"AM for Every Vehicle Act" is flawed - we need a "Future of Radio Act"

[Michi]

You've said this before and it's not true. There are no such incentives.

Secondly the FCC never viewed any issues with HD-AM as "problems."

It's in Section §3(a)(3)..

(a) Rule Required.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator and the Federal Communications Commission, shall issue a rule—
* * * * *
(2) requiring access to AM broadcast stations in a manner that is easily accessible to a driver after the effective date of the rule; and
(3) allowing a manufacturer to comply with that rule by installing devices that can receive signals and play content transmitted by digital audio AM broadcast stations as standard equipment in passenger motor vehicles manufactured in the United States, imported into the United States, or shipped in interstate commerce after the effective date of the rule.

 

[kfbkfb]

Why? If something like that popped up on my phone screen... Well, it wouldn't because I'd have that functionality disabled as a total waste of time.

My 25 year old VCR will detect when the video heads need cleaning, instead of a picture appearing when PLAY is selected, an on screen message says the heads need cleaning - I don't see a problem with informing Smartphone users about their options when a very uncommon situation happens (i. e. using an AM radio when the cell network is down for an extended time).


Kirk Bayne

 

[TheBigA]

(3) allowing a manufacturer to comply with that rule by installing devices that can receive signals and play content transmitted by digital audio AM broadcast stations as standard equipment in passenger motor vehicles manufactured in the United States, imported into the United States, or shipped in interstate commerce after the effective date of the rule.

Where is the "incentive?" I don't see one. If the government was giving all AM owners money to pay for HD, that would be an incentive. The fact that radios can receive AM HD or full digital AM is not an incentive to radio operators.

Also they're not requiring manufacturers to add HD receivers. They're ALLOWING them to use that as a way to include AM.

 

[Mikey Radio]

My 25 year old VCR will detect when the video heads need cleaning, instead of a picture appearing when PLAY is selected, an on screen message says the heads need cleaning - I don't see a problem with informing Smartphone users about their options when a very uncommon situation happens (i. e. using an AM radio when the cell network is down for an extended time).
Kirk Bayne

This idea, like many you've proposed involving AM radio specifically, is a non-starter. Any cell phone manufacturer who did this would quickly become the laughing stock of the very group of people they market their products to (hint: That doesn't include those who subscribe to Cricket Wireless or pay by the minute plans - or those who still actively use 25 year old VCRs), and I'm sure scads of memes and internet posts would be created to mock such a thing.

Simply put, those companies who specialize in advanced technologies are not going to suggest that their customers use antiquated means, who's time has passed, as a backup. Think of it this way: When your WiFi goes down, do you get a message on your screen telling you to re-connect your old 56k dial-up modem, somehow install one of the free 3.5" floppys you got from AOL back in the day and use those and a landline phone connection to access the internet instead?

 

[TheBigA]

What's really missing from the AM For Every Vehicle Act is a requirement for electronics manufacturers to improve the quality of AM receivers or set higher standards so that those AM receivers were not as susceptible to interference from electric engines.

Seems to me the ability to do that is within the jurisdiction of the FCC. No need for congress to pass a law. The problem is that most manufacturers of AM radios are in China.

 

[kfbkfb]

Is there a survey/poll that reveals how many Smartphone users know that radio (specifically AM) is an option in most areas when the cell network is down for an extended time?

(sometimes a situation requires falling back to an older tech in order to help people survive the situation, it's really just planning for the worst case)


Kirk Bayne

 

[DavidEduardo]

What's really missing from the AM For Every Vehicle Act is a requirement for electronics manufacturers to improve the quality of AM receivers or set higher standards so that those AM receivers were not as susceptible to interference from electric engines.

The problem with "interference" has to be resolved at the source, no the receiver. AM noise is no different than interference by another AM station: it is radio frequency emissions on the same channels or bands as AM radio. The solution is making the generation of AM noise strictly regulated, not "fixing" AM radios; those radios will pick up anything that is on the band.

 

[Kelly A]

In a large area natural (or man made) disaster a distant AM signal may be the only link with the outside world (in the early days).

Business people don't operate radio stations with the off chance it might be of assistance in an emergency. That's a losing proposition, especially if their audience is dying off, literally.

 

[KeithE4]

My 25 year old VCR will detect when the video heads need cleaning, instead of a picture appearing when PLAY is selected, an on screen message says the heads need cleaning

VCwhat?

I don't see a problem with informing Smartphone users about their options when a very uncommon situation happens (i. e. using an AM radio when the cell network is down for an extended time).


Kirk Bayne

At least in the parts of the United States I travel (rural Arizona and Nevada). If there's no cell service, chances are about 99% that there are no audible Ancient Modulation stations, either. And those that do exist are not live and local, but most run low power. The closest 50 kW full-time English-language blowtorches are in LA, SLC, and Albuquerque. None hit Arizona during the day.

 

[Kelly A]

The current markup of the legislation would incentivize AM stations to turn back on their hybrid HD systems at night resurrecting the problems we had over a decade ago.

Most AM HD hybrid systems are no longer used because they've long died and are no longer supported. Most larger stations purchased main and backup importers and exporters which back in the day, were nothing more than PC's including hard drives. In almost every case, once both their main and backup devices finally bit the dust, AM HD was abandoned. This is especially true with the former Harris Broadcast division. I believe Broadcast Electronics also stopped supporting their importers and exporters almost 18 years ago. GatesAir, now Thomson, stopped building AM transmission equipment about five years ago.

We also need to preserve FM on the dash and while we are at it, extend FM opportunities to underserved rural areas that are blocked by larger cities.

Great, who's going to pay for it?

 

[kfbkfb]

Business people don't operate radio stations with the off chance it might be of assistance in an emergency.

I'm thinking of a regular AM radio station that's already on the air, if it's a daytimer, the FCC may allow it to stay on overnight for a few days to help provide emergency info.


In another post, the Fujitsu TEN car radio maker devised some systems to help reduce AM radio reception problems, those systems could be implemented in a new AM analog IC or some DSP code.


Kirk Bayne

 

[Mikey Radio]

I'm thinking of a regular AM radio station that's already on the air, if it's a daytimer, the FCC may allow it to stay on overnight for a few days to help provide emergency info.

This is already a possibility and has been discussed.
That said, as @Kelly A alluded to, I'm sure few stations actually build this into their business plan - That they should consider how their station and signal are designed, funded and programmed in the off chance that a man-made or natural disaster might occur in their listening area with their signal the only viable means of distributing information. Granted, if something happens and they have the means to step up and help, so be it..But no station in their right mind would make business decisions based on "that fateful day which could possibly someday occur".

 

[Kelly A]

I'm thinking of a regular AM radio station that's already on the air, if it's a daytimer, the FCC may allow it to stay on overnight for a few days to help provide emergency info.

You're assuming that a distant AM station will be staffed, let alone potentially at off-hours of nights and weekends, and be willing to provide news or information to an area potentially well outside the station's sphere of influence. I'd say the likelihood of even one out of these scenarios is nil.

In another post, the Fujitsu TEN car radio maker devised some systems to help reduce AM radio reception problems, those systems could be implemented in a new AM analog IC or some DSP code.

But what if normal consumers don't or are unable to install aftermarket radios in their vehicles anymore? Doesn't matter if the radio will sing and dance for you. If consumers don't care, then they're not buying one. Oh, and the old days of single DIN and double DIN dashboards ended ten years ago.

 

[kfbkfb]

At least in the parts of the United States I travel (rural Arizona and Nevada). If there's no cell service, chances are about 99% that there are no audible Ancient Modulation stations, either. And those that do exist are not live and local, but most run low power. The closest 50 kW full-time English-language blowtorches are in LA, SLC, and Albuquerque. None hit Arizona during the day.

What about 50kW AMs at night (seems reasonable that they could provide emergency info)?


On AM radio in vehicles availability - there are a lot of older vehicles in use which have AM radios.

On AM radio station staffing - EAS is automated and the First Responders would be providing the info to be broadcast over the EAS station(s).


Kirk Bayne

 

[fybush]

It seems to me that the whole "save AM in cars" movement is predicated on a world that simply doesn't exist anymore.

There are almost no "white areas" (no local FM service) left in any populated part of the US. Whether you're in McGrath, Alaska (hi, Paul!) or Dyer, Nevada, there's something available to you on FM.

There's nothing magical about AM transmission in an emergency situation these days. I can throw a Gates GX or a Nautel VX kilowatt rig in a travel case, rig up an antenna and be on the air on FM just as fast, if not faster, as I could rig up a longwire and get on AM.

The typical FM site these days is a lot newer and more robust than an AM site, which can often be 80 years old or worse and usually suffering from long-deferred maintenance.

Everything else is imagination, myth and nostalgia. Sure, the FCC *would* let you keep an AM on with day power at night in a massive emergency, but what AM station is actually going to do that in 2023? When was the last time any AM did that? I literally cannot think of a single 21st century example of a station using that authority, and I've been reading FCC filings every day since before the turn of the century.

What kind of emergency would wipe out every FM signal in an area and still somehow magically leave an AM standing - and one that would magically have the resources to provide live emergency coverage to whatever listeners still have AM radios? It literally HAS NEVER HAPPENED in this century, or even in the last 20 years of the last century.

Skywave at night? OK, sure - but that doesn't help you in a daytime emergency, and in any event, if northern Arizona is somehow wiped off the face of the map, what AM skywave signal is going to drop what it's doing to provide targeted coverage to somewhere far outside its market? KNX? KCBS? It doesn't help that the company that is the dominant owner of news AM signals is also teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

I'd like to see the proponents of the save-AM-in-cars movement point to even a single example of an emergency situation where AM radio was the exclusive source of emergency information to an affected area.

Hasn't happened, doesn't happen, won't happen.

 

[fybush]

What about 50kW AMs at night (seems reasonable that they could provide emergency info)?


Kirk Bayne

Reality calling.

If there's an emergency situation in, say, Elko, Nevada at 2 AM, how is KCBS or KNX or KSL going to have the ability (or desire) to drop its regular (and now often at least partially pre-recorded) programming just on the off chance that someone 600 miles away in the middle of the desert will happen to be listening?

If it's a situation so severe that the 10 FM signals that serve Elko (population 20,000) are somehow magically all wiped off the air, how would any information get out to any of those distant AMs?

When Audacy goes bankrupt, as seems imminent, who would pay the bills to provide the kind of overnight staffing that you're imagining still exists?

And that's assuming this hypothetical emergency happens at night. There's not a single distant AM signal that reaches Elko during the day with any usable signal.

Hypotheticals are fun - but show me how what you're suggesting has any chance of working in the real world of 2023.

 

[Kelly A]

What about 50kW AMs at night (seems reasonable that they could provide emergency info)?

Even most 50kW stations aren't staffed, let alone nights and weekends. There's no need to anymore. And should something happen at night, most staff would find out about it when they woke up in the morning.

On AM radio in vehicles availability - there are a lot of older vehicles in use which have AM radios.

Indeed, but only older people driving older cars in combination would benefit. But, there's no staff to man the station anyway.

On AM radio station staffing - EAS is automated and the First Responders would be providing the info to be broadcast over the EAS station(s).

That assumption has been proven wrong many times. Local municipalities are generally too busy with the situation to activate EAS, let alone for any extended period. Most probably have forgotten how to generate an alert anyway, or not trained all their staff on what to do.

 

[kfbkfb]

AFAIK, EAS use doesn't require any staff to be at the radio station.

The only benefit of AM is that a (somewhat usable) signal travels great distances, those pesky Laws of Physics limit the range of FM regardless of FM transmitter power.

Sure, there are areas where an AM signal isn't intelligible/usable, but I think it's still good to educate people about the AM radio option when the there's no cell signal (disaster or phone just in a remote area).


Kirk Bayne

 

[Kelly A]

AFAIK, EAS use doesn't require any staff to be at the radio station.

But it requires someone at the local municipality to activate and deliver whatever message. As I already said, during emergencies, most cities and counties are focused on taking care of deploying resources and managing the situation, not developing a script, let alone thinking about activating local EAS. There's a long track record of exactly what I'm saying.
Look Kirk, I get that you don't understand the realities of the way radio works in the 2020's, but insisting that this fantasy world of AM radio saving the day is exactly that: Fantasy World.

The only benefit of AM is that a (somewhat usable) signal travels great distances, those pesky Laws of Physics limit the range of FM regardless of FM transmitter power.

It's like explaining modern life to a brick.

Sure, there are areas where an AM signal isn't intelligible/usable, but I think it's still good to educate people about the AM radio option when the there's no cell signal (disaster or phone just in a remote area).

What, like dropping radios on crowds from a helicopter and attached directions on how to use it?
Earth calling Kirk!

 

[cc333]

I don't have much to add to this, um, conversation, other than the bill, dead or not, does seem to have had some effect on manufacturers. Perhaps AM radios don't need to be mandated by the government because the publicity alone of the outcry of people resenting the possibility of AM radios being removed from new cars was enough to let car makers know that AM radios are still important and relevant, if only barely (case in point: Ford, in an effort to prevent a PR crisis, reversed course on their decision earlier this year to remove AM radios from '24 model year cars. No laws required).

c