Car Makers Dropping AM Radios in New Cars

[Terry]

www.thedrive.com/news/heres-why-some-automakers-tune-out-am-radios-in-new-cars

[kenglish]

Seems funny that car makers SUDDENLY are so concerned with the quality of their radios. If they thought drivers wanted excellent radio reception all these years, why did they let the standards deteriorate to where they are now?
And, I suspect that, if the motors were interfering with all those other gadgets and gizmos, the car companies would already have a fix. (Can you say "Ferrite"?)
Maybe it has something to do with "pay entertainment systems"?

[CAwasinNJ]

As the article says, yes car makers can make AM work in EVs. They just have to want to. Frankly that article uses a lot of words to say very little. Some automakers include AM, some don't, and maybe fewer models will have AM in the future. Similar articles were being written 8-10 years ago, as were articles about how terrible LED traffic lights and street lights were for AM. I don't buy either one.

[amanuensis]

Car manufacturers get paid to include satellite radios in their vehicles. They don't get paid to include digital radios. Digital HD-AM would solve the static problems, I believe, but there is no money to be made in it. On the other hand, in 2016, Sirius/SM paid about a billion dollars to auto makers, per the NY Times. www.nytimes.com/2016/02/21/business/media/siriusxm-fights-to-dominate-the-dashboard-of-the-connected-car.html Obviously, it is not in Sirius' interest to have people get for free (greater signal quality and fidelity) for what they are otherwise willing to pay for.

[CAwasinNJ]

You're going to get an argument from a lot of people about the signal quality and fidelity of satellite radio, but that's irrelevant. Satellite radio usage in cars came in dead last (22%) of in-car audio listening sources. Even the supposedly dead CD came in half again as popular.

www.edisonresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Infinite-Dial-2022-Webinar-revised.pdf Page 45

It's become very clear that paywalls don't work very well, and not just in audio.

[David]

On the flip side of this coin, the 2021 GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado pickups were designed and manufactured with a good old fashioned steel whip external radio antenna; in addition to the standard "shark fin" antenna seen on GM's SUV's that are built on the same truck platform. Apparently many of the people who buy Sierras and Silverados live out in the country, and GM actually listened to their customers who told them that good radio reception is important.

gmauthority.com/blog/2021/05/heres-why-the-chevy-silverado-and-gmc-sierra-pickups-still-use-a-whip-antenna/amp/

Toyota and GM have manufactured electric vehicles and hybrids with AM/FM radios for years now, and they continue to do so today. The AM section of most automotive AM/FM radios has been an afterthought when designing new vehicles since the 1990's, mostly because the corporate bean counters are using the decline in AM radio listenership as an excuse to save a buck or two. Those near worthless shark fin antennas have only hastened the demise of AM car radios during the past 15-20 years. If good AM reception in a car radio is important to you, there are still some auto manufacturers that cater to that need. One of the things I've regretted about selling my 2012 Toyota Corolla is that it had excellent AM reception, and its radio would pull in AM signals that none of my other receivers could hear. Of course, the AM/FM antenna in my Corolla was incorporated into the rear window defroster, instead of being one of those useless little antennas that looks like a baby shark fin. 🙂