Clay Travis: AM Radio ‘Critical To Everyday Americans.’

Will the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, which broadcasters have urged a vote on this year, be passed by Congress? It will if Clay Travis, co-host of Premiere Networks-syndicated “The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show,” has anything to say about it.

“AM radio is not just for political news and talk radio. It is critical to everyday Americans across all political, ethnic and economic demographics,” Travis says in an opinion piece for The Hill. 

“Farmers and their trade associations have told Congress they depend on AM radio for weather reports, crop prices and emergency alerts. Civil rights organizations have said that their members rely on AM to get their breaking news. Churches use AM radio to carry services and expand their ministries. Most importantly, emergency management professionals have said AM is a critical public safety device as it stays operational during extreme weather events when every other communications device is prone to outages.”

In the op-ed, Travis points to automakers as the culprits. “They want to replace [AM] with closed ‘infotainment systems’ — systems that track you, collect your data, and generate revenue for the manufacturer,” he writes. “It’s not about helping their customers. It’s about making more money off them.”

Citing data from Wired, Travis notes that via infotainment systems, “modern cars can generate up to 25 gigabytes of data per hour... collecting information about your location, your habits, your contacts, even your driving behavior. And most Americans don’t even know it’s happening. If consumers understand the risks and have other choices, fine. But if automakers get their way, there soon might not be any other choice.”

As a result, Travis says, “Automakers, which have been subsidized by taxpayers to the tune of billions, are quietly removing AM radio altogether. If left unchecked, you may very well be forced onto platforms that monitor you. That’s bad for free speech, it’s bad for privacy, and it’s bad for public safety.”

All the above, Travis says, makes the passing of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act even more crucial. “This legislation would require automakers to keep AM radio in new cars. The bill is supported by huge majorities in both the House and Senate. It passed the relevant House and Senate committees months ago, and Vice President JD Vance, a former co-sponsor, remains a strong supporter of the legislation. The only thing left is for congressional leadership to bring it to the floor.”