AM still sends out a strong signal to rivals
In a tech-driven world jammed with listening options, an AM radio station breaking out as a ratings powerhouse runs counter to commonly held perceptions about the medium. Rather than leading the pack, AM should be buried underneath a pile of iPods, TiVo machines, computer games and instant messages.
But it is not. In fact, in Los Angeles, KFI-AM (640) did something last week no other AM station in Southern California has done in two decades: finish first in the overall ratings.
KFI is hardly alone. In fact, it could be considered merely catching up to its AM brothers and sisters in Philadelphia, Chicago, San Diego and a host of other major-market cities where an AM station is either ranked No. 1 or in the top five. Then there is KGO-AM in San Francisco, which has been the undisputed No. 1 station in that market for years.
A far cry from its midcentury pop culture zenith, when youngsters would defy their parents by listening to transistor radios under the bedsheets, AM is nevertheless a vital, vibrant and profitable force in the universe of audio entertainment even as it battles its image of having too much talk and commercials.
"Think of the AM band as Route 1. For decades it was the most heavily trafficked main road," said Tom Taylor, editor of trade publication Inside Radio. "Then along came I-5 and the other big roads. But lots of people still travel Route 1, often to find specialty stores. And there are certainly still very large and successful stores along the way."
AM remains a major radio player because, after being pushed out of the music-playing business in most major national markets more than a decade ago, instead of dying it adapted. During the mid-1980s and early 1990s, AM gradually ejected the Top 40 tunes and inserted in its place a medium-saving mixture of local news, talk radio, sports or other niche programming.
So in a time when much of the media coverage about radio focuses on the battle between XM and Sirius satellite, last week's quarterly Arbitron ratings served as a reminder of the realities back on planet Earth.
KFI jumped from fifth place to a tie for first place on the backs of a beefed-up news-gathering operation and a stable of local talk talent, most notably morning drive-time host Bill Handel and the afternoon's "John and Ken Show." The Burbank-based 50,000-watt station dropped its music format in 1989.
