I couldn't agree with you more. They've decimated the AM band. They're well on their way to deep sixing the political talk radio genre, and over the years it's become apparent that their budget for technology maintenance and repair of their AM stations has been slashed to the bone.
My wife was in the business for 25 years.
Luckily, she bailed about ten years ago. But they ruined every station that she worked for.
They are not really interested in local presence. I understand making money, but in some markets the local radio news was THE local news outlet.
Its too bad. But some day it will cycle around again.