The RedState Interview:  Cruz Explains Why He's Fighting to Save AM Radio.  In an exclusive RedState interview, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) explained why his bill to preserve AM radios in vehicles is a winner for consumers and the country.  The Cruz bill, The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, which would mandate that automakers keep the AM radio, already has 47 co-sponsors and passed the Senate's Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, so it is awaiting a floor vote.  This should be the year to celebrate the centennial of the AM car radio, a fixture in automobiles up until now.  Yet instead of celebrating this landmark, BMW, Mazda, Volkswagen, Tesla, and others are all planning to eject AM radio from the dashboard.  As recently as February, John Bozzella, the CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry trade group, pushed this ejection because electric vehicle circuitry creates interference with AM reception.  Rather than spending $3.8 billion to fix the problem, the carmakers want to strip AM radios from gas and electric models — despite the opposition on Capitol Hill and from the tens of millions of Americans who rely on AM radio.  [Tweet]

The Editor says...
[#1] It may be true that in a country this size, millions of people listen to AM radio habitually, but whether they rely on it is another matter.  Most AM listeners would figure out how to make other arrangements if 90 percent of the AM stations went off the air tomorrow.  [#2] It's certainly a mistake to rely on AM for weather information, because in a thunderstorm, you won't hear much between the lightning crashes.  What are you going to learn from the radio during a storm, anyway?  If it's really dark and windy outside, the announcers are all going to take turns yelling at you to "take cover immediately," because this month's Storm of the Century is headed right at you.  Woo woo woo, ding ding.  They do this because of the lawyers:  The radio station doesn't want to get blamed if somebody gets killed by a tornado, so they go overboard with the alarm and panic.  [#3] I bought a new stereo receiver (for use in my house) about eight or ten years ago, and while installing it, I noticed it had no AM receiver.  Then I yawned, and connected the little piece of wire provided for the FM antenna, and haven't used that either.  AM radio is already dead; it's just taking a long time to decay.  [#4]  Doesn't Senator Cruz have more important issues to address, like the Mexican border?

The Editor would like to append to his comments as follows:
The signal quality of an AM radio station is usually pretty good, within the first X×Y miles from the transmitter site, where X is the power of the station in kilowatts, and Y is approximately 2.  (The value of Y depends on your definition of "pretty good.")  Beyond that radius, the signal gradually decreases, until at some point the atmospheric noise and co-channel interference take over, and at some distance, you could keep listening to a specific station, but only if you really want to.  On the other hand, the reception of an FM station depends on the transmitted power, the antenna height (at both ends!) and the distance from the transmitter; however, these days, when you get some distance from the transmitter (of the desired station), you begin to encounter co-channel interference long before the desired signal fades out, so your radio will let you hear whichever station is the strongest.  If the signals are equally strong, a noisy battle ensues, unless you can adjust your antenna.  Additionally, in the fringe areas, atmospheric conditions can be tricky, too:  On a cold and calm morning, you may hear stations from hundreds of miles away.  TV reception is a different story, because the receiver is almost always in a fixed position (your house), the stations are almost all on UHF frequencies, and the digital modulation (which is really analog pretending to be digital) makes reception an all-or-nothing experience:  The picture and sound are either perfect or completely absent.  There is some "middle ground," but it's very narrow.

Ford to Discontinue AM Radios in Most New Vehicles Starting in 2024.  Ford plans to drop AM radios from most of its new vehicles starting in 2024, raising concerns about public safety communication.  The automaker had previously announced plans to drop the AM radio from its electric vehicles due to "interference" between the electric drive train and AM reception.  The Detroit Free Press reports that beginning in 2024, Ford will no longer offer AM radio in the majority of its newly released gas and electric-powered vehicles.

Soros-Backed Media Consortium Is Buying, to Censor, Conservative Radio Stations.  Wait until Americans with origins in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and other lands demolished by communism find out that their favorite conservative radio stations are being bought by a media consortium headed by a longtime henchman of the Marxist founder of Black Lives Matter, Alicia Garza.  And wait until Mexican Americans, with roots in this country going back to the 17th century or earlier, find out that this BLM confidant, Jess Morales Rocketto, includes as one of her goals to tear down a society and culture that has taken generations to build, or that she told Latinos to follow BLM's lead during key moments of instability.  And wait until all these voters find out that the justification the consortium, Latino Media Network, gives for the $60 million purchase of 18 stations is that they are too stupid to be able to tell truth from lies, and have been duped by "disinformation" into voting for conservatives.

Hispanic Leaders Protest Soros-Backed 'Progressive Woke' Takeover of Spanish Talk Radio.  Leaders of the Cuban-American community in Miami held a press conference on Wednesday to protest the proposed sale of 18 Spanish-language radio stations, including iconic anti-communist station Radio Mambí, to a left-wing media network funded in part by an investment fund with ties to George Soros.  Radio Mambí and WQBA, AM stations in Miami, are two of the 18 Spanish-language stations that a group calling itself the "Latino Media Network," run by an Obama White House alum and a left-wing immigration activist, have agreed to purchase from Univisión-Televisa for $60 million, reports confirmed by Univisión indicate.  "Latino Media Network" raised its money from, among other sources, Lakestar Finance (the Soros-linked investment fund) and left-wing celebrities like Eva Longoria.  The individuals leading the effort have described combatting conservative "misinformation" in Spanish as a goal of the purchase.

George Soros-funded group of Hispanic investors buy up dozens of radio stations.  A group of high-profile Hispanic investors bought up 18 radio stations across 10 cities in a $60 million deal bankrolled by an investment firm tied to billionaire liberal activist George Soros.  The group was founded by former Obama administration staffer Stephanie Valencia and campaign veteran Jess Morales Rocketto, who worked for both former President Barack Obama and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. [...] The radio stations form the new Latina Media Network.  The network's association with the Democratic Party and the connection to Mr. Soros, however, alarmed Republican lawmakers.

The Editor says...
Generally speaking, if you're a white guy and you want to buy a radio station in the U.S. — other than a debt-laden station in the middle of nowhere that nobody else wants — you have to get a non-white puppet to act as the ostensible head of the company.  Someone who will make no decisions of his own but will do whatever you say.  I've worked for a company that did exactly that.  Minority ownership seems to be the FCC's highest priority.  Also, unless you have deep pockets and buy multiple stations in large markets, broadcasting is a quick way to lose all your money, because you'll be competing with a few giant companies — as well as the Catholic church — who run dozens if not hundreds of stations, and have eliminated every bit of unnecessary overhead.

Is Spanish-Language Radio Really a Threat to Democracy?  [Scroll down]  An October article in HuffPost by Lautaro Grinspan titled "How Spanish Language Radio Helped Radicalize a Generation of Miami Abuelos" is the acme of this:  Grinspan's old timers aren't human beings with agency, but confused and pitiful vessels for misinformation.  "Virginia, a 58-year-old Cuban immigrant who lives in Broward County, north of Miami, says that many of her mother's radical views stem from the same source:  misinformation on regional Spanish-language talk radio.  To her growing dismay, Virginia says her mamá, 79, is an avid listener, with particularly strong allegiance to right-wing commentators on Radio Mambí, Miami's leading Cuban-exile station."  The article is filled with many such misinformed abuelos  (I can drop Spanish words for authenticity, too) to feed the fears of white Democrats while also allowing them to feel grave concern for the poor, the downtrodden, the people of color.  The key to reading reporting like Grinspan's is to understand that the popularity of anti-communist radio among Cuban refugees in America is actually a very old story.  These outlets have always trafficked in ideas that elite white audiences would consider "hard right" or even "radicalizing."  But they only became sources of "misinformation" once Democrats started losing Hispanic votes.  Is that a coincidence?

Want to Hear Chinese Communist Propaganda Right on Your Own Radio?  I recently spent a few days in Northern Virginia visiting friends from my two decades working in Washington, D.C.  While driving around the Beltway, I happened upon WCRW, 1190 AM, a radio station in Leesburg with 50,000 watts of power, enough to blanket the nation's capital and its environs.  What makes this noteworthy is that the station is leased around the clock by China Radio International, a propaganda arm of the communist regime. [...] Academics are preferred over officials as presenters.  An economics professor from a Chinese university reported on the State Council's new report, "China:  Democracy That Works."  It opens with the claim "democracy is a common value of humanity and an ideal that has always been cherished by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people."  But it is a unique form — what the paper calls "whole process democracy," where the test of the popular will is the success of state policy, not merely whether there are elections now and then.  Western concepts of multiparty contests are merely a façade behind which special interests conspire against the public interest.

U.S. Broadcaster Under Scrutiny for Disseminating Autocratic Propaganda.  Federal officials are scrutinizing the U.S. government's Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty news service, established to promote democratic values abroad, after complaints it has distributed foreign propaganda favorable to authoritarian regimes in Central Asia, according to the network, its employees and an internal State Department memo.  State Department officials sent a six-page memo to the leaders of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty earlier this year criticizing a pro-government stance by the service's Tajikistan network and urging them to intervene following repeated complaints by U.S. diplomats, network employees and academics specializing in Central Asia.  They said the network was providing programming favorable to Tajikistan's president, Emomali Rahmon, his government and family.

What is the deal with those FEMA/DHS AM backup transmitters?  In the light of current government trends where the FBI engages in a one year sting operation on a Amish farmer selling raw milk, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms is running guns to Mexican drug cartels, the US Department of Education employing its own SWAT team to serve warrants for delinquent student loans (they say no but offer no other explanation), Gibson Guitars being repeatedly raided for improperly labeled wood products, and so forth, makes me wonder what the government is doing.

FCC Votes To Eliminate Main Studio Rule.  By a 3-2 vote, the Federal Communications Commission today [10/24/2017] scrapped the nearly eight-decade-old rule requiring radio and television stations to operate and staff a main studio in their community of license in order to originate live programming.  The move also does away with the requirement that the main studio have full-time management and staff present during normal business hours.

In 2017, Norway will be first country to shut down FM radio.  Norway will shut down FM radio in the country beginning in 2017, Radio.no reports.  The Norwegian Ministry of Culture finalized a shift date this week, making it the first country to do away with FM radio entirely. The country plans to transition to Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) as a national standard.  A statement released this week by the Ministry of Culture confirms a switch-off date that was proposed by the Norwegian government back in 2011.  The government has concluded that the country is capable of meeting all the requirements necessary for a smooth transition to digital.

"Progressive" talk radio station shuts down, feels betrayed.  From the website of WVKO 1580AM in Columbus, "Ohio's Progressive Talk":  ["]It is with great sadness I must inform WVKO's listeners that once again, Progressive Talk will be silenced on the Columbus airwaves.  Our one-year lease on the station is about to expire, and at this time there is no way that we can continue operating the station.["]

The Editor says...
Left-wing talk radio has been tried many times and has never been commercially successful, because (1) there aren't that many leftists, partly because they feel free to abort their offspring, (2) if you've heard one episode of a left-wing rant program, you've heard them all, (3) advertisers won't support tax-and-spend anticapitalists who are trying to put those advertisers out of business, or under the control of the government, and (4) the message from left-wing talk radio is tiresome and disheartening:  There is never anything uplifting in the extemporaneous rant of a baby-killing totalitarian marxist.  A lot of late-night right-wing radio is tiresome, too, but at least it's punctuated with pride in our country, love of freedom, and faith in God.

Talk radio's not dead, just moonbats' radio.  Less than 20 percent of the radio audience ever listens to AM radio — and it's a mighty old audience, too.  They don't call it "Ancient Modulation" for nothing.

Electric Car Manufacturers Remove AM Radios Claiming Safety Concerns.  Some electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are scrapping the AM radio from their cars, claiming safety concerns.  Although conservative talk radio dominates AM radio ratings, it is also considered a critical safety tool, as it is one of the primary ways that federal, state, and local officials communicate with the public during natural disasters and other emergencies.  Automakers such as Ford and Tesla have ditched the AM radio from their newer EV models, arguing that the motors on EVs interfere with AM frequencies, creating buzzing and signal fading, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.  But former emergency officials are warning that scrapping the AM radio would mean EV drivers could miss important safety alerts.

The Editor says...
I worked in broadcasting for 48 years, so I have some opinions.  [#1] This is exactly the kind of radio interference that the FCC was created to prevent.  [#2] If you can't listen to AM radio in your car because of all the interference, what does that do to the car behind you?  I'll have to keep my car radio tuned to an empty AM frequency, e.g., 530 kHz, to see if I can hear electric cars as they pass by.  [#3] If the AM radio is a safety issue, why isn't the FM radio a hazard, too?  Perhaps the primary "danger" of AM radio is conservative talk shows, and the EV manufacturers have found a way to censor it.  [#4] Hardly anybody listens to AM radio any more; not like they used to.  AM radio was king, until about 1974, when FM radios started appearing in cars.  Then FM really took off.  The death of AM radio was delayed for about 20 years by Rush Limbaugh, but now it's on the way out again.  In the event of a storm, anybody who's hungry for government "information" and "protection" will turn on their TV — which will probably already be on, because they never turn it off — and in the case of the storm chasers and weather nuts, they'll either listen to ham radio channels or tune to the robotic announcer of NOAA Weather Radio for an endless series of alert tones and dire warnings.  In the middle of a thunderstorm, you won't hear much on AM radio.

Mark Levin Criticizes Automakers Dropping AM Radio.  Major automakers are removing AM radios from their new models in a move that heralds the end of an era, sparking outrage from listeners, station owners, and politicians alike who lament the potential loss of an iconic part of American culture and criticize the move as "tone deaf."  Mark Levin commented on the change, saying: "The automobile is essential to liberty.  It's freedom.  So the control of the automobile is about the control of your freedom.  They finally figured out how to attack conservative talk radio."  The Washington Post reports that in a move that marks the end of an era, major automakers are disconnecting AM radios from their new models.  The rapid pace of technological advancement and shifting consumer preferences has caused AM radio, once the soundtrack of America's road trips, and more recently the home of conservative radio giants like Rush Limbaugh, to become obsolete.

The Editor says...
Perhaps a law similar to the All-Channel Receiver Act could be passed, requiring radio manufacturers to include AM tuners.  The AM stations are licensed by the government, and the frequencies on which they operate have been set aside for broadcasting, so the extinction of AM receivers would mean that all AM radio stations would be a waste of electricity.  (More so than they are already.)  Yes, AM radio is unfashionable, and it doesn't work as well as it once did, due to overcrowded frequencies and a higher noise floor than we had 50 years ago, but if we're going to get rid of AM radio, let's vote on it first.  (Also, if we must have ethanol in gasoline, let's vote on it first.  If we must have low-flow toilets, let's vote on it first.  If we must do away with coal and natural gas, let's vote on it first.)

Ford Reverses Plan to Drop AM Radios in 2024 Cars, Trucks, and SUVs: Will Restore on Two Previous Models.  Ford announced Tuesday it has reversed plans to cut AM radios from most of its new vehicles starting in 2024, with car, truck and SUV owners all benefitting from the decision.  The manufacturer will also restore AM on two electric vehicles from 2023.  CEO Jim Farley used social media to confirm the company is walking back a decision to scrub the radio band after speaking with government policy leaders concerned about keeping emergency alerts that often are sounded on AM stations.  "We've decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles," Farley wrote on Twitter and LinkedIn.  "For any owners of Ford's EVs without AM broadcast capability, we'll offer a software update."  [Tweet]

The Editor says...
If enabling the AM radio is just a "software upgrade," that means the AM receiver was in there all along, but it was disabled.  In other words, Ford decided to prevent you from listening to the AM band, but they'll turn it on if you insist.  This "upgrade" should cost you nothing, if all they're doing is resetting a code in the radio.

Thieves somehow stole a 200-foot radio tower in Alabama.  No one's sure how the ambitious bandits made off with the heavy steel structure, WJLX station general manager Brett Elmore told WBRC.  "I have tried all weekend to figure it out, and I just can't," Elmore told the TV station.  "I have been in the radio business, around it all my life and then in it professionally for 26 years, and I can say I have never heard of anything like this," he added.  "I can say I've seen it all now."  Elmore learned of the theft on Friday when a landscaping crew went to the rural tower site to maintain the property, but there wasn't much left to maintain.

The Editor says...
[#1] There's something very suspicious about that story, aside from the fact that the little bit of copper on the tower isn't worth the effort of hauling away all the steel, too.  If your 200-foot tower disappears, and you first learn about it from the lawn mowing crew, you're not keeping an eye on your property, and you're not listening to your own signal.  Wouldn't the overnight announcer have noticed that all the transmitter telemetry was at zero?  Oh, you don't operate all night?  Your station doesn't have announcers?  Nobody monitors your transmitter?  If that's the case, maybe you shouldn't rebuild the tower, because nobody will miss it — not even you.  [#2] I blame the FCC, which has created a condition in which there are so many radio stations on the air (without any popular demand) that there are some stations with literally zero listeners.  (In some markets, two or more stations broadcast the same programming at the same time.  That's a waste of bandwidth.)  Right now about half of the radio stations in the U.S. could go off the air, and 90 percent of the population wouldn't notice, and the other 9.99 percent wouldn't be greatly concerned.  Minority ownership matters more to the FCC than whether the station's existence benefits anyone but the owners. 

Is AM radio obsolete?  Fast forward to the 21st Century and some car companies have made it a point to stop installing AM radios in new models.  Is AM radio destined to go the way of eight-tracks, cassettes, CD players, ashtrays, and cigarette lighters?  Not if Congress has its way.  Surprisingly, bipartisan support resonates on both sides of the aisle as lawmakers want to mandate that AM radio is available in all new vehicles.  Why is this a surprise?  Because AM radio has a longstanding lineup of conservative talk up and down the dial.  Abolish AM is the cry from the Electric Vehicle (EV) crusade.  Apparently, the static produced by an EV interferes with AM's reception.  This makes AM expendable, according to the EV honchos and the green energy lobby who desire everything electric — minus a border fence.

The Editor says...
[#1] If electric cars cause interference to AM radio, it is the responsibility of the entity causing the interference to eliminate that interference, not to eliminate the receivers.  [#2] Congress wants to save AM radio on behalf of several groups:  Many AM stations broadcast nothing but Catholic sermons all day.  Many AM stations broadcast in Arabic, Vietnamese, or Spanish all day, which should be illegal, in my opinion.  (You guys came to America for a better life, so learn some English and assimilate.)  Many AM stations broadcast "news/talk" programming, which was made popular by Rush Limbaugh.  Some AM stations "simulcast" the same programming on two frequencies in the same city.  For example, the 1450 and 1510 kHz stations in Beaumont, Texas.  That's a complete waste of electricity.  Many AM stations broadcast "country and western" music all day, which is apparently supposed to make you feel better about your poverty, drunkenness, infidelity, chronic depression, and stupidity.  How does anyone benefit from that?  AM radio is more of a "vast wasteland" than anything Newton Minow saw on television.  AM Stereo didn't help, expanding the AM band to 1700 didn't help, and minority ownership didn't help.  The crowding on the FM band is even worse.  This mess could be fixed, but a lot of people would be very upset, starting with the company that owns 850 stations, and another company that owns more than 400 stations, many of them with overlapping signals.

Left Wing Billionaire George Soros Buying Hundreds of American Radio Stations Ahead of 2024 Election.  George Soros, the left's favorite billionaire, is buying up American radio stations by the hundreds, ahead of the 2024 election.  This is obviously part of a strategy, because that's what Soros does.  He hatches backdoor plans to exert influence over American politics.  A few years back, he pumped a ton of cash into district attorney races across the country and we all know how that worked out.  This is his new plan.  Could there be more to this than gaining media influence?

Nothing to See Here, Folks — Leftist Billionaire Soros to Take Control of America's 2nd-Largest Radio Chain.  [U]ltra-left-wing billionaire George Soros is preparing to take a massive stake in the nation's second-largest chain of broadcast radio stations, the currently bankrupt "Audacy."  Even though the move hasn't attracted a ton of attention, it's anything but funny, as the financier is likely to exert his influence over the network to promote his anti-American socialist viewpoint.  He's pumped in over $400 million to the effort: [...] It's not the only recent media move by the mogul — his fund was part of a group of lenders that bought Vice Media out of bankruptcy last year, and he's also taken a minority stake in podcast company Crooked Media.  It remains to be seen what Soros intends to do with his new toys, but like a James Bond villain, we can be sure he'll play with them.  It's entirely likely that he will use all the powers at his disposal to try to install Joe Biden into another disastrous presidential term that will further weaken America and slide us ever closer to some sort of perverted socialism.

Soros Prepares Takeover Of 200 Radio Stations Ahead Of US Presidential Election.  America's second-largest radio broadcaster could soon emerge from bankruptcy with a new shareholder:  Soros Fund Management.  According to Bloomberg, the investment firm founded by the Trump-hating billionaire George Soros has acquired $400 million of Audacy's highest-ranking debt. [...] Audacy owns 235 radio stations in 48 media markets across the US and is the second-largest broadcaster behind iHeartMedia.

The Editor says...
Nobody will force you to listen to the radio.  You don't necessarily have to listen to music wherever you go.  Nobody will demand that you listen to the George Soros stations.  (I haven't listened to the radio in my car since late November.  After a while, you won't miss it.)

All Polish state radio stations [are] officially in liquidation.  All 17 Polish state-owned radio stations have officially been placed in the court registry as undergoing liquidation, said the culture ministry.  The development marks the end of part of the struggle of the new government to regain control over state media companies, which has been embroiled in controversy over the legality of the means used by the ruling coalition. [...] Initially, some registry courts refused to recognise the changes to the companies' management and the moves to put them into liquidation, decisions that the ministry has appealed against.  Yesterday, the ministry announced, however, that the regional court in Lublin had ruled in favour of the ministry's complaint and decided to officially put the last regional company of Polskie Radio into liquidation.

George Soros is expanding his radio empire.  Try as they might, throughout the years, liberals have not been able to succeed with their version of "liberal talk radio."  Currently, 91 percent of talk radio is conservative.  In 2004, Air America premiered as the liberal alternative, but it only lasted until 2010.  But that might be changing.  Leftist (and some say communist) billionaire George Soros has filed the paperwork to purchase a large chunk of Audacy Radio's $415 million senior debt, which will make Soros Fund Management the largest stakeholder.  Audacy is the nation's second-largest radio company, with 220 stations nationwide.  The number one U.S. radio broadcaster is iHeartMedia with more than 860 live broadcast stations in 160 markets across the United States.  In 2022, Soros took over 18 Spanish-language radio stations when his company purchased Latino Media Network.