AM Radio’s Day Has Passed

The Federal Communications Commission concluded in 2009 that AM radio was dying: Listeners under 35 were “almost non-existent.” Responding to lagging consumer interest, vehicle manufacturers began leaving AM tuners out of cars—especially in electric vehicles, where the tuners are subject to electromagnetic interference. So why, weeks ago, did the House Commerce Committee overwhelmingly pass a measure requiring manufacturers to include AM radios in all new vehicles? The Center for Automotive Research estimates that this bill would cost EV makers alone almost $4 billion by 2030. This would be an unfunded mandate paid for by consumers who don’t want and won’t use the devices. We don’t need an AM radio bailout. We need a system to phase out licenses whose day has passed.

[Levin is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a policy analyst at New Street Research. Downes is author of “Unleashing the Killer App: Digital Strategies for Market Dominance.]