I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. If the manufacturers want to stop offering AM tuning, they can do it and not have to offer a reason.
From a public safety perspective, AM makes a whole lot more sense.
Well most people have cell phones, kinda covers even more people. Even the ones on buses and trains? In the day no doubt EM warnings and AM radio went hand in hand.
Not so. It's fidelity is limited only by it's owners' commitment to proper studio and processing/engineering. Even in 10khz bandwidth it can sound excellent AND be in (analog) stereo, where "digital" (HD-hybrid digital, not "high def" steals half the bandwidth. ) causes issues to other stations and sounds awful. Properly done AM is perfecly listenable, and who cares how old something is? Most of the major cities measured by radio ratings have AM's in their top listenership, while conversely, small markets who do not participate in ratings are ofen the ONLY service to a couty or area and are popular because of their hometown feel and sound. Why not give it a try sometime and not condemn an entire (part of) an industry? As an owner and operator, I speak from experience, and....it doesn't take a huge budget to make this all happen. ANYONE operating an AM can do it properly!
And Toyota proved that hybrids and EV's CAN indeed have AM. This was an excuse for Ford, who then agreed to send an "over the air" update to put the AM button BACK into their vehicle...(for now.)
Don't give in to that very common assumption/conspiracy. You must remember a couple things. 1) The FCC makes plenty of money on licenses for AM stations every year, they call it "spectrum fees" while WE call it "pay your yearly fee or lose your 8-year license. and, 2) The FCC has NEVER involved itself in the overall content of programming. The ONLY way they intervene in privately operated radio stations under their licensing is if there is a reasonable complaint officially filed with the FCC. There is no intent for content to be part of this issue facing AM operators. We're not "going" anywhere. AM needs a marketing campaign and since the FCC won't do it for us like they did for TV operators during the digital switch, WE as operators need to market oursleves. I've been behind the mic of an AM now for 19 years come Sept 1st, and we've continually reinvented ourselves. THAT has kept the money flowing in and the station growing. Do we have FM translators? YES....do we still look to the AM as the parent and market it as such? YES. This "issue" goes deep into how stations are operated, marketed, perceived, and or appreciated (or not appreciated) by listeners. By the way, we do music on AM very successfully.Depends on what you listen to on the radio. If you listen to exclusively music then you won't miss AM. When I am in the vehicle I like to listen to information such as news,weather,traffic reports and talk radio.
If I was a suspicious person, I would wonder if there are ulterior motives at play here. The cost of adding AM to a radio is pennies so that is out. Perhaps the "powers at be" don't want us listening to certain programs. Look at the top AM most listened to formats and decide for yourselves.
List of most-listened-to radio programs - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
The FCC has NEVER involved itself in the overall content of programming?
In reasonable memory. Meaning for the "exactness" person trying to prove me wrong, they are NOT going to send AM to the graveyard over "talk shows" and agendas that people spread rumors-of on the internet. Good Grief. I've been an owner for nearly 20 years and in radio for 35. What you're quoting is OLD and irrelevant to today's discussion. Thanks for being an encyclopedia. Now, let's keep to things relevnat to TODAY. The FCC did NOT, even THEN...tell a station what CONTENT they needed to have, only that equal time had to be afforded in certain cases. Happy?
Does anybody here get it? Putting up the fact we have public files has NOTHING to do with what WE CHOOSE to program. Have you ever READ a public file? Do you know what it is or what it's contents are to be? It's a report on how we serve OUR communities, which means HOW we do it is up to US. The FCC DOES NOT TELL US what we can program, other than to not do what would be considered not publicly acceptable. (language, mainly. ) WE Decide our announcers, our programs, our music, our formats, etc. You keep bending the point to "be the expert." You're not. The whole POINT is that there is NO conspiracy to eliminate AM radio and it's talk shows. AM is more than stations with just talk. AM radio is NOT going away, nor is the government attempting to "control" it as presented in this thread. But of course, all of the people quoting Wikipedia are more experts than those of us in the field.
