“Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone?”
Today’s blog post quotes both Joni Mitchell and Popeye (the Sailor Man). Each is something of a philosopher. And when it comes to AM radio, we need all the thoughtful wisdom we can get.
I’ve already written more posts about AM radio in 2023 than I have in the last decade. AM operators are running scared these days, and for good reason. Amplitude modulated radio stations are under attack this year. But those paying attention to AM specifically, and broadcast radio generally know the attack on AM may just be the prequel to an assault on FM receivers in the car.
The scrambling over these past few weeks by AM operators, the NAB, and other concerned players may be too little too late. And that’s not just about efforts – legislatively and otherwise – have been somewhat last minute. AM radio has been a laggard for a long time now
Because many station owners have both AM and FM stations in their portfolios, there’s a lot on the line. The car remains broadcast radio’s top listening location. And at least for now, it is also the king of the hill in the car. Of course, “connected cars” offer the promise of bringing in outside content from smartphones, a practice that has already eroded broadcast radio’s position in cars.
Let’s look at where AM stands – the mistakes that have been made but also the stations and their parent companies that are doing something right. What does the research tell us – pro and con – about AM radio and its perceptions among the listening public?
AM’s travails are nothing new. The plight of these stations in American radio has been discussed and debated for a number of years now. And the chicken/egg of it is that as AM radio listening has eroded, so has the quality of its content. Long ago, stations have sold out their programming to the highest – or lowest – bidders. That’s why so many AM stations are unlistenable, especially over weekends when ostensibly, “no one is listening anyway.”
But now, operators are scurrying to position AM radio as an emergency service that alerts listeners to clear and present dangers in their markets – derailed trains, weather emergencies, natural disasters. Some stations responsibly embrace this role, but in too many markets, AM stations are doing blessedly little to invest in serious content. There might be a local calamity happening in Anywhere, U.S.A. but there’s no guarantee there’s an AM station in that market in a position to do something about it.
Of course, there are other metros where AM is alive and somewhat well, continuing to provide valuable services to local audiences. Some have questioned why the kerfuffle about AM’s disappearing act is happening when consumers can access these stations on any number of apps, such as TuneIn. In fact, that’s been Ford’s rationale as they leave AM stations on the shoulder. But as many defenders of the AM flag remind us, when there’s a real natural disaster, we’ve learned the cellular towers are likely to go down, while the towers and transmitters associated with broadcast companies continue to function, providing a service to beleaguered consumers. And many broadcasters have invested in redundancy – backup towers/antennas, transmitter, and studio because “just in case.”
One of the more ironic stories over the last several years in praise of broadcast radio has been told by one of the medium’s fiercest critics, the Consumer Technology Association’s CEO, Gary
Shapiro. While on vacation, he got boxed in by northern California wildfires. Gary sang the praises of a local radio station that courageously stayed on the air to keep the locals informed. As he explained to former NAB CEO Gordon Smith, cell service was out, and Shapiro found himself in a strange and scary situation with no information and no phone. It dawned on him to jump in his rent-a-car, tune in a local radio station, and get the updates on the wildfire he couldn’t get anywhere else. Saved by radio! (I don’t think Gary specified whether it was an AM or FM station that saved the day.)
That said, EV makers have used the interference excuse to omit AM radio in their vehicles. And the Ford decision now puts a point on AM’s problems, eliminating AM from all vehicles. Diverse constituencies in the radio broadcasting industry are up arms about the AM dis in new cars. Some conservative talkers posit this policy is a conspiracy designed to go after their form of radio. WABC’s Cats and Cosby floated this in an interview they did with me earlier this month which I’ve posted below.
At the NAB Convention, Radio Ink asked Curtis LeGeyt whether the ouster from AM in car discriminates against the many minority-owned stations, as well as iHeart’s Black Information Network, many of whose affiliates are on the AM band.
And yet another group – America’s farmers – staged a rally in Washington, D.C. spearheaded by the National Farmers Union, working in tandem with the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. The latter’s executive director, Tom Brand, told Inside Radio “This is an issue of concern for our members across the country serving audiences in areas where data – and in some cases, even basic cell phone signals – are still limited or unavailable.”
It would make sense if John Catsimatidis (owner/host at WABC) sat down with Tony Coles (head of iHeart’s BIN) and Pam Jahnke (the Fabulous Farm Babe) and pooled their resources to stage a unified front on behalf of AM radio. Strange bedfellows? Indeed. But they have a common concern and their own platforms.
There are no conspiracy theories in play here by Ford, Tesla, or the other OEMs when it comes to AM radio. When I was interviewed by Cats & Cosby earlier this month on WABC, I channeled Rupert Murdoch and said, the omission of AM radio in cars isn’t a red or a blue issue – it’s a green one.”
For the automakers, it’s about the money – period. While they receive subsidies from Sirius XM, some are hard-pressed to think of what they get from broadcasters by installing AM radio in their cars.
The National Alliance of State Broadcaster Associations and their many state groups are on the case, working with FEMA to make AM’s case in the car as a safety feature. Their plans are coming together and will be announced soon. Give them credit for recognizing the gravity of the situation, and working as a unit to campaign for change. Watch this space.
Meantime, the AM issue may be the canary in the radio coalmine. FM could be next.
Broadcasters would be wise to get out in front of the next chapter of “Hunger Games: Battle for the Dashboard.” Cataloging radio’s good deeds every time there’s a disaster in this country might be a starting point. And with the rise in weather disasters, mass shootings, and other madness in the country, it wouldn’t be hard to assemble an impressive list that should go right to every legislator in D.C.
As for the automakers themselves, congressional pressure from a unified broadcasting front is of paramount importance. But so is convincing them that the radio’s absence on their ever-expanding screens would create economic havoc on their spreadsheets.
I’ll be presenting our new Techsurvey at the AllAcess Audio Summit today. One data point goes to the heart of the AM radio issue. We asked prospective EV buyers whether the lack of an AM radio would have any impact on their buying decision:
Like all research, it depends how you interpret the data. For a majority of those planning on buying or leasing an EV this year, a missing AM radio make no difference on their decision. But nearly a third would think twice about buying an electric car without an AM radio. And one in ten says it’s a deal-breaker. In any industry a 10% hit on sales in a queasy economic climate is scary. When you add in those who might be influenced to find a different EV option, you’re looking at perhaps four of ten buyers reconsidering their decision. Yes, these are core radio listeners, so these numbers might not hold up against the general population.
Still….
Yet, it’s not just automakers that need convincing – it’s consumers, even those who are among the most active radio listeners. In Techsurvey 2023, we learned that 12% of respondents are in the new car market. And we gave them a list of “infotainment” features and asked them to designate the most important ones. Here’s the pecking order:
Even among these core radio listeners, Bluetooth edges out FM radio (for the second year in a row), while AM is back in the pack. Fewer than one-third say AM radio is a “very important” feature in their next vehicle.
And that suggests, broadcasters have a heavier lift than just convincing Ford, Toyota, Hyundai, and Jeep.
It’s become a tired mantra: “Radio needs to do a better job telling its story.”
We’d better start telling it.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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AM feeds essential information. A great sound system makes reliable AM sound superb. It’s not costly to update AM content and reception. New groundless antenna systems are ready to go. How many AM receivers are still in existence and serve? As an HD demonstrator asked me at an NAB many years ago upon sitting in the vehicle, “Sounds great, right? Too bad there’s nothing to listen to!” 1220watx.com can plug and play anywhere.
Good one, Clark. Thanks for the comment.
Radio–both AM and FM–is an audio grandma’s rocking chair– comfortable, always been there, and when grandma dies, the chair will disappear. Everyone will miss it and wonder who took it away.
Yup, back to Joni Mitchell. The question is whether broadcasters can get it up to fight for the rocking chair.
If there is a thunderstorm, AM is the last place I’m going, even though we have a local AM that does a good job in those situations. The reason I won’t go there? Because if there’s lightning in China, the local signal seems to be affected. I would argue there are plenty of garbage FM stations that would be better served by the “good” AM stations’ content. The dinosaur is going away, whether we want it to or not.
Well, Jason -there are some of us who understand we can gauge the seriousness of a thunderstorm by tuning into-AM radio. Just put the radio on the lowest frequency of the AM band that doesn’t have a station around 550 to 600 kHz and if the radio has the capability for tuning below 550 kHz, tune as low as you can. At the two stations I programmed on 550khz, we would use the air monitor to understand the seriousness and the intensity of approaching storms. Ya can’t dance to it but it could save your life.
If auto companies thought that AM radio’s were deal breakers they would include them, so the answer to this problem is to improve AM/make it popular enough that auto makers feel they have to keep it on the dash. The auto industry has done their own research and apparently don’t see eliminating AM as a threat.
If I was in charge, I’d let AM go and work on improving FM enough that eliminating it would be really bad business. That will be a tough enough climb.
That’s the mission, Bob, and it’s questionable the industry is up to the task. Oddly, Detroit-based automakers (and there are thousands of them) have a pretty damn good AM news station in WWJ (Audacy, formerly CBS) and a personality/talk station in WJR (Cumulus, formerly Cap Cities/ABC). You’d think that might have factored into Ford’s “cancelation” of AM. I’m not sure what kind of research the OEMs are doing, but I think it’s less than people think.
Let’s back this up one more step. If broadcast companies thought AM radio was that important, they would have invested in it and not ripped it down to what it is today. It’s hard to blame the car manufacturers when the studios of the AM stations in major markets are simulcast for several day parts. You reap what you sow.
As for emergencies, as someone who has been in radio for 20 plus years, I don’t even think of going to the radio for that info – that notion left a long time ago. Wild fires – no. Earthquakes last week in California – no. The iPhone had the info immediately.
You’re correct: AM’s biggest problem is that its owners don’t believe in their own product. Never mind what they say, look at what they do (or don’t). When AM Stereo became possible in the ’80s, did they invest in it? A few did but they backed away after a while and many never did invest, so the receivers vanished from the market. Broadcasters did not care about the improved audio quality. I remember calling the great Sully Roddy during one of her shifts on KNEW and mentioning that I was listening to her in stereo–she said, “Really?” She didn’t know her own station had an AMax signal! Long gone, of course.
I’d love to think that Hubbard’s experiment with WWFD (MA3 digital only) will rescue the band, because it sounds great, but precedent saps my confidence.
Don, I get it. You’re like many listeners who don’t bother with AM anymore – and for good reason. BUT those iPhones you refer to in an emergency are likely going to be as useful as a door stop when the cell towers go down, a not-uncommon occurrence when the going gets touch.
While true, I still work for a cluster with an AM/FM simulcast news talk with a local staff of anchors that airs local news and information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Not all of it is live. But it is virtually all local. And we’ve been that way since 1935.
(Insert my standard jeremiad about NAB, et al. not doing it’s job for radio) Urban folks don’t know or care about fly-over country where AM stations are still a staple. But they would sure miss their prime rib and salad if it wasn’t there. In an urban setting, any talker that has not moved to an FM frequency is brain-dead. But it is a conundrum. FM is line-of-sight, inherently more fragile, and hence will never have the reach or resiliency of a good AM operation. Having does this for a while I’ll take a good radio station over an app every day.
Thanks, Lalo, always great to hear from you.
At “Ground Zero” on 9/11…wasn’t cell phone service a problem?
Yes. And in an emergency, unless you’re willing to pay for a device to create your own wifi, it could render a lot of phones virtually useless for news and information.
Well, like the rest of the country, all the eggs in one basket, the internet and cell phones are the savior. I have been a volunteer fireman and and EMT for many years, too many and every time even the slightest disaster happens, even bad rain or snow storms, the cell service goes down followed by the internet. There is not enough lightning or any other noise that would make me NOT listen to AM if I was in need of information. For the most part,in most markets there is always an interesting AM station unlike FM where they all sound the same where ever you go from repetitive programming to over processed annoying audio. If I was ever forced and it would have to be forced to buy a vehicle without AM, it would be in my garage the day I bought it to fit a metal whip and an AM radio in it.
A great analysis as usual, Fred.
Lots to think about. And lots of opportunity to step up here at the 11th hour.
How much does it really cost to put in shielded cable into a car?!?
AM characteristics are certainly different from FM. However, just like the good old days, there was a common antenna used for both AM and FM in cars. One coaxial cable put into the back of the unit attached to an antenna on the other end. Add some shielding. Electricity and electric motors are not a new thing. Generally, they can coexist with AM radio. Not an ideal world, but it can be done.
This is too easy an excuse for what is really happening.
The auto companies simply don’t make money on free radio.
They are tied into deals, where they receive subscription revenue from their partners.
And their partners are not friends with radio. They are competition in the audio space and so are the automakers, as a result.
Most auto executives are based in Detroit. The top news station in Detroit is an AM station.
WWJ has an excellent full-time reporter covering the auto industry and reports daily on it. Do these auto executives, many of whom actually have a relationship with that reporter, no longer listen to this AM station, all of the sudden?
I’m not sure if anyone has reported on what kind of relationships and lobbying efforts are done by the mega corporations that provide subscription-based audio content, nor the auto companies themselves, who also have all of their skin in the game.
It just seems rather curious, that with all of the people advocating for radio, inside, and outside of the industry, that automakers would draw such a hard line in the sand. It’s not over a shielding a cable in a car.
Look at the evidence of radio usage. Look at the amount of AM radio usage, let alone the amount of FM radio usage.
That chart says it all!
The automotive industry is actually in competition with Radio.
Most tend to overlook the fact.
It doesn’t want free Radio in cars, and is clearly, strategically, and slowly sunsetting radio, using various tactics which, over time, will wean people off it.
If this issue is not lead and managed aggressively by the Radio Industry itself, the loss of radio in cars will be a self-fulfilled prophecy.
Again, it’s all very simple. Radio cuts into subscription revenue for the other audio platforms AND for the auto industry.
How different is this from the refusal to turn on a chip in a smartphone in order to receive radio, back when Jeff Smulyan fought so hard for our industry to try to get that to happen.
At that time, there was no significant admission that the only reason why these entities refused to turn on the chips, was because they wanted to shut radio out – because radio was in their “space.”
The automotive industry has deals with Sirius/XM. They make a lot of money because of those partnerships. If you want subscription revenue, “you must murder FREE Radio and make it look like an accident” to the consumer, who will now be forced to pay for your subscription-based content.
Additionally, to your point, Radio has not done a good job of self-promoting, let alone specifically promoting itself and the premier place to get emergency information.
Let’s be honest about ourselves.
During the winter, I spent time in a city that had two MAJOR snow storms.
During those events, only one radio station provided information. The others were in jukebox or syndication mode and wouldn’t have anybody to do anything about it if they even knew how to do it, let alone wanted to.
What’s unfortunate, at least, as it pertains to weather, versus train, derailments, for the most part, we DO know when the bad weather is coming and can have a plan to cover it, often days in advance. If we don’t even do that, that’s a choice we made.
It’s a little bit hard to sell our industry as a whole let alone just AM with that philosophy.
We have to be the thing you can’t live without. Is that the case anymore?
It’s about putting our money where our mouth is.
Are the CEOs of the major radio groups at the forefront and visible and this fight?
Do they rally the industry?
If an emergency happens, does leadership contact the market and ask if they can provide some help?
When a big AM station does an incredible job covering wildfires in California, a train derailment in Ohio, a mass school shooting, a tornado in Oklahoma, a hurricane along the east coast, what happens?!? And what happens if they don’t?
A station may be lucky to have that one dedicated broadcaster or two that still get it, and feel responsible to their listeners to make sure they are updated and safe. They’ll worry about who is going to fill out their time cards after the fact. And yes, the best leaders in the best companies don’t balk at at those who are their bread and butter.
Ask yourself, if you are at any level within a radio company from the CEO, all the way down to a board op in a small town are your immediate go-tos “We don’t have the staff,” “it’s on a weekend,” “they can just get it on their phone,” “it’s an earthquake, and everybody already knows what to do” or “it’s a holiday and nobody would come in for something like that.”
Are people on the staff empowered to say “Wow. This just happened. I’m headed to the station right now and will get right on the air and handle it. I will talk to witnesses, law-enforcement, and others on the air live to get the information out.” Will they get in trouble for doing that? In many instances, I know of people who did amazing things for the community and for the station, and were rewarded by being dressed down for “working hours that are not in the budget.” Is it really that bad?!?
Leadership instills an expectation and a desire to win. Leadership works in concert with a vision that support what it is we are in business to do. Leadership supports its people to do just that.
So, as an industry, what do we view our purpose as? What are we really trying to do here?
All too often it seems that we ourselves have relegated out position to a poor man’s streaming service, a jukebox with lots of commercials.
Radio is fundamentally a local business, and it is in the business of serving the community. THAT is our the business. It’s about creating a local experience, a real community – whether you are a music station or a spoken word station.
So how does radio differentiate itself?
The fact that it is free, and isn’t dependent on having to depend on the power company to keep a transmitter running is just one part of our reliability – but the main part is PEOPLE.
Leadership in our industry, and not just the NAB, need to use the strength we have to organize better to fight this.
At the same time, WE have to embrace the fact we need to produce unmatched service, particularly during emergency situations.
Does every CEO know that each of their local clusters/stations has a plan and people to make sure that the right thing gets done depending on the situation.
Who is responsible to lead it? Who are the people who are on call to cover it?
Do we know that we have this set at our stations? And if we don’t, how do we fix it, and quickly?
Have the tendency to be very direct about things, but these are important things to look at, understand on a deeper level, and figure out.
Much of this isn’t that difficult to figure out. However, when the most influential groups are troubled, not because Radio isn’t good and important, but because of debt, content is the last thing they are worried about!
So yes, it’s about a whole lot more than somebody paying an extra five dollars for whatever is needed to pick up AM Radio in a car.
Tom, I LOVE this. Thoughtful, smart, and provocative. These are the comments I live for, and that make this blog relevant. I hope everyone takes the time to read this.
Great article and many very thoughtful comments. There’s much to take heart in here, and much to be concerned about. Bottom line, people will listen to AM radio–if AM radio is providing content they want to hear. In my town, the conservative news-talker is ranked number 4 out of around 40 signals –and that’s more than two years after the passing of Rush, so it’s not just about “one” personality, as opposed to a Howard, who could tank a station after leaving. But let’s concede the local conservative talker here is the exception with a strong local news presence and community involvement. That leaves the question several have asked in the comments for the remaining stations: Will people tune in to AM radio stations if there’s nothing of interest on them? I think we already know the answer to that question. Too many indifferent owners may be the biggest challenge AM radio is facing.
Agree, David, not to mention the subpar sound these stations have. That’s “a thing,” too.
Great blog. A few comments. Those saying they will just use their phone to stream stations via Bluetooth better remember that at some point the car companies will also take out Bluetooth and any audio jacks as they want consumers to pay them every month. GM announced a few weeks back about removing apple car play and they want to have $25 Billion in subscription revenue by 2030. Also, with how the “infotainment” centers on vehicles work, I don’t really believe the companies will allow customers install something aftermarket.
I was at the NAFB Washington Watch Event(it was NOT organized by NFU by the way), but the President of NFU did talk with me about the AM issue. I had a chance to meet with staff from FCC Commissioner Starks Office and Chairwoman Rosenworsels Office(she even attended) and I brought up another issue regarding the EV’s and which is interference from those EVs affecting other vehicles around them and what if anything could FCC do if that is happening(ive had some tell me it happens, but stories don’t really count we need some type of research). Frankly, I don’t like a government mandate to include receivers in vehicles as the companies will just put in the cheapest receiver out there and that would be worse then taking them out. Remember radio was really never a standard in vehicles until maybe the mid 80’s so expect car companies to really fight something like that. I would not be opposed to at least having the option to order a vehicle with a decent receiver(both AM-FM, ability to decode AM-Stereo, etc) and a reasonable cost. Right now it’s impossible to order a better radio than what car companies just force on us. Before the hate for AM-Stereo, our audio stream is fed by an over the air carver tx-11am am-stereo receiver..not the control board and it sound pretty damn good.
Good stuff, Brian. Maybe that’s the best outcome. AM radio as a FaaS, feature as a service, car buyers can add in – or not. Based on our new Techsurvey, a lot of consumers will “pass” on AM, but at least they’d have a shot to buy a decent receiver.
Oboy. Research. Do you want an AM radio in your car? No I want one that works both AM and PM. Not sure that most people “get” the difference in 2023.
We used to ask “in an emergency, what radio station do you think would provide the best information?”. Would the answers exist today? Someday if the internet services are reliable and easy to get in the car, AM/FM will be a distant memory unless…(insert all of the comments here).
In 2007 we had a series of wildfires in Southern California. I was heading up an internet service for our local newspaper and our listenership went from 8 streams per day to well over 2,000. Of course when the fires were out- the streamers went back to 8-11 per day. We know people wanted their emergency information and we could provide it to people from all over the world. In an emergency situation in 2023 can you imagine how many streaming websites would be overwhelmed ? Think of the Obama care online fiasco.
When I’m hearing an AM traffic report about our freeways including the “feven-ten” or the “fix-ten”, a website from a business that might be “fimpfon folar-dot-com”. Limited bandwith has long destroyed AM’s legibility where “S” sounds like “F” or worse. During the Final Four, people in my car could NOT understand what was being broadcast on a local AM station because of the crowd noise and the limited bandwidth.
Alas, many here have intelligently pointed out reasons AM (and eventually FM) are endangered species. Money. (Subsidies from Sirius/XM and others) -and the ever disappearing or over commercialized content on AM (today) and what could be happening with FM (in the future).
My ’85 BMW had “Weather Band” in its dashboard radio. Earlier Blaupunkt tuners had “Short Wave” available. Tough to find either in a car radio today. No one squeaked a complaint.
Unless 90% of the revenue doesn’t have to go to the bottom line, technological adjustments are made to the quality of AM/FM, and competition returns for the public’s ears, we’re tilting our collective swords at windmills. It’s sad to see this fellow Quixotes.
Well, Dave, I think you’ve come up with essence of the trouble. Plus, we go after windmills long after it’s dark out, making the fight more futile. On to FM.
IMHO the biggest impediment to AM radio is the lack of a decent car radio antenna. Gone are the days of having anything resembling a 1/4 wave antenna (approximately 39 inches) that would work well for either AM or FM. Now it’s either “shark fin” antennas or those that are embedded in the rear window. You can have the best radio in the world but without a decent antenna, it’s a doorstop. FM is, in certain cars, mediocre and AM is all but unlistenable unless you’re in a very high signal contour (2 mv/m or better). And using cell service is great, until it’s not. As others have pointed out, cell sites are not bulletproof and never will be. Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
I miss these conversations with engineering types who understand how this stuff impacts the product and how it’s used. Thanks for the info, Fred.