America's Car Industry Seeks to Crush AM Radio. Will Congress Rescue It?

The Wall Street Journal reports that 'a motley crew of AM radio advocates,' including conservative talk show hosts and federal emergency officials, are lobbying Congress to stop carmakers from dropping AM radio from new vehicles:

Lawmakers say most car companies are noncommittal about the future of AM tuners in vehicles, so they want to require them by law to keep making cars with free AM radio. Supporters argue it is a critical piece of the emergency communication network, while the automakers say Americans have plenty of other ways, including their phones, to receive alerts and information. The legislation has united lawmakers who ordinarily want nothing to do with one another. 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...

A spring 2023 Nielsen survey, the most recent one available, showed that AM radio reaches about 78 million Americans every month. That is down from nearly 107 million in the spring of 2016, one of the earliest periods for which Nielsen has data... 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.

Markey and other lawmakers say they want to preserve AM radio because of its role in emergency communications. 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. Seven former FEMA administrators urged Congress in a letter last year to seek assurances from automakers that they would keep broadcast radio available. The companies' noncommittal response spurred legislation, lawmakers said.

Automakers increasingly want to put radio and other car features 'behind a paywall,' Markey said in an interview. 'They see this as another profit center for them when the American driving public has seen it as a safety resource for them and their families....' He compared the auto industry's resistance to the bill to previous opposition to government mandates like seat belts and air bags. 'Leaving safety decisions to the auto industry is very dangerous,' Markey said.

Lawmakers have heard from over 400,000 AM radio supporters, according to the president of the National Association of Broadcasters.

But the article also cites an executive at the Consumer Technology Association, who says automakers and tech advocacy groups have told lawmakers that requiring AM radio 'would be 'inconsistent with the principles of a free market.... It's strange that Congress is focused on a 100-year-old technology.'

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