Signs of the AM Apocalypse

[DrAkbar]

Some pretty obvious ones include...

- Only one live daypart a day (or none)

- No longer mentioning your AM frequency, but promoting only your translator's frequency

- Downgrading from Class B to Class D so you can run non-directional with one tower and less than 250 watts at night.

- Selling the land under your sticks and diplexing, or triplexing, or see above.

- Donating to a non-profit for a tax credit 'cause the value of the license is virtually nothing

- Becoming the Valley's 9th Sports Parkinglot

- Becoming the Valley's 11th religious station

- Going Spanish, knowing there aint many Spanish language listeners on AM

- Returning to the air a couple of days after staying silent for almost a year...then repeating the same cycle

- Throwing in the towel and surrendering the license

 

[asugeorge1]

Some pretty obvious ones include...

- Only one live daypart a day (or none)

- No longer mentioning your AM frequency, but promoting only your translator's frequency

- Downgrading from Class B to Class D so you can run non-directional with one tower and less than 250 watts at night.

- Selling the land under your sticks and diplexing, or triplexing, or see above.

- Donating to a non-profit for a tax credit 'cause the value of the license is virtually nothing

- Becoming the Valley's 9th Sports Parkinglot

- Becoming the Valley's 11th religious station

- Going Spanish, knowing there aint many Spanish language listeners on AM

- Returning to the air a couple of days after staying silent for almost a year...then repeating the same cycle

- Throwing in the towel and surrendering the license

1440 KAZG getting rid of their Lamptimer and now not even promoting the fact they broadcast on the AM dial.

 

[johndavis]

This is why I questioned FM translators as a way of "revitalizing AM." All that giving someone 250 watts on FM does is

- acknowledge that the AM band is worthless

- overcrowd the FM band so it's as messy as the AM band became after too many stations were added to it

Now had they moved stations to FM (even at 250 watts) and then shut down the AM as part of the deal, you might have a shot at cleaning up Ancient Modulation.

Even then, it's really telling that Gates Air decided that it's more profitable for them to stop making AM transmitters after parts went obsolete and concentrate on the TV repack and worry about redesigning them after repack is complete.

 

[K6JHU]

From the FCC, as of January 1...

"the count of AM stations fell by 30 stations to 4,639 at end of 2017, continuing a trend of recent years for AM"

 

[TheBigA]

From the FCC, as of January 1...

"the count of AM stations fell by 30 stations to 4,639 at end of 2017, continuing a trend of recent years for AM"

Leading the FCC's Bill Lake to call AM revitalization "a resounding success."

 

[CTListener]

Leading the FCC's Bill Lake to call AM revitalization "a resounding success."

Since the intent from the outset was to give owners of AMs a chance to improve the bottom line by giving them frequencies on FM, the band that under-55 people listen to, the label "AM revitalization" should have been "AM owners' profit margin revitalization." I don't remember anyone claiming that this was going to get people listening to AM again, but it has gotten them listening to programming they wouldn't have known about had it stayed strictly on AM. In that way, I can buy into Lake's "resounding success" characterization.

Those 30 AMs that went dark because their owners didn't or couldn't apply for an FM translator, thus, aren't a negative. They weren't making money, so the more of them that fold, the more successful the "revitalization" looks.

 

[TheBigA]

Those 30 AMs that went dark because their owners didn't or couldn't apply for an FM translator, thus, aren't a negative. They weren't making money, so the more of them that fold, the more successful the "revitalization" looks.

Depends on how you view it. The goal of the FCC is to keep as many of its licenses active as possible. Here are 30 that are now dark, and likely to stay dark. That's 30 stations that won't be paying their license fee this year. So in that way, it's less revenue for the FCC, and therefore a negative.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Since the intent from the outset was to give owners of AMs a chance to improve the bottom line by giving them frequencies on FM, the band that under-55 people listen to, the label "AM revitalization" should have been "AM owners' profit margin revitalization." I don't remember anyone claiming that this was going to get people listening to AM again, but it has gotten them listening to programming they wouldn't have known about had it stayed strictly on AM. In that way, I can buy into Lake's "resounding success" characterization.

I agree that the FCC term of "revitalization" is inaccurate. They are not doing anything to help AM stations themselves, but, as you say, they are giving a pathway to FM where the stations may survive.

Mexico did this in a more truthful and transparent manner: Their congress decreed that the AM band was no longer viable, and to preserve investments, jobs and diversity of voices, they instituted a plan to move as many AMs as possible to FM. At the same time, they made changes in technical rules regarding second adjacent channel protection to allow for more stations and to open the high end of the FM band to be re-purposed for community and social stations.

 

[DrAkbar]

Mexico did this in a more truthful and transparent manner: Their congress decreed that the AM band was no longer viable, and to preserve investments, jobs and diversity of voices, they instituted a plan to move as many AMs as possible to FM. At the same time, they made changes in technical rules regarding second adjacent channel protection to allow for more stations and to open the high end of the FM band to be re-purposed for community and social stations.

We could learn something from our neighbors to the south, as well as the north regarding Ancient Modulation. However, with the over abundance of translators jamming the FM dial in most major markets, there's no way now. I've got Nurse Jeff scouring the skies to see if frogs are falling, then I'll know it's the AM Apocalypse fer sure!

 

[CTListener]

Depends on how you view it. The goal of the FCC is to keep as many of its licenses active as possible. Here are 30 that are now dark, and likely to stay dark. That's 30 stations that won't be paying their license fee this year. So in that way, it's less revenue for the FCC, and therefore a negative.

That's an odd way to think about it. The content producer (the station owner) is finding a way to bring back -- and add -- advertisers. The advertisers are finding new people to get their messages across to. Why should they care that 30 AMs with non-existent listenership or revenue have given up the ghost, or that the FCC is taking in less in license fees from AM than it was last year? And why should I (a listener) care about any of that? All I know is that I've got a couple of presets on my car FM radio that weren't there before "revitalization" -- and I wasn't listening to the AMs they relay before. Win-win-win when it comes to the people who matter most in this effort, if you ask me.

 

[TheBigA]

Win-win-win when it comes to the people who matter most in this effort, if you ask me.

Sure, I understand that perspective. But spectrum is spectrum, and the FCC is supposed to be doing things to preserve it. Just another example of the failure of government.

The annoying part is some will blame the current situation on owners. But there's not much they can do, other than move to a better neighborhood.

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I've got Nurse Jeff scouring the skies to see if frogs are falling, then I'll know it's the AM Apocalypse fer sure!

That would be truly bad for business at the Media Hut.

 

[K6JHU]

I think the phrase used to be "Voting with your feet".

And keeping an AM alive by simulcasting on an FM translator is more in the nature of 'life support' than revitalization.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I've got Nurse Jeff scouring the skies to see if frogs are falling, then I'll know it's the AM Apocalypse fer sure!

Scorpions have been reported to be falling in the Carefree area.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I think the phrase used to be "Voting with your feet".

And keeping an AM alive by simulcasting on an FM translator is more in the nature of 'life support' than revitalization.

Many of the better translators are vastly better than the AMs they supplement, signal coverage wise, than anything on a local channel and they are, of course, superior to any class of daytimer and to most 1 kw or less AM above 1200.

 

[TheBigA]

Many of the better translators are vastly better, signal coverage wise, than anything on a local channel and they are, of course, superior to any class of daytimer and to most 1 kw or less AM above 1200

Certainly better audio quality, that's for sure.

 

[DrAkbar]

I've got Nurse Jeff scouring the skies to see if frogs are falling, then I'll know it's the AM Apocalypse fer sure!

That would be truly bad for business at the Media Hut.

But wait 'til you try our tasty french-fried frog on a stick. Why let the State Fair have all the fun with the disgusting things that are dropped into a deep fat fryer?!

 

[CAVEMANager]

This is why I questioned FM translators as a way of "revitalizing AM." All that giving someone 250 watts on FM does is

- acknowledge that the AM band is worthless

- overcrowd the FM band so it's as messy as the AM band became after too many stations were added to it.

I've often wondered how you can revitalize the AM band by giving AM stations FM licenses. It's a bit like trying to revitalize the horse by entitling every horse owner to a car. I think that the FM band was established in the 1940s and in well over 70 years not one new FM channel has been added, though new stations get authorized like there is no tomorrow. One of the biggest reasons why AM radio is doing so poorly is way too many stations on each channel, especially at night. It's like being in a room with 25 people talking at once and you can't understand any of them. If you doubt this try turning across the AM band any night and see what you hear. So to fix this problem we're screwing up the FM band in the same way. We allow translators and LPFMs by relaxing interference standards. This creates tiny islands of service in oceans of interference. A major cause of this mess is broadcasters asking for more stations and the FCC basing its policies on politics instead of sound engineering. One solution that was proposed a few years ago was to establish a new digital band on what were TV channels 5 and 6 which are presently vacant. That proposal appears to be going nowhere because cell phone companies have more political pull than broadcasters have.

 

[DavidEduardo]

One solution that was proposed a few years ago was to establish a new digital band on what were TV channels 5 and 6 which are presently vacant. That proposal appears to be going nowhere because cell phone companies have more political pull than broadcasters have.

In an era when nobody buys a single-use device like a radio, creating a new band that makes obsolete ever existing radio in the nation would simply not work.

And that whole idea bases the future on an RF-based distribution platform that is not one for the future.

Where "new" bands have been tried, they have only worked where most broadcasting is government administered, such as England and certain Scandinavian nations. And even then, they have had to roll back the silencing of analog broadcasts because doing so would deprive much of the population of radio service.

Canada, where the DAB band was pushed and activated, consumers showed no interest.

And the major impediment to creating a DAB system in the US is not the cellular industry, but the use of the appropriate channels by the military.

 

[MarioMania]

This should be in the FCC sub forum, Not here