Congress poised to mandate AM radio in new cars, securing local discourse

Congress is preparing to vote this week on legislation that would require every new car sold in America to include an AM radio antenna. The AM Radio For Every Vehicle Act arrives with unusual bipartisan momentum—more than 300 co-sponsors in the House and 60 in the Senate—and the timing coincides with WFMD in Frederick, Maryland, marking nine decades of continuous broadcasting on the AM band.

The bill's primary justification is practical and urgent. Emergency alert systems depend on AM radio to reach drivers with critical information during crises, and the technology serves as a failsafe against cyberattacks or digital infrastructure failures. When conventional communication networks go down, the old infrastructure still works. That alone would justify the mandate. But the legislation carries a secondary purpose that its supporters argue is equally vital: preserving a form of local journalism and civic conversation that has largely vanished from American media.

Across the country, small-market AM stations operate on a predictable rhythm. Morning hours feature local news and weather. Mid-day brings nationally syndicated programming. Then comes the afternoon drive-time slot—the backbone of local radio—where call-in shows invite listeners to discuss community issues, local politics, and regional concerns. In Frederick, that show is called "Mid-Maryland Live," hosted by Tim May, a conservative commentator with a Maryland accent, and Frank Mitchell, a liberal transplant from New York City with a practiced radio voice. For three hours most days, they and their callers—many of them regulars who have been phoning in for years—conduct what the bill's supporters describe as genuinely balanced discourse, rarely descending into the shouting matches that dominate cable news or social media.

This form of local coverage has become scarce. Hundreds of small-town newspapers have closed over the past two decades, leaving communities without consistent accountability journalism or a reliable way to learn what their neighbors think matters. AM radio has absorbed much of that role. Local officials appear regularly on these stations. High school sports get broadcast live, giving young athletes the experience of their efforts being recognized by their community. Listeners discuss issues with encyclopedic knowledge of local law and regulation—data centers, zoning changes, school budgets—in conversations that tend toward nuance rather than outrage.

The economics of AM radio differ fundamentally from publicly funded alternatives. National Public Radio operates with government support and, according to the bill's advocates, has drifted consistently leftward in its editorial sensibility. Local AM stations, by contrast, depend on advertising revenue from local businesses. That financial model creates an incentive to appeal across political lines. A station that alienates half its potential audience loses half its advertising base. The market enforces a kind of balance that no editorial policy could mandate.

Skeptics might object to government intervention on principle—the idea that Congress should not be in the business of propping up any industry, even indirectly. But the mandate is modest compared to direct subsidy. It simply requires that new vehicles include hardware already standard in most cars. The burden on manufacturers is minimal. The benefit to local stations could be substantial, ensuring that drivers continue to have access to AM signals and the communities that depend on them continue to have a platform.

The persistence of radio itself may surprise those who have written it off as obsolete. Estimates suggest that 80 to 90 percent of Americans listen to AM or FM radio at least once a week. More than 80 percent of car owners turn on the radio when they start their engines. Radio is not disappearing. What is disappearing is the assumption that every car will have the equipment to receive it. As manufacturers have stripped AM antennas from vehicles to reduce costs and weight, access to these stations has quietly eroded. The legislation reverses that trend.

That a Congress notorious for gridlock appears ready to pass this bill testifies to something: the enduring importance of local radio to American life, and the recognition across party lines that some forms of community infrastructure deserve protection. For listeners in Frederick and thousands of other towns, it means Tim and Frank will likely have an audience for years to come.