The FCC’s AM revitalization rulemaking proceeding has awakened a hope among AM broadcasters that there could be a better future ahead. If the FCC listens to the many well-thought-out ideas that the various commenters presented to the Commission.
Progress on these and other necessary changes and improvements to Medium Wave broadcasting will only come about by continuous and organized pressure on the FCC to undertake the reforms needed to return broadcast radio and medium wave broadcasting in particular to its rightful place in the lives of Americans.
This pressure requires the intervention of the licensees in contacting members of Congress, the Commission and others for the regulatory changes that are needed. Unfortunately, individual statements rarely coalesce into action plans, so little can be accomplished when many voices say similar, but often things which differ in the details.
A number of AM broadcasters, broadcast service and equipment providers, engineers, and programmers have banded together, focused on this website, to project a common, concise action plan to improve and perhaps solve the regulatory, cost, service value and perceptual problems that have plagued AM broadcasting ever since the “modulation wars” of the late ’70s. The first action of the group was filing comments on the FCC’s AM Revitalization Rulemaking
To this end, we have formed the National Alliance of AM Broadcasters, beginning with a comprehensive set of proposals in the FCC’s MM Docket 13-249 AM revitalization. The goals of the organization are:
- To represent Medium Wave broadcasters before the FCC and other government entities to provide a forward looking regulatory environment in broadcast radio, copyright, land use and environmental issues.
- To provide a clearinghouse for ideas on marketing, receivers, RF noise reduction, business models, transition to digital, integration with other distribution systems, programming, sales and other issues critical to success of Medium Wave broadcasting.
- To provide a cooperative national sales presence for smaller AM stations.
- To devise a marketing plan to promote Medium Wave Broadcasting
- To promote the development of low cost, high quality medium wave receivers.
- To conduct research and development in such areas as receivers, small transmitting antennas, single frequency networks, carrier lock, noise reduction, and digital transmission and reception.
To find out more about the National Alliance, send a note to membership@amband.org.