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I will address the programming and technical aspects of AM "still a thing" and how this early 20th century technology is still being applied.
First, AM radio receivers are ubiqutous and cheap to make. AM radio stations can still rate highly whether as a talk station such as 2GB or music station such as 4KQ. If you are in Canberra, RN rates 15%. In the 1980s the top rating music station was AM, radio 2CH several years after the establishment of 2DAY, 2MMM and 2JJJ (1980) and even 2ABC-fm (1976) , 2MBS (1974) and 2CBA (1979) (Oh I miss Klaus Wunderlich, Eric Jupp and Scottish accordion music)
Regretably AM has had a reputation of being low-fidelity when they have been broadcasting a wider bandwidth than the channel spacing and the receiver's frequency response. I have explained the concept elsewhere on this site.
Second, AM is old technology, but this modulation technique continues to be applied elsewhere. In the old analogue tv system, vestigial AM for video and QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) for the chroma signals (R-Y and B-Y). The later QAM system is used for conveying digital signals at high bit rates.
So AM technology and its derivatives is still used even in today's modern digital modulation system. Therefore "AM" is still a thing.
Thank you,
Anthony of exciting Belfield
Is Amplitude Modulation (AM) still a thing ?
In Brisbane there is only Radio 4KQ and a Sydney relay station, and some niche community stations still using 1920's Amplitude Modulation technology.