Here’s How To Save AM Radio

It a couldn’t be simpler concept: Make AM more relevant, interesting, competitive—and in demand—like the podcasts that have gained so much share of ear (and revenue) from audio listeners.

We have spent a lot of time figuring how to get AM onto FM signals and rightly explaining to listeners how to hear programs via Alexa, Siri and the many digital platforms. What we haven’t done is really scrutinize and improve the most fundamental element: what comes out of the speakers.

Since the Supreme Court’s 1978 ruling in FCC vs. Pacifica on broadcasting of ‘the seven dirty words’—which pretty much no one hasn’t heard and/or said—the FCC has been radio’s “Word Warden.”

In 1978, FM was just becoming a force and the Internet was something Mork might have had on the planet Ork. According to Gary Begin in Radio Ink, in 1970, only 10% of Americans cumed the FM band. By 1978, 50% of all radio listening moved to FM. In 1983, FM became the standard issue in all US-built cars. Forty years later, we have to lobby politicians to twist the arms of car companies to keep AM on the road.

The best way to keep AM radios in cars and, even more importantly, to keep listeners coming to our broadcast mall, is to have what is being offered be IN DEMAND. We have done little to evolve the programming heard on the AM band - indeed, we have homogenized the programming. There is no music on AM now, and sports play-by-play, which used to be heard only on AM, is now available on a multitude of platforms. AM must offer programs that are vibrant, engaging and relevant to the listeners.

No kids are listening to AM radio. That’s part of the problem. That even their parents aren’t listening to AM radio is an even bigger part of the problem, and it is up to stations and station groups to fix it.

The FCC’s ‘safe harbor’ is irrelevant. It’s a silly, archaic canard to have to “protect the kids” from language they are hearing on podcasts, seeing on cable and of course using in their day-to-day activities. Always the kids!

Podcasts, streaming and cable talent deliver whatever program themes and topics they want, produced with clear, descriptive and colorful wordsmithing. They say whatever they want, whatever attracts an audience.

The FCC has no jurisdiction over podcasts, cable or streaming (or of course print), only over broadcast entities, so there is no governmental sentry at the gate of podcasts, cable, or stream language and content. There are no taxpayer-paid finger-waggers or fine-threateners.

As the audio medium continues to evolve, many podcasts are finding wider audiences on radio and, in preparation for air, reworking is often needed. Routinely, we edit material out of podcasts “for broadcast,” sometimes cutting the very flavor that makes people come to the podcasts in the first place!

Having the ability to literally call BS, when warranted, will lend authenticity and emotion, the touted hallmarks of competing, unregulated media, to the daily discussions heard on AM radio.

There’s no need save all of radio. FM doesn’t need saving. This is not an overhaul of the rules, it’s an adjustment to level the playing field and give AM radio a boost in an area where programmers’ and talent’s hands are tied.

Would Howard Stern or podcast giant Adam Carolla come back to radio if the restrictions were lifted? How many people would listen to Joe Rogan if you could push one button in your car to hear him?

This liberation would surely open a lane for more podcast-to-broadcast deals—more content, more choices.

We need to make listeners feel the A in AM stands for authentic!

The FCC is responsible for making sure that broadcasters (again, NOT podcasters or cable outlets) act “in the public interest, convenience or necessity.” This proposal to broaden the language permitted on AM radio thus making it relevant to today’s marketplace, surely comports with the FCC’s mandate. Stations, companies and markets should decide what the limits of language will be as is the duty of an FCC license-holder.

According to a just-released Nielsen's Audio Today 2023 report, 91% of all adults hear broadcast radio on a monthly basis, a greater reach than TV or smartphones. Let’s level the playing field and give AM radio a chance to compete and grow.

AM radio is a beacon of news and analysis that is hamstrung by the words we’re allowed to use. We have a right to hear and be heard—lifting those language and content restrictions will liberate the free and open exchange of opinions and ideas. The time is now, to shit or get off the pot.

Drew Hayes was most recently VP/Market Manager and Program Director of KABC Radio in Los Angeles. He has also programmed and managed News, Talk and Sports stations in Chicago, Dallas and Tampa, as well as the ESPN Radio Network in much-maligned Bristol, Connecticut. He began his career in Miami as a talk-show host and sports anchor, occasionally having to bite his tongue. He can be reached at hayesradio@gmail.com.