AM radio listeners set to be permanently tuned out in Japan - Japan Today

shortwavesurfer , 28 days ago

Japan actually has more of an excuse for this than somewhere like the United States or Russia, just simply due to its size. AM radio is pretty much required in countries as large as the US or Russia. Sure, maybe there should be fewer AM stations with more power, but AM should not go away entirely.

tiredofsametab , 28 days ago

Basically every tunnel and such here has an AM station to tune into for traffic/weather conditions (weather can be wildly different at the end of some longer tunnels, especially the ones that gain elevation or open to a bridge over a valley).

KingThrillgore , 28 days ago

This could be us in the US but lobbyists be playin

Drusas , 28 days ago

Other way around. Lobbyists for the auto industry want to get rid of AM to save themselves money, but AM is more reliable than FM for emergency alerts (further range, can penetrate buildings).

Peffse , 28 days ago

last time I tuned into AM radio, I got shivers with the amount of hate consistently being spouted on each station I tuned to.

I wouldn't shed a tear if all that hate suddenly vanished, but I'd rather it not be because automakers wanted to save $0.05 per vehicle.

Drusas , 28 days ago

It's true that it's largely used for spouting hate in the US. It is also used by transportation departments to share travel warnings, but I doubt that gets a whole lot of usage under normal circumstances.

If AM goes away, the hatemongers will just find another platform.

KingThrillgore , 28 days ago

I understand the benefits for emergency alerts but don't we also have WEA on phones for that same reason? Let's be honest, the only time we ever get a big one on our phones it'll either be for something terrible we have no control over, or the president announcing pee is stored in the balls.

In general, AM radio is the playground of the right wing and I'd love nothing more than to fuck them over because that's the only thing they've ever known. They'll survive on FM, sure, but as they like to say: The cruelty is the point. Emergency broadcasts can be made on FM, its not as big of a loss as we fear it will be.

Drusas , 28 days ago

I know it may sound crazy, but not everyone is driving around with a phone. That's why you sometimes see updatable signs on highways telling you what AM station to tune into for whatever alert it is they have to issue .

You're right that AM is mostly used by right-wing hatemongers in the US, but they will always find something else. It's not the platform that's the problem.

It's a bit funny to me that this move is coming from Japan. It's been a little more than a decade now, but I used to live in Japan, and good radio stations playing music were all over AM radio when I was there. Maybe it's regional.

Supermariofan67 , 28 days ago

In general, AM radio is the playground of the right wing and I'd love nothing more than to fuck them over because that's the only thing they've ever known.

This is an unhinged take. Kill off the most simple to implement and farthest travelling radio system that would be essential in the event of a nationwide blackout or other emergency (and let the spectrum get sold off to some megacorp), just to own the cons because they broadcast stuff that nobody listens to anyway?

Emergency broadcasts can be made on FM, its not as big of a loss as we fear it will be.

It would be a big loss. FM does not travel beyond the horizon. AM does not require a functioning electrical grid powering the whole country and hundreds of towers linked to telecom services. AM receivers can be built with household scrap. We can get by currently with FM for emergencies, that's what NOAA weather radio is, but vast swaths of the desert and rural areas are presently left uncovered, and a nationwide power grid or telecom outage would severely impact the service.

sushibowl , 28 days ago

Do you guys get DAB+ in the US?

Drusas , 28 days ago

Never heard of it.

asbestos , 28 days ago

AM, which operates at a lower frequency, has radio waves with larger wavelengths, meaning they travel farther but struggle to penetrate solid objects like buildings.

Aren’t low frequencies better at penetrating materials?

skillissuer , 28 days ago

yes they are, you can detect lower bands pretty much everywhere. The problem is modulation: AM sucks balls when it comes to noise rejection. Some AM stations switch to digital encoding which uses the same band so good propagation + good audio quality within some range. After you get too far away signal just drops, if you're willing to put up with higher noise level range of normal AM radio is basically global

Nougat , 28 days ago

After you get too far away signal just drops, if you're willing to put up with higher noise level range of normal AM radio is basically global

This depends very highly on the condition of the ionosphere and its ability to reflect the signal. This doesn't make its useful range global, even if you can pick up very distant broadcasts occasionally.

BakerBagel , 28 days ago

On a clear night I can catch a Cardinals game on KMOX on the Indiana/Ohio line. There have been reports of people in Glasgow being able to get the broadcasts. But it's really only good for talk radio. Any music sounds like shit. But listening to a baseball game on AM radio is such a peaceful way to soend a sunmer evening.