Ford Dropping AM Radio From SYNC

[jniffen]

I noticed this from the 'Maverick Truck Club' forum

 

Ford dropping AM radio from SYNC

 

If this is correct, how much more can Ford strip from the vehicles they sell?

 

I do listen to AM during the week, and no, I don't have a smart phone to stream.

 

Also there are times when an area of the country was hit by a major storm and the only way folks could get information was to listed to an AM many miles away.

 

 

[markfnc]

i listen to am in morning for live traffic.   What can it cost to have am radio? id still like a cd option.  my 2017 escape has a cd player. 

[paintguy]

Can receive AM signal in places where there is no cell service. Hope the interfaces have improved for connecting to the phone. Enjoy listening to downloaded music from the phone on my 2018 Mustang, but where do you put the phone? 

[rperez817]

Thanks for sharing this info jniffen. That's a smart move on Ford's part. Broadcast AM radio is effectively dead in the U.S. A few years ago Robert Lee, a radio industry expert in Texas, wrote a commentary about the FCC's failed efforts to "save" AM radio.

 

The other day I was reading an opinion piece about AM Radio, and the best the writer could do, to no purposeful end, was bring up the failed efforts and lost opportunities on the part of the FCC to help save AM radio. Everything the author wished for is the past — left undone — and, now, too late.

Now, as the FCC undertakes its important Quadrennial Review, I would again implore Chairman Pai and the Commissioners to walk away from the past, lay AM radio to rest, and move all the AM stations to an all-digital, expanded FM band in the television channels’ 5 and 6 spectrum. And, in addition, implement a “date certain” plan, sooner rather than later, to move the incumbent FM band, at 88 to 108 MHz, to all-digital. 

Please, Chairman Pai and Commissioners, let us once and for all face up to the reality of AM radio’s future…that there is none. Move AM stations into the 21st century and onto all-digital FM channels, and stop all the insane and hopeless non-revitalization nonsense. AM radio is dead.

[akirby]

I bet most am stations are simulcast on a FM HD secondary channel.  Each FM channel can carry 2 or 3 audio streams.

[fordmantpw]

AM has a much greater transmission distance range.  Think folks out West where there aren't any towns for many miles.  AM radio may be the only reception they can receive out in the middle of nowhere.

[silvrsvt]

1 hour ago, fordmantpw said:

AM has a much greater transmission distance range.  Think folks out West where there aren't any towns for many miles.  AM radio may be the only reception they can receive out in the middle of nowhere.

Um Satellite Radio?! Yeah it’s a subscription, but has far better distance then AM. 
 

Also if you have a cellular connection, most audio can be handled even by LTE connections. 
 

Plus I would expect 5G to cover most of the country within the next five years or less. 

[fordmantpw]

23 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

Um Satellite Radio?! Yeah it’s a subscription, but has far better distance then AM. 
 

Also if you have a cellular connection, most audio can be handled even by LTE connections. 
 

Plus I would expect 5G to cover most of the country within the next five years or less. 

 

You're completely missing the point.  Farmers don't want to pay for another subscription that they probably don't understand anyway.  Not to mention, you don't get local info on XM.  There are lots of portions of this country that don't have cell coverage either.

[Flying68]

There are whole swaths of the country where there is limited cell coverage and no FM radio stations.  AM radio travels a lot further than FM and is sometimes possible to get reception a couple hundred miles away.  There can't be that much cost savings in dumping AM radio.  I can already see GM putting out commercials saying they can still get AM in their truck but you can't in your Ford, so you missed out on the latest crop report, market report, or weather alert and now your livelihood is in danger because you couldn't get reception on the only local radio station.

[fuzzymoomoo]

1 hour ago, fordmantpw said:

 

You're completely missing the point.  Farmers don't want to pay for another subscription that they probably don't understand anyway.  Not to mention, you don't get local info on XM.  There are lots of portions of this country that don't have cell coverage either.

Farmers aren’t buying Mavericks either…

[ice-capades]

AM radio was deemed outdated, obsolete and uncompetitive years ago with the growth of FM stereo broadcasts. AM radio introduced stereo broadcasts but more importantly, examined its programming and listener demographics and realized that its core audience was those interested primarily in news and talk radio programming. As a result, AM radio reinvented itself by realizing its core demographic strength and changed its marketing and programming to maximize its appeal with news and syndicated programming. In essence, AM radio took its liability, compared to FM, and turned it into a marketable and profitable programming asset attractive to advertisers. 

 

My dealership was one of the 10 largest Thunderbird dealerships in the U.S. and was a major automotive radio advertiser in the Northeast (CT, NY, NJ). Our radio advertising contracts were exclusive to personality radio hosted "Morning Drive" programs with conditions including exclusive "Live Read" provisions by the show hosts for an automotive sponsor between the hours of 7:00am - 9:00am. One of those contracts was with WNBC and then WFAN for the Don Imus program out of New York City. The 660AM signal that the "Imus in the Morning" show broadcast on at WNBC and WFAN reached all the way north of Springfield, MA that FM radio couldn't compete with. Don Imus dis our spots live, promoting "Birdland". 

 

AM radio still serves an important market, not just based on programming, but based on its geographic reach. It's premature to write off the AM spectrum. 

 

  

[blazerdude20]

2 hours ago, akirby said:

I bet most am stations are simulcast on a FM HD secondary channel.  Each FM channel can carry 2 or 3 audio streams.

I travel a lot for work and the local sports station I listen to has an AM band and is on an HD radio simulcast. The HD radio range is less than 40 miles before it cuts out entirely. The AM band is good for close to 150 miles. 

[fuzzymoomoo]

1 hour ago, blazerdude20 said:

I travel a lot for work and the local sports station I listen to has an AM band and is on an HD radio simulcast. The HD radio range is less than 40 miles before it cuts out entirely. The AM band is good for close to 150 miles. 

I was listening to NASCAR on the am station in Charlotte when I worked nights 

[HotRunrGuy]

1 hour ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Farmers aren’t buying Mavericks either…

 

With all the weed stores I see in your part of the world, I wouldn't be so sure about that,,,

 

HRG

[fordmantpw]

1 hour ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

Farmers aren’t buying Mavericks either…

 

Ha, didn't realize this was specific to Mavericks and not all vehicles.  But, the point still stands for non-farmers.  My dad's Maverick should be here this week...you can bet he'd be upset if it came without AM radio!

Edited October 12, 2022 by fordmantpw

[HotRunrGuy]

23 minutes ago, fordmantpw said:

 

Ha, didn't realize this was specific to Mavericks and not all vehicles.

 

Actually, the article that was referenced in the MTC forum talked more about Lightning and full EV's, and said nothing about Maverick.

 

With some guys waiting over a year for their vehicles, there's a lot of anxiety over there,,,,

 

HRG

[j2sys]

23 minutes ago, HotRunrGuy said:

With some guys waiting over a year for their vehicles, there's a lot of anxiety over there,,,,

 

Isn't that the truth...  It's almost as if they're looking for things to needlessly get worked up over.

[sullynd]

Yeah, it’s an odd change for the Lightning. AM is a challenge for EVs. A lot of manufacturers dropped it for this reason.  My Mach-E did ok, but depending on the station could pick up interference from the motors. My Lightning has outstanding AM reception. I’d say better than my ICE vehicles, with absolutely no interference.  With Ford explanation as to why they hold onto the whip antenna (rural) it seems odd to lose AM on the Lightning as rural customers are more likely to miss it/not be able to supplement with streaming. 

Edited October 12, 2022 by sullynd

[mackinaw]

2 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said:

I was listening to NASCAR on the am station in Charlotte when I worked nights 

 

Back in the 80's, when I lived in the U.P., I listened to Red Wing games on WJR-AM at night.  

[IA Diver]

When I was a kid on the farm in Iowa, our tractors had AM radios. At night WBAP--Dallas, and WNAX--Yankton would crank the power and I could listen to them.....Good times.

[SoonerLS]

5 hours ago, sullynd said:

With Ford explanation as to why they hold onto the whip antenna (rural) it seems odd to lose AM on the Lightning as rural customers are more likely to miss it/not be able to supplement with streaming. 

I'd think rural customers, especially the AM listeners, would currently be the among the least likely to buy Lightnings. That's where range issues could be most critical.

[silvrsvt]

7 hours ago, j2sys said:

 

Isn't that the truth...  It's almost as if they're looking for things to needlessly get worked up over.

 

Welcome to the Bronco and Super Duty boards too

[j2sys]

28 minutes ago, silvrsvt said:

 

Welcome to the Bronco and Super Duty boards too

 

True, true.  It's hardly limited to only one group.

[T-dubz]

The future ford vehicle will have 47 12” screens completely surrounding the driver, with 362 cameras covering every square inch of both the interior and exterior. All other options and standard equipment will be removed to cut costs. 

[jniffen]

Part of me is thinking, it starts with the Maverick or EV/Hybrid models, it there is not huge push back, they'll do it for the rest of the line.

 

The one proposal was to move the AM to digital, to another portion of the spectrum.  I wonder if the three totally AM-HD station in the US can be received in a EV vehicle or not.