"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
David Eduardo wrote:

What station? I'm curious about this...

I'm having trouble receiving WLS. The offending station, I'm not
sure. I can't make out much due to the IBOC rash from there down.


I'd be interested in what your engineer has to say.

I am going to contact him today. He is in the middle of an AM site move, so
he has all the necesary gear out and can probably do a spot check.

If things were that dire, it would make sense to have a less
intrusive/obtrusive implementation strategy. Disenfranchising local
listening with digital noise on a band that's fighting for it's survival,
is like everything that's been done to AM in the last 30 years:
shortsighted, and ultimately, counterproductive.

This is about the first case of such interference with a "big" station I
have heard of. In some cases, there are cases of stations losing fringe
coverage, such as Salem's decision to turn off HD on WIND to protect the
very rural coverage of 540 outside Milwaukee. But, for most broadcasters,
there has been a reasoned decision to sacrifice some remote coverage for the
improved quality of HD in the metros.

It may be this is akin to making the decision to ride a flat on the rim to
get out of dangerous traffic... you save your life, but ruin the rim. It is
a trade off.


Taking your scenario one step further... if AM is truly on it's last,
tentative legs, and AM stations of significant investment are in dire
straits, and if the large companies are beginning to move AM stations to
the FM band, where, say, in Chicago would stations like WBBM, WGN, WSCR,
WLS go? There are no open allocations. And it's not like there are any
allocations that would be worthy of sacrifice. And Young Talk was tried
here. It failed dismally. (Ask Turi Ryder how many times she's been here.)
Where would that content go? Where would Rush, Hannity, Levin, or even
Franken, Rhodes, Springer and Malloy go?

In Phoenix, Bonneville bought a top 10 CHR, and is going to simulcast KTAR
on it. In Salt Lake, they took a lower-performing FM and nuked the
programming to simulcast KSL. In both cases, the AM had no coverage or
interference issues.

In Washington, they moved WTOP, the frequent #1 station to FM, and did niche
formatting on the old AM channel which was the best Am signal in DC.

Clear Channel took Tallahassee's best AM (1270) and moved news talk to an FM
that was lower in billings and put only sports on the AM, WNLS.

This sort of thing is starting to happen, with the intervals being less and
less between swaps.

There are some markets where AM just willnot survive, as there are literally
no full coverage stations. In most rural areas the billing is now on FM, and
the AMs are also dieing. A good example is Moberly, MO. The Class IV KWIX
was famous as a local station that, in the 70's, billed over $1 million.
Today, it barely does $100 thousand while the sister FM bills nearly $2
million. KWIX was so famous that they even had a school where they trained
sales management of smaller market stations. But the AM, in obviously
competent hands, has become a rider on the FM bandwagon. It is a 1 kw
operation on 1340, while the FM is a full C. Nobody in that part of Missouri
is being deprived of AM service since I find about 8 FMs now put a 60 dbu
over Moberly, so the local service has imporved.


More to the point, if AM is over in 10 or less, and you're looking at a
5 year implementation, do you really think that there's a chance in less
than 5 years remaining you can rebuild what you've lost?

I don't think it is about rebuilding. Once HD has adequater receivers, there
will be new formats. Some, like WGN, made the mistake of ageing with the
listener and may be dead for all time.

David, I certainly see how you've arrived at your conclusions, Radio
being what it has always been and all...but what you're describing is a
roll of the dice with far greater chance of crapping out than staying in
the game. Almost entirely by serving the needs of advertisers and
broadcasters over the needs of listeners who ultimately carry the water.

The reason AM is losing viability is that it only attracts 55+ listeners.
Advertisers do not buy this crowd, so eventually, stations start losing
money. All free radio formats work only if there is advertiser support. This
is why teen lsitening is lower than 18-54. We don't program to teens, as
there is no revenue.

And if Radio is really more about Radio than it is about the audience,
is it any wonder why listenership and revenues are eroding in favor of
alternative outlets?

Revenue is not eroding. It is growing slowly, but is, in the last few years,
over 8% of all ad revenue for the first time since post-freeze days.

Non traditional outlets permitting mass customization vs traditional radio
where answers to complaints are met with prepackaged corporate non
responses, and listeners can be disenfranchised by a statistician in a
locked room.

There are a percentage of people to whom mass appeal offerings are not
appealing, starting with teens and over 55. Radio can not afford to go after
these groups, so they must find alternatives.