Dodge to buck trend, keep AM radio in new vehicles

[Crunch]

I never knew this was even a thing, but apparently it is. Vehicle manufacturers are removing AM radio from their vehicles, and Ford is the latest to announce that they will, too. Part of the reason is that reception is bad in electric vehicles, but other reasons include, "due to cost-cutting purposes, as less people listen to the format." Manufacturers are also trying to prod people to podcasts, streaming and satellite radio. Sounds nuts to me since I travel a lot. I rely on AM radio when on the road, and streaming won't cut it for me since it would kill my data plan for my phone very quickly. Gotta say, this one really has me scratching my head...

Glad Dodge isn't jumping on this train.

Ford to Drop AM Radio From Most New Vehicles

The link may be a bit wonky, as it points to the Epoch Times. They want you to sign up, but I pasted the text of the link directly from the Bongino Report, which includes their partner info so I think it should work fine. If a box pops up, just click the "X" to close it.

 

[Yo Hoot]

Even gets AM

 

[BigPapa]

My ‘06 Accord has AM, but I cant even pick up WSM 650 thats less than 50 miles from me. Its a 50K watt clear channel station….

 

[Ozymandias]

Well almost 20 years old... classic cars have had AM.

Times are changing, so do generations and I haven't heard from someone below 50 that he is listening to AM, but several above 70 that do, mostly NPR.
That brings us to the question, who is the target market for car manufacturers?
I don't think it's the elderly.

I didn't know either that there are still limited data plans existing, isn't that something of the past?

 

[mwilson]

They shouldn’t drop it from vehicles. When there are emergencies it’s the only way to get info after the power goes out, internet stops working and the cell tower generators run out of fuel….which happens faster than one might think. Nobody has land lines anymore.

 

[Crunch]

Times are changing, so do generations and I haven't heard from someone below 50 that he is listening to AM, but several above 70 that do, mostly NPR.
That brings us to the question, who is the target market for car manufacturers?
I don't think it's the elderly.

I don't listen to AM for music, but when on the road I listen to it a lot for the talk shows and news. When there is a lot of prairie between you and the next city big enough to have a radio station, FM just doesn't cut it. When I want to listen to music I click over to FM, or play CDs. If I happen to be traveling in a rental car I also have a 32GB USB flash drive that has about 5,000 songs on it. If I set it to shuffle it will play for 2 solid weeks without playing the same song again. Never have been interested in streaming--either radio or television. Too much data collection, and the idea of being an unpaid employee in some company's marketing department really torques me the wrong way. If I bought a new vehicle I would do everything I could to disable the connectivity features and other data collection. Several years ago the CEO of Ford says that they know more about your driving behaviors than you do, all because of the navigation and other connectivity features and the data they collect through the ECMs.

I didn't know either that there are still limited data plans existing, isn't that something of the past?

I think there are still all kinds of data plans available. For me, my phone is my Internet, and I use it as a hotspot for my laptop. I have an unlimited plan, but as I get into the 15GB-20GB zone is slows to a crawl, which is unacceptable. It is as slow as dial up Internet from back in the Pioneer Days. So to some extent, I have to "budget" my Internet use, but it works out for the most part if I don't watch a bunch of videos.

 

[Ozymandias]

Sounds good.

Instead of streaming down the road, the Network is quite patchy in the west.. I download entire Playlists to my device. For me it's Pandora now as Amazon Prime Music canceled the download functionality for non Plus Members.
Spotify I considered to expensive for what it is.

I mean I'm almost 50 now but I still try to keep up with technology and use what I think is helpful and convenient. I hope I stay that way, my dad was like this till he died at 82.

 

[Ozymandias]

“I don’t know how many companies have dropped AM radio for EVs, but most of the German companies and Volvo have and now Ford,” Mike Ramsey, an analyst with Gartner Research Group, told the Detroit Free Press.

Well that's an easy decision for them as AM Transmitters in Europe are already shutdown for many years, FM has full coverage all over Europe.
And now they are going to shutdown FM too within the next couple years because the DAB network takes over and has already full coverage now and they need the frequencies for other applications.

So what the guy says in the article is sort of misleading without the proper background information.

 

[Timd32]

I've been trying the AM radio out for a little bit here in my '22 and it's pretty terrible in my exact area.

The reason for me trying it, I have a 1948 truck with a working AM Radio and wanted to find some stations, not that you can really hear it in the truck, it's more of a nice to show folks the old stuff still works.

But if my '22 can't get it to work no chance my '48 will pick it up.

Mandating mfg keep it kinda opens the door for the Govt to support these folks with some sort of grant or something. Last thing they need is more tax money.

Amazon has a very robust low frequency band wifi network called Sidewalk that is pretty impressive, something like that will replace AM radio at some point.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/28/a...th-long-range-sidewalk-network-to-developers/

 

[Jim W]

They shouldn’t drop it from vehicles. When there are emergencies it’s the only way to get info after the power goes out, internet stops working and the cell tower generators run out of fuel….which happens faster than one might think. Nobody has land lines anymore.

Mike. The younger generation think the internet will never die and will always be there when needed. Everything is done on their phones now credit cards, banking and so forth.

My wife's car will let you open the lock car doors with your phone. I know the dealer salesperson tried to add this App to my wife's phone when she purchased her latest car. I told the young gentleman, please do not install this App on her phone. He looked at me if I was from outer space and said why not. My answer was what happens if someone had stolen her phone than they could open the car right? There is even a wallet keycard where the person doesn't need a key to open the door on her car. This got shredded when we got home.

I know I am a dinosaur; I still even use paper maps and can even read them.

 

[mwilson]

How about battery operated portable radios? We have two but most people don’t have one at all..

A little of the old tried and true technology might come in handy during an emergency…

 

[Crunch]

It's not like including AM radio capability along with FM is a big undertaking. The entire volume of everything needed for AM radio capability is probably less than the volume of a Payday candy bar. It also doesn't add significant costs to the price of a vehicle, or affect the operation of a vehicle. And if generational differences in customers are the reason, why have a terrestrial radio at all? We have a good 2 generations of drivers now who would probably rather stream or listen to satellite radio than terrestrial radio. But at least Dodge is still hanging in there...for now.

Man, I sure don't like the way new vehicles have been trending the last 15-20 years. It's going to really suck if the future 2500/3500 versions of our trucks only come in electric AND the radio only lets you stream or listen to satellite radio. Maybe Dodge will hold out and opt for diesel/electric, like trains. We'll be tooling down the road with a 1.7 Cummins diesel charging the battery that drives the wheels.

 

[crispyboy]

Losing AM stations is awful. Most of my listening is AM radio. Apparently Ford is not looking at demographics very closely. There is a huge swath of people between the ages of 25 thru 60 who listen to AM. These are the working people with money. I am lucky enough to live in an area where we have great local talk show hosts with a variety of topics plus the nationally syndicated shows are pretty good too. How else will l be able to listen to 700 wlw broadcasting the Cincinnati Reds. I have been able too pick up 700 wlw as far west as South Dakota and south in Florida.

 

[Timd32]

Yeah I'm all in on the AM radio.

 

[Regcabguy]

I use my phone's Tune In site. I can dial in many AM stations as well as music. The AM radio in my Pioneer 2550 double din is horrible. The stock Mopar was great but everything else was dated.

 

[Killer223]

I was reading about this. i won't buy a new vehicle unless it has AM, it's all i listen to radio wise. sometimes i use my phone, sometimes i used XM, but 98% it's AM. the old music just sounds better.

 

[brucejohnson]

Washington State has a number of AM/FM traffic advisory (road conditions, accidents, silver/Amber alerts, etc.) localized radio broadcast points with flashing yellow lights when info is available to tune in to along the major highways. Some are AM only. Nice to have. I have a few AM and FM channel pushbuttons programmed for them for quick access. Nice to know of accidents, avalanches, detours before you pass the last exit. Satellite or streaming radio doesn't help a bit in those cases.

 

[SnoKing]

Well almost 20 years old... classic cars have had AM.

Times are changing, so do generations and I haven't heard from someone below 50 that he is listening to AM, but several above 70 that do, mostly NPR.
That brings us to the question, who is the target market for car manufacturers?
I don't think it's the elderly.

I didn't know either that there are still limited data plans existing, isn't that something of the past?

In the US hardly anyone makes ICE "cars"! Cross overs(fading,), SUVs, a few Vans and Trucks is the market.

 

[Topzide]

@brucejohnson, brings up very valid points to consider! I always see signs around me to tune to AM 1620 for info! This is one of those things that everyone needs to be on the same page. Emergency vehicles were supposed to had a transponder that would transmit to let GPS and other devices know that they were on the highway ahead and be aware! They were even supposed to change traffic lights to help with getting on scene quicker. Technology is both good and bad!

 

[brucejohnson]

@brucejohnson, brings up very valid points to consider! I always see signs around me to tune to AM 1620 for info! This is one of those things that everyone needs to be on the same page. Emergency vehicles were supposed to had a transponder that would transmit to let GPS and other devices know that they were on the highway ahead and be aware! They were even supposed to change traffic lights to help with getting on scene quicker. Technology is both good and bad!

And the CONELRAD radio of the 50's and 60's. Any of the car or radio buffs on the site ever wonder what the little triangles on the AM band of certain radios were for? How about experiencing Duck and Cover and Bert the Turtle training firsthand? Yes, technology applied at the time for the time.
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