Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada AM radio silent; are U.S. stations next?

[Jeffhs]

I just looked at the Canadian radio listings on RadioStationWorld.com and noticed that every one of the AM stations in Halifax, Nova Scotia have gone silent, transferring their programming to FM. I'm wondering if the same thing might eventually happen in the US. With most AM stations in this country now programming talk, sports or religion (there are, however, a few small, low-power music stations left, but they are few and far between these days), I wouldn't be surprised if AM in the US goes completely silent in a few years, with most existing small AMs silencing their over-the-air operations and going to streaming audio over the Internet, if not to FM.

One station near me, a 1kW daytime-only station in rural Geauga County, Ohio, roughly 40 miles east of Cleveland, that had tried four different formats since its initial sign on in 1969 (each of which obviously failed miserably to bring in the listeners, to say nothing of the advertising revenue, the station desperately needed to stay on the air) went silent on Memorial Day about five years ago, and was never heard from again. I knew the station had left the air for good when I tried to call their studio line a few days later; I got a recording from the telephone company stating that the number had been disconnected. I don't know what has happened to the station's studio, transmitter building, etc. since then.

[VintagePC]

There's only one major broadcaster left in NS that has AM- AVR/Maritime Broadcasting Systems. (various frequencies in various locations)

I'd wager these towers are simply being run until the hardware fails, since they also have an FM frequency.

Yes, AM is going the way of the dinosaur, except for those small home-brew stations run by local folks with a passion.

[Rodzilla]

i posted a thread about it when it happened here in Halifax...as you say we did pick up a few new fm stations,which for the most part are a bit more relevant,to me at least...and really other than enthusiast types dealing with antiques,pretty much anyone with a radio these days has FM capabilites.

AM going away here has really been a non issue..most people didn't even notice...just a little while ago,a GF of mine was telling me how the radio didnt seem to work in her classic car anymore,she insisted that it used too but that it must have broken somehow...she doesn't drive the car regularly and didn't realize that there was just nothing for it to pick up anymore...!

[compucat]

Post Deleted By Author

[Sam Cogley]

Originally Posted by compucat

I hope this doesn't happen here in the U.S. I feel like the world I grew up in is rapidly disappearing. What with political correctness, 9/11, digital TV, flat panels, socialism, mainstream cultural degeneration and now the possible demise of AM radio I feel a sort of culture shock coming on. I have a feeling that I will have to live in the past just to maintain a sense continuity in life. All this change to the fundamental features of life is too much too fast. AM radio is one of the things I cling to that maintains a connection between the past and an uncertain future. No matter what happens I can turn on that Philco 37-610 and everything's ok.

Please learn what words mean before you use them.

Quite frankly, I'm glad to see the world you live in go - a world of rampant racism, sexism, discrimination based on all sorts of personal qualities, political fearmongering (ok, that one is still alive and well), assassinations, fear of devastating nuclear war, etc. Good riddance.

[electroking]

Harsh comment the last one, but putting socialism and flat panels in the same
category is not the idea of the century either. If AM were sonically superior
to FM, more people would listen to it, but unfortunately for the dreamers, it
is the other way around.

[AUdubon5425]

Rampant sexism...have you looked at your avatar lately???

I think this thread is gonna get closed if the political crap goes any further.

[marty59]

I will do my best to stay on topic concerning AM stations.

Fortunately, in the DFW area and there's other major markets that AM does have a presence in the field. Besides the talk, we also have oldies, sports, country, tejano, soul/gospel/r&b, all on the AM dial.

I know there's been topics discussing the extermination of the AM band as we know it but unless someone can affirm this I kinda find it hard to believe.

[radiodayz]

I think AM will be around for a while yet--exactly how long is anybody's guess. Here in Seattle, one of our AM news/talkers (KIRO 710) moved to FM about a year ago, which I found somewhat alarming (710 AM went to all-sports). But, we still have about half a dozen AM stations that play music; and no AM stations have gone dark yet.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Rodzilla

i posted a thread about it when it happened here in Halifax...as you say we did pick up a few new fm stations,which for the most part are a bit more relevant,to me at least...and really other than enthusiast types dealing with antiques,pretty much anyone with a radio these days has FM capabilites.

AM going away here has really been a non issue..most people didn't even notice...just a little while ago,a GF of mine was telling me how the radio didnt seem to work in her classic car anymore,she insisted that it used too but that it must have broken somehow...she doesn't drive the car regularly and didn't realize that there was just nothing for it to pick up anymore...!

Aren't there other AM radio stations within 24/7 listening range of Nova Scotia? I somehow cannot believe that the AM radio dial in your area is now 99.999 percent dead air since all but one of their AM stations has gone silent. Is Nova Scotia that far away from any other major city in Canada that stations from other parts of the country are not heard during the day? At night, 50kW stations from the U. S. East Coast should come in to the Halifax area like gangbusters as that city, not to mention the province of Nova Scotia itself, are not that far away from the US border. I would think, for example, that Toronto's CFZM 740 -- which runs 50kW with a signal pattern beamed at the city and also the northeastern US -- could be heard in Halifax as well, not to mention other 50kW stations across the border in New England and the NE United States (Hartford, Connecticut's WTIC, Buffalo, New York's WKBW, et al).

Your girlfriend's car radio must have antenna problems, as she should be hearing some nearby stations, as I mentioned. Perhaps the antenna leadin broke off at the base; this often happens in winter during a hard freeze, when water gets into the antenna base, freezes, and breaks an insulator, resulting in the antenna leadin either shorting to the base or the center conductor breaking off at the point where it connects to the antenna, not to mention poor or no connections at the other end of the cable that plugs into the radio's antenna socket; any one of these conditions will kill all reception. Remember, with car radios, the antenna is extremely important; without it, the radio simply will not work at all, unless you are within shouting distance -- literally -- of a local station, and even then there is no guarantee you will hear anything because the interior of any vehicle is just about the poorest place there is for any kind of radio reception.

Please note that the foregoing applies to today's embedded windshield auto radio antennas as well as the older fender-mounted ones. I cannot emphasize strongly enough that a car radio will not operate at all without an antenna connected to it. The leadin cable alone won't work as an antenna because it is shielded; again, unless you are in an incredibly strong signal area, trying to use only the leadin cable without the actual antenna won't work worth a plugged nickel.

[Sam Cogley]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

Rampant sexism...have you looked at your avatar lately???

I think this thread is gonna get closed if the political crap goes any further.

She's covered...more completely than quite a few outfits of the past 50 years.

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Is Nova Scotia that far away from any other major city in Canada that stations from other parts of the country are not heard during the day? At night, 50kW stations from the U. S. East Coast should come in to the Halifax area like gangbusters as that city, not to mention the province of Nova Scotia itself, are not that far away from the US border.

I would think that there would be signals coming in from elsewhere, too. The AM dial around here is rather crowded.

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by AUdubon5425

Rampant sexism...have you looked at your avatar lately???

I think this thread is gonna get closed if the political crap goes any further.

I agree 100 percent. I started this thread, and do not appreciate such comments either. VK has very specific rules about political content in postings; anyone who goes counter to those rules will be warned that he is skating on thin ice, and if this doesn't stop the political grandstanding in its tracks immediately, the errant poster will be suspended and/or banned from ever posting to these forums again.

To compucat, I can say only the following (the rest will be up to the moderators): The subject of this thread is the question of whether US AM radio stations will eventually go silent as many of Canada's (and all of Halifax, Nova Scotia's) stations have; your rants have no place here. Please, keep your political views to yourself and your remarks on topic. I'm sure VK's moderators will tell you the same thing. I would also suggest that you carefully read VK's forum rules, if you haven't already. They will go into detail as to what is and is not allowed in these forums; indeed, they need to be read and clearly understood beyond the shadow of even the most unreasonable doubt by every VK member before he or she makes his or her first post.

[Sandy G]

Yeah, guys, you wanna argue politics, go over to Political Chat...There's no room for this kind of nonsense here.

[Hemingray]

Does this mean the entire AM band in NS is fair game now? Not much that I can get here where I am, but at night it's real good.

[VintagePC]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Aren't there other AM radio stations within 24/7 listening range of Nova Scotia? I somehow cannot believe that the AM radio dial in your area is now 99.999 percent dead air since all but one of their AM stations has gone silent. Is Nova Scotia that far away from any other major city in Canada that stations from other parts of the country are not heard during the day? At night, 50kW stations from the U. S. East Coast should come in to the Halifax area like gangbusters as that city, not to mention the province of Nova Scotia itself, are not that far away from the US border. I would think, for example, that Toronto's CFZM 740 -- which runs 50kW with a signal pattern beamed at the city and also the northeastern US -- could be heard in Halifax as well, not to mention other 50kW stations across the border in New England and the NE United States (Hartford, Connecticut's WTIC, Buffalo, New York's WKBW, et al).

Quite possible; I was referring more to local stations. I just had a quick listen and I hear a lot of tea kettles and something that sounds like SSTV... but little else. (could also be that my antenna is crap- I'll try another set later.)

Edit: Confirmed- there's nothing remotely tunable except for the one AM station I mentioned.