I Can Fix That

So. Congress is taking a shot at a bill to ensure AM radio access in all vehicles, huh? The "AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act"? Catchy name there. Good luck to them.

I have another idea. How about a bill that DOESN'T require car makers to provide an outmoded broadcast band, but instead would require all vehicles sold in America to have 5G internet access as standard equipment and service at no additional cost to the car owner, and open access for anyone to be able to provide apps to the dashboard? A guarantee of nondiscriminatory treatment for all streaming apps? A ban on car makers forcing people to pay fees to be able to access the streaming apps they want?

Silly me. I'm thinking of things from the consumer's standpoint, not the business owners' dilemma. I think of legislation that protects and promotes the public's interests in the face of changing technology, not the interests of investors in outmoded businesses. I can be so crazy that way.

Look, while there is still an audience for AM radio, it's shrinking and the technology itself is a problem, not just because of the interference issue but the fact that for many license holders, the land underneath AM tower arrays is far more valuable than the stations are as a going concern. And we have alternate means of transmitting that programming without the need for AM towers and transmitters. Streaming, FM translators, HD2... okay, maybe HD2 is a stretch, though the law I'm thinking about could mandate that all AMs be given HD2 channels piggybacking on FMs in their market, just like the TV repack allowed stations to sell their channels back to the government and then share other stations' channels. All of this can be done.

Emergency, you say? Okay, reassign AM stations' roles in the EAS to FMs. And, sure, require auto makers to provide FM for free. FM doesn't have the same electrical interference issues as AM, so there's no reason for the car makers to drop it other than to force people to pay for streaming or satellite competitors -- they don't make money on free radio, but you can make a good public interest argument for maintaining at least one free broadcast option in all vehicles. So, let's do that, support it with the emergency argument, we're good.

And AM? Let any license holder wishing to plow forward and serve those who still have cars with AM receivers to operate as long as they want, knowing that the days are numbered. Otherwise, it's time to promote the streams and the translators, and to ensure that they'll have access to the dashboard through those means.

All of this is to propose that we not look at the issue as preserving AM, something an increasing number of consumers either don't want or don't care enough about to ask for it, but instead preserving access to the dashboard for anyone who wants to be there. That means AM via streaming and translators, FM via broadcast or streaming, all DSPs, podcasters, pure streamers, and anyone else who comes up with programming and a stream to distribute it. Otherwise, we'll get buzzy, unlistenable AM while the car makers put a paywall in front of all other options. Maybe we should head that off first.

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Tackling knotty problems is my specialty, so perhaps next week I'll have some ideas for the most complicated issue facing America. Yes, I'll try to come up with ideas on how to fix the Philadelphia 76ers. Not gonna be easy, I can tell you that.

Perry Michael Simon
Senior Vice President/Editor-in-Chief and News-Talk-Sports-Podcasting Editor
AllAccess.com
psimon@allaccess.com
Twitter @pmsimon
Mastodon @pmsimon@c.im