I’m pretty sure it’s still a requirement as part of the AM to FM conversion process that the AM is still broadcast in simulcast with the FM for 4 weeks, then the AM runs a week of looped message saying the station has moved to (insert frequency) on the FM band.
Anyone who can’t figure it out over that time has more problems than not knowing what’s happened to the radio station they listened to, anyone not in town during the conversion probably won’t take long to figure out where it’s gone once they get back (e.g. seasonal visitors).
Though changing the name of the station during conversion might confuse some listeners (out of towner’s) in that the old station has gone but they’ll have to listen to this new one now.
I’m pretty sure most people are quite okay with changing bands on their radios & probably do it often, if they used to listen to a station on the AM band & now there’s nothing there, then they change to FM & scan to find a station (old one that’s converted or new one) that suits them.
Changing AM to DAB+ as 2CH did, would’ve blown plenty of listeners minds, when they woke up to find SEN where 2CH used to be & they couldn’t find 2CH anywhere else on the AM or FM band, in fact according to the ratings plenty of them just gave them the big F U & tuned down the dial to 2UE essentially saying I’m not buying a new radio, my AM/FM one will do me just fine, I’ll find another station to listen to.
Fair question. One reason that comes to mind would be in the case of print advertising of the station eg a newspaper advertising the station, without the FM (and channel/frequency(number)) a reader might wonder what the f__k is being advertised & on what medium & radio band etc. When I see FM & a frequency number; I think - ‘radio & the FM Band’. I guess it’s part of branding & identity. But I get your point when announced on air. A case in point would be ‘The Edge’ over in NZ.
I recall 6IX in Perth ID’d as “The Eagle” in the late 80s/ early 90s, and that was on AM. I vaguely recall it being around the time 6PM and 6KY converted to FM anyway.
You don’t have to go to NZ, what about The Edge Katoomba who’s just changed to CADA, they never had FM, yes they had the frequency, but I’m not arguing to drop the frequencies, just the “FM”
As has been mentioned previously there’s now quite a few do drop the FM, NOVA 96.9, & all other NOVA’s, KIIS 106.5 for example.
Also if you want to make FM part of the branding that’s fine (such as PowerFM), but when it’s used as branding that only uses the station callsign why is the FM needed, it’s not & never has been on AM stations?
Fair point. SBS may not have had a continuous message like after ATV0 moved to channel 10 and stopped simulcasting in early 1980. On January 7 1986, I came back from the Gold Coast and SBS 0 was off the air completely. I checked on the internet and channel 0 ended on the evening of the Sunday, two days earlier.
Getting back tor radio, I read somewhere that radio stations converting to FM can continue broadcasting on AM for six weeks, which includes some time simulcasting and some time playing a repeating message telling people to retune. I don’t know if there’s a rule saying that they have to simulcast for four weeks and play the audio loop for two weeks, but I’ve heard stations do that over the years. However, 3GL in 1990 simulcast for only three weeks and played an audio loop for another three weeks.
there was probably no template or rule back in the 1980s but when EON switched to 105.1 and became Triple M it simulcast on both 92.3 and 105.1 for a couple of months before a loop announcement kicked in on 92.3, causing people who had yet to switch call the station to complain why it’s running constant ads… seemingly not actually listening to what the “ads” were actually saying?!?
GF FM won’t work!
2GF 89.5FM is probably the best outcome.
TLC-FM is commencing a test broadcast on their new frequency, 93.5 megahertz, beginning on 6 May at 12 pm for a period of one week. https://www.tlcfm.com.au/
. I checked on the internet recently, not in 1986.
