Paul Jeffries wrote:

A columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News thinks the AM band can resurrect itself by finding the right niche formats:
PJ

I agree 1,000%.  I think I posted months ago that the current license holders should be turning the whole thing over, to new 'holders' of the license before they are ever allowed to go black.  THEY agreed to accept the terms and conditions... ...and expenses.  If they can't adhere to their agreement...then...they'll have to suffer the costs of the turnover for the common good.

Greed comes with a price tag.  Potential listeners shouldn't have to suffer or do without.  The CRTC can't find even one, lone, tiny, insignificant testicle to share amongst their entire group of bogus 'decision makers'.

IF someone can make even 1 dollar profit a year offering a music station to those you can't get it done properly or with a passion elsewhere...then THIS is the route to take.  Have the former owners pay for the entire switch and move.  THAT'LL smarten them up.  [and in a gee-dee'ed hurry.]

There's way too much yackin' about next to nuthin' radio out there.  Dang close to enough to sink the blinkin' Titanic.  Time to stop wasting frequencies on idiots... ... ...greedy idiots who couldn't, and won't, give a rat's arse about the audience..
 

Last edited by Old Codger (October 11, 2016 5:13 pm)

Some new tech devices carrying radio do not have an AM option. That does not help any AM frequency one bit.

It doesn't have to be just "oldies".  There are loads of options depending specifically on each unique market-place.  Younger people, by and large ain't listening to the radio.  NO  W O N D E R.

And older people, for the most part, ain't listening to sirius...or internet options.  Why pay when you can dial it in for free.  [unless you're stuck way up in Hearst]

Go back to 2008 and compare the ratings for 1050 and 1010 and 680.  That's why news and talk are on AM and music isn't in this city.
5.4% CFTR
5.3% CFRB
1.2% CHUM AM

Last edited by Prod Guy (October 12, 2016 12:07 am)

Like I said...it's doesn't HAVE to be oldies.  A good signal would help.  Toronto is already being talked to DEATH.  We all are.

Leslieville Bill wrote:

Advertising revenue on an AM music station would not cover the costs

When K-W Oldies AM 1090 moved to FM 99.5 they tweaked their playlist by moving from American Graffiti to 80s & 90s tunes.  An extremely popular DJ left @ the same time and went into politics.  Is there data to show that after abandoning AM to sound like half the other FM broadcasters in the country, K-Fun 99.5 is more profitable (or less losses) than when it was Oldies 1090 with a much further geographic reach?  

Ms. C.

Paul Jeffries wrote:

A columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News thinks the AM band can resurrect itself by finding the right niche formats:

What is the current state or condition of the AM facilities in the States? 

Reading a couple of comments from a US technical blog following the shutdown London's CKSL, the individuals were quite surprised at the appearance of the CKSL transmitter site. The exterior photos showed a site that was being maintained. Solid structure, mowed grass etc. It was noted that there were no interior pictures of the transmitter building, so it couldn't be truly representative of the facilities condition and level or commitment to maintenance. But, by the exterior shots, it was felt that it was being maintained, choice of format / programming aside.

But what was also mentioned was interesting. Some of the comments to the original blog, thought that the CKSL site appeared to be in way much better condition than many AM Tx sites that are currently in the US.  Maintenance and up keep cost money, and many owners are forgoing the maintenance and upkeep to save money (funny, sounds familiar....)

Some of the stories and pics that have been posted on one US blog alone seem to indicate that AM in the States is in very rough shape...  Tx buildings and ATU structures in poor states of repair (sites vandalized or just neglected), Tower bases overgrown with brush/ground cover, Theft of copper ground straps/busses from building and antennae structures (lack of regular site visits) Major impairments of 2 out of 3 towers at a 3 tower array, etc.  

If the TX site has been neglected or is in need of major work, is a change in format to find a "niche" really going to help?  If this is truly indicative of the state of some current AMs in the States, I think there are bigger issues at hand.


n.b. I'm not questioning the condition or level of maintenance at the CKSL tx site. Nor am I suggesting that it was the reason for the station to shutdown. It was well documented that it was purely a business/financial decision, and the corporate entity surrendered the licence to the CRTC.


 

If the 54 - 79 demo appeared, you would see that Brian Henderson & Nanci Krant dominated