The end of AM radio in your car?
boston.com
The end of AM radio in your car?
1–10 of 104 posts
Re: The end of AM radio in your car?
#2This is the most interestingly line from his letter:
> nearly 90 percent of Americans ages 12 and older — totaling hundreds of millions of people — listened to AM or FM radio each week, higher than the percentage that watch television (56 percent) or own a computer (77 percent)
Admittedly it seems dubious but if true I'm surprised by basically every one of these numbers
Re: The end of AM radio in your car?
#3This is the most interestingly line from his letter: > nearly 90 percent of Americans ages 12 and older — totaling hundreds of millions of people — listened to AM or FM radio each week, higher than the percentage that watch television (56 percent) or own a computer (77 percent) Admittedly it seems dubious but if true I'm surprised by basically every one of these numbers
All this requires to be true is that basically all Americans who are in a car weekly turn on the radio when driving, which is very believable. Some people also still have a radio in the kitchen of course.
Re: The end of AM radio in your car?
#4This is the most interestingly line from his letter: > nearly 90 percent of Americans ages 12 and older — totaling hundreds of millions of people — listened to AM or FM radio each week, higher than the percentage that watch television (56 percent) or own a computer (77 percent) Admittedly it seems dubious but if true I'm surprised by basically every one of these numbers
Note the "listened to AM OR FM radio each week", emphasis on the "or".
I can't say how long it has been since I checked the AM dial while driving (basically hit it by accident), but years it he most appropriate unit. What I heard (northeastern US) seemed to support some data I read that it is mostly taken over by religious and Limbaugh-type right-wing talk radio. So, that strongly left- Sen. Markey is supporting it so strongly says something. But, if there are actually high listener ship, then for sure, it could be a critical emergency communications channel, and worthwhile just for that
Re: The end of AM radio in your car?
#5This is the most interestingly line from his letter: > nearly 90 percent of Americans ages 12 and older — totaling hundreds of millions of people — listened to AM or FM radio each week, higher than the percentage that watch television (56 percent) or own a computer (77 percent) Admittedly it seems dubious but if true I'm surprised by basically every one of these numbers
I wonder what "watch television" means these days. I don't know many people who have broadcast or cable TV.
Re: The end of AM radio in your car?
#6This is the most interestingly line from his letter: > nearly 90 percent of Americans ages 12 and older — totaling hundreds of millions of people — listened to AM or FM radio each week, higher than the percentage that watch television (56 percent) or own a computer (77 percent) Admittedly it seems dubious but if true I'm surprised by basically every one of these numbers
Note the "listened to AM OR FM radio each week", emphasis on the "or". I can't say how long it has been since I checked the AM dial while driving (basically hit it by accident), but years it he most appropriate unit. What I heard (northeastern US) seemed to support some data I read that it is mostly taken over by religious and Limbaugh-type right-wing talk radio. So, that strongly left- Sen. Markey is supporting it s…
[dead]
Re: The end of AM radio in your car?
#7This is the most interestingly line from his letter: > nearly 90 percent of Americans ages 12 and older — totaling hundreds of millions of people — listened to AM or FM radio each week, higher than the percentage that watch television (56 percent) or own a computer (77 percent) Admittedly it seems dubious but if true I'm surprised by basically every one of these numbers
Does it count those instances where my Ford randomly plays FM radio (sometimes even randomly AM) before I managed to connect BT/Carplay or if that either of those happen to disconnect?
Because that's about the limit of my usage of any terrestrial radio.
Re: The end of AM radio in your car?
#8This is the most interestingly line from his letter: > nearly 90 percent of Americans ages 12 and older — totaling hundreds of millions of people — listened to AM or FM radio each week, higher than the percentage that watch television (56 percent) or own a computer (77 percent) Admittedly it seems dubious but if true I'm surprised by basically every one of these numbers
I wonder what "watch television" means these days. I don't know many people who have broadcast or cable TV.
Trending down slowly, but still 40% of US households:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/612660/paid-services-bro...
Re: The end of AM radio in your car?
#9AM radio broadcasts can reach somewhat farther than FM (and way farther at night on clear channels); that might matter in an emergency.
As a middle-schooler living in the Washington DC area, I would regularly pick up WLS in Chicago, some 700 miles away, on my little crystal set at night.
Re: The end of AM radio in your car?
#10> The AM band in the United States covers frequencies from 540 kHz up to 1700 kHz
I wonder if there's something useful to do with that range. It's a big chunk of lower frequencies right there, in the range that reliably does over-the-horizon propagation (although better at night perhaps according to wikipedia?)
The benefit of AM being super simple to build a receiver for is less relevant nowadays, FM is trivial to get radios for now, and ham radio uses SSB for voice for the most part in the lower frequency ranges.