AM radio continues to be in the national conversation for its value to local communities as the deadline to pass the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act approaches. The band was once again featured on CBS News, while an Ohio Congressman again praised AM in emergencies.
CBS News previously shined a spotlight on the role of radio, particularly AM, in the North Carolina floods after Hurricane Helene. On October 26, they highlighted the role of AM in communities outside of crises on CBS Saturday Morning.
Reporter Scott MacFarlane visited Local Daily Media’s WFMD-AM in Frederick, MD, where he spoke with Paul Dumars and Steve Nibbs about their popular high school football game broadcasts. MacFarlane also visited WIOO-AM in rural Carlisle, PA, where he marveled over the continued public attention for the station’s “Tradio” show and the reading of obituaries over the air.
Earlier this month, US Congressman Bob Latta (R-OH-5) visited Van Wert, OH, where he addressed several issues, including the importance of AM radio. During a stop at WERT-AM’s studios, Rep. Latta emphasized the critical role AM radio plays in emergency communication.
Latta, who chairs the Congressional Communications and Technology Sub-Committee, told The Van Wert Independent, “When you think about AM radio, people always think ‘I’ll always have the internet’ – no you won’t. We had two massive hurricanes move through Florida and I always told people the first thing you’re going to lose is the internet. In Florida alone, there were 660 cell towers that went down, so they lost internet, but the one thing they didn’t lose was AM radio.”
“When all else fails, you’ll still be able to get communications from your AM radio dial,” added Latta.
Latta also noted that many AM stations are equipped with generators for backup power and are designed to withstand events like electromagnetic pulses, ensuring they remain operational during emergencies.
The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, led by Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) in the House, and Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Ed Markey (D-MA) in the Senate, seeks to require AM radios in all new vehicles sold in the U.S. as a safety feature at no additional cost. Despite strong support, with 262 House co-sponsors and a Senate supermajority, the bill remains pending for votes in both chambers, while automakers aim to delay it until the 118th Congress ends.
Help ensure that Americans retain access to a vital lifeline in times of crisis as automakers try to remove it. Contact your members of Congress by texting AM to 52886, urging them to support legislation that ensures AM radio remains in cars.
If your station is not running the NAB PSAs asking your listeners to reach out to their representatives, get them here.
The CBS News piece was a cheap, negative “slap-together” by an unqualified journalist. WCBS isn’t going “off the air,” it is changing format to sports because owner Audacy realized that owning two all-news stations in the same market (WINS was the dominant one) made no economic sense. WCBS 880 has now become all-sports, rebranded as WHSQ 880. And while high school sports, obituaries, and trading post shows are one remnant of ultra-local radio’s “old days,” the major audience of AM radio today is conservative talk, religion, all-news, and foreign language programming. 80 million Americans listen daily to these formats and more on AM radio.
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