Bill to save AM Radio advances in U.S. House

[KeithE4]

I think AM radio should be part of the baseline of safety equip in vehicles.

Why? Because a handful of large markets still have one all-news station on Ancient Modulation? An even smaller handful of universities and/or local governments still have relic AM stations that have been around for close to 100 years? A few of the old 50 kW blowtorches are still successful? None of those things affect most of the country.

Newsflash! Few folks in my age bracket (speaking of ancient) even bother to listen to AM at all, other than for right wing talk or sports. The former format is on 3 stations, the latter is on 4. Other than the one business news station and two oldies stations, the rest are either religious or air Spanish-language programming in various formats. Many, if not most, have either FM translators are on an HD2 of a sister FM station. Metro Phoenix, for example, has 21 AM stations, and each one may have some core listeners, but none capture any general interest, and none cover the full Phoenix metro at night, and barely during the day. This isn't 1935, or even 1965. The days of a full-service AM with regular newscasts in most markets are pretty much done, and have been for decades.

This proposal is a boondoggle of the worst kind. A total waste of my tax dollars and my Congresscritter's time. I hope it crashes and burns due to being completely irrelevant in the 21st century. Let Ancient Modulation sink or swim on its own. Maybe some will make a comeback, but I don't see many of them lasting too much longer than I will. Land for towers is too valuable for other things, and listeners are becoming few and far between.

 

[Robert Douglas]

I have to plug the idea one more time of a company like Orban being the ideal candidate for any such chipset. It's a natural fit. Orban and the other major audio processing players are basically in the business of helping stations sound as good and as clean as possible in spite of loudness-hungry management and noise-prone analog transmission/reception systems. Anything that could place the same minds and engineering talent behind the reception side of the equation could only be a good thing, as that would help not only backstop the future viability of the transmission (processing) side of their own businesses, but the radio industry as a whole. When I see stories circulating about one too many modern tuners not even caring to look for pilot tones when operating in analog mode, or about them outputting audio while on FM that's almost indistinguishable from the low fidelity of their AM reception, it's obvious that the reception side of things needs some real advocates working in its midst.

Speaking of FM, and returning to the proper topic of this thread (the "AM Radio For Every Vehicle Act"), aren't these people forgetting just one small thing? Like ... FM? I don't understand why they're bothering to go through all the effort and expense associated with getting federal legislation written, introduced, and passed when this bill, as is, would only technically save half of the traditional car radio receiver. Are they expecting that vehicle makers wouldn't look at the letter of this law and retain AM while eventually dumping FM to incentivize maximum subscription uptake to services like SiriusXM or whatever other streaming platforms they may get into the business of co-promoting with big tech later on down the road? This bill should be called the "AM and FM Radio For Every Vehicle Act." Especially when every AM station that's financially able is already transitioning, or has transitioned, to translators or even full power FM signals, and to promoting their new FM frequencies on-air more than, or exclusively over, their AM frequencies. If this bill doesn't mandate FM as well, aren't they risking wasting all of their effort on essentially mandating that automakers give them the equivalent of flooded real estate?

So why do WOAI, KFXR, and so many other AMers with numerous FM HD channels available in their cluster/market, elect NOT TO DO THAT? Do you suppose that they are trying to delay the demise of AM? The tower land is often rented, not owned, and so all that equipment and metal in the air would become junk.

 

[davideduardo]

This has nothing to do with the fabled emergency service that AM radio would theoretically provide to the audience, though...if only there were a news department -- or any live people at all -- at the radio station, or anyone at the region's public safety organizations that knew how to activate EAS when disaster strikes.

You are forgetting that in a major emergency, the EAS system activates and assumes program control of stations. It does not matter if the station has a news department.

And in most jurisdictions, people in emergency services divisions are trained over and over about how to activate the EAS system. The experiences at Minot decades ago emphasized the need for this.

 

[yeoldeschool]

So why do WOAI, KFXR, and so many other AMers with numerous FM HD channels available in their cluster/market, elect NOT TO DO THAT? Do you suppose that they are trying to delay the demise of AM? The tower land is often rented, not owned, and so all that equipment and metal in the air would become junk.

Elect not to get on FM? Their investments in their towers and transmitters would be minor losses compared to entering into an eternity of falling audience figures. I can only guess that AMs remaining AM only in markets with FM dial space have studied their markets and feel they wouldn't do sufficiently better on FM yet. They could be targeting demographics that are still as happy to use AM as FM, or they might be in towns where, for whatever fluke reasons, awareness of AM has remained high among younger demographics.

The bill requires a study be done within a year to deteermine if there’s another nationwide delivery system for emergency alerts that’s as reliable and widespread as AM stations, and then the study will be presented to Congress.

So this isn't just a thinly veiled attempt, using public safety concerns, by one side of the isle to force a medium filled primarily with its advocates to remain in cars?

The bill also doesn’t include digital AM stations, just IBOC AM stations

Huh?

You are forgetting that in a major emergency, the EAS system activates and assumes program control of stations. It does not matter if the station has a news department.

That's why, from the public safety perspective of Congress, if they're going to bother passing this bill, it should include FM and not only AM. Those EAS activations will assume control over the regular programming on FM stations just as well as over the AMs. People who would never listen to AM might still listen to FM -- if it's in their cars. And that would equal more people receiving an EAS message. (More of the small minority who aren't driving around with smartphones, anyway...)

Edit: now that I think about it, maybe this bill should be the "AM/FM/HD Radio for Every Vehicle Act." Have the AM requirement come with a 10 year sunset provision, where the requirement goes away in 2034 so carmakers can pull the plug on AM then. In the meantime, the FCC is ordered to begin accepting something like K.M. Richards' proposal for getting AMs moved over to analog FM signals with their original callsigns intact, or onto HD2s leased from existing stations (where the HD inclusion requirement would pay off). Even low bitrate FM HD subchannels sound better than AM HD and analog AM on the average narrow-bandwidth tuner, so from an AM station's perspective, it could only be an upgrade. 10 years would in turn give them all the time they needed to either experience die-offs of their existing audiences and/or to sufficiently message every last listener on where/how to tune in to their new locations. Plus 10 years would offer be enough time for enough new post-legislation cars to get sold to ensure that (combined with existing vehicles that have it) HD Radio reception is available in most cars by the end of that period.

 

[davideduardo]

That's why, from the public safety perspective of Congress, if they're going to bother passing this bill, it should include FM and not only AM. Those EAS activations will assume control over the regular programming on FM stations just as well as over the AMs. People who would never listen to AM might still listen to FM -- if it's in their cars. And that would equal more people receiving an EAS message. (More of the small minority who aren't driving around with smartphones, anyway...)

All stations licensed by the FCC must have EAS activation capability. It is not exclusive to AM stations. Those rules already exist. The current legislation insures that all radios in cars have AM, since the range of FM stations in much more limited.

 

[yeoldeschool]

All stations licensed by the FCC must have EAS activation capability. It is not exclusive to AM stations. Those rules already exist. The current legislation insures that all radios in cars have AM, since the range of FM stations in much more limited.

Right, but my point was that unless the bill also forces new cars' radios to automatically monitor the AM band for alerts and automatically tune to an AM station that's broadcasting one, people who only listen to FM and never even try listening to AM would see no benefit from an AM inclusion bill. So for the sake of getting EAS alerts to people who will only give FM any of their attention, this bill should mandate both AM's and FM's inclusion, if it's going to mandate any inclusion at all.

 

[KeithE4]

Right, but my point was that unless the bill also forces new cars' radios to automatically monitor the AM band for alerts and automatically tune to an AM station that's broadcasting one, people who only listen to FM and never even try listening to AM would see no benefit from an AM inclusion bill. So for the sake of getting EAS alerts to people who will only give FM any of their attention, this bill should mandate both AM's and FM's inclusion, if it's going to mandate any inclusion at all.

You sound like you want to bring back CONELRAD or 1960s EBS. They failed decades ago. No need to bring them back now.

 

[davideduardo]

Right, but my point was that unless the bill also forces new cars' radios to automatically monitor the AM band for alerts and automatically tune to an AM station that's broadcasting one, people who only listen to FM and never even try listening to AM would see no benefit from an AM inclusion bill. So for the sake of getting EAS alerts to people who will only give FM any of their attention, this bill should mandate both AM's and FM's inclusion, if it's going to mandate any inclusion at all.

But if you are listening to FM the station you have on will carry the same EAS alert as any AM station. And from that point on, if the emergency is major, all stations will carry the same originating primary or secondary EAS station.

The benefit of AM inclusion is that FM stations have very limited coverage compared to AM. In the case of the inability of all local stations to broadcast, AMs from distant locations will be usable both in the daytime in a broader range and at night in a very wide range.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

You are forgetting that in a major emergency, the EAS system activates and assumes program control of stations. It does not matter if the station has a news department.

I am not forgetting. Time after time we have seen examples where this didn't happen.

And in most jurisdictions, people in emergency services divisions are trained over and over about how to activate the EAS system. The experiences at Minot decades ago emphasized the need for this.

Life-saving emergency alerts often come too late or not at all

A CBS News investigation found numerous examples across the U.S. where emergency officials failed to issue timely alerts to warn the public about safety threats — or never issued an alert at all.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[boombox4]

Since all but 10 percent (or less) of all radios in use are going to be tuned to FM stations when this awful event you imagine happens, and most people aren't going to be listening to a radio at all, I think we're just going to have to accept that some folks are inevitably going to be collateral damage, especially if the FM stations they're listening to are running on autopilot. Let their families sue Congress (if Washington still exists after the big earhquake/alien attack/Ice Age onset/flood/whatever) and blame the failure of the AM Preservation Act for their demise. Yeah, that's gonna work.

Where does it say that the survival of every human in the nation in the event of any calamitous occurrence is the duty of broadcasters, anyway?

10 percent of listeners don't count then. Got that.

AM costs little to nothing to have included in a car system. It's already on the chip. FM is a programming wasteland to a significant number of people, who use Spotify, YT and Pandora instead, and podcasts for news and feature programs.

I say leave it in, give people the choice. My state has all its TIS's on AM. Not FM. My Federal government spent a lot of money on building/implementing AM transmitters for emergency use in an earthquake prone area, like this one (where I live) and other regions of the United States.

While Congress are done with this bill, it would be nice if they tackled the increased use of spying on drivers by car operating systems, but I won't hold my breath.

 

[boombox4]

This proposal is a boondoggle of the worst kind. A total waste of my tax dollars and my Congresscritter's time. I hope it crashes and burns due to being completely irrelevant in the 21st century. Let Ancient Modulation sink or swim on its own. Maybe some will make a comeback, but I don't see many of them lasting too much longer than I will. Land for towers is too valuable for other things, and listeners are becoming few and far between.

How many tax dollars, exactly, does this "waste"?

 

[boombox4]

I am not forgetting. Time after time we have seen examples where this didn't happen.

Life-saving emergency alerts often come too late or not at all

A CBS News investigation found numerous examples across the U.S. where emergency officials failed to issue timely alerts to warn the public about safety threats — or never issued an alert at all.

www.cbsnews.com

Those alerts may have been text alerts as well as Radio or TV. The article isn't specific to radio, or any media.

 

[davideduardo]

How many tax dollars, exactly, does this "waste"?

None, except for the cost of legislation and, maybe, enforcement

 

[davideduardo]

Life-saving emergency alerts often come too late or not at all

A CBS News investigation found numerous examples across the U.S. where emergency officials failed to issue timely alerts to warn the public about safety threats — or never issued an alert at all.

www.cbsnews.com

But the system exists. In the cases cited, authorities did not think about a widespread alert at all. If they had, they likely would have known how to create such an alert.

 

[Kelly A]

You haven't purchased a new smartphone in awhile, have you?

My bet is it's a phone, but not very smart.

This has nothing to do with the fabled emergency service that AM radio would theoretically provide to the audience, though...if only there were a news department -- or any live people at all -- at the radio station, or anyone at the region's public safety organizations that knew how to activate EAS when disaster strikes.

That's a great point, here in the Washington D.C. area, I get emergency weather alerts via EAS all the time on my iPhone. I don't need to be listening to an Antique Modulated radio station to know the weather is bad.

 

[PTBoardOp93]

Elect not to get on FM? Their investments in their towers and transmitters would be minor losses compared to entering into an eternity of falling audience figures. I can only guess that AMs remaining AM only in markets with FM dial space have studied their markets and feel they wouldn't do sufficiently better on FM yet. They could be targeting demographics that are still as happy to use AM as FM, or they might be in towns where, for whatever fluke reasons, awareness of AM has remained high among younger demographics.

Neither of these. Pretty much the only AMs that are not also on FM are in markets where there is no FM channel availability for new translators, and either their owner does not own a full-power FM (e.g. most of Salem's stations), or judges that flipping a full power FM to simulcast would be a poor use of resources (e.g. KFI or WBZ)

> The bill also doesn’t include digital AM stations, just IBOC AM stations:
Huh?

Yup. You and I know that IBOC and "digital AM" are two flavors of the same tech. But the text of the bill treats them differently. I think what the Congressman is trying to say is a digital only receiver would not meet the bill's requirements.

That's why, from the public safety perspective of Congress, if they're going to bother passing this bill, it should include FM and not only AM. Those EAS activations will assume control over the regular programming on FM stations just as well as over the AMs. People who would never listen to AM might still listen to FM -- if it's in their cars. And that would equal more people receiving an EAS message.

This bill is purely about the government interest. FEMA spent a bunch of money "hardening" the primery entry point stations like KFI or KMOX over the last 10 years or so. If those stations fail for economic reasons, that money is wasted. This bill is specifically trying to prop up the moribund AM band to extend the payback period on that investment.

 

[Kelly A]

This bill is purely about the government interest.

I would argue that this bill was motivated by politics, since most of the right-wing talk-programmed stations are AM, and GOP lawmakers have been pushing this bill. If it were truly about public safety, AM would likely be ignored because that's not where average media consumers are.

FEMA spent a bunch of money "hardening" the primery entry point stations like KFI or KMOX over the last 10 years or so. If those stations fail for economic reasons, that money is wasted. This bill is specifically trying to prop up the moribund AM band to extend the payback period on that investment.

What FEMA invested in a handful of AM stations amounts to a government budget rounding error.

 

[yeoldeschool]

But if you are listening to FM the station you have on will carry the same EAS alert as any AM station. And from that point on, if the emergency is major, all stations will carry the same originating primary or secondary EAS station.

Again, right, but the point of me saying this bill should include FM as a requirement (and not just AM) is to guard against a future scenario where automakers may decide to start dropping FM as a result of waning popularity. People are saying that what's happening to AM will happen to FM next. So if it's worth saving AM in cars despite what's happening to it now, it's worth having the same bill protect FM in advance knowing what'll happen to it tomorrow.

The benefit of AM inclusion is that FM stations have very limited coverage compared to AM. In the case of the inability of all local stations to broadcast, AMs from distant locations will be usable both in the daytime in a broader range and at night in a very wide range.

Also understood and agreed with. But most emergencies won't be of a nature that knock out all local FM stations. So FMs would have equal value to AMs in most EAS activation scenarios, and that to me makes it sensible for this bill to protect FM as a foresight as much as it intends to protect AM now.

 

[yeoldeschool]

You sound like you want to bring back CONELRAD or 1960s EBS. They failed decades ago. No need to bring them back now.

I thought I just sounded like I wanted the bill to make more practical sense by including FM with AM, whether it's a good idea to support EAS alerts over radio on principle or not.

Neither of these. Pretty much the only AMs that are not also on FM are in markets where there is no FM channel availability for new translators, and either their owner does not own a full-power FM (e.g. most of Salem's stations), or judges that flipping a full power FM to simulcast would be a poor use of resources (e.g. KFI or WBZ)

I stand corrected. And when I posted that I was thinking back to stations whose owners, despite the decline of AM even in past decades, often triumphantly extolled their continued relevance to their local AM-aware communities -- stations like WION, KGAF, and so forth. Looking them up again, I see that they all now have FM translators.

Yup. You and I know that IBOC and "digital AM" are two flavors of the same tech. But the text of the bill treats them differently. I think what the Congressman is trying to say is a digital only receiver would not meet the bill's requirements.

Swell, so congress has crafted this legislation in accordance with its usual level of comprehension of contemporary technological and technical subject matter.

 

[davideduardo]

I don't need to be listening to an Antique Modulated radio station to know the weather is bad.

I have an even better device that tells me what the weather is outside. It is called a "window".

(That is singular. No "s" at the end. No service mark violation)