Posted on 05/26/2023 6:39:13 AM PDT by Twotone
The broadcast industry was abuzz yesterday following Ford Motor Company’s announcement that it will keep AM radio as a feature in its newer model cars. It’s welcome news for AM advocates who have been fighting for the preservation of the senior band in recent months.
That fight, however, is not over. Lawmakers continue to push for legislation that would protect AM in all vehicles, and radio broadcasters are keeping the pressure on other automakers to follow Ford’s lead.
Ford CEO Jim Farley made the announcement via social media Tuesday morning:
“After speaking with policy leaders about the importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system, we’ve decided to include it on all 2024 Ford & Lincoln vehicles,” wrote Farley. “For any owners of Ford EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software update. Customers can currently listen to AM radio content in a variety of ways in our vehicles – including via streaming – and we will continue to innovate to deliver even better in-vehicle entertainment and emergency notification options in the future. Thanks to our product development and manufacturing teams for their quick response to make this change for our customers.”
In the hours that followed, numerous people on LinkedIn commented on Farley’s post, expressing their support — or their indifference — and other thoughts on the matter:
David Greenberg, founder of The Empowered Franchisee, wrote: “Love this Jim! It’s great to see Ford prioritizing safety and recognizing the importance of AM broadcast radio in emergency situations. Kudos to your product development and manufacturing teams for their swift action. How will customers be notified about the availability of the software update for their Ford EVs?”
Joshua Giampa, a cloud infrastructure architect at Amazon Web Services commented: “I have been driving for nearly 20 years. I don’t think I have ever intentionally listened to AM radio. Even FM, for the last decade, is only used if I happen to be in an old car that hasn’t swapped the radio. If there’s still people broadcasting, then cars might as well receive it, but I doubt most people even noticed it wasn’t there.”
Gary Drypen, owner of Inland Seas Executive Consulting, wondered: “Why is shielding EV RF emissions which interfere with AM radio reception a problem? Is it a technical issue (it can’t be done) or is it cost driven (EV manufacturers don’t want to do it)? How far from the EV does AM radio interference extend? Will EVs disrupt AM radio reception in proximate vehicles on the road? Is enclosing the offending components within a Faraday cage untenable?”
An AM station also expressed its gratitude at Ford’s decision.
WJR(AM) in Detroit, Mich., said: “Thank you from the 50,000 watt Great Voice of the Great Lakes!”
Radio World also received a flurry of comments via email following yesterday’s news:
Jonathon Yinger, president/CEO of The Christian Broadcasting System and Broadcast Properties LLC, said: “Man … Ford … They never took AM out of the cars. Funny, right? Is there any way to get a revision on this bill to include some of those AM revitalization proposals that the commission had suggested, back in the day? Can someone pass this idea on to the NAB?”
Lawrence Cohen in Utica, N.Y., wrote: “My wife and I just returned from a lifelong wish trip to Yellowstone National Park. We rented a 2023 Ford Edge out of Bozeman airport in Montana. Ford should think more about their junk plastic-on-wheels cars than all the bells and whistles that are just absurd, viz, ‘check your back seat before leaving.’ Ford must think every American has no brains. It should pay more attention to their cars — junk and expensive junk at that.”
Veteran engineer and RW contributor Mark Durenberger in Minneapolis commented: “Part of this issue is owned by high-power stations like our own WCCO: using a DCC system to save on the electric bill. Result: more modulated noise in the noisy areas. No one has said much about that.”
I have listened to a lot of AM over the years, but I don’t think there “oughta be a law”. Heck, I don’t even think the car ought to even be required to HAVE a radio.
AM radio became worthless once RUSH LIMBAUGH passed. Rush was the only reason AM stayed around this long. God Bless You Rush!
AM radio is driven by conservative talk radio. And a lot of that is drive time ratings.
Taking AM out of cars is an attack on conservative talk radio.
Emergency Broadcasting capability is important and a good argument for keeping AM, but I really think that the genesis of this was an attack on conservative talk.
My Caddy does that also but only if l have opened the rear door. In my case I think of it as a reminder that I put something back there when I exit the car. Actually l like it.
It seems like deleting useful features for no good reason is all the rage nowadays.
Soros just bought a bunch of Spanish speaking AM radio stations, this is why the rats are pushing to keep AM.
Anyone remember when it was said the reason why cursive writing wasn’t being taught anymore was because The Constitution and The Bill of Rights were both written in cursive and the left didn’t want people to be able to read them anymore?
The same with AM radio? Many Conservative voices are on AM radio and is this the left trying to erase Conservatives here???
Apparently you don’t listen to Clay and Buck or Armstrong and Getty
AM signals reach far and at night cover huge areas, though some stations have to power down or change direction to protect others.
There is news-talk on FM including powerful NPR stations like WBUR and WGBH in Boston. Some conservative talk stations are FM only while some simulcast an AM talker.
Some stations will simulcast on FM with a full powered signal while some have FM translators with limited range.
Some simulcast on HD2 or HD3 signals for those with special HD radio.
Other options:
—streaming—iHeartRadio, TuneIn etc
—some news-talk content on satellite radio (for fee)
The AM dial has strong and weak stations
with talk, news, religion, foreign language and sports. You could have a big sports station on FM while an AM would have sports gambling talk. Some nostalgia/oldies.
In Boston area there’s easy listening WJIB AM 740, a one man operation with a cult following. Listener supported with donations. He refuses to streamcast for cost reasons but covers some areas with an FM translator (101.3)
Hmmmmmm......thanks,
In Boston iHeart has conservative talk
on WRKO 680 (regional shows like Howie
Carr), WXKS 1200 (nation shows like
Travis and Sexton, Beck, Hannity)
and news station WBZ 1030 has a night show
with Dan Rea.
All of them streamcast.
None have an FM simulcast but if you
have an HD radio WZLX 100.7 has WRKO
on the HD2 and WXKS AM on the HD3.
WBZ AM is on the HD2 of WXKS FM 107.9
I don’t understand why auto manufactures would want to take away a feature that costs them virtually noting additional to provide with other features that are already standard. I don’t necessarily listen to AM radio much anymore, but I still don’t want the option taken away from me when I buy a car. For that matter I don’t listen to FM radio much either, but as long as you have a radio you might as well have access to both bands.
I live in a rural area and there are a lot of local news and events that are only broadcast on the AM side. I am not a big talk radio listener anymore but when I listen to AM it is for local stuff that is not available anywhere else.
Good decision Ford.
>In Boston area there’s easy listening WJIB AM 740, a one man operation with a cult following. Listener supported with donations. He refuses to streamcast for cost reasons but covers some areas with an FM translator (101.3)
That sounds like a cool station. Around 20 years ago, Reno had a small AM station that broadcast Alex Jones. That’s back when NV was red. The station was bought and now it’s a spanish language station. Now we have a Faux talk station on FM out of Carson City and the standard AM blather from the Reno station.
Comparing what it takes to demodulate AM versus Bluetooth, WiFi, FM or even the keyfob security radio shows that the software for AM is trivial.
A
M
ALL MAGA
GREAT decision.
I was sent to a small fishing boat in the late 70s. His emergency radio reception was being completely wiped out by the onboard alternators providing AC power for equipment. I tried to convince him that the problem needed to be fixed before he took the boat to sea. Too expensive. He went to sea, had problems. Called for help on that radio. Didn't matter because he couldn't hear anything. The boat sunk. He died. RFI is a real problem.
The main technical difference between AM and FM radio lies in how they encode the audio signal. AM varies the amplitude of the carrier wave, while FM varies the frequency. AM radios are relatively simpler in design as they primarily involve the modulation and demodulation of the amplitude of the carrier wave. AM radios are generally simpler in design compared to FM radios, which can potentially result in lower manufacturing costs for AM radios. From a cost perspective, there is no inherent reason to exclude AM functionality in car radios.
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