AM/FM Radio to Disappear from New Cars

amptramp

Well-Known Member
This news item from audioasylum should be alarming. I do most of my radio listening in the car and without the listenership in cars, the broadcast industry would go into a decline:

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/messages/64/644274.html

It will be interesting to see if this actually happens or is being floated as an idea to see if there is consumer backlash. Free radio would be replaced by internet streaming for a monthly fee. Car manufacturers seem to be looking for an On Star type of business model with a monthly fee to be paid through dealerships.

So far, there seem to be a few opposing considerations:

1. Emergency broadcasts of the type used in Hurricaine Sandy or the more common tornado watches would not occur.

2. Local airport information which is currently on radio would have to be streamed.

3. Some areas don't get any internet.

4. Advertisers for local businesses would have to compete with advertising from all over the world.

5. Broadcasters have remained silent, but may mount a vigourous campaign if this threat appears to be real.

GM's research shows young people being uninterested in radio. So what is GM going to do about Buick? Older people do like radio and I have never seen anyone young driving a Buick. Its demographic may be even older than Cadillac.

Radios may return to being an option on a car, but this does not promote the business model they are looking for. Aftermarket radios are abundant, but if this change forces a lot of stations to close, the resulting implosion in stations and demand would be enough to kill radio. All radio. The home listener or the audiophile cannot support the industry without car radio to boost advertising rates. All our magnificent tuners may go the way of the 42 - 50 MHz FM band or television Channel 1.
 
You'll be able to buy your own tuner if you really want one. Its the market speaking. People don't listen to the radio anymore, and in my opinion, the reason is simple: radio shot itself in the foot. Or in the head, actually. Unimaginative playlists that repeat over and over aimed at the lowest common denominator and pleasing very few.

Try mog...then hook a portable device to it to stream in your car. I don't know why anybody listens to FM in 2013. At least, 99% of it.
 
This is not entirely the fault of Clear channel but they have a lot to do with it.For many of us the local Clear channel Classic Rock station with 1/3 commercials and 2/3 uninspired programming is just so unappealing that we don't listen any more. Talk radio is not a real option. Unless you have a rare independent station or a college station with good range there is no linger much reason to have a radio. I miss that. I will listen to NPR but NPR does not generate revenue for anyone so they have no influence. I have been living on a unit that plays USB drives for some times. I keep 30g+ in the car/rv and run random.
The industry won't get rid of the radio. People still want a CD player and adding a radio costs another forty five cents these days. Turnpikes and airports still want you to tune to their station when flashing lights are on for self promotion and nonsense drivel on a loop.
Generally when a corporation of Govt. agency says they are going to stop something that is important to some folks they are making an idle threat to influence a third party into cooperating with something that they want. Something like the auto industry hoping to get the Fed to pay for the car ratios for public information purposes.
It will pass with no changes.
 
Manufacturers have figured it out...us sheeple have not. Technology is slowly making us do what it wants us to do. The days of free TV, radio, etc are slowly coming to an end. Heck, it will not be long before they stop erecting street signs as it will be expected for everyone to own a GPS. All of the conveniences that the new technologies bring come with a cost. I'll end my .2 worth at that.
 
AM radio - yes. I forgot when the last time I listened anything there, FM - no way, there are many stations owned by big media companies. They won't let them do it. Of cause HD mode and Sirius will be there too, along with Bluetooth for streaming from smartphone. FM/HD receiver is the cheapest part of car entertainment/navigation system.
 
Manufacturers have figured it out...us sheeple have not. Technology is slowly making us do what it wants us to do. The days of free TV, radio, etc are slowly coming to an end. Heck, it will not be long before they stop erecting street signs as it will be expected for everyone to own a GPS. All of the conveniences that the new technologies bring come with a cost. I'll end my .2 worth at that.

Correct.......I can almost hear my Brother 40 ish years ago after our next door neighboor was the first on the street to get cable........"You watch he said, pretty soon we will be paying to see sports". "Your Crazy Dave, I said.. no way. People are not going to pay to see Baseball"..........Hum....
 
Radio here is just horrible. It's mostly talkety talk radio with a smattering of uninspired music from the same limited play list. Most people wouldn't miss it. I'm more concerned about the demise of CD players as that's still my preferred format, probably for reasons of age than anything technical.
 
I never listen to AM...but listen to NPR on FM every morning, seven days a week. I'd have to find some way of keeping that if radio went away. As far as other media. Sirius is just as bad as Clear Channel about having limited play lists and the sound quality is awful.
In three years, I've yet to use the CD player even once. But I use the USB port with flash media all the time.
 
Damn. I spend the majority of time I'm in the car listening to NPR and the other public subscription stations on the FM band in the Greater Philadelphia area :(
 
Halt. Stop. Hold everything.

That post was taken from Radio, INC, a trade publication (they email it to me everyday) and was referring to a speaker from their recent "Conclave 2013".

The next day - or maybe it was even later the same day - the author, Eric Rhoads, sent out a bulletin (I've deleted it or would copy here) basically saying "I've heard from GM & they don't know what the hell that guy was talking about, they are not taking AM/FM out of cars any time in the known future".

More internet hubbub.
 
The FM/AM tuner is probably one of the cheaper components in a vehicle to manufacture. So, this would more or less be a means to residual income. You would be forced to pay monthly for radio programming you used to receive for free. Don't expect much better programming quality, either. You can expect the same "corporate models" for programming to find their way to your "digital streams." I'm already not thrilled by Sirius/XM. Not to mention how horrible the sound quality is....

If I ever buy a car that requires me to pay monthly for satellite or 3/4G digital streaming, I'm getting out my jigsaw and hacking a DIN size hole in my dashboard!
 
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Halt. Stop. Hold everything.

That post was taken from Radio, INC, a trade publication (they email it to me everyday) and was referring to a speaker from their recent "Conclave 2013".

The next day - or maybe it was even later the same day - the author, Eric Rhoads, sent out a bulletin (I've deleted it or would copy here) basically saying "I've heard from GM & they don't know what the hell that guy was talking about, they are not taking AM/FM out of cars any time in the known future".

More internet hubbub.

That's good. I think more people would care than one might think...
 
Oh well, guess I will keep the Centon usb mp3 w/ fm radio rather than dumping it. Better yet, I will just keep the '95 Volvo.

Sorry, I have no interest in touch screen, internet driven iPod connected systems in my car. Just more things to go wrong or become obsolete and not supported.

I suspect that the automakers will have a bit of an issue as they will need government approval. The gov't mandated w/ only s few exemptions all fm radios had to also have am as it relied on am for public service announcements and civil defense. Makers probably will need to somehow work w/ gov't to supplement or replace the gov't mandates as to am radio.
 
.... Its the market speaking. People don't listen to the radio anymore, and in my opinion, the reason is simple: radio shot itself in the foot. Or in the head, actually. Unimaginative playlists that repeat over and over aimed at the lowest common denominator and pleasing very few.

"The market speaking?" Utter nonsense, and here's why:

This is not entirely the fault of Clear channel but they have a lot to do with it.For many of us the local Clear channel Classic Rock station with 1/3 commercials and 2/3 uninspired programming is just so unappealing that we don't listen any more. Talk radio is not a real option. Unless you have a rare independent station or a college station with good range there is no linger much reason to have a radio. I miss that. I will listen to NPR but NPR does not generate revenue for anyone so they have no influence.

Manufacturers have figured it out...us sheeple have not. Technology is slowly making us do what it wants us to do. The days of free TV, radio, etc are slowly coming to an end. Heck, it will not be long before they stop erecting street signs as it will be expected for everyone to own a GPS. All of the conveniences that the new technologies bring come with a cost. I'll end my .2 worth at that.

Correct.......I can almost hear my Brother 40 ish years ago after our next door neighboor was the first on the street to get cable........"You watch he said, pretty soon we will be paying to see sports". "Your Crazy Dave, I said.. no way. People are not going to pay to see Baseball"..........Hum....

When the "market speaks" these days it's simply echoing back what the monopolistic corporate puppet masters have manipulated the market to say. Why did radio shoot itself in the head? Because Clear Channel, et.al. bought up ALL the stations and drove everything to the least common denominator/lowest cost/highest margin format. Just because something can be done for the highest margin doesn't mean that's what the true market wants. Gone are the days when large corporations listened to what their customers wanted and responded in kind. Nowadays the large corporations have learned how to tell us all what we want so that it fits what THEY want to sell in order to maximize profits. Maybe it's always been that way with the large corporations, but at least there used to be small competitors to offer an alternative. In most markets now there are no small competitors. I haven't listened to commercial radio in years. All college and NPR. WFUV, WBGO, WKCR, WFMU, WFDU, WCWP... that's about it. And the Yankees on WCBS-AM. I won't have cable TV in the house so I can only listen to games on the radio.
 
"The market speaking?" Utter nonsense, and here's why:







When the "market speaks" these days it's simply echoing back what the monopolistic corporate puppet masters have manipulated the market to say. Why did radio shoot itself in the head? Because Clear Channel, et.al. bought up ALL the stations and drove everything to the least common denominator/lowest cost/highest margin format. Just because something can be done for the highest margin doesn't mean that's what the true market wants. Gone are the days when large corporations listened to what their customers wanted and responded in kind. Nowadays the large corporations have learned how to tell us all what we want so that it fits what THEY want to sell in order to maximize profits. Maybe it's always been that way with the large corporations, but at least there used to be small competitors to offer an alternative. In most markets now there are no small competitors. I haven't listened to commercial radio in years. All college and NPR. WFUV, WBGO, WKCR, WFMU, WFDU, WCWP... that's about it. And the Yankees on WCBS-AM. I won't have cable TV in the house so I can only listen to games on the radio.

You just repeated back what I said. The "market" is the consumer. And the consumer is saying to hell with Clearchannel, etc, and finding other ways to find music. Mog, Spotify, iTunes, etc. The "market speaking" is companies listening (well, the story was bogus but its only a matter of time) to what consumer trends are. And you can not deny that the trend is away from radio, because I work in advertising and have access to the data. People...aren't listening.
 
OK, I get what you are saying... and I guess what I'm struggling with is this: I think the consumer, or the "market" still WANTS what radio used to offer, but it's no longer available because the present alternatives are likely more profitable. I, for one, want access to live broadcasts that relate to me on a local level... not only for musical content that I like, but I also want to know that the DJ is sitting in a studio within 20 miles of me, talking in real time. I want to know that the radio station can be immediately responsive to things of concern to their local audience. None of the alternatives you mention can do that. I suppose (but don't know for sure) that all of the alternatives you mention are much more profitable for their owners.

I feel that we consumers have been robbed of the good choices we used to have. The "market" is now forced into a false choice that eliminates what might be the real preference. At least for me, the real preference is gone and I must represent some percentage of the overall market.
 
Even when I am streamimg on my puter I listen to radio....WZZO out of Allentown, PA because it reminds me of my younger days back home, and Magic 104.7 out of New Iberia, LA cause I like the older R&B format. I listen to that in my truck every day too. Would hate to lose it!
 
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