He eliminated it because there’s little to no demand for it by Tesla’s customers.
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Saving AM Radio
- Thread starter BruceB
- Start date
That's not what Tesla says. They claim interference issues, and recommend using TuneIn to access AM programming.
More constituents of the legislators who put those studies in the bill would miss catfish a whole lot more if they were to stop reproducing than would miss AM radio if it were to stop existing in car radios.
And you believe Tesla?
Nobody's going to buy a crank radio. Crank radios aren't easy to find, even online.
Most cars have a radio of some kind, in the dash system. This is why the legislation intends to mandate AM in cars.
Let the marketplace decide on seatbelts and airbags, too, while we're at it. I mean, they add to the cost of the car, and most drivers don't get into auto wrecks.
The Federal government has every right to mandate AM in car soundsystems. The Federal government mandates a lot of things that seem marginal. I can't buy an incandescent lightbulb, legally, even if I want to. I can't buy a three gallon toilet. There are a lot of regulations that seem trivial, but there are reasons for them. An AM mandate would be similar.
Personally, I think all soundsystems in cars should be banned. I think drivers need to be able to hear what's going on outside their car, and that's more important than a car soundsystem. But that's just me. Ban that GPS crap, too. I want drivers to be concentrating on what is on the road in front of them instead. If you don't know where you're going, why are you on the road to begin with?
Some people have their soundsystems loud enough that there's no way they'd hear an ambulance siren, or even a car horn from someone trying to warn them of a danger in the road, or something similar.
LED bulbs are so much better and use 10x less energy than incandescents. As the price became competitive the mandate was unnecessary. The marketplace would have decided.
A lot of conservative radio hosts railed against the incandescent ban but they love the AM in cars mandate. Go figure.
The complaints about the ban were fueled by the higher cost of an incandescent bulb, although the rage was channeled against the "woke" environmentalists who had pushed for LED bulbs. More "old man yelling at cloud" stuff.
Did you mean the higher cost of an LED bulb? I recall paying several times more than an incandescent but I felt the energy savings (including not heating up a room during the AC season) was worth it.
Yeah, but "pushing" one way or another didn't make much difference. When LED bulbs became superior and cost competitive the marketplace made the ultimate decision.
Seatbelts and airbags have been proven to save lives. How will an AM radio save your life in a car crash? You're just spouting nonsense to be contrarian.
I like being able to see in the dark. Doesn't matter to me what type of light bulb I use as long as it keeps me from stubbing my toe in the middle of the night. Same with the toilet. As long as it works, I don't care how few gallons it takes to make everything go away. AM Radio can be mandated in cars, houses, cellphones, you name it. It doesn't mean listeners have to avail themselves of it. Most won't.
This thread is about 'Saving AM Radio'. AM in very vehicle isn't going to do that. Obviously, most people commenting on this board about saving AM Radio have never owned or worked at an AM station. If you have to pay royalties, taxes, electricity, staffing, etc., on an AM or an FM, which one would you choose to fund? That's what operators out here in the real world face every day, and since you've never invested one thin dime of your own money in this business, FM wins. Most operators I know AND speak with on a daily basis are worried now about saving FM Radio.
I'm looking at a couple of stations right now, and if I pull the trigger, the AM is going bye-bye. The land it sits on is next to a lake, there is NO translator, it simulcasts the FM, so it serves no purpose. But that land is going to look real nice as the future 'Lakeview Terrace Apartments'. I foresee catastrophic transmitter failure, and thanks to the new administration coming in, higher tariffs mean the ATU we need is now 3x the original price, and the slow boat from China is stuck in the middle of the Pacific thanks to a trade war. So, the 10 or 12 listeners to the AM will finally have to go to the FM. Pity.
You're worried about saving AM. I'm worried about saving RADIO itself. I have to compete against SiriusXM, Spotify, you name it. My listeners are getting their news now off of Facebook and TikTok and Instagram. They get their weather from their phone. They have Waze for traffic. I have to give them a compelling reason for listening to me. Right now, that isn't AM. That's me getting cap relief so I can add a couple of more FMs for more programming choices. I've got 2 groups screaming at me to buy them before they go bankrupt, but I can't because 1 AM contour precludes me from owning them due to cap limits. Maybe now you can understand where I'm coming from. They're bleeding out, and if they go bankrupt, there goes a half-dozen FMs and a couple of AMs. I'll gladly turn in the licenses on those AMs tomorrow to make this deal work.
If a restaurant has a meal that 99 people don't order, but 1 person does, are they supposed to keep that menu on the dish for just 1 person? Are you going to scream loudly at them to save that one dish for 1 single diner? I doubt it, but you're asking ME to keep paying for a service that very few people listen to anymore in my markets, and I have evidence to back it up. I don't want to put High School Football on a 100kw C1, so if I have an AM with a translator, that's where it goes. Oh, by the way, that high school is now asking for a broadcast access fee for the privilege of airing their games, so that's an added expense. But guess who the community is going to rail against if we can't afford to do HS sports anymore? Not the school district. Me. Now I'm not community minded. I can't win.
Now, Boombox 4, don't you have to shoo some kids off your lawn?
Yes, I meant higher cost of LED bulb. With 70 on the horizon, I'm due for a senior moment or two.
That was not its intent. It's not a jobs bill or a make-work bill. It won't require people to listen. All it does is require the availability of AM. The justification is that AM is a public resource, that it's one of the ways the DHS communicates with the public, and that eliminating it from cars interferes with the government's ability to communicate with the public. Of course there are multiple ways the government does that, not just AM radio. But if the government makes the requirement that radio stations have to broadcast emergency notification, then it also has to ensure that such information can be received.
If we leave receivers to the marketplace, then the mandate that AM stations must remain on the air and make its signals available to emergency officials should also be removed. No reason to require radio stations to do something if nobody can hear it. I read a lot of comments about the burden this places on car makers. But no one considers the burden that is placed on radio stations every day. These are mandates that Spotify or Apple Music don't have. So if we're going to convert to an online communications system, then that platform should face the same AES requirements that broadcast radio stations have.
I agree that this should not just be about AM radio. Tesla's latest infotainment system doesn't include AM, FM, or Sirius. So that has to be addressed at some point.
No, but so many people on here seem to believe it will. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
THANK YOU! My God, I wish everyone had to read this one statement. That's what I've been saying for years. Level the playing field. So many people act like being granted an FCC license is a privilege. WE PAY FOR IT. We pay FCC fees, royalties, taxes, payroll, capital gains, equipment replacement, more than most people have any idea. If we miss an EAS test, we pay a fine. Every time some a-hole politician or FCC Commissioner gets an idea, it costs money. Every time someone implements said idea, my FCC attorney calls me to discuss it and IT COSTS ME MONEY. I love it when my attorney posts vacation photos on their FB or IG. You think they'd at least send me a T-shirt that said "My FCC attorney went on vacation and all I got was this lousy T-shirt". I paid for it.
Oh, speaking of MORE joyous news for broadcasters, this little tidbit dropped this morning on InsideRadio.
FCC Hikes Application Fees 17% Following Double-Digit Hikes Two Years Ago.
Whether it is a construction permit, license transfer, or new call letters, broadcasters planning to file should be prepared to pay more. The FCC has raised all application fees by
So, see, while you're sitting at your keyboard listening to music on an app or whatever, MY cost of providing a service FOR FREE to listeners just went up again. Does anyone wonder why the majority of Broadcasters despise the FCC? I'll help Jessica Rosenworcel pack. Hell, I'll help them ALL pack. Give me less burdensome rules like what religion my employees do or don't practice, and how they identify. I don't care. What I do care about is that they show up, do good work and don't make headlines by murdering someone. I really don't care if they're Druids who run around in Unicorn costumes and identify as "Snork" in their personal life as long as it doesn't cost me more money. Stupid regulations are why you'll never see my name attached to Broadcast properties in certain states, because frankly, I'm tired of other people telling me what to do with MY business.
I'll certainly be involved in deals in the future that include an AM. Very few cluster owners don't have an AM or 2 attached. But, IF you see the headline "Exdjted Buys XXXX group", rest assured that I have a long-range plan in mind, and that any AM that doesn't have a translator attached is either going to be turned off, donated or sold. And, yes, my brother runs a major construction company near Nashville, and every property I've looked at lately we have talked about whether the land the AM sits on is more valuable with a tower, or would it make a better strip mall, residential complex, or whatever. I'm a realist, and it's MY money on the line.
Restaurants have to deal with the health department making sure your food is prepared in sanitary conditions, but they don't tell them what ingredients to use. Likewise, car dealers have to pay taxes on their land and interest to the bank for inventory, but nobody tells them what car to sell or add-ons they can tack on to the bottom line. The government can mandate AM in very vehicle or device, but if I choose to put my money in FM only, that's my choice, I'm taking the risk that the listeners will follow. And now, with fees going up AGAIN, the FCC is making the decision not to repair "catastrophic equipment failure from a recent storm" in my STA for silent operation and eventually turning the AM off very easy. If it was your money, what would you invest in? An AM day timer with no translator, or a 6kw FM? It's very easy to spend someone else's money. Not so easy when it's your money.
Legally, it is. If you don't want the obligations that come along with using the public resource that the electromagnetic spectrum is, then give up your license and stop broadcasting. Rely on streaming, podcasts, etc. instead. Obligations gone; problem solved.
I think what we're saying is that the license is only half of the equation. Having a license to transmit something that can't be received is a useless license. What we're dealing with now is an electronics manufacturing business, based mainly in China, that isn't marketing radio devices as they were 30 or 40 years ago. And to this particular law, we're dealing with an automobile industry that is choosing not to make traditional radios available. It's one thing not to make them standard. They're not even available in Teslas. If people don't have receivers, then why mandate radio stations to carry emergency information? It's a waste of time.
That's what I'm advising people to do. If the question is AM or FM, the answer is FM 9 times out of 10. AM has a place and serves a need for some people, but it is not the future for most.
Don't lecture me about legal obligations that come with an FCC license. I don't know your background, but I've written checks to the FCC for renewals, transfers, you name it. I've dealt with surprise inspections. I've had to answer questions from FCC staff that have never set foot inside a Radio station and don't have 1/10th of my experience, yet I've had to suffer their attitudes and opinions when it comes to dealing with the FCC. Working at a station and owning one are 2 separate things. And yes, some of the stations you are VERY familiar with in Central MO are in dire straits now, and in some cases, the AMs that are attached are delaying or killing potential deals that could save some people from going under. A couple of owners have died without being able to make a deal to get out while they were still alive. I've faced people across the table that think their stations are worth X, and are shocked to find out they're worth less than a third of what they want.
That's what I'm passionate about. I never said I don't believe in fulfilling EVERY legal obligation I have that comes with an FCC license. I choose NOT to waste my time and money on AM if at all possible.
Depends on the emergency. There have hurricanes that "took out" all the local stations in and area. A neighbor market AM filled in.
The bad thing about emergencies is the unpredictable nature of them. I believe there are some sub 100 markers where most of the TV and radio stations are on a couple of towers. Tower failure happens.
Example one tornado could take out the towers on Sharps Ridge in Knoxville. It would get real quiet except for some rim shots that don't cover the whole market.
IMHO FEMA should figure out which AM's could provide such services and subsidize some not all of the cost. I know that is not going to set well with some folks.
Capitalism is one thing but one of the functions of government it to protect the public. There are "deals" with airlines to ferry troops if need be. Paying half of a power bill to keep a class A or B AM from not downgrading might save a life or two.
That's really not necessary, and no one in radio I know of is asking for money. The deal radio owners made was we operate our radio stations as private businesses, but the government has access to the airwaves anytime it's necessary. That's the public-private partnership. But having that requirement assumes universal reception of those radio signals. If another private business is not allowing reception of those signals, the government has to keep up its side of the deal and ensure universal reception. Otherwise the radio mandate is useless. Once again, this isn't about the marketplace making this decision. It's about car companies removing the option from car buyers.
I was worried but when the plumber came whose company was recommended by the landlord of my previous plumber who wouldn't show up when called, he could try fixing the old one with no guarantee and I'd have to pay a lot, or he could install one of the new ones for an even more outrageous amount. The new one works! I've called the company since but they got annoyed by some problem when I was paying them and wouldn't come. Anyone whose policy is the plumber gets paid before he leaves should expect problems. To keep this relevant to broadcasting, that company is a major advertiser on a 1000-watt AM oldies station with a translator.
A sound system is needed for information purposes.
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They also last longer and don't need changing.