AM's far from dead. A good example is being set by an independent operator in St. Cloud (about 75 miles E of me). They have a long-established hard rock FM, an all-sports outlet on 660, a classic country on 800...and recently signed on a nostalgia format ("Uptown Radio") on 1010. They also have a CP (construction permit) for ANOTHER AM...a 250 watter on 540! The 660, 800 & 1010 signals are all directional with sharply-reduced nightttime power, and IIRC the 540 will be directional as well to protect Regina, Sask. Here's the cool part: ALL the AMs run through ONE antenna system through a complicated system of filters, combiners, etc. The system was designed by my friend Mark Persons of M.W. Persons & Associates and works exactly as designed. Mark is a real stickler for quality audio...and the stations' sound shows it. Visit his website @
www.mwpersons.com for pix of this & other installations he's done. Mark's an engineer's engineer for sure.