People have been predicting the demise of AM ever since the music stations moved over to FM. Yet the AM dial is extremely crowded and AM stations are still doing well in the ratings in most major markets. Here in Vancouver, we have 6 AM stations rated and some of them do very well. Our talk station CKNW pulls a 10 share. Our news station CKWX pulls a 5 share. What's really impressive is that an oldies music station CISL consistently pulls a 2.5 share and does better than a Top 40 station Kiss.
It's also worth noting that CBC attempted to shut down their Radio One AM transmitter a few years back as a cost cutting move. The CRTC rejected their request because so many listeners wrote letters complaining that they would no be able to receive a reliable signal. Our FM stations have their signals pointed south towards Washington state. The FM signals quickly fade out 30 miles north or east of downtown making the FM band a ghost town. The AM band remains active with stations from Vancouver, Victoria, Bellingham, and Seattle easily received during the day and more at night.
The radio dial for many small towns in the rural BC mountains usually consists of a country station, maybe a rock or AC station, and a CBC relay translator all on FM with nothing on AM. AM is the only way to receive news, weather alerts, avalanche warnings, and blizzard alerts when traveling through the backcountry mountains. Maybe the terrain in this area has helped keep AM alive for those that need it. Many of these areas don't have cellular coverage so AM is the only option for important information.
I know a lot of millennials and thirty somethings that tune to either CKWX for the latest news or our all-traffic station CHMJ while driving. It takes the same amount of effort to switch to the AM band as it does to press a preset button. The AM band has a lot more life left in it than many people on this board realize.
It's also worth noting that CBC attempted to shut down their Radio One AM transmitter a few years back as a cost cutting move. The CRTC rejected their request because so many listeners wrote letters complaining that they would no be able to receive a reliable signal. Our FM stations have their signals pointed south towards Washington state. The FM signals quickly fade out 30 miles north or east of downtown making the FM band a ghost town. The AM band remains active with stations from Vancouver, Victoria, Bellingham, and Seattle easily received during the day and more at night.
The radio dial for many small towns in the rural BC mountains usually consists of a country station, maybe a rock or AC station, and a CBC relay translator all on FM with nothing on AM. AM is the only way to receive news, weather alerts, avalanche warnings, and blizzard alerts when traveling through the backcountry mountains. Maybe the terrain in this area has helped keep AM alive for those that need it. Many of these areas don't have cellular coverage so AM is the only option for important information.
I know a lot of millennials and thirty somethings that tune to either CKWX for the latest news or our all-traffic station CHMJ while driving. It takes the same amount of effort to switch to the AM band as it does to press a preset button. The AM band has a lot more life left in it than many people on this board realize.