There is a revealing question making the rounds after comments from an automotive company CEO at a recent auto show: “Do you even need radio in your car?” Obviously, the answer is an unequivocal yes.
Not because radio is a sentimental relic. Not because anyone is resisting innovation. And not because drivers cannot stream music from a phone.
We need radio in cars because when disaster strikes, radio is still one of the fastest, most resilient, and most local ways to reach the public with life-saving information.
That is not an industry talking point. It is how America’s emergency communications system actually works.
FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System pushes life-saving alerts through several channels, including the Emergency Alert System. Whether you hear these alerts on radio or television, it all starts with AM radio. Nearly 80 AM radio stations serve as the entry point for EAS warnings, disseminating them across the country. FEMA is clear that local broadcasters provide a critical layer of resilience because they remain on the air and accessible when other communications mediums fail.
That matters in the real world.
When Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, local radio once again proved indispensable. As CBS News’ Skyler Henry observed, WWNC-AM became “the best megaphone” for the region. In Asheville, its news director and morning host, Mark Starling, worked around the clock, delivering critical information as historic flooding spread and cell service went dark.
When catastrophic wildfires tore through Los Angeles, LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis described losing power and relying on local radio to stay informed. She said her family had to dig a transistor radio out of the garage because it worked when the internet and electricity were down.
This is the point automakers miss when they reduce radio to another dashboard feature that can be trimmed to cut costs.
A radio receiver is not the same as another subscription app. It does not depend on a wireless plan. It does not ask drivers to log into a service or hope a battery-hungry phone still has power after hours without electricity. It is simple, immediate and free.
And in an emergency, simple wins.
Americans understand this instinctively. They know their local stations are where they turn when tornadoes are approaching, when evacuation zones change, when roads close, when shelters open, and when rumors start spreading faster than facts.
That local connection is exactly what makes radio different. National platforms can aggregate content. Algorithms can recommend playlists. But when a hurricane shifts course, a wildfire jumps a freeway, or a chemical spill shuts down a neighborhood, people need information tailored to the street they live on and the county they know. That is what local radio does.
Congress recognizes what is at stake. The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, which would ensure AM radio is accessible in every vehicle, has earned overwhelming bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. Lawmakers understand the importance of ensuring radio remains available in every car to provide lifesaving emergency information, deliver trusted news, and connect communities without barriers or fees.
That should not be controversial. It is simply common sense.
As automakers increasingly treat the dashboard as a revenue stream, they question whether free and local radio still fits into their business model. They want to monetize what drivers listen to, where they go and how they engage with their vehicles. That means prioritizing platforms that collect data, push paid services, and keep consumers inside closed ecosystems.
But while automakers are free to compete on style, performance, and in-car entertainment, they should not eliminate one of the few tools Americans can still count on when everything else fails.
The question is not whether drivers “need” radio on a sunny afternoon with full bars and a charged phone.
The question is what they will need when the power is out, the network is overloaded, and a family is sitting in a car searching for the next evacuation update.
We already know the answer.
Keep radio in cars. American lives depend upon it.
Grace Whaley is Director of Communications and Social Media at the National Association of Broadcasters.
Radio in a car will only work when the *sending* side gets their act together. I got stuck by a horrendously violent snowstorm on the highway outside Harrisburg PA once, and not one station on the dial was airing any kind of weather advisory. They were all locked into syndicated programming, and most likely unattended to boot.
Having a radio in my dashboard is little good if there is nothing out there to listen to.