Earlier this week, Paul and I hosted a series of sessions held in the new NAB building (beautiful, BTW) in D.C. We worked closely with the folks from NASBA (the National Alliance of State Broadcaster Associations), as well as the leadership from several of these SBAs from a variety of states.
“Radio’s Road to the Future” drew a large, enthusiastic crowd from all over the U.S. We put together sessions that featured futurist Shawn DuBravac as well as Manny Centeno from FEMA. Each came equipped with great stories and persuasive facts about the importance of AM radio for Americans across many different markets.
But perhaps the most compelling panel was the last one of the day, prior to the enthusiastically received arrival of Senators Ed Markey and Deb Fischer, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle who have come together to sponsor the “AM For Every Vehicle Act.”
All in all, it was a great day of learning, discussion, and brainstorming around how to best showcase AM radio to Congress, automakers, and even audiences. As someone who has spent his entire 50 years in radio in “FM World,” I have enjoyed this experience, seeing the radio industry from an AM perspective.
One of the panels I moderated on Tuesday was called “The View from Affected Broadcasters.” It turned out to be my favorite because it showcased the vast mix of people served by AM radio. As you can see in the photo above, we had representatives from organizations and communities that included Black and Hispanic broadcasters, as well as the farming sector and the religious/faith-based radio families. All four of our panelists – Patty Ruiz, Tom Brand, Nicole Garnier, and Jim Winston articulately and passionately made the case for their unique style of radio. In fact, this level of format variety really doesn’t exist on the FM band in most markets.
And of course, AM radio extends well beyond the realms of our four panelists into conservative talk, sports radio, ethnic formats representing local populations, and community broadcasters often serving small, one-stoplight towns. When this AM in the car kerfuffle first bubbled up several weeks ago, I was chatting with an industry friend who had recently been on a road trip in the south. And he told me about tuning in a local station in a town he was passing through featuring an edition of “Tradio.” (IFYKYK) I’m not sure whether he ended up buying a card table and chairs or a vintage bathtub.
The fact is, AM radio is a patchwork quilt of formats, cultures, and communities. And oftentimes, it is more reflective of the audience it serves than FM and digital media outlets. Of course, AM radio is famous for its emergency coverage – before, during, and after a disaster. As FEMA’s Centeno reminded the room, AM is a more stable, resilient medium that simply covers more ground than any other medium. And it does so reliably. When those cell towers go down, it is AM technology, more often than not, that continues to beam information, comfort, and hope to citizens facing all levels of hardship right down to their neighborhoods. Whether you believe in climate change or not, you cannot argue with the fact there are now more natural disasters, not to mention those manmade crises (mass shootings, in particular) that seem to occur every week in this country.
NABOB’s Winston reminded us there are many Black-owned businesses that can only afford to advertise on reasonably priced AM radio. And not surprisingly, AM radio stations are the most
affordable for would-be Black broadcasting entrepreneurs. Patty Ruiz emphasized the importance of event marketing and public appearances, while Tom Brand flashed his organization’s semi-annual research study showing that more ag-type radio listeners favor AM over FM and SiriusXM. And Noelle Garnier explained how local ministries and churches often lease time on hometown AM stations to serve their communities beyond the pulpit and the pews.
And in fact, while we often talk about the importance of radio serving its local markets, more often than not, it is AM radio doing just that. Our panelists enthusiastically agreed their stations often serve as lifelines to the communities they serve.
Interestingly, Paul and I did Zoom prep calls with all four of our panelists individually – there was no group meeting. So Patty, Tom, Noelle, and Jim did not meet one another prior to taking the stage with me on Tuesday. And while they represent diverse groups of citizens with little overlap, the four instantly connected with one another because they share the same mission. AM radio provides a conduit for their respective communities.
It is this level of diversity, equity, and inclusion that provides the AM band with a valuable narrative about serving underserved communities. And this week, the radio industry did a fine job telling that story.
Why are we trying to save AM’s place in cars and trucks all over America?
It is precisely because of the unique service these “amplitude modulation” stations perform.
Thanks to Dewey Bruce, NASBA’s president, the entire network of state broadcasting associations, and the event sponsors. And to the NAB for being generous hosts. – FJ
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One other big reason to keep AM alive is that it’s in a frequency range that cell providers don’t covet. They want much higher frequencies. Whether Amplitude Modulation is the answer, or whether those frequencies would be better served with a digital modulation scheme is arguable, but keeping those long-distance frequencies available to local and regional programmers serves listeners using simple, affordable technology.
FEMA’s point exactly, Brian.
As always, the question is – can superserving small audiences sustain a station as a business model?
If the answer is yes? Well done.
If you can’t get sufficient people to listen to it…you’re done. And so is the station.
Kevin, this might be a case (market-dependent, of course) where “narrowcasting” just might work if an AM station can effectively serve an underserved audience.
This is exactly what I’m thinking, Fred. I know of cities where there are minority populations too small to get the attention of corporate radio, but large enough to support an AM station offering specialty programming and music targeting their community and who want to support such a station as well as those who advertise on it. Many of these groups are invisible to those who only see people as potential dollar signs. But they’re more than that. And AM radio can and does serve them. Long live AM radio–if nothing else for the sake of those otherwise forgotten by the rest of radio.
Fred, I love and have followed you for years, but I’m just not following the idea that there’s some broad, diverse audience waiting on the AM band. If you even can get a diverse audience to sample the band, when the first thing they hear is Mark Levin literally screeching that every Democratic voter, without exception, is a pedophile and a Communist, and the elected government should be overthrown, they won’t be back. As it happens, both News/Talk and Sports have been on FM for 20 years. We had an emergency with a wildfire that took lives and property, in a vacation area, and yes WLW from Cincinnati covered it as a news story, but could they tell me where to get a case of bottled water? No. The local FMs did.
Brad, there’s no question conservative talk is the main course on many markets’ AM radio menus. But your experience will vary, depending on where you go. That’s something I’ve learned during this process. As you note, AM raadio needs to do more than stay on the air during an emergency. That’s where the real hard work happens.
Fred, kinda looks like we’ve covered the issues and the solutions here-sort of. You’ve got a potential audience in your listening area, and now you have to put something on that they want to hear. You have to present it in a platform that makes sense. It’s got to be easy to consume on a device that’s readily available. That used to be AM radio. Now it’s the “smart phone” that does everything but make you a sandwich. Yeah we all know that when the cell system collapses AM/FM will be all that’s left. Long distance, it will be AM. Of course it would help if the AM signals were intelligible. Not everyone owns a GE Superradio III, so many trying to understand what’s being said on AM these days can find it a struggle. Are there stations for the farming community? Probably. Urban listeners? Certainly. Are there other opportunities? No doubt. Hire Fred, find a “format” and get a failing AM signal. Your future will be paved with gold. Be sure you have enough money to market the product and pay the people involved. Where did I lose you ? My addled brain could go on and on – but I wonder if the cow has left the pasture ?
There are fundamental building blocks necessary for building a viable (profitable) media outlet – whether we’re talking a streaming video platform, a podcast, OR an AM radio station. Thanks for the reminder. And no, I have not seen the cow lately. Have you?