Reports of AM radio’s death have been greatly exaggerated. While FM took over for music decades ago, AM remains a functioning and in some contexts irreplaceable broadcast medium. Here is why it persists.
The Technical Case for AM’s Survival
AM (Amplitude Modulation) broadcasting operates on frequencies between 535 and 1705 kHz. Its audio quality is lower than FM — limited frequency response and susceptibility to electrical interference — but it has one significant technical advantage: range.
AM signals travel much further than FM, especially at night when ionospheric reflection allows signals to bounce hundreds or even thousands of miles. A single 50,000-watt AM clear-channel station can reach listeners across an enormous area that would require dozens of FM transmitters to cover.
Talk Radio and News
AM in the United States is dominated by talk programming: news, political commentary, sports radio, and personality-driven talk shows. This content is not disadvantaged by AM’s audio quality limitations the way music is. Spoken-word content is perfectly intelligible on AM, and the medium’s reach advantage matters for reaching rural and remote audiences.
Stations like WGN Chicago, WLW Cincinnati, and WSB Atlanta built loyal audiences on talk and news programming that has outlasted the decline of AM music formats.
Emergency Broadcasting
AM radio is deeply embedded in the US emergency alert infrastructure. The Emergency Alert System (EAS) uses AM broadcast stations as a primary distribution channel for weather, disaster, and civil emergency alerts. This institutional role has ensured continued regulatory support for AM in the US, including the FCC’s ongoing AM revitalisation initiatives.
Vehicle Integration
There was controversy in recent years about some electric vehicle manufacturers considering removing AM radios from vehicles due to electromagnetic interference from EV drivetrains. This sparked a legislative debate in the US Congress about mandating AM in new vehicles — a sign of how seriously some policymakers take AM’s emergency communication role.
Who Actually Listens
AM audiences skew older and more rural than FM audiences. Sports talk, political commentary, and religious programming are the strongest remaining content categories. Listeners who grew up with AM and trust their long-established stations represent a loyal core audience that has not been displaced by streaming alternatives to the degree younger listeners have been.
AM is not growing. But it is not disappearing either — its infrastructure, regulatory protections, and established talk audiences give it a more durable position than predictions from the 1990s suggested it would have.