"Steve" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Sep 3, 3:58 pm, "David Eduardo" wrote:

And the AM issue is one of quality, not of listeners per se. FM has solid
listening, over 95% usage per week, from age 12 up to over 65. What we
have
here is a challenge to improve AM quality, and the only way is a system
that
is compatible with FM digital. And that is HD.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If you have the data, why won't you read it and take it to heart? You
can't breathe new life into the horse-drawn carriage by putting shiny
new wheels on it. I appreciate that you probably have an emotional
investment in AM that makes it hard to acknowledge the challenges it
faces, but it will be easier to confront the facts now than later.

There are 430 AM stations billing over $1,000,000 a year, and ten billing
over $33 million. 2523 AMs are in the top 10 in billing in the rated
markets. 15 of the top 50 billing stations in America are AM.

AM is not dead yet, but the number of viable stations is low; all of those
high billing 15 stations are stations that fully cover their markets,
although not all are 50 kw clear channel stations.

The problem is that the programming on those stations works, but the appeal
to the generations that grew up on FM is lessened by the quality of AM
sound. Put the same format on FM, and it literally explodes in younger
demos. The answer is to fixs the sound, not to give up on billions of
dollars in assets and many tens of thousands of jobs.

Seriously, I wish things were different. I wish I could convince young
people not to buy ipods or iphones. I wish I could convince them to
stay away from myspace and facebook, but I can't. No one can. The
sooner you face this fact that better.

Various studies show that iPod users are greater consumers of radio than
non-users of iPods. The other things you mention are no different than the
completion from 45 rpm records, 8 Tracks, cassettes, video games, etc. There
are lots of entertainment choices, and always have been. In the 50's, TV was
going to kill radio... it just made radio change for the better. HD is one
of the changes that could improve AM radio; it certainly opens up many
opportunities for FMs to provide more formats and services in better
quality.