This is really no surprise that there is a movement to dump AM radio in cars and trucks. This movement of getting rid of AM radio has been going on for years. I spent 42 years in radio and I rarely listen to it anymore. My hero, Frank Haley a member of the New Mexico Broadcasters Hall-of Fame feels the same way. We both are disgusted with what station owners have done with the AM band. The quality of programming has dropped so very far. Not much good on the AM anymore. Even KOB AM in Albuquerque the flame thrower, has dropped in the quality of their content. Frank and I remember when radio was the big communicator with the American people, excellent in-depth newscasts, not politically aligned to one party, no hate radio, 15 minutes or more of local and regional news, not 3 minutes of nothing noise, in-depth interviews with local officials, not a 10 second sound bite. This is a huge problem in TV news, having Americans making decisions on who to vote for by airing 10 second sound bites on newscasts. The other problem with radio is that owners do not seem concerned of having announcers with excellent voices on the radio, I am shocked at the lack of quality! Too many are hard on the ears. I got a taste of an awesome radio station a couple of weeks ago, it was on the FM band. I was traveling to preach in Clayton, New Mexico and the station that was putting out the best signal was the Raton FM station, nothing on the AM band out in that area as I traveled. I had to call the announcer and tell him, WOW! 30 minutes of local and state news on a Sunday morning! He was the owner of the station, serving the Raton area like a good owner should! When big money started buying up radio stations all over America, the quality went way down! MAKING MONEY became the focus, rather than serving the public! I have had the blessing working for public minded owners! Back in the day we had a radio creed, SERVE THE PUBLIC! Over the years the FCC has failed to enforce that and the majority of the owners put MONEY as the top priority! Over the years owners have made the shift to FM even in small markets. When was FM radio invented? A brief history
The quality of the sound on the AM band in many vehicles, like mine, is very poor. GM is not friendly to the AM band.
PS: As you can tell I have no interest in radio! LOL! When God sent me to KKIM Christian radio in Albuquerque, God led me to form a news team! God gave also gave us KKIM FM that had an awesome signal into parts of southern Colorado! God made a huge ministry out of KKIM with news and information, teaching programs and talk shows! Shortly after we put on KKIM FM, former congressman Bill Redmond called me and said he was listening to us in his car in southern Colorado! That really inspired me! ALL FOR GOD! I cannot find anything like it anymore! I do not even know a Christian station that has a local news department! SHAME! America is paying a big price for the lack of Christian news! That is why God has me and Sharon form FGGAM! PTL!!!!!!!!!! We do our best for God!
Owners of Christian TV/Radio stations seem to be pleased with themselves when they can just take a satellite feed of some network and call that serving the public!
From Radio Ink:
With more chatter bubbling up that AM radio may not have a place on the computer entertainment dashboard of the future, especially in electric vehicles, Massachusetts Democratic Senator Edward Markey has a message for automakers.
Markey, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, sent letters to 20 car manufacturers requesting that they maintain AM radio in their vehicles, including new EV models. More Here
Money, or should I say “the love of money” has driven so many things into the ground, whether radio or live music venues. The AM radio is not subscription ($) and tends to support talk radio more than music – which to the chagrin of many, leans conservative. The hiring of a local team of reporters (not “drive by incident documenters”) is a great idea. I wish that were the case. It seems that local TV news/weather stations spend an inordinate amount of time redundantly discussing minor variations in temperature around the state (with no clear benefit I can detect), with much of the remaining time spent on commercials. The radio (and media) emphasis nowadays seems to be focused solely on what programing formula and types of music get the most money for the advertisers. As a musician, venues seem to seek out DJs or single acts with laptops and drum tracks, being unwilling or unable to pay for the enjoyment, excitement and enrichment of having an actual band.