Selected Podcast
AM Radio is Becoming Static
Will you be able to listen to broadcast radio in your next car? Listen to find out.
Featuring:
Mark Mathis
Mark Mathis is Chief Creative and Strategy Officer. Transcription:
Mark Mathis: Hey, this is the One Minute Marketer. I'm Mark Mathis, Creative Director at Amperage Marketing and Fundraising. And you know, I was just thinking about something. I've not thought much about AM radio since I signed on with SiriusXM. There just is no programming for me on am radio anymore, yet a story about am radio stopped me in my tracks. The headline blurted "Automakers are pulling the plug on AM radio."
I know am radio listenership is dramatically down, but removing the actual terrestrial radio from the cars would be the death knell to the medium. So I did a little research and the news on AM and even FM in cars is just not good. For starters, electric motors generate radio frequency interference or RFI in the same wavelengths as amplitude modulation or AM signals. So the electromagnetic noise from the electric motors would cause you to hear nothing but static. It would be like listening to an AM station in a constant lightning storm. You're just not going to hear much.
So more bad news, BMW and Tesla are already eliminating AM radios. GM will follow, touting an in-car 4G alternative for streaming music. The Detroit News reports that it may not be long before AM/FM radios will disappear altogether from new cars. Manufacturers are focusing on smartphone integration for music streaming.
Locally, the ratings tell a struggling game. There are six AM stations in the Cedar Rapids radio market. That's the 204th market in the country. According to Nielsen, the most listened to AM radio station has just a 4.5 rating for the spring 2020. Next is a 1.7 rating and then followed by hash points and half points.
The future seems to be arriving faster and faster for the Internet of things and integrating into every aspect of our lives. And it is hard for most established media, even in the fastest cars, to keep up.
That is the One Minute Marketer for this week. My special thanks to audio engineer, Bill Klaproth. If you like this marketing thinking, reach out to us at amperagemarketing.com and we'll move your needle.
Mark Mathis: Hey, this is the One Minute Marketer. I'm Mark Mathis, Creative Director at Amperage Marketing and Fundraising. And you know, I was just thinking about something. I've not thought much about AM radio since I signed on with SiriusXM. There just is no programming for me on am radio anymore, yet a story about am radio stopped me in my tracks. The headline blurted "Automakers are pulling the plug on AM radio."
I know am radio listenership is dramatically down, but removing the actual terrestrial radio from the cars would be the death knell to the medium. So I did a little research and the news on AM and even FM in cars is just not good. For starters, electric motors generate radio frequency interference or RFI in the same wavelengths as amplitude modulation or AM signals. So the electromagnetic noise from the electric motors would cause you to hear nothing but static. It would be like listening to an AM station in a constant lightning storm. You're just not going to hear much.
So more bad news, BMW and Tesla are already eliminating AM radios. GM will follow, touting an in-car 4G alternative for streaming music. The Detroit News reports that it may not be long before AM/FM radios will disappear altogether from new cars. Manufacturers are focusing on smartphone integration for music streaming.
Locally, the ratings tell a struggling game. There are six AM stations in the Cedar Rapids radio market. That's the 204th market in the country. According to Nielsen, the most listened to AM radio station has just a 4.5 rating for the spring 2020. Next is a 1.7 rating and then followed by hash points and half points.
The future seems to be arriving faster and faster for the Internet of things and integrating into every aspect of our lives. And it is hard for most established media, even in the fastest cars, to keep up.
That is the One Minute Marketer for this week. My special thanks to audio engineer, Bill Klaproth. If you like this marketing thinking, reach out to us at amperagemarketing.com and we'll move your needle.