AM Radio

Many kids today don't know or have never heard of AM radio. It's a shame, but probably because in it's current dying form it is unrecognizable even to those of us who grew up listening to it. What has killed AM radio? AM radio signals can be severely disrupted in cities with big metal structures, tall buildings and sources of radio frequency interference (RFI), electrical motors, fluorescent lights, and lightning. It's old technology.

As a result, AM radio in many countries has lost its position as a music broadcaster, and in my city and most others many cities is now a talking head venue. Am radio is a source for news, sports, religious and talk radio stations. Some music, particularly specialized stations that play country, oldies, nostalgia and ethnic/world music are still on AM. But in essence, Am radio as a music source can be mostly found wherever FM frequencies are not available or in rural or mountainous areas where FM broadcast are of poor quality.

So FM radio (Isn't radio as a whole also dying with the current generation of i pod users?) is mostly played by old timers, in automobiles while driving and when the new electronic music sources are not available. But forget FM for now. Even though I am new to Portland, I want to mention what my impressions are of AM radio in New Orleans and the rest of the country. In fact, most AM stations are owned by national corporations who program them uniformly or of single entrepreneurs who crate a very small market of listeners and do not compete with FM stations.

Most AM here is not musical but talk, talk about politics, sports and to a lesser degree religion. In many cases the stations sound as if they are held together with glue and that the budgets for them are minuscule. Here are some of the local New Orleans AM offerings:

* KGLA is a Spanish only language station that plays Latin Music. That kind of music can't be found on FM stations here, so it is a small niche market that works well.
* KLEB is in Golden Meadow, about 50 miles outside of New Orleans and in the beginning of Cajun territory. Naturally, it plays mostly Cajun music.
* WASO bills itself as "Hot Talk Radio". It is an all talk station that lets conservative types vent and rant about politics. There are many of those kinds of conservative talk stations here and in the rest of the U.S. I think it the most common format for AM radio stations.
* WBYU is the local station that broadcasts "Disney Radio", mostly for those under 12 years of age
* WIST is an all sports talk station here, mostly using local announcers but also picking up some national sports radio shows.
* WLNO is one of several "Christian radio" stations. You can figure out that programming without my help. It should be obvious.* WVOG provides religious and gospel programs.
* WWL is the biggest AM station in New Orleans and is a news, sports and talk station that is highly influential in the city. During Hurricane Katrina, when so many broadcast sources were knocked out, WWL was the beacon for information to residents of the city. Many got all news and info only from it.* WYLD is a black oriented radio station.

Looking at those stations one can see that AM radio is a segmented market. It serves a particular and usually small constituency. I think the influence of radio as a whole is small today, but of the two bands, the larger FM music radio and the small, more talk oriented AM, the AM stations play a bigger role in every day life. Too, looking at the examples I gave above (as a representation of the whole of AM radio everywhere) it's obvious that AM radio appeals to older people, not the young. Thus, the future of AM radio would seem to be a dark, downhill one. Just as analogue TV was replaced by digital, AM radio is being be replaced by other alternatives.

But in it's glory days AM radio was the center of attractions for media listeners. I am glad I have my own memories of that (The early days of the Beatles, for instance). Somehow..I just don't think the ipod will engender the same feelings in those who are growing up with it.