Radio isn't dead. People keep saying it is, but they're wrong. If you flip the dial to 1310 AM, you aren't just hitting a frequency; you're hitting a specific slice of local history that refuses to quit. Depending on where you are standing in North America, that 1310 spot on the AM band means something completely different. In Dallas, it’s the legendary "Ticket." In Ottawa, it’s where you go for news. In other towns, it’s the pulse of the community that the big FM stations ignored years ago.
It is weird, right? We have Spotify. We have podcasts that cost millions to produce. Yet, thousands of people still wake up and tune into a medium that literally relies on bouncing waves off the ionosphere. AM radio, specifically frequencies like 1310 AM, survives because it does the one thing an algorithm can't: it talks back.
The Powerhouse of the Dial: KTCK and the Dallas Legacy
You cannot talk about 1310 AM without talking about Dallas, Texas. KTCK, famously known as "The Ticket," is basically the gold standard for what sports talk radio should be. It started back in 1994. Back then, sports radio was supposed to be serious. It was supposed to be guys in ties yelling about batting averages and trade exceptions. The Ticket changed that. They realized that people don't just want stats; they want to feel like they’re hanging out at a bar with their funniest friends.
They call it "guy talk." It’s irreverent. It’s messy. Sometimes they don't even talk about sports for twenty minutes. They talk about what they had for lunch or some weird thing that happened at the grocery store. This approach didn't just win ratings; it won multiple Marconi Awards. That’s the radio equivalent of an Oscar. It proved that 1310 AM could be a lifestyle, not just a news source.
But here is the kicker. The signal for 1310 AM in Dallas is a "regional" signal. It’s 5,000 watts. During the day, it blankets the Metroplex. At night? Physics takes over. Because of the way AM signals travel, they have to throttle down or change their directional pattern to avoid interfering with other stations on the same frequency in different states. It’s a technical headache that makes 1310 AM feel like this fragile, living thing.
CIQB and the Canadian Connection
Switch gears. Cross the border. In Ottawa, Ontario, 1310 AM (now often branded as CityNews) has been the backbone of the city's information cycle for decades. It’s gone through a bunch of call letters—CKOY, CIQB—but the mission stayed the same. When the 1998 ice storm hit and the power went out across Eastern Ontario, people didn't check Twitter. It didn't exist. They grabbed their battery-powered transistors and tuned into 1310.
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That is the "utility" of the AM band. While FM is for music and high-fidelity sound, 1310 AM is for the "need to know" moments. It’s the school closures. It’s the traffic jam on the 417. It’s the local politician being held to account.
Recently, there has been a lot of talk about Rogers Sports & Media moving some of these formats around. In 2020, they actually rebranded the Ottawa station to CityNews to create a more unified brand. It’s a business move, sure. But for the listener, it’s still just "thirteen-ten."
The Technical Reality: Why the Static Happens
Let's get nerdy for a second. Why does 1310 AM sound like it’s underwater sometimes?
AM stands for Amplitude Modulation. Basically, the information is carried by varying the strength of the signal. The problem? Nature loves to mess with that. Lightening, power lines, and even your cheap LED light bulbs in the kitchen create electromagnetic interference. This is why AM stations struggle in downtown areas with lots of concrete and steel.
- Skywave Propagation: At night, the atmosphere changes. The "D layer" of the ionosphere disappears, and AM signals hit the "E and F layers" and bounce back to Earth hundreds of miles away.
- Directional Arrays: To manage this, many 1310 AM stations use multiple towers. They "steer" the signal. If you look at a station's coverage map, it’s rarely a perfect circle. It’s usually an egg shape or a weird cloverleaf.
- The 10 kHz Gap: In North America, stations are spaced 10 kHz apart. This is why you have 1310, 1320, 1330. It’s a crowded neighborhood.
Honestly, it’s a miracle it works at all. You're catching a wave through the air that was pushed out by a massive stick in a field somewhere. There is a tangible, physical connection there that digital files just lack.
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Why 1310 AM is Facing an Existential Crisis
We have to be real here. The future isn't exactly a cakewalk for AM radio. Car manufacturers are the biggest threat. Electric vehicles (EVs) produce a ton of electromagnetic noise that messes with AM reception. Because of this, companies like Tesla and even some traditional brands have toyed with the idea of removing AM radio from the dashboard entirely.
This is a huge deal. If you can't hear 1310 AM in your car, does the station even exist? The car is the last bastion of the radio listener.
The industry is fighting back, though. There is a massive lobbying effort in D.C. and Ottawa to keep AM in cars for public safety reasons. The argument is simple: when the internet goes down and the cell towers are congested during a natural disaster, AM radio is the only thing that still works. 1310 AM becomes a lifeline. It’s not about the "Morning Zoo" crew anymore; it’s about emergency broadcasts.
Beyond the Big Cities: The Community Pulse
If you go to smaller markets, 1310 AM is often the only local voice left. Take a station like WABV in Abbeville, South Carolina, or others scattered across the Midwest. These aren't corporate behemoths. They are often family-owned or small-cap operations.
They play high school football games. They read the "Swap Shop" where people call in to sell a lawnmower or a set of tires. You might think it’s quaint, but for the people living there, it’s the social fabric. When a 1310 AM station goes dark in a small town, that town loses its mirror. Nobody else is going to broadcast the Tuesday night city council meeting.
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The Digital Transition: Hybrid Radio
To survive, 1310 AM stations are diversifying. Most of them now stream online, obviously. But there is also HD Radio. This allows a station to broadcast a digital signal over its analog one. It eliminates the static and provides "metadata" like song titles or weather alerts on your screen.
Then there are FM translators. You might notice your favorite 1310 AM station also says "now on 97.5 FM" or something similar. The FCC (and CRTC) allowed this to help AM stations reach people who simply won't listen to the AM band because of the audio quality. It’s a "simulcast." It’s basically 1310 AM wearing an FM costume to stay relevant.
Actionable Steps for the Radio Curious
If you haven't touched an AM dial in years, you’re actually missing out on some of the most unique content in the media landscape. Here is how to actually engage with it:
- Check your local listings: Use a site like Radio-Locator. Just type in your zip code and see what is actually broadcasting on 1310 AM in your area. You might be surprised to find a Spanish-language powerhouse, a Catholic station, or a hardcore news-talk outlet.
- Get a dedicated receiver: If you want to hear what 1310 AM really sounds like, don't use your car. Get a dedicated AM/FM portable radio from a brand like C. Crane or Sangean. They have better internal antennas (ferrite rods) that can pull in distant stations you didn't even know existed.
- Listen at night: This is the "DXing" hobby. Around 10:00 PM, start scanning 1310 AM. If you're in the Midwest, you might catch a station from a thousand miles away. It’s like a time capsule coming through the speakers.
- Support local sponsors: These stations live and die by local advertising. The plumber or the lawyer who buys an ad on 1310 AM is literally keeping that transmitter running.
The reality of 1310 AM is that it’s a survivor. It survived the rise of TV. It survived the iPod. It’s surviving the smartphone. As long as there are people who want to hear a human voice talking about their specific town, their specific team, or their specific problems, that frequency isn't going anywhere. It’s just too useful to die.