European Country To Get Rid of FM Radio

Norway will be doing something no other country in the world has done. It will be phasing out FM radio country wide. That's right. Starting in 2017, Norwegians will no longer be able to tune into FM radio. It will instead be replaced by digital broadcasting. The airwaves won't go silent, but you'll need to purchase a digital radio receiver or stream over the internet. And that's where the problems creep in.

The good news? More than half of Norway's population already own a digital receiver and about half the country tune into digital programming. But only 20% of cars in the country have digital receivers in them. So why make the switch now? The radio landscape in Norway is much different than here in the U.S. They only had room for 5 FM stations under the old system. With digital they'll be able to expand that to 22. The switch will also save the country $25 million dollars a year.

Imagine if the United States tried this! Think of the enormous cost to radio stations and consumers alike! Even though traditional radio in this country is going through changes, AM/FM radio still reaches more Americans than any other audio format. Thank you America for keeping me employed!