You were asked to raise your voice to keep the voices of AM radios (including KABC) heard as some car companies announce they will stop putting AM radio in new cars. Well Ford has heard you and will have AM radios in their new cars… read more here:
https://www.autoblog.com/2023/05/23/ford-to-add-am-radio-back-to-cars/
See this tweet from Ford CEO Jim Farley:
@jimfarley98 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
vehicles. 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.
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And this form John Phillips….
Taking AM radios out of cars is playing with fire
Insight and Opinion by John Phillips
Ford Motors has announced that it is prepared to remove AM radios from most of their new and updated 2024 models.
In a statement to the Detroit Free Press, Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood said, ”We are transitioning from AM radio for most new and updated 2024 models…A majority of U.S. AM stations, as well as a number of countries and automakers globally, are modernizing radio by offering internet streaming through mobile apps, FM, digital and satellite radio options.”
Oh great. Fifty million Americans have just had their car radios stolen by Ford Motor. In my day that was a job for heroin addicts and petty thieves.
Ford claims that the AM signal in electric vehicles would be plagued by annoying buzzing sounds and faded signals. In other words, it would be like listening to Garrison Keillor.
The biggest loser from this plan to eliminate AM talk radio from cars? 1-877-Kars For Kids.
Oh yea, and EVERYONE else.
If the motor company gets its way, those vehicles, and others without AM radios, will pose a serious threat to public safety, particularly here in California.
The public safety threat of denying motorists a band that is largely dedicated to news, talk, and information is real. Between fires, floods, mudslides, civil unrest, and other dangerous events, AM radio is an effective tool at keeping Californians out of potentially life threatening situations.
Imagine having to rely on NPR for emergency information during a national disaster, only to have it interrupted by pledge breaks. How many tote bags does one person need?
I’d also add that the news/talk stations’ listener demographics have always skewed older, and less tech-inclined.
Ford Motors says that senior drivers can still listen to AM radio through internet streaming through mobile apps, FM, digital and satellite radio options.
Sure. Right after they upload their favorite podcasts to the Cloud.
Most seniors I know can’t even figure out a digital parking meter.
Hell, I can’t even do it, and I’m 43.
The last thing you want to see during an earthquake or the next 9/11 is Grandpa trying to remember his Internet password while he’s driving.
But, I guess Ford is willing to roll the dice.
Allowing them to take AM radios out of cars is literally playing with fire.
Just look at what happened in Paradise, CA.
That town was completely destroyed by the Camp Fire in 2018. In total, 86 people died, tens of thousands were displaced, and 18,804 buildings were destroyed. Only 5 percent of the buildings in the town remained without serious damage after the fire. It was the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history.
Evacuation orders went out immediately after the fire began, but we couldn’t get the word out fast enough, and as a result people literally burned alive.
One of the tools that we used during that fire to warn motorists of the evacuation orders was the AM radio.
Now Ford wants to take that tool out of the tool box for some inexplicable reason.
Brian Dahle is the state senator who represents Paradise, he told me it would be suicidal to rely on an internet connection for situations like that.
I spoke to him via cell phone while he was driving his truck through his district. The conversation consisted of 3 different calls, because the connection kept dropping.
“Throughout my district you don’t have cell service out there, even today, and especially when you have weather events,” he warned.
Dahle’s district has recently also been hit hard by rain and snow storms.
“Just in the last 7 or 8 years, if you’re driving on the freeway or rural mountains, CalTrans tells you to go to AM 1610 for road conditions. That’s the emergency broadcast system. What about all those people in their new cars who won’t be able to tune in?”
If it’s up to Ford, they’re on their own.
It’s simple. The reason the state uses the AM airwaves to communicate with motorists in critical situations, is because it’s a very effective way at getting the word out.
According to media tracking firm Nielsen, terrestrial radio (both AM and FM) reaches 92 percent of the U.S. population, more than any other medium, and nearly 50 million people listen to AM radio.
As a long-time and once loyal Ford customer, I can say this: if they’re successful at taking the AM radio out of cars, I will find a new car company to do business with. Ford vehicles will be too dangerous for me and my family to drive…at least in the state of California and surely elsewhere, too.
More here:
(Washington, D.C.) — Members of Congress are introducing bipartisan legislation that would require all vehicles to come equipped with AM radio. New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer is leading the effort, saying 47 million people listen to AM radio every week. California has on four representatives Rep. Obernolte, Jay [R-CA-23], Rep. Issa, Darrell E. [R-CA-48], Rep. LaMalfa, Doug [R-CA-1] and Rep. Steel, Michelle [R-CA-45] all in support, with, predictably, zero Democrats.. Gottheimer claims more people listen to AM radio now compared to five years ago. As auto manufacturers, like Tesla, remove AM radio from their vehicles, the bill would ensure every car comes with AM radio at no additional cost to the consumer. Bill sponsors say AM radio is the backbone of America’s national public warning system since it is resilient to cyber-attacks, nuclear threats, and natural disasters. Read the bill here: file:///C:/Users/drew.hayes/Downloads/5.17-House-AM-Radio-for-Every-Vehicle-Act.pdf See who is supporting here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/1435/cosponsors?s=1&r=13