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lajlmt

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https://apnews.com/article/am-radio-ford-cars-congress-bill-aec6e6405d33ff95cff3dd31bef617db

Ford decides to keep AM radio on 2024 models, will restore AM on two electric vehicles from 2023

May 23, 2023

DETROIT (AP) — Owners of new Ford vehicles will be able to tune in to AM radio in their cars, trucks and SUVs after all.

CEO Jim Farley wrote in social media postings Tuesday that the company is reversing a decision to scrub the band after speaking with government policy leaders who are concerned about keeping emergency alerts that often are sounded on AM stations.

“We’ve decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles,” Farley wrote on Twitter and LinkedIn. “For any owners of Ford’s EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software update” to restore it, Farley wrote.

The move comes after a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers introduced a bill Wednesday calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to require AM in new vehicles at no additional cost.

Sponsors of the “AM for Every Vehicle Act” cited public safety concerns, noting AM’s historic role in transmitting vital information during emergencies, such as natural disasters, especially to rural areas.

Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., one of the bill’s sponsors, has said eight of 20 major automakers including Ford, BMW and Tesla have pulled the band from new vehicles.

“Ford’s reversal reflects an overdue realization about the importance of AM radio, but too many automakers are still going the wrong direction,” Markey said in a written statement Tuesday. He said Congress should still pass the bill to keep access to the band.

Ford removed AM from the 2023 Mustang Mach-e and F-150 Lightning electric pickups after data collected from vehicles showed that less than 5% of customers listened to it, spokesman Alan Hall said. Electrical interference and reducing cost and manufacturing complexity also played a role.

The company also took it out of the 2024 gasoline-powered Mustang, but will add it back in before any of the muscle cars are delivered, Hall said.

The EVs will get an online software update to put AM back into the vehicles, and Ford will keep including it in future vehicles as it looks at innovative ways to deliver emergency alerts, Hall said.

Ford and others also suggested that internet radio or other communication tools could replace AM radio. But Markey and others pointed to situations where drivers might not have internet access.

The Federal Communications Commission and National Association of Broadcasters praised the legislation, which is also backed by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Rep. Tom Kean, Jr., R-N.J., Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., among others.

But the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a U.S. trade group that represents major automakers including Ford and BMW, criticized the bill, calling the AM radio mandate unnecessary.

The trade group pointed to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alerts and Warning System, which can distribute safety warnings across AM, FM, internet-based and satellite radios — as well as over cellular networks.

The alliance said the bill gives preference to a technology that’s competing with other communications options.

Messages were left Tuesday seeking comment from BMW and Tesla.

According to the National Association of Broadcasters and Nielsen data, more than 80 million people in the U.S. listen to AM radio every month.
What’s AM radio😂😂😂
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Excellent decision!

Because when the FM stations are asking people what they're doing while snowed in and what songs they'd like to hear, AM is taking calls from listeners informing us what roads are open, which ones are impassable, and where the worst of it is. And in the aftermath of a major event, they're broadcasting who in the community needs urgent help and what they may need that someone close by might be able to help with. Someone who must use a generator to keep a family alive may get the gas they need from complete strangers; people stranded with small children may get taken to a shelter by some people on snowmobiles; it actually saves lives.
It's also where you can get in depth coverage local news, weather, and sports.
 

NJBob

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I mostly listen to AM radio. News, sports, all rare on FM. And if it is on FM I live to far away to be able to pick it up. I can hear the NY Giants games on am but the Jets are on FM, I can't pick it up. I suppose I could get the audacy app and the ESPN app but cell service can be spotty and how many apps do you need? I'd rather just turn the dial and listen. Nothing like 50 thousand watts of clear channel am. In a way it reminds me what happened when we switched to digital TV. I was able to pick up the old analog tv signals over the air but get nothing now with digital tv Happy they kept am radio.
 

Taxman100

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Have to be honest - the only part of the sound system I use in my vehicle is AM radio. Rarely listen to FM, and I have no great interest in music anymore, at least enough interest to hassle with customizing it.

So yeah, no AM radio would be a huge negative in deciding future vehicle purchases. I was actually thinking, if I could not easily add it to a 2024 Ford Maverick, would I reorder my truck for that model year, as it appears Ford cannot build a truck ordered the first day the order bank opened?

90% of the time I drive in silence - it lets me think during my time in the car.
 

Maverickman74

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With all the useless connectivity technology in cars that is just adding to distracted driving you would think we could have just about every band of radio there is in our cars. But transmission is free so thats not something any company wants to get behind.
 

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Who are these 80 million people? I haven't listened to AM radio in 45 years. I haven't listened to FM radio in years either.
I am one. I only listen to my local am station. I listen to news and talk shows Have not listened to fm 30 minutes in my 69 years.
 

LSchicago

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I am one. I only listen to my local am station. I listen to news and talk shows Have not listened to fm 30 minutes in my 69 years.
With your age I can understand the like for AM radio a bit, but that static I can't tolerate. FM was much better but that faded away in popularity 20 years ago (AM faded away in popularity 40 years ago). Then Satellite radio hit as a major player 20 years ago, then in the last 10 streaming services have taken over as the new popular way to listen to music and podcasts since about 2010. I could never go back to 50 year old technology for listening purposes unless I had to.
 

Diver_Down

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There are certain aspects of AM radio that would make it advantageous. For the same amount of broadcast power it covers more range than FM. It is more prone to skip (bouncing of layers in the atmosphere) so you can sometimes hear stations very far away. Reception can be very simple as it can be done with very little parts, just look up how people would build crystal radios back in the day. Pulling the information off the carrier wave in AM (amplitude modulation) is inherently simpler than FM (frequency modulation)
 

BuddyS

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Darn, I thought the market value of my 2022 was going to skyrocket due to it having AM radio. Now it's just another maverick again.
 

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With your age I can understand the like for AM radio a bit, but that static I can't tolerate. FM was much better but that faded away in popularity 20 years ago (AM faded away in popularity 40 years ago). Then Satellite radio hit as a major player 20 years ago, then in the last 10 streaming services have taken over as the new popular way to listen to music and podcasts since about 2010. I could never go back to 50 year old technology for listening purposes unless I had to.
Young WhipperSnapper! Get off my lawn!
 
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Glad that Ford did the right thing. I listen to news in Chicago everyday! There are probably hundreds of thousands of people who work in am radio across the US! They made a terrible assumption to remove it and thereby hurt the people who work in the field.
 

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Young WhipperSnapper! Get off my lawn!
Not exactly young at 57. I have my own lawn, and installed hedges all around to keep everyone off it!
 

LSchicago

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Glad that Ford did the right thing. I listen to news in Chicago everyday! There are probably hundreds of thousands of people who work in am radio across the US! They made a terrible assumption to remove it and thereby hurt the people who work in the field.
I watch the news. WGN Chicago news here.
 

MrMojoRising

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I work in broadcast engineering and some of the comments in this thread just go to show how little some folks know about the reasoning behind this bill.

Most people know about the Emergency Alert System from the scary buzzing noises and random tests at night and how annoying it is when local emergency managers overuse the Civil Emergency Message alert. But on the highest level, it's designed to take over every broadcast station in the country in the event of a grave threat - think a nuclear attack or alien invasion.

The medium wave band used by AM broadcasting in the United States has propagation characteristics that make it the best way to send a signal for very long distances. For this reason, FEMA has a direct link to ~75 clear-channel AM stations called "primary entry point" to use as the first level of this system. A "clear-channel" AM station is one that is allowed to use the maximum power output of 50 kilowatts 24 hours a day, and more importantly there are, in almost every case, no other stations on that frequency anywhere in the country.

The EAS is part of a larger internet connected system called IPAWS and every broadcast station also monitors that, but if a cyber attack takes out the internet, guess what - you still have the radio path. IPAWS also feeds the emergency alerts on your phone. Something takes out the mobile phone infrastructure, guess what - you still have the radio path.

In practice, this generally just means all the radio and TV stations in your area have a tuner locked onto the nearest primary entry point AM station and the local stations relay these emergency messages should they come. But if something takes out all your local TV and radio stations, that's when it becomes important for you to be able to receive the PEP station directly.

This is why Congress wants to keep AM available in cars, and EV manufacturers who cut corners when minimizing RF interference are taking the lazy way out and nixing AM radio. Hyundai and GM figured it out, so you can definitely have AM radio in an EV. This isn't because right wing talk radio almost exclusively exists on AM and the lawmakers somehow depend on that, that's not rational.

from u/theairwavearchitect on Reddit.

I think this about sums it all up.
 

LSchicago

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I mostly listen to AM radio. News, sports, all rare on FM. And if it is on FM I live to far away to be able to pick it up. I can hear the NY Giants games on am but the Jets are on FM, I can't pick it up. I suppose I could get the audacy app and the ESPN app but cell service can be spotty and how many apps do you need? I'd rather just turn the dial and listen. Nothing like 50 thousand watts of clear channel am. In a way it reminds me what happened when we switched to digital TV. I was able to pick up the old analog tv signals over the air but get nothing now with digital tv Happy they kept am radio.
My digital TV in the van works great. The car analog TV's were the worst, I'd get maybe 3-4 channels with that. I checked the new TV a couple days ago. 79 Digital channels received, and it also gets 42 FM radio stations. I don't even need to put the antenna on the roof.

No AM radio ability (my Van radio still has that), but it can receive analog TV. I don't know if any stations still broadcast analog TV since the FCC mandated the digital switch though. My GPS has live traffic, and my phone has weather alerts.
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