detectivetom, sadly there were probably more radio geeks listening than actual radio listeners toward the end.
Hope the engineer was getting drunk celebrating NY when getting to flip off the switch. At least in most cases, it can be done remotely, don't need to be at the TX site.
Sad: End of an era. Sad: One less voice Sad: Dying medium (AM) Sad: People losing jobs. Positive: Better DX opportunity.
I guess I'll be the "Debbie Diowner" here. Never liked WNAM. When it was Top40, WYNE (Y-115), WKAU and WOSH were way, way better. WNAM was fulltime vs, WOSH (1490) WKAU daytimer AM, 104.9 3000w FM at the time, and WYNE, the best of the bunch! WYNE was a daytimer.
and I swear, added songs after WABC NYC! If you look at their old charts, they were heavily adult flavored, and that included presentation. The "Fox River Valley" had Top40's from Fond du Lac, Appleton, Neenah-Menasha to Kaukauna. WNAM at night shot into Green Bay quite well. FM by this time was coming into vogue and "101-WIXX" would now be the Top40 for the region. 100000 watts from Green Bay.
Better DX opportunity indeed with 1280 WNAM and 1280 WGBF Evansville, Indiana both gone. Both were Top40s. Still, I guess I wonder why something couldn't be done or do they see the handwriting on the wall way better than I do, or will acknowledge.
Still, I guess I wonder why something couldn't be done or do they see the handwriting on the wall way better than I do, or will acknowledge.
1) AM allowed to decline for years. Network programming, bird voices and automated crap is not an audience loyalty generator or motivator. (Like FM ignored Napster, MP3's and early Netcasters)
2) AM radios were degraded, to save a few dollars in parts the sound got muddier and muddier throughout the years.
3) AM Stereo = Let the market dictate the standard (lol that worked out well)
4) IBOC is the worst standard they could have chosen and palm greasing won over this one. There are so many stations still TX it. (sarcasm)
5) They did something on AM. Brokered block programming, no money returned to improve the future. (lol that ended well too, they all left for Netcasting).
6) Auto manufacturers not including it on head units anymore.
7) Cell phone manufacturers not including it (not like they could due to technological challenges)
8) High cost to TX those transmitters, antenna maintenance, value of ground underneath (urban sprawl, suburban sprawl and increased value).
9) A whole generation has no clue or interest, what AM radio is. (We can't fool ourselves to educate them on it, they will not turn in 128KPBs Stereo bitrate for 4Khz mono)
10) I am too tired to keep on.......
SW radio is in the same boat. Even pirates have vacated the bands.
John, this is not against you or trying to step over you. It is to illustrate off of your statement, what can really be done at this point? It is nothing you and I have done or not done as consumers. But it is squarely on the corporations that own them and secondary the government not being part of the solution. You don't become proactive when a cancer patient is in hospice, you attack it when it is onset. Corporations have been complacent, bad decisions, not forward thinking, more interested to appease shareholders. FM radio is not hospice at this point, but it is somewhere between Stage #2 and #3 and will meet the same fate as AM.
Agreed on many, Z, and I take no offense to anything. Still can learn, and will until my last day on the earth. Many people have taught or helped me in my life: family, bosses, co-workers, teachers, just someone with a kind word here or there that stuck and I'll regurgitate years later. Even the jerks (bosses, co-workers) have taught me, but they didn't know it! Z, your words are always well thought out. I'm not always right.
Ed Buterbaugh, then from CKLW wrote an article in Radio & Records of how CLEAN AM could sound. Of course, not listened to. Still have a CKLW-FM QSL letter from him! (93.9FM from Milwaukee)
AM stereo - a few years too late.
IBOC. Certainly, remember the "white noise" as 1020-WBZ and 1030 KDKA all killed each other at night. Of course, the dx'er was a "moron" and knew nothing.
Might add 11. The Expanded Band, LOL! Sure was 1980's thinking...but to be honest, we didn't know what was ahead of us!
Brokered block programming Was listening online to "WWJ NewsRadio 950" (Detroit) yesterday. A Brokered Attorney for 2 hours (8-10pm, if I remember) So much for "the news watch never stops" or "give us 22 minutes..."
It's not how "good" things can be apparently, but how CHEAP things can be turned out, planned obsolescence, etc.
Always have learned. Too, in my case, it might just be generational. On the other hand, I still remember in 1971, where an acquaintance showed me (and others,) his new stereo! The speakers were next to each other!!! I said, "if you move one here and one here, you'll hear the difference." Guess he didn't know the difference. Yikes!
Always enjoy this hallowed space. Go to a few other Message Boards and see how some of these Dictators run their boards. No thanks! This is a damn darn nice place to be! John
"2) AM radios were degraded, to save a few dollars in parts the sound got muddier and muddier throughout the years."
I listened to the final few hours of WNAM on my vintage receiver that was built in the late '70s. I was almost dumbfounded by how good it sounded. I just assumed that AM always sounded like garbage because I grew up hearing AM radio on modern tuners.
Slowjams, most AM stations TX a decent audio chain. The receivers have been degraded through the years, especially past the 80s. I have a 1982 Sony transistor radio, the AM sound is unbelievable receiving signals that actually TX quality audio.
A simple article is below. There are a ton of them out there that back it up.
I do a lot of my AM listening on a tiny battery-operated C.Crane Skywave radio and earphones, with bandwidth set to either 6 or 4 kHz for stations with adequate signal, instead of the default 3 kHz. Stations playing music are rich with treble and sound very good. News/talk stations sound nice and crisp.
A few of my other radios sound like they have literally 2 kHz bandwidth on the AM band. I can understand why most people completely avoid it.
on January 3, 2026, 11:17 am
At least in most cases, it can be done remotely, don't need to be at the TX site.