From War of the Worlds to President Franklin Roosevelt's fireside chats, amplitude modulated radio—AM radio—has been an important part of America's storied history. But is AM getting tuned out? Lisa Fletcher takes a look.
The following is a transcript of a report from "Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson."
Watch the video by clicking the link at the end of the page.
Chris Plante (WMAL radio broadcast): Let's go to one more telephone call. Professor Mike, you're on the Chris Plante Show.
Listener: I just want to call about Kamala. I'm sort of an expert on personality disorders.
Chris Plante is a syndicated conservative talk radio host based in Washington, DC.
Chris Plante (WMAL radio broadcast): What does it boil down to?
Listener: The symptom of perseveration. When you keep repeating the same phrase. It shows a lack of judgment.
Chris Plante (WMAL radio broadcast): Yeah, I think that's 100 percent true.
His roots in radio go back nearly as far as the technology itself.
Chris Plante: My grandfather came home from World War I and started in radio in 1922. My family, myself, my brother, my stepfather, my mother, my grandfather, have all been in radio.
Plante is heard daily on hundreds of radio stations across America. Talk radio is the most popular format on AM radio, with roughly 1 in 5 adults in the US listening every month. That's almost 47 million Americans.
Chris Plante (WMAL radio broadcast): We still got to get to the Democrat, billionaire sponsor, Mark Cuban. He went on The View and he said stupid stuff.
Mark Cuban (audio excerpt from The View): Donald Trump, you never see him around strong, intelligent women, ever.
Chris Plante (WMAL radio broadcast): Yeah, right. Have you met his wife? Because his wife is a pretty amazing woman.
Yet, despite its popularity, AM radio is disappearing. Not from the airwaves, but from some electric vehicles including Tesla, BMW, and Volvo. Manufacturers say it is no longer installed because electric engines cause a reception problem and distort the sound.
AM radios were first introduced in cars in the 1930s and have been a standard feature ever since.
Today, more than 4,000 stations broadcast on the AM band, offering a diverse range of formats from bluegrass in Virginia to farm-related programming in Nebraska. Qualities that Plante believes make it unique and deeply connected to local communities.
Lisa Fletcher: For people who aren't listening to AM radio in their car, or listening to it on an actual radio at home, what are people missing? What's on AM radio these days?
Chris Plante: Spanish language and African-American news channels and sports stations and Christian stations, all have a following and you can only find them on AM radio. The most interactive form of media for years and years has been talk radio, because listeners can call in and get on the air with the host and express their opinions. You can't call in to ABC News and get on the air with David Muir, but you can call in to a national radio show and get on the air and have your voice heard.
Listener: Hi, Chris.
Chris Plante (WMAL radio broadcast): Hey, Bill.
Listener: My wife and I were at the Tucker Carlson Show last night featuring 45 and 47. Excellent. RFK spoke beforehand too. And I never clapped so hard for a Democrat in my life.
Chris Plante (WMAL radio broadcast): Wow. Yeah, RFK Jr. makes sense on a bunch of different topics.
While there is no question the technology challenges exist, some believe that the move to eliminate AM radio from vehicles is an attempt to restrict the reach of influential conservative radio shows.
Chris Plante: To the extent that there's a technical challenge, we've figured out more difficult problems than this in the past. And I think there are people who have it in for conservative talk radio for political reasons that would like to see AM radio go away.
It's an issue that has caught the attention of Congress, with lawmakers from both parties introducing bipartisan bills that would require all new passenger vehicles to come with devices that can access AM stations as standard equipment.
Chris Plante: I'm not big on mandating things and having government mandates on anything, but if it takes an act of Congress to keep AM radio, there are a great many millions of people out in the middle of the country and honestly in big cities too, that are going to be grateful.
Chris Plante (WMAL radio broadcast): Hey, this weekend we got this daylight saving time adjustment. We gain an hour, right? Kind of, but then it gets dark an hour earlier, which is another thing altogether. I blame Democrats for that too.
For Plante, like his listeners, AM radio is personal, connecting, and a vibrant part of the American dialogue.
Chris Plante: There are American traditions and norms that have been built up over the course of a century, and AM radio is very much a part of that.
For Full Measure, I'm Lisa Fletcher in Washington, D.C.
Watch video here.
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