[Revel]

Digital signals also have a much shorter range. When the signal gets too weak or there is a lot interference then it won’t work at all.

[Da Coyote]

I believe that local FM is still alive there. It’s only the national broadcast stuff. And, if their gubmit radio is anything like NPR, who’d waste money on getting digital to listen to some undereducated idiots spout the gubmit line?

[KarlInOhio]

The error correction coding in the signal keeps it sounding near perfect when you would start to notice some noise and fading in an analog signal. But weaken the signal a little beyond that and it becomes impossible to decode at the point analog would sound like crap and be marginally understandable. The range isn't inherently shorter, just the difference between great and unusable has a shorter cutoff. All broadcast radio signals are analog - it's just whether the modulation is AM, FM or digital.

If the range is shorter it is likely because the broadcaster is using less power and relying on error correction to make the signal usable at the edge of his broadcast area and no farther.