(Source: Japan Today via Bill Mead)
The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association on Wednesday urged the government to allow them to abolish costly AM radio by 2028 amid falling revenues.
Many broadcasters are struggling to maintain both AM and FM radio services. “Resolving the overlapping investment for AM and FM radio services is essential,” an official of the association said in a meeting held by the communications ministry.
The association also called on the government to take measures to conduct an experiment to stop broadcasting AM radio in some areas in around 2023.
If the government approves the necessary legal change, FM complementary broadcasting, currently used for fringe areas of AM radio and as a disaster countermeasure, could be standardized as FM radio while AM radio services are terminated in most areas of Japan.[…]