Broadcasters optimistic about the future of radio would have found plenty of company among elected officials during a House subcommittee hearing last week as lawmakers considered a proposal to require AM radio to be included with every vehicle sold.
Faced with growing bipartisan support for Congress stepping in to address a move by some carmakers to yank AM radio out of their dashboards, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents the auto industry, offered their first concessions.
Alliance President John Bozzella told the subcommittee that automakers are willing to “disclose very conspicuously” if a model does not have AM radio. “You’re not going to see a lot of those except on electric cars,” he said.
Bozzella said automakers are also willing to provide hand crank AM radios as part of the standard emergency kits they sell with vehicles.
But Melody Spann Cooper, CEO of Midway Broadcasting, said hand crank radios in the trunk are not the same as keeping AM in the dashboard. “That’s just not feasible when people are in an emergency,” she said.
If passed, the bill would require the Department of Transportation to issue a rule that requires all new motor vehicles to have AM radio as standard equipment. If they don’t, carmakers could be fined.
And prior to the effective date of the rule, manufacturers that do not include AM would be required to put a warning label on vehicles.
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