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Of course no one will switch to AM. They just want to carry talk and sports. Where's the Hip Hop AM? The Alternative music AM? Where is even the Jammin' Oldies AM? What's with all the commercials? Why do you think CBC is switching to FM and leaving AM? At least you'll be able to get the distants there. And there's no W W V on AM either. Go back to the days of X Rock 80. That was a great AM.

Art7220 said:

Of course no one will switch to AM. They just want to carry talk and sports.

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There is a cluster that is about 65 miles away from me and 3 of the 4 AM stations the guy owns dont have talk or sports
540 WXYG "The Goat"...Album Rock...and I know Radio will be proud. They broadcast in AM Stereo
660 WBHR Sports (ESPN)
800 WVAL Classic Country (locally done)
1010 WMIN Big Band/Swing

Now while 540 & 1010 do have FM translators (106.5 & 107.3) they only cover the St Cloud "metro" area (which is 4 towns...St Cloud, Sartell, Sauk Rapids, Waite Park) so outside of that area the AM works great.

Autos have more computer and other noise IN them than ever. Radios have narrowed their AM bandwidth because of manufacturers being cheap, and because consumers don't demand quality anymore. If local stations know of legitimate interference in their area/town (like AC lines leaking and buzzing blocking out a station) they can ask the power company to remedy it. If the power company doesn't, they can ask the FCC to step in.

We've already put our energy company on notice to not use UNFILTERED switching power supplies in the new "smart" meters. THOSE cause buzz on the whole AC line in a house and overhead. Non filtered switching supplies will wipe out radio in an entire home, or apartment/apt. building. AT&T is a big culprit and won't take responsibility for their crappy modem power supplies, either! Just one of MANY possible BIG sources of noise times how many buildings, wires, and service entrances!

Ask Scott, our Satguys host about how he heard ONE "wall wart" in my studio building mess up our streaming receiver!, It was 70 feet away and on a separate circuit! Chinese CRAP we allow in our homes and businesses is amazing...and NOISY.

Thank you for recognizing good owners and their efforts, Blindowl.

If the FCC would allow the AM stations to widen the bandwidth a little and if receiver manufacturers would aim for 10khz bandwidth in the IF section, you would be surprised how well it sounds. Then if the FCC would actually enforce RFI regs, any digital system couldnt hold a candle to the BCB sound quality and coverage.

It is so! Thank you for being another voice for analog. Even at 10khz sound can be excellent!

I have an "Electrobrand" AM/FM stereo receiver connected to a pair of Realistic Nova 6 speakers. The receiver and speakers are of late 70's vintage. Our local AM station in town plays a classic hits format and it sounds really good on that system. I collect old radios and stereo equipment. Radio is absolutely correct: -the new cheap stuff sounds like crap compared to the vintage equipment. So if AM doesn't sound good to you it's probably what you're listening to it on!

Iceberg said:

There is a cluster that is about 65 miles away from me and 3 of the 4 AM stations the guy owns dont have talk or sports
540 WXYG "The Goat"...Album Rock...and I know Radio will be proud. They broadcast in AM Stereo
660 WBHR Sports (ESPN)
800 WVAL Classic Country (locally done)
1010 WMIN Big Band/Swing

Now while 540 & 1010 do have FM translators (106.5 & 107.3) they only cover the St Cloud "metro" area (which is 4 towns...St Cloud, Sartell, Sauk Rapids, Waite Park) so outside of that area the AM works great.

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Quite frankly, Iceberg, I just might be interested in the AM band there. Here in Boston (north of the city) is been religated to same two to three formats. However, so hasn't FM. Album Rock and Big Band are two formats I'd love to have 24/7 here.

That's the issue in Boston, everyone. There are viable formats. But these mindless powerhouse owners (Clear Ch...I mean i(refuse to say it)media, CBS, Greater Media, Entercom, etc) all come up with interesting formats, but cram them on HD2 or HD3 substations where you can stream them from your app for a fee to your cell company. Here we have Jazz, Blues, Metal, Free Form, classic Hip-Hop, and even once a Live Rock only station. But with a regular radio FM is pop, sports talk, or country on 99% of the comercially owned stations; and AM is either Spanish Language or Conservative Talk on 99% of the comercially owned stations. Here's an idea, HOW ABOUT MOVING SOME OF THE FORMATS OF HD2 AND HD3 STATIONS! Put some of those on AM...in stereo.

Once again, this is the mainstream media analyzing every fact without looking at what they are doing to add to the problem. "It's that AM is a dead technology!" No, jackass, it's because the same 3 to 4 companies own most to all the stations are hyper focused in the same two to three formats to even allow something new.

Boston is an East Coast hub for Alternative and Hard Rock/Metal. Yet, there only two modern "Rock" outlets on the FM band, and I use the term loosely, as they both are more focused on rock from the 90s (it's what their cooperate overlords deem to be most popular). One says their Alternative and the other says it's Modern Rock. I say that try are both too watered down. I do enjoy our classic rock station. There's no rock on the AM band, along with no Urban, no Blues, no Jazz. There's pop via Radio Disney. Here's an idea, how about a LMA with the Globe to bring a true Alternative station (RadioBDC, the successor to the true WFNX) back to the airwaves. And don't give me the line about lack of popularity, as it worked in Chicago with the original Q101 being on the AM band.

And here's one last thought. If you are abandoning a format. Let go of the call letters. How many stations do these companies keep the call letters on another station somewhere wise around the country, just so that another company can't try to use the name. I love how we WNEW in DC and WBCN in Charlotte, both not having anything to do with their previous (rightful) places, all because (in this case) CBS wanted to bull**** the listeners into HD Radio crap. There still here on HD-$!#& yourself. Oh thanks, that's all much better. Let these formats die. Let go of the WODS call letters, it's obvious that you don't care about the old format, or you would have kept it in place instead of making the 9,000,000th place to hear modern pop. No, instead there going to own a top 40 and a Hot AC station, tell us they're different, and the mindless mass to accept it.

Radio is right. We're all too brainwashed by the crap these companies throw at us. AM is not dead, or even broken. These jackass owners are what's broken and what's breaking all of terrestrial radio.