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Car Industry Seeks to Crush AM Radio; Congress May Rescue It
WSJ ^ | 28 January 2024 | Julie Bykowicz & Ted Mann

Posted on 01/28/2024 3:10:41 AM PST by NautiNurse

Conservative talk show hosts, FEMA are fighting carmakers, tech industries in lobbying battle over drive-time radio

A motley crew of AM radio advocates, including conservative talk show hosts like Hugh Hewitt and federal emergency officials, are lobbying Congress to stop carmakers from dropping the old medium from new vehicles.

Tesla, Volvo, and BMW are among the companies that have already stopped providing AM tuners in some models. Last year Ford said it would join them—until CEO Jim Farley reversed course “after speaking with policy leaders.”

[Snip]

Sens. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and Ed Markey (D., Mass.) are leading the Senate effort, and on the House side, Speaker Mike Johnson—himself a former conservative talk radio host in Louisiana—and progressive “squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan are among about 200 co-sponsors.

[Snip]

Moore said the bills’ opponents are at a disadvantage because “every member of Congress knows their local broadcaster. Those relationships are strong.”

[Snip]

Automakers say the rise of electric vehicles is driving the shift away from AM, because onboard electronics create interference with AM radio signals—a phenomenon that “makes the already fuzzy analog AM radio frequency basically unlistenable,” according to the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a car-industry trade group. Shielding cables and components to reduce interference would cost carmakers $3.8 billion over seven years, the group estimates.

[Snip]

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says that more than 75 radio stations, most of which operate on the AM band and cover at least 90% of the U.S. population, are equipped with backup communications equipment and generators that allow them to continue broadcasting information to the public during and after an emergency.

[Snip]

Automakers increasingly want to put radio and other car features “behind a paywall...They see this as another profit center..."

[Snip]

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: amradio; automotive; ev; radio; talkradio
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To: Ex-Con777

Nice calculations. Thanks.


41 posted on 01/28/2024 7:01:47 AM PST by NautiNurse (🇺🇸 Bidenomics: "Over a billion three hundred million trillion three hundred million dollars!")
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To: NautiNurse

motley crew

I believe that term refers to Soros, the WHO, the WEF, Bill Gates...


42 posted on 01/28/2024 7:08:56 AM PST by Steven Tyler
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To: NautiNurse
I do not want my car to be a storefront.

-PJ

43 posted on 01/28/2024 7:11:13 AM PST by Political Junkie Too ( * LAAP = Left-wing Activist Agitprop Press (formerly known as the MSM))
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To: RFEngineer

I have thought for many years that “big radio” wants to phase out broadcasting due to the massive energy cost of transmitters.

Engineers aren’t cheap either.


44 posted on 01/28/2024 7:22:56 AM PST by logitech
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To: RFEngineer

“I also posit that most if not all internet content cannot be profitable”

ISPs and cell phone service companies might sell ‘penny points’ - say 1,000 for $10.

A NY Times article might be offered for sale for three ‘penny points’.


45 posted on 01/28/2024 7:44:46 AM PST by Brian Griffin
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To: Brian Griffin

And five ‘penny points’ if you want it ad-free.


46 posted on 01/28/2024 7:45:31 AM PST by Brian Griffin
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To: norwaypinesavage

I haven’t heard the lyrics to songs since they stopped playing Bing Crosby.
= = =

The music on Serius has gotten worse. Lower bitrate, so fidelity is gone for some stations or artists.

“No Ads” is attractive, but now they have ‘hosts’ who comment about the songs and themselves.

And bring back pre-sets and a couple of knobs.


47 posted on 01/28/2024 8:04:27 AM PST by Scrambler Bob
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To: NautiNurse

AM is all we listen to.


48 posted on 01/28/2024 8:11:11 AM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: Jonty30

Do they need AM radio bandwidth

Most ham operators use AM and almost all of civilian transmitters us AM what better way to end their communications.


49 posted on 01/28/2024 8:14:42 AM PST by Vaduz
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To: NautiNurse

I dunno about where other people are at but around here mostly all of the AM is ate up with Mexican radio. Most all of the ‘talk-shows’ may have an AM hold-on but mostly have gone FM.


50 posted on 01/28/2024 8:16:38 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: Sooth2222

As a child of the 80s, it was a big deal in my house when my parents got a Kraco tape player installed in their Ford Fairmont.


51 posted on 01/28/2024 8:22:59 AM PST by San Joaquin
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To: NautiNurse

The actual TECHNOLOGY of radio is dead. And AM is more dead cause it’s crappy. “Radio” stations live on through websites and apps. Forget radio, move on. The fact that congress, a bunch of old people far far out of step with technology and society, want to save it is really proof that it’s already dead.


52 posted on 01/28/2024 8:24:36 AM PST by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: Vaduz

Actually only a few ham operators use AM :but those are the only ones you can hear on cheap shortwave radios.

SSB(single sideband) is most used on shortwave.Anaolg FM is most used on higher frequencies.Very similar to older public service,like police and business. But manufactures and government is pushing DIGITAL.
Just like other things,once the market is saturated the government declares the item obsolete and FORCES buying new :improved: items.

Free market? HAH!


53 posted on 01/28/2024 8:42:34 AM PST by hoosierham (Freedom isnt free)
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To: odawg

Most of the AM stations here are in Spanish.

So it sounds kind of racist to me.


54 posted on 01/28/2024 8:44:38 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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Bkmk


55 posted on 01/28/2024 8:51:03 AM PST by Faith65 (Isaiah 40:31 )
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To: discostu

“a bunch of old people far far out of step with technology and society”

You just described me perfectly.

I am “out of step” and proud of it.


56 posted on 01/28/2024 8:55:21 AM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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To: NautiNurse

When the Chinese start detonating EMPs all over America, you’ll be wishing for those AM radios.


57 posted on 01/28/2024 8:55:48 AM PST by oldbill
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To: discostu

The omnipresent microprocessor radiating radio frequency garbage has made AM reception difficult in many places. Before so many computers I could listen to a dozen AM stations in the office. Now only one or two of the very strongest.
Cheap Chinese battery chargers and truck e-logs are only two of many devices that TOTALLY cover the entire AM,shortwave and CB band with noise.
Rather than properly design and build device that do not radiate unwanted interference the manufactures just don”t care.

A parallel would be no mufflers on engines. But government requires mufflers because we all,well most of us, don:t want the noise.

Rasio noise should be treated the same.


58 posted on 01/28/2024 8:58:05 AM PST by hoosierham (Freedom isnt free)
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To: cgbg

Be out of step if you want. I don’t give a crap. The problem is when the clown IN CHARGE are out of step we get stupid things like this: forcing automakers to spend a bunch of money (costs that will be passed on to consumers) to keep around a technology that’s already gone.

If you really really want AM radio in your car you can buy one for $20 and not make anybody else pay anything.


59 posted on 01/28/2024 9:00:17 AM PST by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
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To: discostu

I am so out of step I still use horses and buggies—and I expect you to subsidize horse shoe repair shops.

Lol.


60 posted on 01/28/2024 9:01:55 AM PST by cgbg ("Our democracy" = Their Kleptocracy)
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