A word to Subaru - better keep our AM tuner

Interesting article. I’m 64 and have seen and experienced the whole audio evolution in car audio. Looks like the writing is on the wall for AM, similar to the fate of over-the-air TV. I was AM, then AM-FM, now 100% Sirius. AM has really shrunk in past 15-20 years. I won’t miss it.

Billyvannuys said:

Interesting article. I’m 64 and have seen and experienced the whole audio evolution in car audio. Looks like the writing is on the wall for AM, similar to the fate of over-the-air TV. I was AM, then AM-FM, now 100% Sirius. AM has really shrunk in past 15-20 years. I won’t miss it.

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The big issue is talk radio which is primarily on am. Yes we could get it through cell phone but not for remote areas for which it is superior than fm coverage. Sat would work but we would need to pay for it. Talk radio has not shrunk but actually grown in its audience. Now we get into the politics of it all and the real motivation.

Billyvannuys said:

Interesting article. I’m 64 and have seen and experienced the whole audio evolution in car audio. Looks like the writing is on the wall for AM, similar to the fate of over-the-air TV. I was AM, then AM-FM, now 100% Sirius. AM has really shrunk in past 15-20 years. I won’t miss it.

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Not sure your OTA analogy holds.

OTA TV has actually grown with the release of digital channels, and we now have HD. I'd say OTA TV is more like what we saw happen with FM releasing digital offerings, a growth and improvement.

Retiring the old analog spectrum needed to be done. Also, it was super easy bolt on a new digital tuner or receive a new tuner through natural TV attrition/replacement.

With AM, the signal can go much further, it's less crowded and easier to localize. If you drive up to the Mackinac Bridge you can listen to news, warnings and tourist info simply by tuning to their AM station. Moving this to FM is going to be a lot more difficult, the same goes for all the other broadcasts on AM.

I don’t think I’ve ever listened to anything on AM in any of my vehicles in 30 years of driving. I guess I’ve never had the need living in metropolitan areas.

Talk radio is on AM like news was on broadcast TV
Broadcast TV went south because of streaming and AM will suffer the same fate.
I don’t intend to sound harsh, but an automaker can’t keep features just to satisfy a generation which is aging out of new car buying. Heck, even Buick is trying to appeal to younger buyers.

Satellite radio (which has basically already been replaced by streaming to stay afloat), CD players, and AM radio are 3 commonly installed car entertainment features I personally haven’t used in over 10 years. Good riddance.

ATXV18&Ascent19 said:

I don’t think I’ve ever listened to anything on AM in any of my vehicles in 30 years of driving. I guess I’ve never had the need living in metropolitan areas.

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90% of my listening is am commute to am in metro areas.

packout said:

90% of my listening is am commute to am in metro areas.

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I am with you right there, @packout. AM is where all the talk shows reside - liberal and conservative. I enjoy listening to the Tom Martino "Troubleshooter Show" where he solves problems for people who have been scammed, cheated, or otherwise taken advantage of by companies, individuals, etc. I would miss AM radio, although now you can stream most any podcast. I like to save my phone for phone calls.

Honestly, I feel it will be a non-issue for the bulk of the market. Many of actual radio stations still on AM are already migrating to FM...KYW in Philadelphia is a good example of that. They still are running on AM, but are on FM in parallel for their constant news and traffic coverage. Listening metrics for AM radio are likely in the toilet with FM, FM-HD and Satellite, not to mention streaming, pretty much where folks live at this point. This is similar to what happened with TV...it's all digital now and folks survived the transition. The singular technical advantage that AM has is it can "bounce" off the atmosphere for long distances, but again...not much takes advantage of that anymore.

The one place where not having an AM receiver "at the present time" would be a disadvantage is with low power AM transmitters used for public service announcements, etc., but I suspect that will also transition.

packout said:

I for one will not be a happy camper if Subaru decides to eliminate AM in their future headset units. Listen up Subaru.

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AM can be useful in the event of an emergency, public announcements, etc.

Get off my lawn!

But seriously, I listen to one AM station but can also get it through their FM repeater and TuneIn. Times change and there are 1,000 other ways to listen to rabid political screeds these days. AM will be gone w/i 20 years, probably sooner.

Those streaming features won't be free forever. The providers will charge for those podcasts as everything is going to a subscription service. I'll keep my AM radio so long as they have programs on it. When I was a kid I could listen to the St Louis Cardinals in Casper, Wyoming because the signal from KMOX would travel so far at night. I loved those years.

they have local announcements broadcast on AM channels , in parks , shows, etc...
other then that i did not use AM in last 17+ years...

sure, but people watched broadcast tv until they found something better. times change. am is outdated. don't they have an app yet to rebroadcast am radio?

edit: to add to that chart above...anyone who prefers in-dash navigation as a feature over carplay simply hasnt used carplay. i'd rather have am radio than factory navigation! 🤣

i'll admit i'm probably biased by the fact that i cant stand poor audio quality such as am radio, satellite radio, etc. i also can't stand 'podcast voices' - ie that matter of fact, my opinion is the final word, listen to my expert analysis on everything i spew type of voice people get on talk radio and podcasts.

Try driving through Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, etc at 3:00 AM. If you don't have SiriusXM, local AM is the only game.

I recall driving in rural Kansas years ago and listening to the local late-night AM station's Crime Report:

"Lester Jones reported to the Sheriff that his toolbox was stolen from his pickup truck. It contained 3 screwdrivers, a set of socket wrenches, 4 pliers, a monkey wrench, etc, etc...." I thought to myself "If this is the top of the crime report, this is where I want to live" The show was sponsored by the Acme Rendering Company, "Your Used Cow Dealer"

The most important part of having AM for me is road/travel conditions.

I live in the PNW and AM stations are used for reporting the latest road conditions for various mountain passes, etc. I'd imagine they'd need to replace that with something else if AM gets removed from vehicles.

xydadx3 said:

sure, but people watched broadcast tv until they found something better. times change. am is outdated. don't they have an app yet to rebroadcast am radio?

edit: to add to that chart above...anyone who prefers in-dash navigation as a feature over carplay simply hasnt used carplay. i'd rather have am radio than factory navigation! 🤣

i'll admit i'm probably biased by the fact that i cant stand poor audio quality such as am radio, satellite radio, etc. i also can't stand 'podcast voices' - ie that matter of fact, my opinion is the final word, listen to my expert analysis on everything i spew type of voice people get on talk radio and podcasts.

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for music FM and HD streaming is king in a car, but for talk radio it really doesn't matter. The issue is cost and signal strength. Cell phone service often will not receive an app signal for these broadcasts. that is the concern. Emergency broadcasts are critical to maintain and digital signals will reduce that robustness. National syndication leverages satelitte and then reaches down to a local OTA transmitter. That approach has its limitations in rural America. I recognize that Washington does not know anyone living and working anywhere other than the coasts do not exist but those folks sure buy autos.

I enjoyed listening to Detroit Tigers games while working in my shop. I lived a couple hundred miles away.

Losing talk radio isn't a bug, it's a feature.