LA Daily News: Is All-Digital the Best Future for AM?
A piece by Richard Wagoner in the Los Angeles Daily News looks at the question of whether all-digital AM is ultimately the best solution for AM radio’s fidelity and interference issues. He writes, “Over the years, technical improvements have helped make AM sound better, but the erosion of listeners from the band has continued. One potential solution was digital HD radio, but the hybrid HD system introduced its
own problems by increasing overall interference on the band, leading many stations to abandon it.” But all-digital AM is a much better signal and as more and more infotainment systems in new cars are HD compatible, more listeners are likely. Outfitting AM stations with digital transmitters is not inexpensive, even though they use far less electricity than an analog AM transmitter. And in the United Kingdom where digital audio broadcasting (DAB) launched more than 10 years ago, most commercial radio stations still broadcast an analog signal as well. Even though about 60% of listening in the UK is to DAB signals, Ofcom recently agreed to renew analog licenses through 2032 because many Britons still listen to analog on their old radios. Read the LA Daily News piece here.
Wagoner writes, “Why is KFI so successful – isn’t conservative talk dead? Yes, it is… and it’s been decades since KFI was considered ‘conservative talk’ (even when it wasn’t). There have always been a balance of viewpoints on the station; as it moved away from politically centered topics to more general topics, it matched the mood of listeners who wanted to be entertained more than they wanted to be angry.”