Posted on 12/30/2006 9:02:48 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
Radio broadcasts on medium wave will end within a few years if a powerful coalition of commercial radio interests has its way.
Ofcom, commercial radio's regulatory body, will launch a debate in the coming months on the future of radio.
Many predict that it will result in the end of AM broadcasts as we have known them since the days of the Home Service and Light Programme.
The growth of digital broadcasts, either on radio, over the internet or through digital television, has left commercial AM broadcasts with only 3.8 per cent of the national audience this year.
While the BBC remains on the sidelines — the vast bulk of its weekly Radio Five Live audience of 5.7 million still listens on AM — leading figures in the commercial sector are determined to sound the death knell of medium wave.
The commercial stations are having to face up to the dwindling numbers tuning in to AM stations as people opt for FM broadcasts or, increasingly, the higher quality of digital broadcasts.
"The current AM licences are up for renewal in 2011 and 2012," an Ofcom spokesman said yesterday. "The question we have to address is whether or not these stations will be commercially viable by then."
Fru Hazlitt, the chief executive of Virgin Radio, is an outspoken critic of AM.
"We pay huge amounts of money to Ofcom for the AM licence," she said. "Within the next year or two we should switch it off. It just isn't worth it."
Andy Duncan, the chief executive of Channel 4, predicted that, over the next five to 10 years, AM and FM listening would wither away.
Capital Radio bosses have also been calling on the Government to set a date to switch off both AM and FM.
Not everyone agrees, however, that AM is a dead duck. Emap, whose Magic AM has been relaunched nationwide, believes there is still a place for medium wave.
Ofcom said it hoped to begin a wide consultation over the future of AM.
"There could be much more effective uses for this spectrum — it could be used for community radio," the spokesman said. "The growth of digital at the cost of analogue cannot be ignored."
I haven't listened to AM eadio in at least 10 years. Tried talk radio then but too many commercials.
Which is what they said when the first FM converters came out 35 years ago. Nothing beats listening to a baseball game on AM radio.
The only thing better than baseball on AM radio was listening to the National Lampoon Radio Hour over the AM freqs (although I think it was broadcast over lower freq FM in the 70s.
People still listen to radio? I'm all podcast all the time.
Bump for what you said. Also why our cellphone technology is behind most of the world.
And here in DC, one could follow the "play by play" action of WWL in the wake of Katrina (and for a long time after the national media pulled out of doing constant coverage).
"w/Television, they must (or use to?) buy a License...Radio, I Dunno." Brits don't have true
free speech'!
Unique to the AM band is its ability to "skip" (reflect from the ionosphere) at night over large areas.
In my college days (actually nights) I used to stay up very late studying and trying to find the most distant AM radio station I could pick up (DX'ing).
There is, even now, a wealth of what Rush calls "Blowtorch" stations (WGN, WWL, WLS, WABC, WSM, etc) that you can pick up at great distances, especially useful if you're driving on a long trip and don't want to have to change stations every hour or so.
It all needs to go. It's garbage. No self respecting person
should listen to some self-appointed smart guy yack
at them giving opinions framed as news. (Yes, Limbaugh included.)
AM stereo was a tragic failure and even the stations that went to the expense of building in stereo capabilities soon dropped it.
Where are you getting this? I recently retired from broadcasting and we've been using digital on FM since the 80's.
...White people...
"Where are you getting this? I recently retired from broadcasting and we've been using digital on FM since the 80's."
I could swear that every FM radio I own is analog and every broadcast in my area if analog. What stations are broadcasting in digital and where are they?
Digital is much simpler, easier and less expensive to transmit than analog. There is no good reason not to go digital.
Analog on FM is becoming about as popular as buggy whips. I am sure there are some stations that have not gone digital but I don't happen to know of any.
Before you totally wrap yourself in victimhood, please be advised that there are at least two controls on your radio that will spare you all that pain. One changes the station and the other turns it off.
Nobody is forcing you to listen to it.
Yup. WWL did a bang-up job in the weeks after Katrina staying on the air and could be heard anywhere in the affected regions. No FM station could have done that, even if they wanted.
Can they get Radio Caroline or any other non-government approved stations? The Brits have a history of offering only pablum on the radio, enough so that Radio Luxemburg and Radio Caroline were needed to fill that need for a very long time.
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