End of AM, FM in new cars in 2-5 years?

[raccoonradio]

http://ericrhoads.blogs.com/ink_tank/2013/03/a-cold-harsh-reality-for-radio.html

>>Alert: Within two years, AM and FM will no longer be offered by two automakers. According to the Convergence panel, radio will be gone from all new cars within five years. Since the automotive companies work three years in advance, these decisions are being made now. It appears that radio really will be gone from the dash unless it's heard through an Internet radio distribution platform.

 

[Bongwater]

http://ericrhoads.blogs.com/ink_tank/2013/03/a-cold-harsh-reality-for-radio.html

>>Alert: Within two years, AM and FM will no longer be offered by two automakers. According to the Convergence panel, radio will be gone from all new cars within five years. Since the automotive companies work three years in advance, these decisions are being made now. It appears that radio really will be gone from the dash unless it's heard through an Internet radio distribution platform.

I saw this day coming.

I knew it was coming sooner than later. And this pops that balloon that Arbitron and the terrestrial commercial radio industry likes to inflate when confronted with the truth doubt "94% of Americans listen to the radio every day!", they say....Yeah, about that......

Seriously. If 94% of everyone listens to plain terrestrial radio so religiously, there would be NO internet radio. Or at least not enough attention would have been given for it to be anything more than a geek toy. Now mobile streaming is EVERYWHERE.

I wonder how much longer after this happens will the high volume national/regional advertisers stay with terrestrial radio? If they go, the radio conglomerates are either DONE or there's going to be a LOT of brand new open spaces on the both sides of the dial.

 

[davideduardo]

I knew it was coming sooner than later. And this pops that balloon that Arbitron and the terrestrial commercial radio industry likes to inflate when confronted with the truth doubt "94% of Americans listen to the radio every day!", they say....Yeah, about that......

The fact is that 94% of people do listen to radio every week (not day). At issue is how much time they spend, not how many people do it.

Seriously. If 94% of everyone listens to plain terrestrial radio so religiously, there would be NO internet radio. Or at least not enough attention would have been given for it to be anything more than a geek toy. Now mobile streaming is EVERYWHERE.

That's like saying that if everyone spends on average 5 hours a day watching TV, there is no time for the Internet. And the fact is that there is that much TV use, too.

Again, it is about allocation of hours per week to all forms of media and entertainment.

I wonder how much longer after this happens will the high volume national/regional advertisers stay with terrestrial radio? If they go, the radio conglomerates are either DONE or there's going to be a LOT of brand new open spaces on the both sides of the dial.

First, all the major broadcasters are making their brands and content available via apps and aggregators. Who cares whether they get a stream or an AM or FM transmission?

Advertisers pay for spots based on delivery. As long as radio delivers consumers at competitive rates, it will be part of the media buy.

Oh, and the average car in the US is 11 years old. Even if all car makers eliminated Am and FM from new cars in 5 years, it would be 2025 or later before even half of all cars did not have radios in them.

Keep in mind that only about a third of radio listening takes place in the car.

 

[kc1ih]

http://ericrhoads.blogs.com/ink_tank/2013/03/a-cold-harsh-reality-for-radio.html

According to the Convergence panel

Who or what the hell is the Convergence panel? Do they have any idea what they are talking about?

 

[davideduardo]

http://ericrhoads.blogs.com/ink_tank/2013/03/a-cold-harsh-reality-for-radio.html

According to the Convergence panel

Who or what the hell is the Convergence panel? Do they have any idea what they are talking about?

The panel was part of a Radio Ink conference (called "Convergence") about the future of radio; the comments on AM & FM radios in cars came from a person who is part of the automobile industry.

http://www.radioink.com/ has highlights of the conference.

 

[LKellerIII]

I'm no expert like David E, but I doubt this prediction. The formula for new technology in cars has generally been additive. That is - AM only radios in cars became AM/FM, then AM/FM/Tape (8 track, then cassette), then AM/FM/Tape/CD, then AM/FM/CD (OK there's one example of taking away something, but that's because tape casettes were a poor way to listen to music compared to CD). Finally, most cars now are AM/FM/CD/Satellite ready/Aux jack for MP3.

So if they add internet access, I think it's likely that terrestrial radio will stay as a choice - FM in any case. If anything is likely to disappear from car radios, I think it's probably CD players - as people abandon CDs in greater numbers for downloads. I personally haven't purchased a CD in about 3 years.

Interstingly, my 17 year old daughter who just got her driver's license - now listens to radio in the car. I don't think she's ever tuned in a radio at home. Her ancient dad (me) is the one that listens to MP3 while driving.

 

[alleo]

Auto adds is a big add rev for radio stations. There seem some pull to keep radio in the autos.

 

[davideduardo]

Auto adds is a big add rev for radio stations. There seem some pull to keep radio in the autos.

And of course, yesterday, the Big 3 car makers said there was no plan to abandon AM and FM radios in cars.

 

[LKellerIII]

Auto adds is a big add rev for radio stations. There seem some pull to keep radio in the autos.

And of course, yesterday, the Big 3 car makers said there was no plan to abandon AM and FM radios in cars.

Not to mention - what would subtracting AM, or AM/FM from car stereos save the automakers? A few bucks per car at most, I would think. Subtracting the mechanical CD player mechanisms would save them more, though I don't even see that happening for a number of years.

People get into habits. They still want to play their CDs, whether or not they own an MP3.

Here in the Bay Area, the major sports station is still on AM (KNBR). Though the major news station (KCBS) now simulcasts on FM, the AM signal is much better in many parts of the Bay Area. If one car maker decided to delete AM radio, I would think they would lose quite a few customers who want to hear SF Giants games, and the news.

 

[KTN Corp]

I'm no expert like David E, but I doubt this prediction. The formula for new technology in cars has generally been additive. That is - AM only radios in cars became AM/FM, then AM/FM/Tape (8 track, then cassette), then AM/FM/Tape/CD, then AM/FM/CD (OK there's one example of taking away something, but that's because tape casettes were a poor way to listen to music compared to CD). Finally, most cars now are AM/FM/CD/Satellite ready/Aux jack for MP3.

So if they add internet access, I think it's likely that terrestrial radio will stay as a choice - FM in any case. If anything is likely to disappear from car radios, I think it's probably CD players - as people abandon CDs in greater numbers for downloads. I personally haven't purchased a CD in about 3 years.

I predict FM only radios with CD, USB, etc. in the next few years. Eliminating AM should save car makers money by concentrating on FM antenna design by not having to have AM and FM antennae coexist, and increased memory from removing the AM frequency map and decoding in the receiver to implement new functions.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Isn't there a law that all car radios must have both AM and FM? I know that it would have come from when there was a push to make FM more available, but is it still in effect?

I really can't see where dropping AM and FM, and definitely not AM alone, would reduce the cost of a car audio system by much.

It used to be that most new cars came without a radio (or air conditioning for that matter) and they were installed from choices at the dealer. Could the auto industry go back to that direction? I could see letting the customer have more choices that way, including satellite or online options but no AM or FM radio, if that's what they wanted, but still have AM and FM as an option.

 

[davideduardo]

Isn't there a law that all car radios must have both AM and FM?

Urban legend. Only "band requirement" was the one forcing UHF tuners in TVs.

 

[davideduardo]

Here in the Bay Area, the major sports station is still on AM (KNBR). Though the major news station (KCBS) now simulcasts on FM, the AM signal is much better in many parts of the Bay Area. If one car maker decided to delete AM radio, I would think they would lose quite a few customers who want to hear SF Giants games, and the news.

Just imagine the uproar if these "consumer expert" recommendations were to cause radios to be dropped from cars when listeners find that the rights to a local team only allow AM or FM broadcasts and there is no streaming except paid services...

Given that the radio costs so little (it's now a module in the car computer with a tiny piece of wire antenna somewhere) that the aggravation is not worth it yet.

 

[landtuna]

I personally haven't purchased a CD in about 3 years.

Me either but I've sure burned a bunch.

 

[landtuna]

Eliminating AM should save car makers money ...

Are we forgetting that there is a rather large area in the middle of the country where FM doesn't reach effectively and many other rural areas where AM is the only signal that does? Even in my state analog FM seldom reaches beyond 50 miles outside the metro area and there is plenty of open state left with only AM coverage. Digital FM is going to be even worse insofar as range.

Even though I never listen to AM in the car I'm glad it is there in the event I'm out in the toolies and have reason to listen to radio.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I meant to mention aftermarket car stereos as well. I haven't seen anything saying that the aftermarket companies are dropping AM and/or FM. It looks like to me that if the auto industry goes ahead with the idea of dropping them they could be shooting themselves in the foot and handing more business over to the aftermarket companies.

 

[w9wi]

Which state?

I travel pretty extensively. I certainly do remember a time when there were places on the main roads where all you could get was AM -- but that was a LONG time ago.

The closest I remember in the last 10 years would be Lloydminster, Alberta where there was at the time only one local FM signal. (a 200-watt relay of an Edmonton station) There was a pretty good car radio signal from a new FM at North Battleford, Saskatchewan 80 miles to the east, and a much weaker signal from the Radio-Canada French-language station there.

The big local signal was on 1080 AM, and there were fair AM signals from Saskatoon, Edmonton, and CBK.

But today... there are three FMs in Lloydminster that didn't exist when I was there -- and the 1080 AM signal is gone. (it's on 95.9)

Even driving around Yellowstone National Park & approaches, today there's more FM service than AM.

 

[fybush]

I think the most remote stretches of road I've been on in the last couple of years were probably US 491 and US 64 around Shiprock, NM and some of I-40 in western Oklahoma and eastern NM on either side of the busy Amarillo market.

I don't think there was ever any point along either of those drives where I didn't have two or three usable FM signals, at minimum. Same goes for what was once a really barren FM wasteland, US 395 up through the Owens Valley of eastern California, where there are now something like five local FMs and a bunch of translators.

 

[davideduardo]

End of AM, FM statement retracted

I haven't seen anything saying that the aftermarket companies are dropping AM and/or FM.

Today, the editor of the magazine that published the report on the elimination of AM and FM radios from cars retracted the statement, saying he mis-heard the panelist. You can read the "mea culpa" at the Radio Ink website.

 

[landtuna]

I think the most remote stretches of road I've been on in the last couple of years were probably US 491 and US 64 around Shiprock, NM and some of I-40 in western Oklahoma and eastern NM on either side of the busy Amarillo market.

I don't think there was ever any point along either of those drives where I didn't have two or three usable FM signals, at minimum. Same goes for what was once a really barren FM wasteland, US 395 up through the Owens Valley of eastern California, where there are now something like five local FMs and a bunch of translators.

Within the past three years I've made two trips, east to west, from eastern PA to Phoenix via I-40. On each trip the FM's seem to come in within 50 miles or so of a metro area and then fade out on the other side. There were a few AM's that could stay with me for a hundred miles or so. Unfortunately they were of the border blaster variety and simply awful to listen to. The only FM I could get from approximately the AZ-NM border on I-40 for the next 75 miles or so was something out of the Navajo Reservation. There was a syndicated morning show of some kind (Bob & Tom?) playing at the time and they never gave station ID. It lasted about an hour before fading away. Turning south from Winslow, AZ I was able to bring in only one AM which was sort of MOR until I cleared the Rim and dropped down into Payson.