In Bergen County, N.J., there’s perhaps no busier thoroughfare than Route 17, an important connector to the New York State Thruway in Suffern, N.Y., and the bridges and tunnels connecting Northern New Jersey to Manhattan. The county is also home to Paramus, a famed shopping hub that today includes a Tesla dealership.
On Tuesday, a Member of Congress was seen across from this high-visibility EV seller, appearing alongside the recently named Executive Director of the New Jersey Broadcasters Association. The two had one message for Tesla: Keep AM radio in their vehicles.
With NJBA head Jordan Walton at the press conference, Democrat Rep. Josh Gottheimer — once a speechwriter for President Bill Clinton — passionately called for electric vehicle manufacturers such as Tesla to stop the removal of AM radios from their vehicles.
As has been reported, eight EV manufacturers recently indicated that they are not currently offering AM in their vehicles or have plans to eliminate the band in their cars due to “interference” issues with the AM signal.
AM radio proponents counter that it is the battery and equipment powering EVs creating the interference, and that measures can easily be taken to shield AM radios from this distortion-causer.
In fact, Gottheimer pointed to earlier Tesla models, along with EVs from other manufacturers, that he says have very good AM reception. “If Elon Musk has enough money to buy Twitter and send rockets to space, he can afford to include AM radio in his Teslas,” Gottheimer said.
In addition to his work in the Clinton White House, Gottheimer is a former Senior Counselor to former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and has worked closely in developing the latest iteration of the emergency alert system.
Gottheimer now plans to sending a letter to EV manufacturers urging them to reconsider eliminating AM radio in their vehicles.
He will also call on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, responsible for keeping people safe on America’s roadways, to add AM radio to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, much like they require seatbelts, airbags, and other minimum safety standards.
In his remarks, Walton thanked Gottheimer for advocating for New Jersey’s 39 licensed AM stations, which provide a mix of music, news, talk, sports, and entertainment in English, Spanish, Hindi, and many other languages.
That said, Bergen County, N.J.’s AM radio consumption is likely to stations based in New York, while communities such as Camden and Cherry Hill likely rely on AM stations in the Philadelphia market for vital information. This makes access to WCBS-AM in New York, an Audacy Corp. station, and iHeartMedia stations including WOR-AM in New York and WPHT-AM in Philadelphia, key information needs Gottheimer is committed to fighting for.
Indeed, iHeartMedia, the nation’s largest single owner of radio stations, has an outsized presence on the AM radio band, with many of these stations offering conservative News/Talk programming. Some note that less exposure to these stations via the removal of AM radios in EVs could have Election Day ramifications. Others believe iHeartMedia’s revenue opportunities are in danger of erosion if more listeners lose access to the AM radio station and may not immediately opt for that station’s audio stream due to data limitations with their cellular service provider.
As the NJBA’s Walton sees it, “There are plenty of business and economic reasons to preserve AM radio, but public safety, using the publicly owned airwaves our stations have been lucky enough to license for 100 years, is the best reason.”
Gottheimer’s press conference attracted the attention of NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt, who thanked the ex-FCC and Clinton White House staff “for his leadership in taking action to help preserve AM radio’s vital role in the car.” As LeGeyt sees it, “AM radio not only serves as the backbone of the nation’s Emergency Alert System that keeps Americans safe when disaster strikes, but local stations also provide important news and information, sports coverage, weather and community affairs programming. Local radio has a critical place in the auto dashboard and broadcasters remain committed to collaborating with auto manufacturers to ensure America’s 47 million AM radio listeners can easily access this essential service.”
