AM Radio: The Definition of a Joke

What's the deal with AM radio? Why does it still exist? The quality is terrible and it's not even in stereo. Why is this tolerated? Now I understand that it costs more to transmit an FM signal rather than an AM signal, but dare I assume, if an AM station changed to FM, that the increase in revenue from advertisements would offset the increase in operating costs? It pains me to listen to AM radio when I know that FM exists. It's like watching a television station that chooses to be broadcast in black and white. I mean, come on people, this is the 21st century! Let's dare to dream here. It's not the 1930's where the whole family is sitting around the old HiFi on Saturday night listening to The Shadow. We live in the age of "High Definition", "On-demand", and "Podcasts". So I think it's time we do what we know has needed to be done for a very long time: we take AM radio out back with grandpa's 12 gauge and put it out of its misery.