There IS a reasonable backup ! Everyone listens to "radio" on their smartphones. Only the old and stubborn still listen to AM radio through an actual stereo or radio. Car radio is still feasible for now, unless a newer technology takes it over (maybe HD, maybe not). With all of the bullshit involving terrestrial radio (CRTC intervention, Industry Canada regs., licence approval, licence monitoring, public scrutiny, etc.) is it any wonder. then. that nobody amongst the new generation wants a career in radio engineering.
Regarding the news1130 situation, thanks to an agreement once signed by Lyin' Brian Mulroney and Ronald Reagan, the United States has been top dog, when it comes to OUR AM radio dominancy. We have had to cut our Canadian radio signals to bow to theirs, for years, but with FM Radio, nobody cares anymore. CKWX and other border stations have had to kow tow to the Americans for years, and thus, that is why you cannot hear them in downtown Vancouver, some days.
But rest assured, the Yanks can scream
their signals into Canada, no problem, because, according to Manifest Destiny, they have the "god-given right" to expand their borders.
Already, they have or soon will have, U.S. customs agents with guns, stationed at our Canadian airports. What's next, cops from the U.S. pursuing suspects north of the border and a 30 foot wall at the Blaine crossing.
Canadian radio stations require not just 50,000 watts, but try 100,000 or maybe even 150,000 watts, which cannot happen, since Mulroney sold our radio souls to the devil, long ago.