SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Now that the “AM Radio in Every Vehicle Act” has cleared the U.S. House, it’s officially in the hands of the Senate. Dennis Lyle, CEO of the Illinois Broadcasters Association, was on the WTAX Morning Newswatch to discuss how important the factors of having AM radio in your vehicle, plus how important the legislation is.

Alot of vehicle manufacturers want the AM radio gone. Why is that?

“A lot of the electronic vehicle manufacturers, their technicians feel that there’s interference, technically wise, there’s interference when trying to listen to AM in a vehicle that’s sitting on top of a huge battery, but our engineers have proven that otherwise,” said Lyle.

How important is AM radio?

“There’s a lot of rural areas where AM radio is it. In the terms of being able to hear AM radio because of the geography restrictions with the FM and the technology and that and how that AM and FM signals are delivered,” said Lyle. “
AM is the most reliable source of frequency that you can appreciate in time of need. WTAX is one of the PEP – primary entry point — stations that serves a critical role with Emergency Alert System, and that it feeds other stations in the area and feed other stations in kind of a daisy chain that allows a message to be delivered.”

 The radio stations of Capitol Media Group are members of the Illinois Broadcasters Association, as are many radio and television stations in the state.