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The end of AM radio in your car?

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Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#11

Post by cwkoss »

guywithahat wrote: post #2

This 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

No way that's true. Wonder if they're getting selection bias, ex. the 90% of the people who are willing to take an unsolicited survey on their land line phone.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#12

Post by RF_Enthusiast »

r00fus wrote: post #7
guywithahat wrote: post #2

This 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.

You may listen more than you think. Also counted is in-store (and in-restaurant) listening. That's the main reason why so many stations go with all-Christmas music formats.

Most independently owned retail and eating establishments also qualify for a copyright infringement exemption if they play music originated by a radio or television broadcast station licensed by the FCC [1].

[1] 17 US Code §110(5) https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/110>

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#13

Post by RF_Enthusiast »

toss1 wrote: post #4
guywithahat wrote: post #2

This 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…

Just an example: In Seattle, the #2 rated station last month was KIRO-AM 710. Sports play-by-play and local sports talk performs really well on AM [1].

In the same ratings book, the religious and right-wing talk radio on AM continued with a poor performance. I think that generally content is more important than the technology delivering the audio (although probably anything would perform better to at least some extent on FM).

[1] https://radioinsight.com/ratings/seattle-tacoma/>

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#14

Post by stu2010 »

I haven't seen much discussion about how AM gets used for local road condition or emergency communication. When you're driving and see a sign that says "TUNE TO 1610 AM" and the car has no AM receiver, what do you do?

This may be a shrinking niche, but it's potentially a last bastion of AM radio usefulness.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#15

Post by olyjohn »

dctoedt wrote: post #9

AM 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.

From the Portland area, I could pick up KGO from San Fransisco at night. Never cared for the content as a kid, but it was still fascinating!

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#16

Post by splitstud »

RF_Enthusiast wrote: post #13
toss1 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Just an example: In Seattle, the #2 rated station last month was KIRO-AM 710. Sports play-by-play and local sports talk performs really well on AM [1]. In the same ratings book, the religious and right-wing talk radio on AM continued with a poor performance. I think that generally content is more important than the technology delivering the audio (although probably anything would perform better to at least some exten…

No post body was provided.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#17

Post by aidenn0 »

stu2010 wrote: post #14

I haven't seen much discussion about how AM gets used for local road condition or emergency communication. When you're driving and see a sign that says "TUNE TO 1610 AM" and the car has no AM receiver, what do you do? This may be a shrinking niche, but it's potentially a last bastion of AM radio usefulness.

What about sports broadcasts? I often listen to games in my car on AM.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#18

Post by StanislavPetrov »

andirk wrote: post #5
guywithahat wrote: post #2

This 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.

It seems reasonable to include things like FUBO, which offer both broadcast and TV channels.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#19

Post by StanislavPetrov »

toss1 wrote: post #4
guywithahat wrote: post #2

This 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…

Here in NY I regularly tune into AM for news/traffic reports and sports events.

Re: The end of AM radio in your car?

#20

Post by audiofish »

AM radio is a pretty poor standard considering how much power and bandwidth it uses, due much to the very limited modulation technology available in the 1920s.

DRM (no not that DRM--Digital Radio Mondiale) is a modern digital standard that promises much better spectral efficiency, power efficiency and range. See https://www.drm.org/. It is similar in concept to DAB, using an OFDM carrier, but with more robust error correction and equalisation, and lower bit rate codec to handle larger broadcast areas.

There is a hope that this could upgrade existing AM broadcast infrastructure, allowing rapid coverage of large areas without the expense of building out new towers.

The MW/HF bands are great for coverage because of the longer wavelength, relative to the VHF bands used for FM and DAB.

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