[AMRadio] The Future Of AM Broadcast Radio

[w5jo at brightok.net]

Up in North central Texas and Southern Oklahoma I have see a shift from all 
automated, canned programming to quite a bit of local programming and record 
spinning.  There is a 1KW station in Sherman/Dennison that is locally owned 
and operated by the owner.  He must do most of the record playing, news and 
still sweeps out.  His programming is an eclectic mix of old R&R along with 
some late big band.  In Gainesville, TX the local 250 watter plays similar 
music, but more R&R.  Then up in Durant, OK the 5 KW station on 750  plays 
R&R from the mid 60s up through the 70s.

Over in Madill is a 250 watt station that does a nice mix of R&R along with 
some old country utilizing local talent, also one in Shawnee, OK and 
Decatur, TX .  Most all of these stations, save the Sherman one, have 
switched to their format in the past couple of years or so.  All the them 
are like you describe part of the day, Jim, and fun to monitor.  I keep one 
or the other playing all day long, except for the Decatur station which is a 
bit far for my set, that is until the sun dogs get them.

This action by the FCC seems to have worked to some degree

https://www.fcc.gov/document/commission-adopts-nprm-revitalize-am-broadcast-radio-service

and being an old DJ, part time engineer, news reader and commercial 
writer/recorder, I hope they continue to provide entertainment to the 
masses.  AM/FM radio, to this day reaches 95% of individuals.

Jim
W5JO


-----Original Message----- 

There is an interesting in the current edition of Electronic Design dot com 
about the future of AM Radio.

The Future of AM Radio

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|   |  |   |   |   |   |   |
| The Future of AM RadioCan you believe AM radio is still around? Seems so 
retro, but it is still useful. Nevertheless, AM radio has been in decline 
for years, with many AM stations going ... |
|  |
| View on electronicdesign.com | Preview by Yahoo |
|  |
|   |


One comment at the end struck me. This was from Don Tuite2:

"It's more about revenue models than modulation. Circa 1975, I supplemented 
my free-lance tech-writing with a part-timeDJ gig as the bridge DJ between 
the morning-drive and nighttime jocks at a 5-kW am directional (with fm 
simulcast). I'd play the 45s the program director picked out for me, punched 
up the carts with the long-running ads, read the one-shot ads the station 
copywriter typed up, pulled the hourly news off the teletype, taped the feed 
from Paul Harvey, all for minimum wage.
That's not to complain about how underpaid I was, but to point out how many 
jobs that pipsqueak operation in a couple of rooms over a candy store: a GM, 
a couple salesmen, a copywriter, a part-time engineer, 3 DJs, and a admin.
And it made money for the license-owner.
And most of the ads were local. And, when there was a high school basketball 
game we could get a telco feed from, the night DJ would have a couple of 
hours of light duty reading the local commercials while one of the salesmen 
called the play-by-play and interviewed the coaches during halftimes.
Today, local am is all automated with canned feeds from some common source 
in Texas. Or Mars, or somewhere. One salesperson can service half a state.
Meanwhile the people in the larger demographics are streaming custom content 
and paying for it directly.
See what you've done, Lou. . . you've made me nostalgic for CONELRAD 
alerts."
JimWd5JKO
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