As summertime weather goes in the Nation’s Capital, Wednesday thunderstorms are poised to bring several days of pleasant weather and uncharacteristically cool mornings through Monday. While that may be welcomed by many inside the Beltway, the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act may be a frozen as a kid’s popsicle from a community pool snack bar.
Lobbying disclosures first disclosed by Streamline Publishing’s Radio Ink offer fresh insight into just why there’s nonmovement on the widely supported bipartisan legislation President Trump has urged Congressional approval of.
During the second quarter, automakers and “Big Tech” interests outspent broadcasters in an effort to close off every avenue for the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act’s path to passage.
At present, the legislation mandating broadcast radio capable of receiving AM and FM signals in all vehicles manufactured and sold in the U.S. has two paths forward. One is as a standalone bill, which cleared the House Energy & Commerce Committee in November 2025 and still awaits a House floor vote. The other runs through Rep. Brett Guthrie’s (R-Ky.) Motor Vehicle Modernization Act; broadcasters hope this will be folded into the BUILD America 250 Act that could carry the AM Act to passage without a standalone vote.
Seeking to stop this are a trio of automotive companies:
- Toyota Motor North America led the automakers, reporting $2,020,500 in combined Q2 lobbying activity across two filings that named the AM Act among other issues.
- American Honda Motor Company disclosed $1,477,000
- General Motors reported $40,000
Also continuing its effort to stop a Congressional mandate for broadcast radio in U.S vehicles is the Consumer Technology Association. In Q2 the CTA added $1,370,000 in lobbying activity, with its transportation and mobility disclosures listing both the AM Act and the BUILD America 250 Act, potentially putting the association on both sides of the same legislative vehicle.
The NAB reported $2,620,000 in in-house lobbying expenses and also retained OnMessage Public Strategies and The Smith-Free Group LLC, each disclosing $30,000 in outside lobbying tied to AM radio and the Local Radio Freedom Act.
Additionally, iHeartMedia filed seven separate lobbying reports for the quarter totaling $1,280,457, while Salem Media, which runs an in-house lobbying operation, reported $30,000.
Combined, the radio industry’s disclosed second-quarter lobbying totaled approximately $3,990,457, compared to $4,907,500 from Toyota, Honda, GM, and CTA, favoring the mandate’s opponents. That is a reversal from the first quarter, when pro-AM spending outpaced opposition by more than $2 million.
Meanwhile, the battle to keep AM radio in all domestic vehicles is being taken to more consumers. In the last several days RBR+TVBR heard a public service announcement seeking support from listeners to write to Congress in favor of the AM Act. It aired on iHeartMedia’s WAVW “Wave 92.7” in Port St. Lucie-Stuart-Vero Beach, Fla.
Ironically, AM radio consumption in this portion of the U.S. is historically low, with six rated stations offering spoken word programming dominating the bottom portion of the Nielsen Audio ratings for Market No. 98. Furthermore, due to longstanding reception issues with kHz-band signals in Florida, FM radio consumption has largely dominated this region for more than 40 years.
— With reporting by Cameron Coats, in New York
