AM stereo is a term given to a series of mutually incompatible techniques for radio broadcasting stereo audio in the AM band in a manner that is compatible with standard AM receivers. There are two main classes of systems: independent sideband (ISB) systems, promoted principally by American broadcast engineer Leonard R. Kahn; and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) multiplexing systems (conceptually closer to FM stereo).

Initially adopted by many commercial AM broadcasters in the mid to late 1980s, AM stereo broadcasting soon began to decline due to a lack of receivers (most "AM/FM stereo" radios only receive in stereo on FM), a growing exodus of music broadcasters to FM, concentration of ownership of the few remaining stations in the hands of large corporations and the removal of music from AM stations in favor of news/talk or sports broadcasting. By 2001, most of the former AM stereo broadcasters were no longer stereo or had left the AM band entirely.

Early experiments with stereo AM radio involved two separate stations (both AM or sometimes one AM and one FM) broadcasting the left and right audio channels. This system was not very practical, as it required the listener to use two separate receivers. Synchronization was problematic, often resulting in "ping-pong" effects between the two channels. Reception was also likely to be different between the two stations, and many listeners used mismatching models of receivers.

After the early experiments with two stations, a number of systems were invented to broadcast a stereo signal in a way which was compatible with standard AM receivers.

FM stereo was first implemented in 1961. In the United States, FM overtook AM as the dominant broadcast radio band in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The Magnavox PMX, Harris Corporation V-CPM, and Motorola C-QUAM (Compatible—Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) were all based around modulating the phase and amplitude of the carrier, placing the stereo information in the phase modulated portion, while the standard mono (L+R) information is in the amplitude modulation. The systems all did this in similar (but not completely compatible) ways. As with FM stereo, all of the AM stereo designs used pilot tones (unheard parts of the broadcast signal) to alert the receiver electronics that a stereo signal was coming in and to switch the receiver into the proper decoding mode. The original Harris Corporation system was later changed to match the Motorola C-QUAM pilot tone for indicating the station was in stereo, thus making it compatible with all C-QUAM receivers.

This system, known as V-CPM for Variable Angle Compatible Phase Multiplex, was developed by Harris Corporation, a major manufacturer of radio/TV transmitters. It incorporated a left minus right component which was frequency modulated by about 1 kHz. Harris is the successor to the pioneer Gates radio line, which has changed its name in 2014 to Gates-Air. The Harris system eventually changed their pilot tone to be compatible with C-QUAM, after C-QUAM became the more popular and eventually, the FCC approved standard. CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, Canada (also serving nearby Detroit, Michigan) was among the first stations to broadcast in Harris AM stereo. The Harris system is currently no longer used in its original form.

This system was developed by electronics manufacturer, Magnavox. It is a phase modulation system. It was initially declared the AM stereo standard by the FCC in 1980, but the FCC later declared that stations were free to choose any system. As with the Harris system, it was popular in the 1980s, but most stations stopped broadcasting in stereo, or changed to the C-QUAM system as time went on. 1190 WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana was the (then) 50,000-watt clear channel Magnavox flagship station.