When did FM radio become the common frequency?

Question

I was looking at a 1975 Dodge Monaco wagon on Ebay, because that was the year I was born. I noticed that the top tier of the radio frequency was AM and not FM like we have today. When was it that FM became the common frequency? I was too young to remember when that transition was.

Answer 1

Good question.   I don't know though.

Answer 2

Fm radio has been out since the 1930s but became the frequencies we know of today only around WWII.

However FM was a stepchild to AM radio for many years with most popular music on AM radio. Rock music was some of the first music found that wasn't easy listening in nature starting in the late 1960s (as FM stations were cheaper to buy than Am at the time)

The major shift appeared around the late 1970s- Early 1980s as more and more radios were offered with FM built in (and the all important car stereos started to offer them) and people found the music they enjoyed clearer on FM than AM as most Top 40 stations in the 1970s were on AM radio but all but died or moved to FM by 1982 or so.

Answer 3

I think it was in 1969.

We had a 'High Fi' in our house because there was no such thing as Stereo yet and that was in 1968.

When stereos first came out with the mysterious 'FM' channels they were considered really 'Star Trek' stuff and very sci fi (Hi Tech back in the '60s).

Most of the crazy rock 'n roll radio stations taken so much for granted today came out on FM.

Answer 4

I think it was earlier than 1969, I had a '69 Chevelle and it has AM and FM but I think my '61 Ford only had AM.

Ah yes I am right, I found this info

FM radio was invented by a man named Edwin Armstrong in order to make high-fidelity (and static-free) music broadcasting possible. He built the first station in 1939, but FM did not become really popular until the 1960s.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/radio-spect...

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