"PocketRadio" wrote in message
...

For some reason Eduardo just hates AM radio - AM radio, with its
successful programming is here to stay.

I don't think David "hates AM radio". He is merely stating that, as a
*business*, AM radio is dying. Sure there are still plenty of AM stations
on the air, but they are also moving to FM simulcasts as fast as they can.
How long do you think it will be before the AM part gets shut down?

In my local market here, we had a new AM sports talk station come on about 2
years ago. Frankly, I was amazed. They were *heavily* advertising that it
would be a 50,000 watt station, to cover the entire (large) metro area with
a good signal. However, 2 years later they no longer advertise 50,000
watts, they are *not* 50,000 watts (I can still barely hear it) but they
*do* have a new, powerful FM simulcast that sounds fantastic.

AM radio, with its successful programming, is moving to FM. Existing music
FM stations are the ones in trouble, because no one listens to them any
longer. MP3 players rule the music market now.

This also explains the low interest in HD. If we accept that AM is dying,
then there is obviously no need for AM HD. If FM is becoming the new AM -
mostly news/talk/sports - then again there is no need for HD since analog FM
is more than good enough for that content.

"Bob Campbell" wrote in message
...
"PocketRadio" wrote in message
...

For some reason Eduardo just hates AM radio - AM radio, with its
successful programming is here to stay.

I don't think David "hates AM radio". He is merely stating that, as a
*business*, AM radio is dying. Sure there are still plenty of AM
stations on the air, but they are also moving to FM simulcasts as fast as
they can. How long do you think it will be before the AM part gets shut
down?

In my local market here, we had a new AM sports talk station come on about
2 years ago. Frankly, I was amazed. They were *heavily* advertising
that it would be a 50,000 watt station, to cover the entire (large) metro
area with a good signal. However, 2 years later they no longer advertise
50,000 watts, they are *not* 50,000 watts (I can still barely hear it) but
they *do* have a new, powerful FM simulcast that sounds fantastic.

AM radio, with its successful programming, is moving to FM. Existing
music FM stations are the ones in trouble, because no one listens to them
any longer. MP3 players rule the music market now.

FM, where music dominates by something like 25 to 1, has not had the issues
that AM has had. In fact, most of the erosion of listening is caused by AM.
Were FM only numbers to be produced, listening levels would be considerably
higher... another reason why AM is dying.

FM music stations that are at the top of their markets in ratings do very
well. None are in imminent danger of dying. It's the stations that can't
find a niche or are badly managed that are in trouble.

Anecdotally, I have a story of a station that failed with four or five music
formats in LA. Everything was blamed by the management itself. It was sold,
and form an average over 10 years of a 1 to 1.2 share, it immediately went
into the 6 share range. As I said in another post, the FMs at the bottom of
the ratings are there because they are doing a bad job (or are rimshots or
A's in a big market), not because of lack of listeners to FM.

This also explains the low interest in HD. If we accept that AM is
dying, then there is obviously no need for AM HD. If FM is becoming the
new AM - mostly news/talk/sports - then again there is no need for HD
since analog FM is more than good enough for that content.

Talk shows sound so much better in HD... I never use the analog option any
more.

"David Eduardo" wrote in message
...

Talk shows sound so much better in HD... I never use the analog option any
more.

Talk shows sound so much better on FM. I never use the AM option any more.

Seriously, no one is going to buy FMHD radios to listen to talk. That's
like buying a 46" LCD 1080 HD TV to watch 1930s B/W movies. Sure, you
*can*, but it is not the reason you bought the TV.

"Bob Campbell" wrote in message
news
"David Eduardo" wrote in message
...

Talk shows sound so much better in HD... I never use the analog option
any more.

Talk shows sound so much better on FM. I never use the AM option any
more.

Seriously, no one is going to buy FMHD radios to listen to talk. That's
like buying a 46" LCD 1080 HD TV to watch 1930s B/W movies. Sure, you
*can*, but it is not the reason you bought the TV.

I agree with that.... but share-wise, talk, news talk and all news is 10% of
radio listening at most and more like around 5% outside some major markets.
For music, there is a nice difference and the HD2 channels are an added
bonus.

"David Eduardo" wrote in message
...
I agree with that.... but share-wise, talk, news talk and all news is 10%
of radio listening at most and more like around 5% outside some major
markets. For music, there is a nice difference and the HD2 channels are an
added bonus.

But if more and more FMs are becoming news/talk/sports (and they clearly
are), then that share is going to increase, and these new FMs will not be
driving HD. If anything, they will be thinking "yeah we tried HD on AM and
it went nowhere. Therefore we are not interested in it for our FM
station".

The existing music FMs can/are making use of HD (particularly the 2nd
channels). I'm talking about the future.

Here is my anecdote. I was seriously thinking of getting an HD radio this
year. But nearly everything I listen to these days is internet radio.
What I did instead was get some low power AM and FM transmitters. I
currently have 4 transmitters going here (580, 630 and 800 AM, and 107.9
FM). 3 are running internet streams, and the other is just an MP3 player
on random play.

If nothing is on the commercial stations that interests me, I now have other
choices.

Bob Campbell wrote:


Here is my anecdote. I was seriously thinking of getting an HD radio
this year. But nearly everything I listen to these days is internet
radio. What I did instead was get some low power AM and FM
transmitters. I currently have 4 transmitters going here (580, 630 and
800 AM, and 107.9 FM). 3 are running internet streams, and the other
is just an MP3 player on random play.

If nothing is on the commercial stations that interests me, I now have
other choices.


I have a Clarion Sirius transmitter on 88.1 MHz, (BBC World Service News
24/7). I have a Whole House Gold on 107.9 for the web radio. "Nova M
Radio" Cynthia Black.

"none" ""dave\"@(none)" wrote in message
m...
I have a Clarion Sirius transmitter on 88.1 MHz, (BBC World Service News
24/7). I have a Whole House Gold on 107.9 for the web radio. "Nova M
Radio" Cynthia Black.


Yeah, the Whole House Gold is a great little unit. I get about 1/4 mile
range with mine. The trick is to not follow the instructions regarding the
antenna. They say to mount it vertically. Doing it that way I couldn't
get good reception even in the same room. String the antenna wire
horizontally on a wall. Mine is on the 2nd floor of my house and sends out
a great signal.

"Bob Campbell" wrote in message
m...
"David Eduardo" wrote in message
...
I agree with that.... but share-wise, talk, news talk and all news is 10%
of radio listening at most and more like around 5% outside some major
markets. For music, there is a nice difference and the HD2 channels are
an added bonus.

But if more and more FMs are becoming news/talk/sports (and they clearly
are), then that share is going to increase, and these new FMs will not be
driving HD. If anything, they will be thinking "yeah we tried HD on AM
and it went nowhere. Therefore we are not interested in it for our FM
station".

All but, I believe, one (KGO) of the major (meaning "they have ratings")
AMs, of which there are between 0 and 3 in most of the top 100 markets are
owned by groups that have one or two AMs and up to 5 FMs locally. They will
understand HD, and, if they move a talker to FM, they will see the value in
the HD-2 channel, even if it is used to rent to a content provider. Since
only a couple of FMs will be able to sustain talk (it's really exp0ensive),
still 80% to 90% of FMs will be music and entertainment based.