The US House of Representatives has taken a step designed to keeping AM radio in your vehicle.
Recently, the House passed the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. HR 979 passed the House overwhelmingly by a voice vote last week.
As you can imagine, this has favor of broadcasters everywhere. Gregg Hibbeler, the president and executive director of Kansas Association of Broadcasters, says this action would thwart plans to replace AM radio with other services.
The main concern for broadcasters, Hibbeler says, is safety and reach during emergency situations. Severe weather is an obvious example, but Hibbeler used an area incident as another case in point.
Many stations, KVOE included, put their AM signal on an FM frequency. But Hibbeler says “public accessibility” is the big issue here.
The US Senate has companion legislation to consider. Its Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved the Senate version in April 2025.
