Nothing personal, your baby isnt ugly, blah blah blah. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transmissions, but also on the longwave and shortwave radio bands. FM however I can hardly get local FM stations in my office building and my radio has a 22 whip antenna. Why does AM radio still exist? However, it is also a product of the bandwidth of the transmitter and the antenna/ground system. Therein lies the problem: the belief that narrow appeal is the backbone of LPFM and that was created with the intent to broadcast electic, esoteric programming by people for people who are anti-commericial radio. The first broadcast stations were AM, but even earlier, CW or continuous-wave signals with Morse code were a form of AM. Most AM antenna systems are over 40 years old. My Tecsun radio is bought and paid for. Previous topic - Next topic. Transitioning FM stations to an all digital medium will not help the inevitable. Hardly the listening time of an AM listener driving home in their cars for an hour or more..Seriously, Whats the point of this article? Its just too darn expensive to pay for equipment upgrades plus the extra royalty charges. The failures of iHeart and Cumulus have NOTHING to do with the technology-it has all to do with poor management. Saying only FM is needed is an overly optimistic and nominal-situation philosophy which gets proven wrong over and over again. Initially I was looking at a requirement for 29 acres of land, Over 400 foot tower, skyrocketing costs plus all the local ordinance requirements. Radio is based on when you need it, when you want it. No one turns into radio as they do with TV, i.e, on Tuesdays at 10 to hear some narrow, underground, emo-format. What would be the advantage to moving the AM stations to another band? It's also the reason why we love to listen to music played on radios. Bullsbreath: Lets save AM Radio, even go to the idea of Cquam again. As a consequence, news/talk and sports/sports talk formats are carried on the . Why did WECK ownership decide to invest in **two** FM translators, if the AM signal was performing hugely on its own? FM wont be far behind. Updated May 29, 2023: This article has been updated throughout. Seems so retro, but it is still useful. How about replacing Salem Broadcasting and the other overpowerful conglomerates with actual independent stations? Give AM back to the people! Then came the folly of AM stereo and let the marketplace decide which system is best. Then came the debacle of massive ownership. The kids, that being under 30 demo, are sick of all of the perfection found in digital formats and hearken back to a simpler time. Selling the land is more profitable than relocation. Anyway, AM isnt dead yet, and in fact it seems to be Aging Majestically. I hear so many people saying exactly what the author here has said about moving all radio to digital, like the mandatory tv digitization. We can help this band be self-sufficient. Robert, no one has bothered to refute your opening statement (The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.); perhaps they all accept that oft-repeated perverted excuse of a definition as being fact, instead of what it is, an idiotic but pithy little ditty (which you have chosen to use to introduce your opinion piece). Women own just 6 percent of all full-power commercial broadcast radio stations, even though they comprise 51 percent of the U.S. population. 50kW 870 AM WWL New Orleans. Some stations use complex and expensive directional antenna systems to solve the problem. Cumlus has 2 rock in roll FM stations duplicating each other yet they wont do anything about it! Remember me? Channel 5 and Channel 6 are at 76 and 85 MHZ repectively. All rights reserved. Our government has been actively trying to destroy it for years for the same reasons theyve destroyed analog TV. Most people at home watch TV. When you dig your head out of your.dash and tell me the answer Ill be glad to hear it otherwise you need to grow the hell up! Absolutely nothing will save AM. True hobby and community licensees in AM/MW would be fantastic, but the FCC caters to the conglomerates, not the people. Its time to pressure the manfacturers for better receiversthats the problem.. Until all the of the technological advancements of our day are invested into the AM band, it will never recover. WTF are we talking about, (serving the public is secondary) if we cant monetize an AM signal there wont be any serving the public. So what he is sugesting is just the same thing as the FCC is doing with the FM Translators for AM except on a different frequency. It is a persons such as youself that is exactly the type of person who operates or works at LPFMs and is the cause of the LPFM problem. I listen to an all news station, and I dont need hi-fi to get somebodys voice telling us news. Nobody watches broadcast TV. There is no 'revitalization in death. Things shifted in the early 1960s, when FM receivers started becoming less expensive and easier to find, carmakers began to put FM radios in their vehicles, and the Federal Communications Commission opened up more channels for FM stations. Its the best option for emergencies. It is all completely arbitrary, and a lot of it has to do with history. Now there are only 4,684 left as of the end of 2015. The AM band will still be there, you cant move the band. Thats right-because its cool now. AM broadcasters are intentionally being told they have to limit their power to transmit which is undermining their industry. Due to editorial space constraints, I could not write the piece as long as I would have liked to, in order to include all aspects of the issue. Only 10 to 20 % of all radio listeners listen to it, and that depends upon the locale. The earliest experimental AM transmissions began in the early 1900s. Local and national broadcasters are still using the band because there IS a market for it. I recall one of my PDs claiming that: AM, FM or Short Wave its all about Programming. Due to the industriess capitulation to all bass all loud fm stereo & blue tooth todays am radio that comes along merely for the ride is a joke by comparison to yesterdays. Content is king and lets fix it with content. But the increasing bit errors in decoding the degrading digital signal will treat you to a delightful skipping CD sound before the receiver mutes completely. Podcasts are equally superior to AM radio in rural areas. Whether through neglect or consumers just wanting to move on to the newest shiny object, AM radio is, technically, a dodo bird. Anyway, to the topic at hand many comments here refer to CONTENT, and that is king when it comes to keeping people interested, and listening. [ emphasis intended ]. Terminating the AM (MW) band because of the archaic nature of its technology is akin to euthanizing Grandma just because she is old and isnt up to par with that hot sweet young waitress you are dating. Most electronic retailers are not even selling radios any more. Develop am around a radio that is simplified and copies the analog controls of the past. (By Robert Lee) The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. And, Im not afraid to wait; I just dont want to wait for something that will never happen., So, walk over to your mirror, look yourself square in the face, and say it out loud, with force and conviction: AM radio is dead.. Every available VHF channel is being used by stations that had to vacate their UHF channels with the repacking mandated by the FCC. Back to top Reply Replies (16) TDsngumbo USA Fan It is because they have, for the most part, grown up (and this grows truer literally every day) on digital soundcrisp, clear, soundEven I who work in AM radio, prefer listening to our FM translators when possible because the sound quality is better. Audio delivery need content, curation, connection and sponsors. Its still one of the main sources of information for many third-world countries. Why does AM radio still exist? Why shouldnt the author engage with those who comment? Do a little research and you might be surprised. Japan innovated on the AM band but we never did. More people is the only way the entire medium will survive the anslaught of podcast radio naysayers, and the retailers who opt to put smart speakers on their shelves instead of radiosOh yeah.tried to by a radio these days? So why are they not turning of the AM signal then? In my area, Beasley owned & operated WWDB 860 AM is a good example as providing more interesting content than mainstream AM. So the existing AM broadcast band would not have sufficient room for several stations transmitting the higher audio frequencies needed for hi-fidelity stations. RADIOINK should just have him write the entire issue daily. Digital FM and analog AM stereo would be good combination moving forward. Why AM? The real questions for us all is what is more important; The preservation of the AM band or the insurance that radio is united and strong viable free service to the community? 4 comments. This story repeats itself around the Western half of our country. I REPEAT- AM RADIO IS ALIVE. Since then, I have had three cell phones cease to work (analog, TDMA, and 2G); a radio with an audio TV band; and two analog televisions. Theres this whole land mass to the north, east, and south of it and people actually live there!! Most still listen in their cars or trucks. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Daily industry headlines plus breaking news bulletins. It was created to stop those staions going dark, which would allow pirates to florish. No. Dont get led down this path..and now for my argument. Get yourselves a podcast on Spotify. Ummmm no, as I recall you can still make an AM radio receiver from common items found around the house. You cannot control an analog signal in the same way you can control a digital signal. They have grown up in a world where, except in isolated incidents, where it didnt exist. The radio host is lame. A battery operated radio for use in emergencies is necessary, its not a luxury. Perhaps part of the conversation can attend to the fact that there are so many bad AM stations still on the air. For the same reason, the kids are abandoning smart phones in mass numbers. As signal strength decreases, an analog signal degrades gradually. It wont be free. AM is also the main modulation of short-wave radio, which you can hear worldwide from 5 to 30 MHz. Bad idea. So many stations are little more than Someone elses iPod with commercials. To the automakers who said they have removed AM radio from their electric vehicles, Markey dismissed their reasoning that the public can use other communication tools during an emergency, like streaming radio. share. It is a market place of ideasnews, dialogue, debate, thinking. My hometown had 5 viable AM stations in 1965. Some cars have HD Radio, but otherwise you need a unique receiver. I really did hear that threat 15 years ago. Theres several reasons why thats not happened yet and probably wont happen at least for a very long time. Or that the TV repack has irreversibly locked in place the full-power television stations allocated to the Channels 5 and 6 bandwidth. In short, NAFTA forced Canada to follow the US business model. Over 5 years, Finland simply retrofitted existing autos (approx 25$ Or less if you DIY). But broadcaster laziness has likely been a bigger contributor. While we are at it, lets move the educational stations over as well, this could free up more of the FM band and give colleges and universities the chance to program and sell to support their service that they are all so passionate about. To consumers, FM translators are not secondary services; they are FM stations.

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