AM Radio stations are becoming as endangered as the Black Rhino.
In the past few weeks, both Cumulus Media and Townsquare Media have shuttered more than 20 AM radio brands and signals in cost-cutting measures.
Which feels like a curious decision when both companies — and every radio company, for that matter — are telling the general public and the chuckleheads in Washington D.C. that saving AM radio should be of the utmost importance.
I’m a big “It can be both” guy. The world isn’t as black and white as some would like you to believe. There’s an awful lot of room for gray. But not in this case. It can’t be both that AM radio is vital to public safety and the radio business while simultaneously being so insignificant that dozens of stations are wiped off the map with little fanfare.
That’s competing ideologies. Is silencing the signals best for business? Almost certainly. But those same companies then can’t turn around and shout from the rooftops that the AM band needs to be saved. It’s insulting the intelligence of anyone paying attention to suggest so.
On the flip side of those companies silencing their stations are other radio companies who are speaking out about the importance of the band. For instance, 77 WABC owner John Catsimatidis is taking out full-page ads in New York publications urging citizens to support the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act.
Elsewhere, iHeartMedia has continued to utilize some of its major market AM signals for the Black Information Network. Is it a huge money maker for the company? Doubtful. But at least it’s putting it’s money where its mouth is and saying that it’s an important outlet for communities, and underrepresented communities at that. iHeartMedia isn’t talking out of both sides of its mouth on the issue. At least not yet, anyway.
I don’t know how I feel about the future of AM Radio. Do I think it’s days of widespread usefulness have long since passed? 100%. Are there some success stories still to this day on the band? Absolutely. But overall, AM Radio is on roughly a level playing field as rotary landline telephones to most people under the age of 40, and probably even older than that.
And I don’t know how I feel about the government potentially mandating outdated, largely obsolete technology in new cars going forward.
I can see the usefulness of AM radio, especially in an emergency, but I also wholly recognize that there are plenty of ways to disseminate information that doesn’t rely on the AM band any longer.
All of that aside, it’s difficult for me to see the case being laid out by the radio industry that AM is still an important aspect of the medium and to the business of these companies going forward, when virtually all of the actions put forth show the opposite.
“Do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t work in 2025. If the radio industry wants to see AM Radio saved, it has to practice what it preaches. It is clear that FM translators haven’t revitalized the AM band. It is clear that there largely isn’t an investment into content on the band, as it’s made up almost entirely of news/talk, sports talk, religious, and foreign-language formats. And almost all of those genres — the overwhelming majority, at least — are syndicated or satellite-fed programs with no connection to the local market those stations were granted licenses to serve.
It’s put up or shut up time. If the radio industry truly believes that AM Radio is worth saving, act like it. And if you act like it, you might not need government mandates to save it in the first place.
But shuttering stations in an effort to save some money shows that the arguments made thus far about keeping or revitalizing that aspect of the business are hollow. It becomes more increasingly likely by the day that the Save AM Radio campaign and the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act are actually “save whatever value our assets might actually still have” campaigns. And when it’s that transparent, it’s difficult to get on that train.
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
Garrett you’re not wrong about the mixed signals-but AM has so many issues it may not be salvageable. Start with the noise level on AM. The FCC has chosen to ignore the rules on RFI -so the AM band has gotten totally unreliable in some situations. Next is the audio quality of most receivers. It’s been downhill since the 70s and no one’s trying to fix it. Then there’s the content. The lack of “mass appeal” programming on AM -even in Los Angeles (the 2nd largest radio market) is dismal. It’s all narrowly focused lacking entertainment value. The religious broadcasters are asking for money. The mainstream talk stations are loaded with 8-9 minute commercial breaks. The sports stations are only good with play by play programming. I could go on and on, but until the AM operators realize that a concerted effort needs to go into bringing the audience back, it will be a dead issue within the next few years. We know the internet is solid-until disaster strikes. AM/FM can still be reliable -but people need to get the habit to use the medium. Broadcasters are giving the masses way too many reasons to abandon AM/FM.
The most annoying issue for me as a now occasional AM listener (Conservative talkers), are the non-stop ads, ads, ads, especially the low budget kind featuring mumbling, bumbling local business owners trying to sell their products themselves.
Much of local AM radio has devolved to broadcasting nationally syndicated right-wing talk radio. The demographics of that skew old, white and not college educated.