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


Something like that here, would be interesting to watch, give that talk
on FM, when tried, was not successful.

I do not think that the idea that you can do talk for people who are not
into talk will ever work. Talk listeners, aside from morning shows or potty
talk, appeals to 35+ in any language. So the issue is to make the delivery
method and the format relevant to the 35-44 group that should listen to
talk, but does not because they grew up after AM was the music medium of
choice and do not like it.

Many comment that "AM sounds fine to me." We find that in talking to
listeners... the older the listener, the more tolerant of AM LoFi they tend
to be. This is because the band has no inherent stigma, and these listeners
grew up on the sound... as awful as it is.

Since stations on AM went to talk formats because they could not do music
one, we know music is the last thing that may come back to AM with HD. For a
start, talk shows will sound better to the 35-44 demo and help keep stations
with a good balance of 35-54 to counter the "old" perception by buyers.

Asking under-35's, in their majority, to listen to any kind of talk with
content is not going to work. I have done personality heavy stations that
played 4 or 5 songs an hour all day, but there was a music base and the talk
was not political... it was lifestyle. I think we will see some creative
attempts and a bunch of failures before we find out how to make AM become
relevant to younger demos. Personally, I think it is going to be fun. And in
the long run, it will benefit listeners.... look how the fear of death after
the TV freeze forced music radio to develop into a robust alternative.



If you're right, and I'm not fully convinced you are about this, what
you're suggesting is something of a second, if not third, Golden Age,
where innovation is survival, and creativity sells.

IF that were to happen, you may be on to something very exciting. But
it would take some visionary players. And some investors 'hands off.'