AM is it really dead?
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Don't forget the echo effect. There was a drag strip around here (smoking US 30 where the great ones run) that used a lot of echo in their commercials. It was used in other commercials too but that's the one I remember the most.
"Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! at Detroit Dragway."
AFAIK the strip has been long closed, but the radio commercial still rings in my head.
The one I heard was in Indiana but I wouldn't be surprised to hear it in other places. It still brings a smile to my face and even then when we heard it.
I think this was the dragstrip that used to advertise that they were just a burnout away from somewhere.
bill4long
Member
bill4long
Member
Glen Campbell was a seriously great musician and very intelligent. Big fan.
He was part of the Wrecking Crew.
Echo was great on WABC.. especially if you ever heard Big Dan Ingram(rest in peace). speed up of records was something I thought was questionable but I guess some thought it was helpful in allowing more commercials etc
bill4long
Member
Yep
AM may be declining, but so is all OTA radio (as well as OTA TV, and you could throw in cable TV as well). Everything is going online, and turning into online 'content'.
AM still serves a purpose. As one poster upthread mentioned, there are a lot of ethnic minority stations (and minority owners) who have AM stations as their only Over-The-Air broadcast outlet. Even networks like BIN (the Black Information Network) are on AM.
FM, of course, is also in decline -- it's just that it's not quite as apparent right now, except for occasions like when WPLJ sold to EMF at what one could say was fire sale prices, especially compared that that station's value in the 70's and 80's.
A lot of radio fans complain about the same sort of ads you hear on AM stations all the time. They used to just be on conservative talkers but I hear them on Sports talk stations and other stations as well. The internet is also often plastered with advertisements for the same products. In a way, AM is one of the first victims (after newspapers) of being old technology combined with an across the board decline in advertising revenues. The internet is a vast place. Supply and demand.... Your favorite news site isn't plastered with animated crap ads for no reason.
AM still serves a purpose. As one poster upthread mentioned, there are a lot of ethnic minority stations (and minority owners) who have AM stations as their only Over-The-Air broadcast outlet. Even networks like BIN (the Black Information Network) are on AM.
FM, of course, is also in decline -- it's just that it's not quite as apparent right now, except for occasions like when WPLJ sold to EMF at what one could say was fire sale prices, especially compared that that station's value in the 70's and 80's.
A lot of radio fans complain about the same sort of ads you hear on AM stations all the time. They used to just be on conservative talkers but I hear them on Sports talk stations and other stations as well. The internet is also often plastered with advertisements for the same products. In a way, AM is one of the first victims (after newspapers) of being old technology combined with an across the board decline in advertising revenues. The internet is a vast place. Supply and demand.... Your favorite news site isn't plastered with animated crap ads for no reason.
bill4long
Member
Ad blockers work great
Yep. People hated ads for the most part regardless which format they use. One of the reasons I still listen to so much radio is due to my favorite station not playing many commercials. It's a Public Radio station and just has the usual self promos and sponsorship messages. If it wasn't for them doing this and the NOAA broadcasting the weather I'd be listening to streaming like so many others, catching the baseball games on a radio I had before I started buying more radios a few years ago.
I'd have bought another SW radio if there was more to listen to there too but that's another story.
He was also a member of the Sidewalk Swingers in the 60s. He played 12-string guitar. I think it was a group producers put together just to put out an album and take advantage of the "folk music" craze that was sweeping the country. They never did public performances.
Yes, and I really dislike stations running 5-10 ads in a row..how does an advertiser benefit if theirs is #5 out of 10? Who wants to listen or hear or separate it out from the rest. Is there a study as to effectiveness versus placement within a cluster?
In a disaster.... OR a WARUnderstood, and I'm not trying to argue the point. However, another technical issue is that, depending on the station output power, AM broadcast covers a greater distance than FM broadcast. This would make the difference, in rural and remote areas of the country. Also, much of the technology referred to would be cell phones and cell phone based apps, which are among the first things to fail in a disaster.
I'm no expert, but like everyone else, I have my opinions.
Nearly every programming decision on radio -- all radio -- these days is the result of tons of research, especially on the advertising end, so it probably is effective or they'd do it differently. And I would guess that some spots (leading spots?) cost more to run than the middle ones. But that is just a guess.
OK, but the point was that there are infinite numbers of advertising slots when you include the internet, and that is why ad rates are declining, and also whey radio's revenues in general are declining. It's supply and demand in action.
Agreed. I might pay a few pennies more for that lead spot💰
Not only that, but the public has more options now for viewing and listening and some of those are available without ads leading to fewer viewers/listeners for the ads. It's a viscous circle.
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