(By Justin Sasso) I came into this world as the subject of an AM radio contest. Radio has been the heartbeat of my life – I’ve only ever worked in the industry – which makes the failure of the AM for Every Vehicle Act this year all the more heartbreaking.
Yes, we had more than half of Congress supporting the Act. Yes, over 800,000 listeners emailed and called Washington, DC to advocate for us. And still, it wasn’t enough.
For me, it’s not just professional disappointment – it’s deeply personal.
As the President and CEO of the Colorado Broadcasters Association, I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and head back to DC for another round of advocacy. But as an AM radio station owner, this fight carries extra weight. I want AM radio to thrive. I want it to remain a vital part of the automobile dashboard.
However, I’ve struggled with our side’s central argument: mandating another industry to act. We pride ourselves on being a free-market, capitalist economy, where government interference in private enterprise is supposed to be minimal. That said, regulation has its place.
In broadcasting, the Federal Communications Commission regulates the publicly owned airwaves, ensuring a civilized and efficient spectrum. This regulation, though not voluntary, has been necessary to manage limited resources and meet public needs – such as emergency alerts.
The automobile industry also operates within a regulated framework, largely for consumer safety and infrastructure compatibility. But let’s not forget, automakers made a critical choice when they accepted government bailouts. By taking taxpayer money, they forfeited their claim to operate as a purely free-market business. That taxpayer cash came with strings attached – strings that should give us, the public, a say.
And here we are. Automakers now argue they shouldn’t be forced to keep AM radio – a top audio choice for two-thirds of Americans – in dashboards. Yet, these same manufacturers eagerly took our money when their industry was on the brink of collapse.
This fight isn’t just about AM radio’s survival. It’s about ensuring access to free, reliable communication in emergencies and protecting a public good that has served citizens for decades.
Make no mistake: this isn’t just an AM problem. It’s a radio problem. If AM is pushed out, FM will follow. Automakers will remove these “freebies” to make way for subscription-based alternatives—WiFi-dependent services they can charge consumers for. The automakers already profit from satellite radio and mobile interfaces like CarPlay, so why not monetize traditional radio, too?
While broadcasters might see retransmission fees as a potential silver lining, the greater issue is the public good radio represents. Radio remains one of the few free, universally accessible platforms for information, entertainment, and emergency alerts.
Losing radio in the dashboard hurts more than just broadcasters. It jeopardizes the farmers, agricultural communities, minority voices, and underserved populations who rely on AM radio for news, cultural programming, and connection. It hurts taxpayers who bailed out the auto industry, only to lose access to free, over-the-air radio in times of crisis – or when they simply need a voice in the car that doesn’t require a credit card.
At its core, this fight is about maintaining something special: a direct, free line of communication to the public. Radio may no longer hold the glamour it once did, as the rise of podcasts and online media has diluted its unique appeal. But its role in serving communities, especially during emergencies, remains irreplaceable.
Every day, I fight for all broadcasters and for everyone who still relies on AM radio for connection, safety, and a little bit of companionship on the open road. But at the end of the day, I’m also fighting for one broadcaster in a rural farm town in Colorado.
Justin Sasso has served as the President & CEO of the Colorado Broadcasters Association since 2011. He spent 25 years in broadcasting and worked for multiple broadcasters along Colorado’s Front Range.
I love AM radio and believe the law should go further than just vehicles. All radio designed for commercial broadcast listening should be required to have both AM & FM. I drives me crazy to see many radios now sold with only FM.
Sadly, Big Mike is right. Go into a Best Buy or any major retailer, and try to even find an AM/FM radio. There might be 1 or 2 clock radios in the back of the store, that’s it.
AM and even FM are ancient technologies now. Millions of people- those with some money – have left for satellite or streaming.
Oh I think everyone here will agree. AM radio is a mess-and can’t be fixed without addressing its issues. Quality. Content. RFI. You can say what you want, but even within earshot of arguably the 2nd most populated region in the USA, AM radio is bereft of choice. Audio quality is dubious and when you finally hear something you like, the RFI destroys the signal. The analogy is not unlike McDonald’s. If the US didn’t want what the golden arches delivered, it would fail. AM radio (and increasingly so) radio in general is NOT delivering what the public wants. Unless it does, expect radio to go the way of the thousands of other failed businesses in the country. Government won’t fix it. The will of the people will.
Just a reminder: Broadcast radio isn’t owned by the radio companies. They’re merely licensees. The government is responsible for the management of the spectrum. Don’t wait for radio companies to invest in something they don’t own.
Radio is a physical thing, not a culture. No one under 65 prioritizes a “radio”…. change is hard, but nonetheless, we aren’t going back. The Internet is “radio”…
this isn’t just an AM problem. It’s a radio problem
This is a thoughtful and welcomed article, thank you Justin!
The EPA forced automakers to convert to direct injection and spend thousands more per unit, so that vehicles could eek out an extra 1.5 mpg. Consumers now pay for exponentially higher car prices, not to mention more complicated expensive repairs. Manufactures spend hundreds of millions lobbying against AM in every vehicle…why? So they don’t have to spend an extra $50 per vehicle to provide insulation for good AM reception for what many consider a valuable community resource? Its not as complicated as they make it out to be, its just they want your credit card on file like every other subscription service. At an average new vehicle cost of $48K manufactures should continue to throw in AM radio as standard equipment. I’m not sure which entity is worse, Cumulus or GM. Live, Local & Free.
On the comment of pirate radio….If the major players can’t give the people what they want like LOCAL Talent, LOCAL news and sports, MUSICAL variety then pirate stations will crop up and listeners will gravitate to USB ‘mix sticks’ or satellite radio. Some worthless bullcrap originating in Atlanta being re-broadcast through my local radio transmission site has no interest to me at all!!! Bring back local ownership and talent!!! To me Cumulus really stands for Cume-ing-less!!!! It has been years since I have even listened to radio in the car, A.M. or F.M.!!
The R.F. interference generated in E.V.’s and hybrids is huge and tends to lay in the areas below 30MHz. It becomes difficult to even have good A.M. band reception in a modern car due to all of the R.F. / E.M.I. on board pollution!!! I love my 2008 Prius Gen 2 but I had to do a lot of work to reduce the receive interference on a 27MHz Citizen Band radio. I had to route the antenna lead and power lead through a toroid core to reduce common mode interference and I had to add bypass capacitors internally to the power input section of the radio.
Well Said. It’s MUCH bigger than AM
During the leadership conference we need to speak to the larger issue.
Well said Justin. Your Dad would be proud. We will all keep fighting for this, because it’s the right thing to do.
In 1962, the late commissioner Newton Minow told TV broadcasters to watch their stations from sign on to sign off and comment on the programming. Mr. Minow then declared television “a vast wasteland”. The same year or thereabouts, the Commission directed television manufacturers to include the UHF channels on their sets so viewers would not have to purchase an external converter.
Radio has become a “waste land” due to large corporate entities owning hundreds of radio stations with “bean counters” rather than radio people in charge, with resultant lousy programming. For years, the FCC has had NO technical leadership. The Commission is like a boat without a rudder or keel. Look at media database handling; CDBS and LMS in short order and problems with both! Pirate radio is like flies, swat one and dozens hatch. The Commission could simply direct radio manufacturers to include AM channels or ban the sale of receivers without AM channels in the USA. Congress delegated authority to the FCC to license communication facilities, write and enforce appropriate regulations, and handle related technical matters in 1934. The Commission needs to stop “wimping around”, put its foot down, and make AM reception in vehicles and other consumer receivers mandatory. Since most of the receivers are imported into the USA, non-AM receivers can be stopped at the dock.
“Radio people?” Who would qualify as a radio person in your book. Most people who grew up with radio are in their 60s and 70s. There aren’t any “radio people” anymore. They’re media people who grew up with the internet. As for the bean counters, somebody needs to make sure these companies don’t overspend and go bankrupt again. The bean counters are the adults in the room.
I am proud to have multiple people I work with in the latest 30 under 30. It can and will be saved but not with the current extreme debt load.
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