Broadcasters continued the fight to keep AM radio in autos yesterday for the second day of the AM summit in Washington DC. The NAB, state, and national broadcast groups all came together to lobby Congress to pass the AM For Every Vehicle Act.
As the event closes, Radio Ink talked with some of the participants about their experiences on the Hill, what they saw, and the energy around AM radio right now.
The Industry Unites
Colorado Broadcasters Association Director, Quu EVP Revenue, and AlwaysMountainTime Owner and CEO Pete Benedetti said the action around AM is unlike anything he’s seen as a broadcaster.
“The Radio fly-in was very well attended, and the attendees were galvanized together on the importance of maintaining AM radio (and FM too, for that matter) in vehicle dashboards. There were speakers from FEMA and other government agencies sharing the critical infrastructure AM radio provides across the country as one of the few remaining services that can get messages out to the American public in times of natural disasters and weather emergencies, but also in cases of ‘man-made’ disasters – national security or even local crime scenes and shootings.
The importance of radio’s reach and FREE cost of delivery resonated throughout the room. The group heard from advocates from organizations like NABOB, NRB, NFBA, and Hispanic Broadcasters as to the importance of AM radio for their constituencies, and there were also sessions on the new connected car technologies being rolled out for stations as we speak, and how stations can deploy metadata solutions to enhance content on the dash – right now. The session ended with rousing speeches from Senators Markey and Fischer who each received extended standing ovations for their support of S 1669. The bi-partisan support was particularly encouraging. In my 33 years in radio, I can’t remember seeing the industry come together on such short notice with more overwhelming support for an issue.“
Profound Momentum
Noelle Garnier, National Religious Broadcasters Director of Public Policy and Communications, was a participant in the “View from Affected Broadcasters” panel on Tuesday.
“There was so much valuable content in ‘Radio’s Road to the Future,’ with speakers touching on up-and-coming auto dashboard technology, solutions to deliver an attractive and accessible consumer experience for radio listeners, and the well-documented essential role of AM radio in emergency communications infrastructure.
The NRB represents 120+ Christian AM stations as members, plus hundreds more AM stations that are affiliated with our member organizations. NRB’s membership also includes local churches and ministries who lease airtime on Christian radio stations and seek to serve the community through media outreach. Everyone on the panel has witnessed the impact of AM radio in the community, from supporting small businesses, to earning the trust of the local audience, to closing communications gaps in times of crisis.
It’s great to see such profound momentum behind this issue. It was clear that attendees came away informed, equipped, and energized to talk with lawmakers about the importance of AM radio. We’re very grateful to the broadcasting champions in Congress for their bipartisan, bicameral efforts to inform the public and persuade the auto industry on this issue. I’m hopeful that these efforts will secure a strong future for the AM band in the auto dash, and may even pick up a few new fans of AM along the way.”
The System Works
Bryan Broadcasting Manager Ben Downs attended both days, and stressed how supportive lawmakers are on the AM For Every Vehicle Act on both sides of the political aisle.
“The Texas delegation saw 21 members of Congress today. They were supportive of this bill and its strong public safety implications. If I had to sum up the one question we received more than others it would be ‘why?’ It isn’t clear to anyone why a proven system like the 80 primary entry point emergency alert system stations would be replaced in the car dashboard.
If the plan is to include Radio as a service, it was not lost on anyone that it would result in taking away a free emergency lifeline, and replacing it with one that has a subscription cost. In a safety context, trading ‘free’ for ‘paid’ was seen as a bad idea.
We saw both Democratic and Republican offices, and the reaction was the same in both cases: there is a system in place that works, we should not dismantle it.”
