AM Radio Mandate: NAB vs. Auto Makers

Radio Ink informed us last week that the U.S. Congress has about two months to pass the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (requiring AM radios in new cars) and auto makers have been spending millions of dollars with lobbyists seeking to defeat the legislation. It wasn't supposed to be this way.

The Radio Ink report documents the quarterly spend of multiple auto makers with the third quarter 2024 spend of $5.84M representing a modest decline from the more than $7M in lobbying spend in both the first and second quarters of the year. This news arrives within weeks of harrowing tales of tragedy and recovery in the wake of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina where AM radio stations filled the information void left by massive cellphone outages.

Radio Ink story - with link to National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) public service announcements supporting the bill and public service announcement (PSA) spots: https://radioink.com/2024/10/23/automakers-spend-millions-more-in-q3-to-kill-the-am-radio-act/

CBS News coverage of Asheville, N.C., AM radio station's coverage of Hurricane Helene: https://www.cbsnews.com/video/how-radio-became-a-lifeline-for-western-north-carolina-residents-during-helene/

Fred Jacobs of Jacobs Media Jacoblog documenting the efforts of multiple AM broadcasters in the area to provide an information lifeline to impacted communities in and around Asheville highlighting the critical role that AM radio has always performed: https://jacobsmedia.com/this-is-our-why/

The net result is a bad look for the automotive industry and an awkward clash for the NAB which has been maintaining a multi-year outreach to auto makers focused on enhancing the in-car tuning and listening experience. Now, instead of collaboration, the NAB finds itself in a throw down with auto makers - openly supporting legislation that car companies oppose.

NAB Auto Initiative: https://www.nab.org/innovation/autoInitiative.asp#:~:text=The%20intent%20of%20a%20dashboard,the%20dashboard%20experience%20are%20met .

The NAB position is understandable and clear. If Congress is seeking to mandate AM radios in all cars - in response to the growing number of electric vehicles that come without AM due to interference mitigation challenges - the NAB essentially has no choice but to be supportive.

It's an existential issue for the NAB. AM radios may be endangered in cars today, but FM radios may face elimination in the future. This is especially the case as both satellite radio and broadcast radio are increasingly accessed by consumers in their cars via embedded or brought in cellular connections.

The AM radio mandate legislation has significant momentum. The bipartisan legislation has 262 co-sponsors in the House and a supportive super-majority in the Senate and is beginning to look like a mom-and-apple-pie, can't lose proposition. A group of state-level attorney's general has also come out in support of the legislation.

One can see why auto makers might resist this mandate or any mandate. Look no further than the European Union where the eCall mandate required 2G/3G modems in cars - millions of which will soon lose their automatic crash notification functionality in the wake of the sunsetting of those wireless networks.

Notably, AM radio has virtually ceased to exist across much of the European Union, while the U.K. maintains a solid block of AM listeners. Nevertheless, some car makers in Europe have deleted radios in some vehicle trim levels in spite of a digital radio mandate.

Previous blog on deleted radios in the E.U.: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/radio-free-europe-roger-c-lanctot-5j2ae/

For auto makers, the issue boils down to cost and complexity. Auto makers are looking for revenue and radio is increasingly seen exclusively as a cost - even though dealers routinely rely on radio advertising to attract car buyers.

Technology evolves and auto makers are increasingly shifting their connectivity strategies toward cellular centricity. In fact, Xperi's DTS AutoStage has integrated broadcast radio with IP connectivity to deliver interactivity and enhanced metadata to in-dash radios.

Auto makers do understand safety and the response to Hurricane Helene highlights the safety relevance of AM radio. As Fred Jacobs notes, AM radios weather alerts and emergency notifications are unmatched by satellite radio, streaming apps, or podcasts.

Cars represent a refuge, an escape, and something of a safety cocoon. Our cars are supposed to protect us. Sometimes protection comes in the form of seatbelts and airbags. Sometimes it comes in the form of information.

In my previous place of employment we regularly surveyed consumers in China, the E.U., and the U.S. regarding their connected services preferences and traffic, parking, and weather always topped the list. Weather is always important to drivers - hot, cold, rain, or shine. And radio is often the most reliable source of weather information.

With cars made in China, where radio is more of an afterthought, heading to the U.S. sometime soon, perhaps legislation is the only path forward to guarantee the availability of an emergency communication platform in every new car on the road. A collaborative effort between the NAB and the industry might have been a better "look" for both industries, but it was not to be.

The legislation looks like a lock in spite of auto maker lobbying. Perhaps we can take some small reassurance from the fact that in the middle of a hotly contested presidential election in the U.S. legislators can agree on one thing: Cars should come with AM radios.