Broadcasters Push for AM Bill While CTA Ads Blast Radio Mandate
NAB and backers of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (HR-3413/S-1669) are continuing to push for the bill’s passage, possibly by attaching it to a future omnibus appropriations package. The bill's supporters argue attaching the AM radio legislation to an omnibus appropriations package could help it overcome headwinds that have prevented its legislative approval since early 2023 (see 2401050065). CTA and other opponents of the measure argue it should go through a normal legislative process.
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CTA launched an ad campaign last week chiding Congress for focusing on outdated AM technology rather than the federal budget. One of the CTA ads compares mandating AM radio in cars to requiring “fax machines in every space” station. “We have not had the opportunity for public comment and a public hearing" on HR-3413/S-1669, CTA Policy Affairs Manager India Herdman told us. The Senate Commerce Committee advanced S-1669 in July (see 2307270063).
CTA is “very focused that this does not get into an appropriations bill,” Herdman said. The matter belongs with other legislation related to the Transportation Department, critics of HR-3413/S-1669 told us. A normal legislative process would include a public hearing to discuss the merits of an AM mandate and an opportunity for automakers to have input, Herdman said.
The House voted 339-85 Wednesday to approve the Consolidated Appropriations Act FY24 appropriations minibus package (H. Res. 1061), which includes funding for DOT, absent HR-3413/S-1669 language. The package also includes money for NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies, the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service and DOJ’s Antitrust Division (see 2403060062).
Senate Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told us he’s dubious that HR-3413/S-1669 could make it into a second appropriations minibus package because it wouldn’t be germane to the FCC, FTC or any of the agencies that proposal might fund. He conceded HR-3413/S-1669 could become part of a broader omnibus bill that also includes other unrelated legislation. Schatz and most other Senate Commerce Committee members in July backed advancing the bill to the floor (see 2307270063).
“We’re continuing to press vigorously” for the AM radio language “to move on any vehicle that is moving, but we don’t have a specific update at this point” about its chances of making it into an omnibus measure, said S-1669 lead GOP sponsor and Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas. He sought to pass S-1669 by unanimous consent in December (see 2312060073), but this failed due to an objection from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
“I haven’t heard anything new about” a potential vehicle for passing HR-3413/S-1669, but “I certainly hope we can find” one to “get this done,” said Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M. “I believe it’s overwhelmingly supported” given Paul was the only senator who formally objected to moving the measure by UC. “That says a lot to me” about its chances of passage in the Senate, Lujan said.
House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, told us he’s “heard about” attempts to attach HR-3413/S-1669 to an appropriations omnibus or another vehicle, but “I’m not sure that’s going to happen because there haven’t been a lot of vehicles around here that are passing.” He isn’t committing to holding further hearings on the measure or marking it up until he can confer more with other House Commerce leaders. Latta noted House Communications held a general hearing on AM radio in June (see 2306060088).
CTA’s ad campaign is timed to coincide with NAB’s fly-in of its members to lobby lawmakers, CTA said in a release. The group called NAB a “special-interest group that has spent over $3 million dollars trying to force Americans to use their outdated technology.” More than 550 broadcasters are participating in the fly-in. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Lujan addressed participants Tuesday at NAB’s State Leadership Conference, which was closed to the press. The two “emphasized the unique power of local broadcast radio in times of emergency, when other communications mediums often fail,” an NAB spokesperson told us. Johnson, a former talk radio broadcaster, is an HR-3413 co-sponsor.
Former President Donald Trump in a recent speech to the National Religious Broadcasters also pledged to defend AM radio (see 2402230021), but his endorsement could “fracture the argument” and lead to some Democratic lawmakers turning against the AM radio bill, Herdman said.
While NAB is pressing in Congress for an AM mandate, it has argued against such measures in past FCC filings, Herdman said. “There is no rational basis for viewing improvements in technology as an excuse for regulation; indeed, doing so would be a perverse disincentive for broadcaster adoption of new technologies and would not serve the public interest,” NAB said in a March 2023 filing on the quadrennial review. NAB has similarly pointed out contradicting quotes from CTA, namely a 2018 Vox article in which CTA CEO Gary Shapiro argued for radio as a necessary backup in emergencies. “As Gary Shapiro has made clear, radio is a vital lifeline in times of emergency,” an NAB spokesperson said.
The bill’s passage would bring heavy costs for car companies, Herdman said. It would require analog AM, and mean some EV makers would have to redesign their vehicles to allow for an AM tuner and interference shielding, she said. “If consumers want AM radio as a standard feature, automakers will supply it because it is in their interest,” Herdman said.