The Differences Between AM and FM Radio

Whenever I'm driving, I almost always have the radio on to the top hits station. I don't learn much from these radio stations besides the weather for the upcoming week, traffic conditions, and the latest gossip on the Kardashians. For this assignment, we were to listen to 20 minutes of an FM radio station, and then 20 minutes of an AM station and compare the two in terms of content and the length of commercials.

FM Station - 95.5 WPLJ.  Commercial percentage: 4%

The FM radio station I chose was a top hits station. During the time I listened to it, I learned about the weather for Seaside Heights in New Jersey, a polar plunge for charity that was going to take place, and the traffic conditions around that area as well. I personally enjoy FM radio, because I like to listen to the top hits and I love music. There is normally not too many commercials, and if there is they are spread out evenly after a few songs. In this case, I only listened to just above two minutes of commercials over a 20 minute time period, which isn't bad at all.



AM Station - AM 790. Commercial percentage: 10%

The San Bernardino shooters; Tashfeen Malik and Syad Rizwan Farook

I listened to an AM radio night show, and I learned about an issue involving the FBI's recent concern with locked iPhones. A few months ago, a couple in San Bernardino, California, shot 14 people and injured 22 people. Since the incident, the government has obtained both of their cell phones to check for information in reference to the shooters that could help solve the case. Unfortunately, there is no way to gain access to the iPhones, as there is an encryption on each individual iPhone that even Apple cannot break. During the talk show, the hosts and a guest discussed the San Bernardino shooting and Apple's response to the FBI's concerns on encrypted iPhone's. The discussion then turned into the fact that if there were no encryptions, then anybody would have the ability to break into a phone.

There was a total of five minutes and 43 seconds of commercial time during the 20 minutes I listened to the station. This is not substantially more than the FM station, but it did surprise me that there was more commercial time on an AM station than an FM. The AM station was definitely more informative than the FM station, as I learned about the news and what's going on in the U.S. today. While the AM station was enlightening, I enjoyed the FM station much more and found it more entertaining, as I love listening to music.