With the AM band vacated, Argentine radio stations can now be heard in Northeastern Brazil

This can be considered a paradoxical fact. How can a band with such a capacity for reach be abandoned by a country? Yet this is exactly what we see today: radio stations from Argentina being received thousands and thousands of kilometers away from Buenos Aires, practically near Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. I myself have already received Mitre 790 AM, among others.

What is the point of being received so far away if, in the station’s own city, the signal disappears when you enter shopping mall parking garages, buildings, and supermarkets? What is the point if, inside homes, LED and fluorescent lamps, when turned on, create a buzzing noise over the football broadcast? Even listening to AM inside a car can become an experience of continuous fluctuation, with buzzes, noise, and other forms of interference. What is the value of reaching thousands of kilometers in a market that does not consume that station, while the audio sounds as if it were coming from an antenna buried one meter underground?

The reception I had of Argentine stations occurred on BR-101, far from roadside power lines, away from houses, industries, and commercial areas, in a rare combination of electrical isolation and, specifically, at night. In other words, a very restricted time window for this “super reach” and a highly particular environment that made it possible. I stopped at a gas station and the audio turned into intense noise. Curious to continue listening, I opened the RadiosNet app, searched for Mitre 790 from Buenos Aires, paired my phone to the car via Bluetooth, and kept listening for another fifteen minutes, with infinitely cleaner audio.

Distance is no longer a competitive advantage for AM stations. The internet has appropriated that advantage. Brazil did not make a mistake in allowing its AM stations to migrate to FM. The sound is far better, stations can finally be received inside parking garages and inside homes, no matter how electrified they are, with less interference and less noise, precisely in the markets that matter most to these broadcasters. In addition, they operate with better energy efficiency using FM transmitters rather than AM transmitters. Maintenance is also simpler for FM stations.

There is no reason to cling to the era of AM radio. It is like an honored football jersey, framed on the wall with its number retired, an object of admiration and respect that had its time. It makes no sense to insist that broadcasters bankrupt themselves by remaining on AM and giving up migration to FM, especially if no one is willing to contribute so they can pay the bills required to keep an AM station on the air.

For enthusiasts, the painful discoveries are:

1) “Super reach” has become an attribute with no economic value

Historically, AM’s great strength was covering long distances. Today, this does not translate into audience or revenue. Receiving a station thousands of kilometers away does not mean consuming it, much less generating an advertising market. AM’s main historical differentiator has become irrelevant in the age of global connectivity.

2) AM–FM migration is less “abandonment” and more “technical rationalization”

Migration is often treated as a cultural loss. In practice, it is a technological course correction, based on energy efficiency, reception robustness, and operational viability. Brazil did not kill AM, it simply acknowledged that its original function has been replaced by more efficient means.

3) Modern AM suffers more inside its own city than outside it

Paradoxically, in dense urban environments AM performs terribly. In isolated areas, it “shines.”AM has become an excellent system for places where almost nobody lives, and a poor one for where the audience actually is.

4) The internet is not a competitor to AM radio; it is a direct substitute for its historical purpose

AM was born as a long-distance medium. Today, the internet is what delivers unlimited reach, stability, and quality.

5) Nostalgia does not pay the electricity bill

Defending the permanence of AM without offering a financial solution is sterile romanticism. The discourse of cultural preservation often ignores the economic sustainability of broadcasters.

6) The “abandonment” of the AM band creates a natural propagation laboratory

With fewer stations occupying the band, ideal conditions emerge for DXing, experimental listening, and technical observations, something fascinating for a very small group of passionate listeners.