AM radio in the UK has declined in recent years. Until the mid 1980s, it was the dominant listening medium for radio in the UK, before being overtaken by FM, many years after FM became dominant in most other countries. In the early 1990s, with improvements in FM coverage and wide access to FM radios, it was decided to mostly abandon simulcasting and launch a host of new stations on AM. Five Live, Talk Sport and many of the minority stations have remained successful. However most of the music stations have lost more than half of their audience as more commercial stations have launched on higher quality FM and radio 2 has broadened its appeal.This article examines how other countries have managed AM radio in the FM era with varying success. Australia Australia is a sparsely populated country in a sparsely populated region of the world. There are relatively few high power AM transmitters, so there is very little interference, even at night. Consequently, Australia has been able to increase the audio bandwidth of its AM transmissions to 9 kHz and introduce stereo to give the sound quality approaching that on FM. More recently, the AM band has been extended to 1701 kHz. Unlike other countries, Australia has never simulcasted radio stations on AM and FM. FM radio was not introduced to Australia until circa 1980 and was used only for new stations and for relays where FM reception is poor. Thus, in the main cities, the oldest public and commercial stations have stayed on AM, rather than migrating to FM as in the rest of the world. Today any programme format can appear on either waveband and stations often transmit on AM in some places and FM in others. United States The United States phased out AM/FM simulcasting very early at the end of the 1960s. Initially, FM was used for minority formats, such as classical music and adult oriented rock. As FM became established through the 1970s, the mainstream formats migrated across. At the turn of the 1980s, AM radio was upgraded, with a 10 kHz audio bandwidth and stereo, though new radios were needed to get the benefit of the higher bandwidth. Although much better than the old standard, which gave an effective bandwidth of 3 kHz, AM is still no match for FM. So, FM has become dominant for mainstream music stations, whilst AM has found a successful niche as the home for most talk stations and a range of minority formats, such as Spanish language, religous and childrens stations. Europe The AM band in Europe is too crowded to increase the audio bandwidth without unacceptable interference, particularly after dark. A few stations have experimented with stereo, but this has not caught on with low bandwidth audio. When the AM band in Europe was planned over the first half of the 20th century, most countries were allocated sufficient high power (>100 kW) frequencies for two services, with larger countries operating a national and a regional network. Between the 1950 and 1978 re-organisations, countries were allocated additional frequencies for low power (up to 2 kW) and medium power (up to 20 kW) transmitters on an ad-hoc basis. These were used for improving reception or introducing additional stations. However, where there was a third (and fourth in the case of the UK) AM network, this had poorer coverage than the two main networks. At the 1978 AM band re-organisation, countries were given the opportunity to apply for additional frequencies and increase the power on their existing frequencies. Countries such as the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands expanded their AM networks in 1978. However, many other countries cut back, closing relays or consolidating their best frequencies into a single network, and encouraged listeners to switch to FM. During the eighties, most AM stations in Europe were also available on FM. However, many countries operated FM opt-outs on one network, leaving the main programme on AM only at times. With the extension of the FM band to 108 MHz towards the end of the 1980s, most countries built an extra network, ending AM only programming. The eighties also saw the introduction of commercial radio in most countries, virtually all of which was on FM only. Most countries simulcasted two or three public networks on AM and FM into the 1990s with new stations starting on FM only, the AM transmitters plugging gaps in FM coverage and serving AM only radios, particularly in cars. Over the 1990s and this decade, most countries have cut back their AM transmissions, reducing transmitter powers, cutting relays or dropping the number of services. For example, RAI in Italy recently cut back its AM service from three networks to one. Most countries retain at least one public network simulcast on AM, either the main speech network or a mixture of programmes from different networks, plugging small holes in FM coverage and providing a service to neighbouring countries. Sweden,Austria and Latvia have virtually phased out AM altogether. As AM/FM simulcasting has cut back, some countries have introduced new stations on AM, whereas others have simply cut back. Spain, France, Germany and the Netherlands are discussed below. Spain Spain operates four national networks on AM, a number matched only by the UK. RNE1 and RNE5 are public, whereas COPE and SER are commercial. All four networks broadcast mainly talk, news and sport and have extensive regional opt-outs. The public networks are simulcast, but their AM networks provide universal coverage, which is not given by FM. RNE 1 was on AM only until the end of the eighties. The commercial broadcasters historically simulcasted, but now carry separate programmes on AM and FM. Many stations increased their transmitter powers on AM during the 1990s. France Radio in France is totally dominated by FM now. In 1978, France consolidated its three public networks on AM into two services with better coverage, a national network, France Inter, and a regional network, opting out of France Culture. During the 1970s and early 1980s, the regional stations opted-out of France Inter on FM, leaving some programmes on AM only. By 1985, a separate FM network of local stations had been built, leaving France Inter with uninterrupted universal coverage on FM and ending the regional programmes on AM. Meanwhile new programmes were introduced on the former regional AM network, gradually displacing France Culture. The Radio Bleu oldies music service started in 1980, broadcasting only in the mornings. Schools and university programmes were broadcast through much of the afternoon. Over the course of the 1990s, Radio Bleu took over the network. Then, in 2000, France Bleu moved to FM, merging with the regional network. Most of the medium wave transmitters now relay news station, France Info, plugging the gaps in its FM coverage, which is not universal. With full coverage on FM, France Inter's AM relays were closed at the end of the 1990s, leaving only the main long wave transmitter, which provides extensive coverage to neighbouring countries. In the commercial sector, Europe 1, RTL and Radio Monte Carlo (now RMC Info) have broadcast to France on long wave from just outside its borders for decades. From the 1980s, these stations have accumulated FM licenses for many cities. However, they still retain their long wave transmitters to bridge gaps in FM coverage. However, with the exception of Sud Radio, no commercial station has been licensed to broadcast on AM within France itself. This changed in 2003, when about 30 AM frequencies were licensed to commercial broadcasters, using the frequencies abandoned by France Inter and a number of low power allocations. Existing stations RMC Info and Radio Orient were awarded licenses to plug gaps in their coverage. However, most of the licenses have been awarded to new minority stations, including a childrens' station, a Jewish station, an Islamic station and a maritime station. If these stations are successful, further AM licenses are likely to be allocated. Germany Germany is unusual in having both national and regional public broadcasters. In Western Germany, a national and a regional AM network was developed. The regional broadcasters launched new stations on FM only, whereas the national broadcaster, Deutschlandfunk (DLF) did not start to develop an FM network until the end of the 1980s. In the former East Germany, five national networks were broadcast, four on both wavebands and the fifth on FM only. At unification, one of the East German networks became national service Deutschlandradio Berlin (DLRB), whilst the other networks were replaced by regional services, broadcasting mainly on FM. Today DLF and DLRB both retain AM networks broadcasting mainly to the West and East, respectively. Both networks are available on FM throughout Germany, but coverage is not universal, so AM plugs the gaps. The regional broadcasters have also retained their AM transmitters. A few of these still simulcast the main FM network, but most carry either a news service or programmes for immigrants. A few commercial stations have been launched on AM using a mixture of former international and Eastern high power frequencies and new lower power allocations. However, many of these stations have failed. Megaradio tried to build up a national pop/dance music network on AM, but this closed in 2003. Radioropa, a news station serving the former East Germany on long wave, with a handful of FM transmitters in the west, also failed. Netherlands When the third public network opened in the 1960s, it had full FM coverage, but AM coverage was limited to a 10 kW transmitter serving Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Utrecht in daytime only. From 1978, a higher power frequency was allocated, giving the Netherlands three national networks on AM and three on FM. At the end of the seventies, a fourth network (Classical) was introduced part-time on FM only, with a fifth public network launched in the 1980s, part-time on AM. By 1990, these had been consolidated to two AM/FM networks, two FM networks, one AM network and a chain of local stations on FM. From 1992, commercial stations were licensed in the Netherlands, initially on FM. The third AM network was handed over to commercial station, Radio 10 Gold, in the mid 1990s. Three further commercial stations on AM, broadcasting to the most populous region of the country followed. In June 2003, radio in the Netherlands was completely reorganised, with the last simulcast station, NOS Radio 1, removed from AM and all commercial licenses re-awarded. All of the major AM frequencies were awarded to new stations, including one proposing to broadcast to the UK. A year later, none of these new stations had started due to financial difficulties. The two national frequencies in the commercial sector went to existing stations, Radio 10 Gold and Arrow Rock Radio, which had failed to obtain FM frequencies. Although these are both music stations, most Dutch listeners can access them in high quality stereo via cable. The other AM frequencies have remained silent, except for two low power allocations used as fillers by FM stations.	Why other countries have more FM stations More FM stations in the UK Future FM and AM stations archive Features index
	Why other countries have more FM stations More FM stations in the UK Future FM and AM stations archive Features index