2024 Ford Mustang Drops AM Radio From Infotainment

[boombox4]

The number of listeners to those stations who are affected by this is probably quite small at this time. However, Ford has now removed AM radio from its F-150 Lightning pickup truck and the 2024 Mustang, and those two vehicles are Ford's flagships so it's hard to imagine the rest of its fleet won't face the same fate very soon.

True, but then again not everyone who is an immigrant or working class American can afford a new F-150 or Mustang, so the affect is probably moot. The company is trying to save a couple bucks (and look cool and 'connected!' and 'digital!') by not installing AM on vehicles that cost tens of thousands. it's their decision, though.

Once one of the Big-3 U.S. automakers does that, the rest of the automobile industry could follow Ford's lead more quickly than people here are expecting. Between that and the fact that we're seeing more and more AM station owners sell off their tower land for more than the business is worth, the writing really is on the wall for AM radio.

Any foreign language operator who says he can't afford to stream, but pays big bucks to lease time on a typically second-rate AM signal, may have to decide which is really the better way to reach the audience in the not-too-distant future.

Right now there are well over 4000 AM stations in the US. The ones that are on the air right now survived the Great Recession and the Pandemic recession, so although they may be on shaky economic ground, they're still on the air after those economic shocks, so many of them may remain viable for 10-15 years or so.

And remember, EMF buys a lot of FM stations, some of which used to be expensive, commercial signals, even in major markets. It's not like radio in general -- FM or AM -- is exactly rolling in the gold. Some stations are. Not all of them, even on FM.

Yes, the AM stations will eventually go away. But how quickly are 4000 stations going to disappear? And at the same time, Ford's not installing AM radios in their expensive vehicles won't kill AM, where a lot of radio listening in general is during work hours or at home, and a lot of AM listeners drive older cars or used cars, and Ford's move is superfluous to them.

Ford won't kill AM radio. Demographics and economics will kill AM radio.

 

[boombox4]

Good luck getting that granular. As of three years ago, Ford said the median age of Mustang buyers was 53, with an annual household income of $107,839.

Sounds like the baseball prime demographic, and a couple years shy of the AM radio prime demographic.

 

[michael hagerty]

The number of listeners to those stations who are affected by this is probably quite small at this time. However, Ford has now removed AM radio from its F-150 Lightning pickup truck and the 2024 Mustang, and those two vehicles are Ford's flagships so it's hard to imagine the rest of its fleet won't face the same fate very soon.

Once one of the Big-3 U.S. automakers does that, the rest of the automobile industry could follow Ford's lead more quickly than people here are expecting.

Absolutely. Ford just became the first major domestic automaker to discontinue AM radio in an internal combustion vehicle. That's the green flag for GM. Stellantis (which owns Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge) is an international company including Peugeot, Citroen, Vauxhall and Opel and this would simplify things for them.

 

[michael hagerty]

Ford won't kill AM radio. Demographics and economics will kill AM radio.

Agreed to a point, but this is likely to speed that along.

Right now new vehicle sales have recovered to the point that the annualized rate is 14.89 million units (off from the all-time high of more than 18 million, but one hell of a lot better than the pandemic).

Most manufacturers have locked in their 2024 options, but let's say that everyone looks at Ford, says "good idea" and pulls the plug beginning with their 2025 models.

From that point on, every year there are 15 million more vehicles on the road without AM. If you're an AM station owner, that's a very ugly trend.

 

[CTListener]

Sounds like the baseball prime demographic, and a couple years shy of the AM radio prime demographic.

Baseball would kill for 53 as the median age for its demographic right now. I believe it's currently 57.

 

[Don CT]

Is part of the problem AM in electric vehicles just doesn't work.

 

[Deleted member 108832]

The death of AM broadcast radio has now been prematurely speculated for a couple of decades. There are two factors keeping OTA broadcasting, in general, alive, with the first being localism. Listeners want to hear local stations for the information that will more than likely effect them personally in some way, shape, form, or fashion. Local commercials, too, are useful in this manner.

You may recall that, at one time, satellite radio and comparative services were predicted to destroy broadcasting before we got streaming internet. Satellite has survived, even though it never has truly thrived, and a factor in this is that satellite services, like Sirius/XM, could not offer the localism aspect of traditional 20th century broadcasting methods.

The second issue faced is coverage. Having an average sized signal, in a small to medium market, can easily reach a potential of half a million sets of ears. With streaming, there is a cost associated with each and every listener. This is why geofencing is utilized by various streamers, as it costs the operator money to allow someone from outside their targeted coverage area to enjoy the broadcast. The listener has a dedicated virtual wire to the server, resulting in used bandwidth that has to be paid for by someone. Should this bill be footed by the listener? Maybe, but irregardless, it becomes very costly, when each head has a price tag attached to it.

As a result, we see streaming services making money in ad revenue, yet they tend to remain operational without making a profit. No matter how you look at it, that doesn’t bode well for the streaming model in the long term. I think each and every one of us here, participating in this discussion, will meet our respective demises, well before that of the AM or FM band.

 

[Don CT]

AM needs less low power channels and just enough high powered ones to cut through the noise to make the signal listenable.

I want to be able to grab a station and hear it clearly 50 miles out. This is also a problem with FM once you get out of the city.

This is where Satellite thrives.

 

[michael hagerty]

Is part of the problem AM in electric vehicles just doesn't work.

No, because the 2024 Mustang isn't electric. Also, AM works fine in electric vehicles. Tesla is the only EV manufacturer that has used that as an excuse.

 

[Don CT]

No, because the 2024 Mustang isn't electric. Also, AM works fine in electric vehicles. Tesla is the only EV manufacturer that has used that as an excuse.

I thought there was an interference issue with AM. I know I hear it on some gas powered cars.

 

[michael hagerty]

I thought there was an interference issue with AM. I know I hear it on some gas powered cars.

Again, only Tesla has claimed that. All Asian EVs, and all of GMs current EV products have AM radios and they work fine. AM was also in the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E EVs and they worked well.

 

[CTListener]

Again, only Tesla has claimed that. All Asian EVs, and all of GMs current EV products have AM radios and they work fine. AM was also in the 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning and Mustang Mach-E EVs and they worked well.

So is Tesla lying or not? Before the decision was made to drop AM, did Teslas have AM? If not, does anyone have information on how the testing that led to the decision was done. Has anyone, anywhere, replaced the factory-installed no-AM unit in a Tesla with one capable of AM and heard the interference (or non-interference) for themselves? How about just taking a portable radio with you on a drive in your own Tesla? Wouldn't you hear, or not hear, interference then? I keep reading about Tesla's "claim" here, but never see any evidence proving or disproving that claim.

 

[michael hagerty]

So is Tesla lying or not? Before the decision was made to drop AM, did Teslas have AM? If not, does anyone have information on how the testing that led to the decision was done. Has anyone, anywhere, replaced the factory-installed no-AM unit in a Tesla with one capable of AM and heard the interference (or non-interference) for themselves? How about just taking a portable radio with you on a drive in your own Tesla? Wouldn't you hear, or not hear, interference then? I keep reading about Tesla's "claim" here, but never see any evidence proving or disproving that claim.

Tesla dropped AM after 2014. When asked why, they said AM had unacceptable interference from the electric motor. To my knowledge, there haven't been studies. They were the only American manufacturer claiming the interference or dropping AM.

Replacing the radio in a Tesla sounds like a bit of a nightmare---everything is controlled through the center screen.

A portable radio would prove nothing. No one disputes than an electric motor can cause interference with AM. It's just that it should be easily addressed with a filter for the vehicle's AM unit.

European manufacturers took advantage of the near-extinction of the AM band in their countries to introduce EVs without AM receivers, but have not made claims about interference. It appears to be simply a streamlining move for low-volume vehicles sold on both continents.

Ford had AM in its Lightning pickup last year and the Mustang Mach-E, and the Chevrolet Bolt and all Asian EVs have AM. I've driven all but the new IONIQ 6 and the AM radios were not noticeably different in terms of reception from internal combustion vehicles with AM radios.

 

[michael hagerty]

PS: Ford is not stopping with the ‘24 Mustang. This key line was in a Ford spokesperson’s response to Ars Technica’s request for comment:

“…as we remove amplitude modulation…from most new and updated models we bring to market…”

So, each new generation of existing Ford vehicles will likely be without AM, and mid-cycle refreshes (usually three or four years into a generation) will also be an opportunity at which Ford could discontinue AM receivers in a given model.

 

[TexasTom]

Tesla dropped AM after 2014. When asked why, they said AM had unacceptable interference from the electric motor. To my knowledge, there haven't been studies. They were the only American manufacturer claiming the interference or dropping AM.

I'm comfortable saying that my own personal experience tells me that Tesla is lying when they make this claim. I've been driving a Chevy Volt (which is technically a plug-in hybrid or range-extended EV), and while I haven't used the AM tuner section in it very often, when I have tuned to the AM band I did not note undue interference from the electric motor in my car. So if GM can manage it, I'd say that the real reason is that Tesla simply doesn't want to bother with mitigating the interference.

 

[Lester_the_NightFly]

The car manufacturers claim they're dropping AM in EVs due to EMF noise they can't eliminate (cheaply).

However, if those same EVs cause interference with the ICE vehicles next to or near by them, then they are violating FCC rules.
Now if that happens, who knows, if the FCC do anything about it.

I do listen to AM time to time, and this is an instance where a corporation is just dropping anything they can to reduce cost, but not reduce the price.

"We're supposed to help people!"

"We're supposed to help OUR PEOPLE! Starting with our stockholders, Bob! Who's helping them out, huh?"

 

[Kelly A]

The car manufacturers claim they're dropping AM in EVs due to EMF noise they can't eliminate (cheaply).

However, if those same EVs cause interference with the ICE vehicles next to or near by them, then they are violating FCC rules.
Now if that happens, who knows, if the FCC do anything about it.

You mean as they've conducted enforcement with noisy consumer products like: Replacement florescent now LED light bulbs, computer monitors, flat panel TV's. and pretty much anything with a switching power supply? Somehow I don't see the Commission getting in the way of modern consumerism to protect interference from the AM band.

 

[davideduardo]

You mean as they've conducted enforcement with noisy consumer products like: Replacement florescent now LED light bulbs, computer monitors, flat panel TV's. and pretty much anything with a switching power supply? Somehow I don't see the Commission getting in the way of modern consumerism to protect interference from the AM band.

Once, back in the early 60's, I called the power company because a cracked insulator (as they told me later) was causing noise up and down the AM band for anything but local signals. Within a couple of days, a checked the whole block and the noise went away.

Try that today for laughs and giggles.

 

[michael hagerty]

Quick correction---I said above that Tesla dropped AM in its cars beginning in 2014. Brain cramp. It was 2018, with the introduction of the Model 3. Model S and Model X units had, until that point, had AM receivers. Tesla deleted them across the line beginning in '18.

 

[vchimpanzee]

The death of AM broadcast radio has now been prematurely speculated for a couple of decades. There are two factors keeping OTA broadcasting, in general, alive, with the first being localism. Listeners want to hear local stations for the information that will more than likely effect them personally in some way, shape, form, or fashion. Local commercials, too, are useful in this manner.

I don't subscribe to the local paper but I read it at the library.

I have my clock radio on the local news and information station (AM with a translator but I don't know if I can hear the translator where I live). Rush Limbaugh was there. Laura Ingraham used to be and I think Sean Hannity still is (I ran out of buttons and had no reason to listen without Rush anyway). I don't want to hear anything that time of morning but I thought at least not having loud music when the radio came on would work. Every morning I am hearing audio from a school board or county commissioners meeting or something. Actual audio from the meeting, not the news anchor quoting.

It might have been a good idea to listen. I read in the paper after the fact (as far as I know, the paper didn't tell us) about an open house to learn about a major construction project. No one told me. Shouldn't we have gotten something in the mail? I'm surprised people in my area didn't oppose it because a similar project got shot down just a few miles away. Signs everywhere saying NO.