From: john\@zygot.ati.com (John Higdon)
Subject: Re: AM radio needn't die 
Originator: wdp@gagme
Organization: Green Hills and Cows
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 00:57:57 GMT

mayer\@miami.ucs.indiana.edu (Darla Stewart) writes:

> I believe AM can make it... but it takes a lot of work, constant effort, and
> not a few bucks spent. Certainly FMs have an easier time... but there are
> the AMs who are making it with music formats.

I think you are dreaming. Can you give substantive reason why the slide
into oblivion will not continue for AM? Given the high cost of
transmission (land, engineering, maintenance), the inferior sound
quality (let's not debate that--anyone with an ear considers it fact),
the noise, and a host of other deficiencies including the perception
that AM is just no longer "cool", how can you "hang in there"?

And you are right about "not a few bucks spent". It is more like "major
bucks spent". And given the low income potential for English language
AM broadcasting these days, just where are these bucks going to come
from?

Consider this: FM stereo was introduced around 1960. By 1970, you would
have been hard pressed to find an FM station in a major market that was
not broadcasting in stereo. In other words, it caught on big time. Here
we are with heavily-touted AM stereo ten years later. You are lucky if
you can find 10% stereo penetration in a major market. There is no
standardization. And (as we have read here), the public is virtually
unaware of it all. Nobody cares.


I grew up when AM was king. When I got into radio, working for an AM
was working for a REAL radio station. Only AM could be heard across the
country at night. Any radio you could buy could pick up AM stations. It
was indeed the universal mass communication. I remember so well having
a great sense of accomplishment after spending an entire night
adjusting KLOK's Ampliphase so that it sounded "wonderful" ("almost as
good as FM" is what we used to say). Having a 50KW AM was like having a
Rolls. It was the top of the heap in most markets. The vast amount of
time I spent working on AM transmitters and directionals was very
rewarding because AM was an important and significant influence.

That is all over now. AM peaked in the 70's and is now on the slide.
The country does not need behemoth regional stations anymore. People
are more interested in audio quality in the digital age than they are
about DXing. Anyone who tells me that any amount of set up and
adjustment can make a CD sound as good on an AM station as it does on a
properly processed FM needs a hearing check or a reality check.

And what about directionals? They are still tricky to adjust, can
consume vast amounts of an engineer's time, and can be VERY expensive
to repair. FM has no such problems. So right there you have a cost
differential that can make AM much less viable. Then there is painting
and lighting. FMs usually share towers with other services so these
costs can be spread around. And last but not least, there is the cost
of the land the towers sit on. Most AM stations in this country were
built on very cheap land that has now skyrocketed in value as the
cities have expanded outward. I could name quite a few stations that
sit on land worth more than the whole radio station. Like KEEN, for
instance.

So thank you for your little example of an AM station that is still
making it. More power to the owner. If there is a market for the
product, then by all means hang in there and fill it. But anyone who
denies the reality of the decline and fall of AM in general is caught
in some space/time warp. The reasons for AM's demise are certainly
plain and obvious; we are not dealing with a mystery here. Pure
business logic would condemn any product that is inferior on the whole
and cost more to produce than the alternative.

I am as romantic as the next guy. I can look back with very fond
memories of AM adventure. It was fun and it was rewarding. But it is
over. It is time to move on.

-- 
        John Higdon         |   P. O. Box 7648   |   +1 408 264 4115
    john\@zygot.ati.com      | San Jose, CA 95150 |       M o o !

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