AM radio is approaching a crossroads. The music stations have been steadily losing audience over the past decade as choice on FM has increased, while Five Live and Talk Sport have maintained steady ratings. Most AM stations are now available digitally, and a new system, DRM, may take up space in the medium and long wave bands. However, there is space on the AM band for more stations, as described here. Should there be new AM stations? With the possible exception of stations aimed at the over 50s, new music stations will not find a viable audience on AM. However, a number of commercial broadcasters want to set up LBC style talk stations in the major cities and regions. With FM capacity limited and sound quality less important for talk, AM would be a good home. Religious, Asian and other ethnic minority stations would also find an audience on AM - these could be either commercial or community stations. Ofcom has already announced the licensing of community stations on AM. With AM licenses suited to different formats from FM licenses, there is no reason why commercial AM licenses should not be advertised in parallel to the FM licenses. What about the current AM stations? The oldies stations should be viable on AM for at least another ten years, provided they grow old with their audiences rather than trying to attract listeners from FM stations. Listeners will gradually migrate to digital. Virgin's younger audience are likely to be less tolerant of AM sound and may migrate to digital more quickly. The likely award of some of the new FM licenses to rock formats is also likely to eat into its audience. Without, a major format change, Virgin could be the first major station to abandon AM for commercial reasons over the coming decade. Five Live and Talk Sport should continue to be viable on AM for many years, though listeners will become less tolerant of poor night-time reception in places. Fresh AM, Radio Maldwyn, Sunshine 855 and Valleys Radio are a special case. These broadcast an adult contemporary format and do not have a sister station on FM. Unlike the oldies stations, they are on AM because covering their areas on FM would require a large number of transmitters. For the same reason, it will be at least a decade before DAB transmission becomes commercially viable. These stations are likely to have problems maintaining an audience over that decade. With plenty of space on FM in these areas, they should be allowed to simulcast on both bands immediately, serving the main towns on FM and the whole area on AM. Moray Firth Radio has been allowed to broadcast on AM and FM - why shouldn't these stations? The longer term Eventually, AM radio will become essentially obsolete. This is likely to happen around the time FM-digital simulcasting ends sometime after 2010. AM-digital simulcasting would end at the same time, with most AM stations becoming digital only and space becoming available for the AM only stations to move to FM. The BBC is likely to continue the medium and long wave transmission of Radios 4, 5, Wales and Scotland to maintain universal coverage, but this may use DRM rather than AM.

Ofcom FM licensing 2004 Ofcom DAB and AM 2005 Future of DAB Future of FM BBC music radio Features index

Ofcom FM licensing 2004 Ofcom DAB and AM 2005 Future of DAB Future of FM BBC music radio Features index