Since 1930 there’s been an AM radio in every automobile rolling off assembly lines. However, in the upcoming model year for the first time a car will be arriving on dealer lots with an FM-only receiver.
“It’s symbolic of the challenges facing AM broadcasters in 2012,” according to an article in Inside Radio.
The problem is fewer people are listening to AM today. In addition about 77% of AM listeners were older than 45-years-old—a demographic most marketing executives dismiss.
“The average number of Americans listening to AM radio in any given quarter hour dropped from 3.6 million to 3.4 million from fall 2011 and spring 2012, according to Arbitron data. At the same time FM use actually increased from 21 million to 21.6 million listeners. Over the course of a week AM radio does somewhat better. Arbitron says it had a weekly cume of 66.3 million, reaching 28.2 % of listeners in fall 2011.”
More than anything, the AM band has a demographic problem.
The data shows more than three-quarters (76.9%) of its listeners were above 45 years old in the spring 2012 report, according to Inside Radio. Nearly six-in-ten (57.9%) were 55 and older. A survey released in June by Mark Kassof & Co. found 9% of respondents never listen to AM radio, with many saying they haven’t flipped from FM in years.
CHILDREN WILL LOSE THE EXPERIENCE
Well, this is yet another example of things our children & grandchildren will never experience: Staying up late with a transistor radio hidden under the covers. Building a homemade crystal radio set from scratch. Listening to distant stations, exposing you to different styles & types of music you might not hear otherwise. “WLAC – The Voice of the South” / “WSM – Home of the Grand Ole Opry”, plus many others. Time & technology march on…
AM RADIO GONE FOR DECADES
You just figuring this out, John? AM started disappearing in the mid 70s, locally, with the Super Q trouncing WHB. Where’ve you been? Even serious talk radio properties moved a long time ago to FM. Radio corporations just don’t want to give up on those licenses, for old times sake. Maybe they’re holding out, hoping that some communications company will buy them all out, and turn them into cellular signals or something more productive. AM radio’s been gone for a couple decades.
Yes, AM radio has been declining. Inside Radio was providing the latest information.
MORE CHOICES THE BETTER
In case of a national emergency I would prefer to have as many band choices as possible.
RUSH LIMBAUGH
If as radiomankc says “even serious talk radio properties moved a long time ago to FM,” what am I to think of Rush Limbaugh’s continued babbling seemingly up and down the AM dial? That’s right, he’s simply an entertainer and nothing more, and certainly not someone whose “marching orders” should be blindly followed. Now in the old car, which I need to get up and running again, all I’ve got on the radio are the AM stations and the radio is tube-powered. “Where were you in ’62?”
LISTENERSHIP DECLINING
Radio listenership, period is declining. Latest eMarketing report has avg weekly TSL at 94 min, mobile technology at 92 min in 2012 will surpass radio next year.
INEPT RADIO OWNERSHIP GROUPS
I believe Ford has models which will not have a car radio, per se, but an “entertainment center”, with USB ports and all sorts of online music outlets.
It kills me, but the industry where I spent most of my adult life is fading into irrelevancy, mostly because of technological improvements, but mainly due to inept radio ownership groups.
SIMULCASTS ON FM
Is it really surprising, given the number of AM stations that are now simulcasting their signal on FM? KMBZ and KCMO have both done that in this market…and I switched to FM for both of them because it simply sounds better, and at least in the case of KCMO, the signal strength is superior to their AM broadcast. I wonder how many stations across the country are doing the same?
I’m guessing the folks at sports radio 810 WHB are not very happy to see this story.