FCC: Sustainability Of AM Radio Threatened

The FCC this week has formally adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to introduce a number of  possible improvements to the AM broadcasting.

The Commission is seeking ways  to revitalize the AM band by identifying ways to enhance AM  broadcast quality and proposing changes to our technical rules that would enable AM stations to improve service.

The Commission’s last comprehensive examination of the technical, legal, and policy issues relating to AM broadcasting took place a generation ago, in a proceeding that began with a 1987.  In the more than quarter-century since, the challenges facing the AM band have increased dramatically.

In the mid-1980s, AM radio represented 30 percent of the nation’s radio  listening hours.  By 2010, that number had dropped to 17 percent, with AM radio comprising only 4 percent of listening hours among younger Americans. The causes of this decline are well-documented.

As the Commission has previously stated, a “combination of higher fidelity alternatives to AM radio and  increased interference to AM radio have caused an erosion of the AM radio audience and the loss of  young listeners to other programming outlets.”

The Commission says the sustainability of the AM broadcast service has been threatened by the migration of AM listeners to newer media services, including FM, satellite radio, personal media players, podcasts, and audio streams provided over the Internet.

In its Notice, the FCC states the AM band is also subject to interference concerns not faced by other broadcast  sources.

• First, due to the nighttime propagation characteristics of AM signals, many AM stations are  unable to operate at night, and many others must reduce operating power substantially and/or use a  complex directional antenna system in order to avoid interference to co- and adjacent-channel AM  stations at night.
• Second, reinforced structures, such as buildings with steel frames or aluminum siding, can block AM signals.
• Third, AM radio is particularly susceptible to interference from electronic devices of all types, including  such ubiquitous items as TV sets, vehicle engines, fluorescent lighting, computers, and power lines. The noise on the AM band that is caused by those sources is only expected to increase as electronic devices  continue to proliferate.

The availability of higher fidelity alternatives and increased interference to AM radio has led to a steady decline in AM listenership since 1978. By 2010, AM  listenership had decreased to just 17 percent of radio listening hours.  The decline has been the sharpest  among younger listeners. Only 9 percent of listeners aged 25–34 listen to the AM band; among those aged 12–24, AM radio accounts for only 4 percent of listening hours.