I work for one, yes, I would miss it.
>
> Pretty impressive coverage area for a 5kw DA-2, too.
>

It depends upon the station, its heritage, and its commitment to serving the community it's licensed to.
 
You might recall the former WTPI signing on in the mid 80s with a "WIBC on FM" type approach, full-service news, weather and traffic along with the music. Didn't last too long. As far as the AMs, most have at least some niche.<P ID="signature">______________
"Your right to know supersedes your right to exist"..Gary Burbank</P>
 
> This topic exists on the Indiana board talking about that
> state, but I thought, let's bring it to a national level. We
> all have those AMs that are junk. Signal wise Junk that is,
> most of them don't even cover the studio that is supposed to
> send out the programming to the transmitter! Would you miss
> those stations if they went away(there's a chance they might
> if HD takes off).
>
> I'll bet I know what the answer is from most of you, but
> please reply anyways:)
>
No!
 
Re: Clarification of the topic

> Leave WLS on.
>


We're talking about stations that have no signal, you can't hear them in most of their retrospective market.

We're not discussing the signal monsters like WLS, KFI, WABC, KNX, WCBS-AM, WSM-AM, KFWB, KCBS-AM, KGO etc etc.<P ID="signature">______________
Happy 20th Birthday Power 106

JOSH, Moderating the whole Radio-Info radio state of California and Indiana too!

www.myspace.com/radiogeek500</P>
 
Re: Clarification of the topic

> > Leave WLS on.
> >
>
>
> We're talking about stations that have no signal, you can't
> hear them in most of their retrospective market.
>
> We're not discussing the signal monsters like WLS, KFI,
> WABC, KNX, WCBS-AM, WSM-AM, KFWB, KCBS-AM, KGO etc etc.
>
As I've discussed on the Indiana board, stations in my area that most likely won't be missed would be WJOB since St. George's bankruptcy, the station has been on the bird with lots of syndicated programming & Sporting News Radio. Also WIMS in Michigan City Indiana because it's a sister station to WJOB, and has been running Sporting News Radio the entire time. WLTH because of bad audio, and it's on the bird most of the time, with the exception of some local gospel programming. WWCA in Gary Indiana was off the air for 9 years, until Starboard bought the station for next to nothing, spent big bucks rehabbing the shack & towers. More than likely though, probably not enough people know it's back on the air, and maybe most don't care for satellite Catholic programming from Starboard. WWCA doesn't even have local studios.

As for my brother's area, Knox Indiana, people most likely don't even bother listening to WKVI on 1520AM because it simulcasts with their FM station on 99.3 from the same tower. The AM side is 1.8kw day & .35kw critical hours. However I believe they stay on their daytime power because they're a daytimer, and their signal is heard in most of Porter County at night since they don't bother to sign off. Like I said, most people don't bother listening to the AM because it simulcasts their FM station. Too bad they don't ahve the money to put up a night tower site & create separate programming for the AM side. They're more than 750 miles away from KOKC Oklahome City & WWKB to where they could have night status. I don't see it happening though.<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by dave73 on 03/31/06 10:59 AM.</FONT></P>
 
Where Stations Are Moving From AM To FM

Many stations in Canada have moved from AM to FM. In his March 27th Northeast Radio Watch, Scott Fybush reports that the two remaining AM stations on Prince Edward Island, CFCY-630 and CHTN-720 (both in the capitol city, Charlottetown), have been given CRTC approval to move to FM, making PEI the first Canadian province not to have any AM stations (other than tourist information stations and the like).

It's not on PEI alone where stations are moving off of the AM dial. With a handful of exceptions, most of the stations carrying CBC Radio One have migrated from AM to FM over the last few years. And Winnipeg's CKY, which used to have a huge AM signal on 580, also moved off the AM dial.

By contrast, there are not enough available FM allocations to allow such a large number of AM stations in the United States to make a similar migration.
 
There are many AM stations in small towns that serve their community in ways that the big dogs would never dream about, and the people love it. They identify with their local station. They don't care if the station is only 1000 watts.

There are also a number of regional 10kw/50kw stations that fill in the holes, or exist on a big stick out in the middle of nowhere. They are there to inform the area of what's going on. Big winter storms across Nebraska and such.
Infinity or Clear Channel would see little value in them, but the group of farmers that own the station find it a very valuable asset.

Go get a job at a small town station, blow off the funeral announcements and move the hospital report by 5 minutes and tell me if the station is worthless.

You might be amused at how many tiny AM stations have big studios, while the big FM station is stuck in a closet playing Satelitte oldies.




> This topic exists on the Indiana board talking about that
> state, but I thought, let's bring it to a national level. We
> all have those AMs that are junk. Signal wise Junk that is,
> most of them don't even cover the studio that is supposed to
> send out the programming to the transmitter! Would you miss
> those stations if they went away(there's a chance they might
> if HD takes off).
>
> I'll bet I know what the answer is from most of you, but
> please reply anyways:)
>
 
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