NAB President Curtis LeGeyt made an appearance on Texas Public Radio for an in-depth discussion on the state of the AM for Every Vehicle Act. LeGeyt was the featured guest on KSTX San Antonio’s The Source, where he and host David Martin Davies discussed AM’s future with callers.
“I don’t think nostalgia should be enough to save AM,” said LeGeyt, citing AM’s ability to be rooted in relevance. The EAS functionality of the band was again discussed, alongside AM radio’s opportunity for diversity, especially for a “Range of formats where economics don’t exist to host a streaming station or an FM signal.”
The standout moment from the conversation was when Davies asked if the decision to cut AM was coming from a place of removing in-car free entertainment, to which LeGeyt replied the automakers’ motives, “Don’t pass the smell test.” He continued, “These auto manufacturers want to make sure they can monetize anything happening in an automobile,” whether that’s via a paid subscription service or user data they’re mining through the dashboard. LeGeyt added, “AM is not good business for automakers.”
The conversation also turned to the “red-herring arguments” of AM’s interference in EVs and the recent claims by automakers, going against government research, that mitigating that interference would be too costly for manufacturers.
Amid the AM for Every Vehicle Act’s growing wave of support in Congress, Davies asked if radio has a future if removed from the dashboard, to which LeGeyt replied, “It’s hard to imagine how any format stays viable if it isn’t accessible in the automobile.”
The full interview is available here.
