Spring Arbs Shockers

[Doug Drown]

Steve,
I think everything you've said makes sense.  Ask any kid nowadays whether
he/she listens to AM.  They barely know what AM is.  And as for the 25+
crowd, you're right --- unless the station has an established niche
audience, like WBZ, WRKO, WJIB, WEEI, or something ethnic, it has little
chance of a long-time survival.  The 50 kw'ers, the larger regional stations
like WTAG, and a few small-town stations that lack competition will likely
still be around for a long time.  The rest will fade away.

Canada has been slowly doing away with AM radio for twenty years now.  By
and large, the only stations still hanging on and doing reasonably well are
old, established niche stations, talk/news outlets, and a handful of
remaining CBC stations that haven't yet converted to FM.

-Doug

 ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve West" <stevewest106@hotmail.com>
To: <lglavin@lycos.com>; <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 8:39 AM
Subject: RE: Spring Arbs Shockers


> I have a theory... that no matter how optimistic people are about it, once
> the audience leaves an AM station, for any reason, they DON'T COME BACK.
> Ever.  The reason:  thanks to all our electronic gadgetry today, the AM
band
> is almost unlistenable and unless people have a specific reason to listen
to
> an AM station (I.E. WBZ for news or WEEI for the Red Sox), they don't and
> won't change to the AM band.
>
> So... WILD essentially moves to FM, and the uniqueness of 1090 goes away.
> So does the audience, some of whom move to 97.7 and some elsewhere, but
none
> of the former music & personality listeners give a rats behind about the
> talk on a noisy mono AM signal... and they return once or twice to see if
it
> was just a bad dream and WILD will still be there... only to find noise
(to
> their mind) in it's place.  And then they never return to AM for anything
> else.
>
> So my programming theory, for those in a position to do something about
it,
> is thus:  if you own or purchase an AM station and it's got decent ratings
> and an audience, DON'T FLIP IT!  AM is on borrowed time and nobody has the
> patience to sit through a station's growing pains, not to mention that
once
> their favorate format and personalities are gone, they WILL move to FM.
In
> that vein, even a simulcast of 97.7 and 1090 would have maintained some of
> the audience.
>
> Am I alone in thinking that the day is coming when the mass surrenders of
AM
> broadcasters begins, and stations simply go dark because NO format works
on
> signals which are much better covered on FM?  Off topic for a second, had
AM
> radio started broadcasting and receivers available of HD radio 10 years
> ago... it might have saved the band, but I really think AM's days are
> numbered, with a few notable exceptions in the form of the nation's WBZ's,
> WFAN's and so on.
>
> oh, and the sidebar... WGBH is a favorite of mine out here since I can
> receive it well, and their HD2 feed as well out here in Franklin County.
> Does anyone think that if they returned 8 hours of Classical music to the
> mix that ratings would improve?  Do ratings matter for a non-comm?  Some
> interesting questions for the group.
>
> Steve
>
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