Re: another AM over and out

["R.L. Caron" <k4gp@peganet.com>]

<< Didn't know the body-count in Maine was that high.   Maine only had 38
stations two decades ago, and 11 are gone.... >>

That may be factually accurate, but it doesn't give a true picture:  75 new
stations, mostly FM, have cropped up since the late 70's. As of the most
recent convention of the Maine Association of Broadcasters less than a year
ago, the total radio count in the state was 108.

I suspect we could make a similar observation about drug and hardware
stores, ice cream parlors, and small bookstores. Most of the older ones are
gone,  displaced by a much larger variety of new outlets employing modern
technology, facilities, and marketing techniques.

What HAS diminished dramatically in Maine in two and a half decades, as in
every other state in the nation, is AM listening. It would follow that the
number of stations serving that diminishing market would also contract,
although it still hasn't done so in proportion to the audience drain.

The shift to FM in Maine became palpable in the mid 70's. I know because I
managed a small AM station (1400 in Augusta) back then. There were places in
town where I could see the tower lights blink but couldn't hear the station.
Meanwhile, WBLM had signed on a couple of years earlier and started showing
up in the ratings in Portland, shooting in from 38 miles out. The transition
after that was swift and dramatic.