‘It’s got lots of life in it yet’: Retired broadcaster says there is a future for AM radio

A portable radio is shown. (CTV News)

As the media landscape continues to evolve, numerous AM radio stations have gone dark or moved frequencies.

Brian Antonson was an on-air host at CKNW in the late 1960s. He was just 14 years old when Typhoon Frieda hit California and swept up the West Coast to B.C.

“That vital information was important locally, but also it was the only station that stayed on the air on the west coast of North America that night,” he recalls.

Antonson says when a storm hit or emergency struck, the radio is what people depended on.

“You lose a cell tower and your cellphone’s gone and you can’t get any information, radio is still there,” he says.

Antonson says the technology and nature of AM radio may be shifting, but he believes it will survive.

“The ones that thrive are the information stations: News, traffic and things like that,” he says. ”There will be change. There’s always change.”

With podcasts and streaming rising in popularity and revenue, the future of AM radio is uncertain.

Many AM radio stations across Canada have gone dark, including AM 730, Vancouver’s all-traffic radio station.

David Bray is the president of Brand Partners Communications in Toronto and a long-time radio listener.

“These are difficult times,” he says. ”I get somewhat discouraged by the bloodshed across the country.”

He says it is disheartening to see, but he is confident about the future of AM radio.

“Radio still continues to do well, in terms of overall reach,” he says. “The key to radio is the community, the local nature of it, and people sort of identifying with their on-air hosts because it’s sort of part of your family in a sense.”

For listeners like Antonson, it goes further than just getting the news.

“Radio can be there as a friend, as an accompaniment,” he says. ”No matter what you’re doing.”

Although it is difficult to see the cuts and changes to AM radio, he believes it will play on.

“It’s got lots of life in it, yet,” he says.