December 11, 2024 • 41 mins
A bill to save AM radio being installed in new cars seems to be stalled, and must be passed before this Legislation session ends. What does AM radio mean to you? Dan Rea discussed!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's nice eyes.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Undoing Boston News Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
All right, it is thank you very much, Day Hawkins,
and it is now eleven o eight on a very
rainy night. By the way, just a little parenthetical comment
as I I'd like to just mention that do you
remember a few months ago we had no rain September, October, November,
(00:29):
I mean very little, And in the last two or
three days it has been nothing but rain. And today
I'm listening during the show to the rain outside and
it's coming down. I'm sure wherever you are as well,
so maya. My observation is that eventually it kind of
all evens out. I'll be interested to see if we
(00:49):
end up with a shortage of whatever our normal rain
total is. The meteorologists will tell us that. But we
had obviously the fires that brush fires that broke out
in October and into November. I don't think we have
any more brush fires in a while after this reign
of the last few days. So thank God literally for
the rain, There's no doubt about that. Anyway, I want
(01:13):
to talk to you about a subject that is near
and dear to me, and it should be near and
dear to you, And I also want to point out
that at least one of our senators in Massachusetts, Ed Markey,
has been actually in a leadership position on this. There's
been an effort by some car makers to I'll try
to simplify it as much as I can, to eliminate
(01:35):
AM radios in their cars. Now. I don't know why.
Difficult for me to understand why. But on my car,
which is I drive a very old car, it's about
it's over ten years and it's a Volvo. I used
(01:55):
to like Volvos because I felt they were safe cars.
I do not have the same feeling. My next card
will not be a Volvo, at least I don't think
it will be. I'm looking at a couple of other makes.
I want safety, and I want the bells and whistles
that come with new cars. Uh. And I'm happy with
(02:17):
the numbers of Vovos that I've had over the years.
But I think that Volvo has recently sold and I
think that Volvo is is not the same product that
it was the last time I bought I bought a Vovo.
But putting that aside, there's an effort by some car
manufacturers to eliminate AM radios in their cars. Now they're
(02:42):
bringing more electronics into cars. You have now these big
screen that you can watch if you if you're doing
ways or Google Maps or something like that, which is great. Uh.
And of course FM is a popular band. No one
said just think to eliminate FM. You can get some
(03:03):
of these services that are out there which gives you
satellite services on your car radio that costs money that
is not free. But AM radio serves an important purpose,
an important purpose to people in cars, are also an
(03:24):
important purpose to people at home. For those of you
who do not realize it. AM radio has a much
stronger signal than FM radio. FM radio is high quality
sound and someone argue it's a better sound than AM radio.
(03:45):
I don't believe that. But what is indisputable is that
the F stations may have a thirty four maybe even
a fifty mile reach, but not much more than that.
(04:06):
We get outside of Boston and try to pick up
radio stations, you know, Boston FM radio stations, and they're
tough to get. Now a lot of them will have
their affiliate down the Cape, or maybe their affiliate in
New Hampshire or whatever, but it's a different station. You're
not listening when you listen to WBZ, you're listening to
the same station, whether you're in New England or whether
(04:27):
you're further down the coast in North Carolina, Virginia, out
west West Virginia. We've had callers tonight from those states. Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida.
We've had again. I think everybody understands it. And AM radio,
which of course was the original form of radio FM,
(04:51):
didn't come along until sometime in the late sixties early seventies.
AM has been around for over one hundred years. WBZ
celebrated the one hundredth birthday in nineteen twenty one or
other twenty twenty one. They won in the air in
nineteen twenty one and all rooms to the contrary. I
was not working at the station at the time, but
(05:13):
it's a great history of great tradition and part of
the service that AM radio has always provided over the
years is a big signal that reaches a lot of people,
and in times of crisis, whether it's a blizzard here
in New England or a hurricane, we can reach a
lot of people simultaneously, or god forbid, if there was
(05:37):
ever some sort of a military attack on the United States,
it's where people would go for their information. So at
this point, there is an effort in Congress to basically
say to car manufacturers, you need to have AM radio
(06:01):
in all of your automobiles as an option. Uh, and
leading the charge in the Senate, one of the leaders,
if not the leader, is Senator Marqute from Massachusetts, and
we have to I have to certainly thank Ed Markey
for his leadership here. I've tried to reach him in
the last few days through a couple of his staff people,
(06:22):
and I was hoping even having on having him on tonight,
but that didn't work out. And so, Uh, this current Congress,
it's a lame it's a lame duck session because many
of these members of Congress are either retiring or they've
been turned out of office. And right now across the
(06:46):
board there are more and more House members joining as
co sponsors. And Inside Radio, which is one of the
sort of the bibles of this industry, points out that
right now they have more than enough that they had
two hundred and seventy one supporters in the House to
basically keep AM radio. The title of the bill is
(07:10):
the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, so you have
well above the number of members of the House and
in the US Senate. In the Senate version, and I'm
quoting now from the inside Radio says the bill, as
(07:31):
well as its Senate counterpart, have both passed out of
committee in both chambers and are awaiting final votes. House
Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana is among the co sponsors,
but he has yet to bring the bill up for
a vote. The Senate version passed out of committee in
July of twenty twenty three, that's over a year ago,
(07:52):
but Majority Leader Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic of
New York has yet to bring the bill to the
floor for vote, despite sixty three Senators co sponsoring it,
Schumer is not among the co sponsors of the legislation. Now,
that could either mean the Schumer's opposed to it or
(08:13):
Schumer is agnostic towards it. Not likely, But if they
do not get this passed and signed by President Biden,
they go back to square one in the next congress. Now,
this is pretty simple. It's pretty simple. There are a
(08:37):
lot of people, a lot of people who rely on
AM radio, not only here in New England, but around
the country. The biggest, most powerful radio stations in the
country in terms of coverage, strength of signal or AM
radio stations, and in a time of cri you want
(09:01):
those stations available not only in people's homes, people's places
of work, but also in their cars. So I'm going
to open up the lines and give everyone an opportunity
to tell me what they think about this piece of legislation.
I know some will say, well, we shouldn't be dictating
(09:22):
to automobiles what they should or should not have in
the cars. Well, got to tell you if they were
going to eliminate windshields in cars, I think that the
government has an interest in saying nope, nope, they're going
to eliminate backup mirrors. A lot of the bells and
whistles that now are in cars. If they're going to
(09:43):
eliminate side mirrors, look, it's a product I'm talking about
the automobile that virtually every family in America has one.
And in case of any sort of a crisis, you
want everybody to be able to have as many forms
(10:03):
of communication available to them as possible. That's my position,
I hope it's yours. Feel free to join the conversation.
One line at six one, seven, two, ten thirty, A
couple of lines at six one seven nine three one
ten thirty. And again if Senator Markey is listening, and
he has listened to this show on occasion, he's actually
called in a couple of times as a caller. I
(10:26):
thank Congress Senator Marque. Senator Markey, they want to do
he was a congressman for a long time. One thanks
Senator Market for his leadership on this issue. And let's
get it done, because if they wait until this Congress adjourns,
they are back at square one with the next Congress.
Slight these lines up. If you like AM radio and
(10:48):
you want to have it in your car, particularly a
time of crisis, whether a natural disaster or a man
made disaster, you want to urge your member of Congress
to support this bill, the Am Radio for every Vehicle Act.
There's a house built. There's a house version in the
Senate version. I can get into some of that if
you want, but I prefer to hear from you back
(11:09):
on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
By the way, Robers sent me an article Ford you
know an American automobile manufacturer had considered getting AM radios
out of twenty twenty four models models that are obviously
on sale now this article, which came out in May
of twenty twenty three, Ford essentially said no, We've decided
(11:40):
to keep AM radios. They will continue offering AM radios,
citing the need for emergency alerts. Exactly what I just
have been talking about all twenty twenty four Ford and
Lincoln models will Lincoln models will have AM radio, according
to a tweet bye Ford CEO Jim Farley. While Ford
planned to remove AM radios from the it's new vehicles,
(12:01):
Farley said that plan was mixed due to the importance
of AM's emergency alert system. Well good for Ford. Since
AM radio was already discontinued on the F one Lightning
and Mustang mack E Macmarck E model. Ford plans to
restore it fire and over the year software update. So
(12:23):
good for Ford, good for Ford. The demise of AM
radio was something other automakers such as Audi, BMW, Vovo
and Tesler have already started to do, specifically on their
electric vehicles. However, this led to backlash from lawmakers and
many others who claim AM radio is vital because it's accessible, free,
and important for public safety. Just last week, a bipartisan
(12:47):
group of lawmakers this is talking about May of twenty
twenty three, introduced important legislation to mandate that automakers offer
AM radio in new cars. For a Reuter's report, Well, again,
they're making progress, but we need to make sure we
get this ball across the line because AM radios in
(13:08):
cars very very important. Let's go to the phones. We're
going to start off with someone who's very concerned about
civil defense issues. It's my friend Patrick down in the
District of Columbia. Patrick, how are you tonight?
Speaker 1 (13:24):
You better believe this subject caught my ear fast.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Buddy.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Well, I appreciate that. I know how committed you are
and how concerned you are. And look, you got all
of this stuff. Now. I'm sure you've been following this.
The drones that are flying over New Jersey and Pennsylvania
at night and the government says they have no idea
what those are. Have you heard this story?
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I haven't been following that one because I've been going
door to door for people who need to organize themselves
in communities where they would need to evacuate in the
low lying watershed areas of the Chesapeake Bay. You know,
to make sure that once again you know who your
(14:05):
neighbors are and what they need, and you know people
who are handicapped or you know children with special needs.
You got to help those families and understand what an
evacuation is and why you do it, and why am
I even here telling you to do it? Because we
are not civil defense minded, and we used to be
civil defense minded and we were very efficient. That is
(14:27):
one of the things that has done. We were a
very efficient country, very organized, and there is something within
preparedness that puts it all together.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
No, I agree with you. I mean, you have to
think about what if? What if? And I know that
there's a lot of companies out there trying to sell
you twenty years of food. I look at that. I
don't know what you think about those. I look at
that as a bit of a scam. But the idea,
why would would any of these vehicle want to take
(15:00):
AM radio out of their cars in the first place.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
I mean, you know, I have serious I have serious
XM radio in my car because when I'm out and
about it, I'd like to be able to listen to
something other.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Than just music and local news. You know, I can.
I can listen to local news on WBZ. Obviously I
can listen to some music, but I want to have
some other options. And one of the options that I
always want to have is AM radio.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
The fact that I can get in the car and
I can hear what's going on in Boston, or hear
what's going on in Pittsburgh, and hear what's going on
maybe from Saint Louis if the Saint Louis Blues are playing,
and or WBT coach.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Now coach now by Jim Montgomery, the Bruins coach that
was fired and hired by the Blues, with I think
a matter of forty eight hours, not maybe even less.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
And you know, and then there's the radio station in Charlotte.
It's it's it's important. If we were discussing things about
local newspapers providing local news, well, am radio stations provide
local news, and that is very important as let's bring
(16:16):
that aspect in here. So released newspapers, local newspapers and
local stories can can flourish and can develop, and it's
the skills. It's our free society, it's our freedom of speech, which.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
Makes us us you know.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
So I don't think we should take away AM radio
and be stupid and take it out of cars because
we have so many cars as it could be stuck
in traffic somewhere and they have to have a constant
signal that's going to provide them with the information that
they would need. That's just plain and simple. You know,
you can have a lifesaving situation being a lifesaving situation
(16:54):
like on the Pennsylvania Turnpike or anywhere in the country
and you need that constant source. That's it in a nutshell, Harriet.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Good agree, you more well, said my friend. Thank you Patrick.
As always, let's keep in touch. Okay, all right, you
got it, sir, got you soon. Have a great night.
Next up Pat and Charles Patrick and Charlestown Patrick. Next
on night Side.
Speaker 7 (17:14):
Oh Ve Dan o, Hey, listen. The one thing that's
come to mind for me on this is why in
the world would Republicans ever allow for this to go forward?
And I have to tip my hat to add Markey
on this because usually I'm on opposite sides of most
issues with that guy, but I have to tip my
hat on him for this one because I mean, if
(17:36):
you think, especially over the last twenty or thirty years,
before the advancement of at least Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter,
we had pretty much dominance one sided view and all
media disciplines, from newspapers, television, internet platforms banning people. The
(17:56):
one exception to all of that was AM radio. You
would get a diverse set of opinions and a diverse
set of ideas, And it was almost like there's a strangleholder,
a bottleback on on all major sources of American media,
but for AM radio and proud voices like you and
and back when the great Rush Limbaugh was alive, keeping
(18:18):
debate alive, UH and and to prevent a complete monopoly
of one one set of views. I just feel as
though a diverse set of media is absolutely critical for democracy.
And so it just seems to me that those who
want to support Republican radio report AM radio would be
(18:40):
the Republicans. And how I mean, do you agree with that? Dan?
Is there any any I understand?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
I understand that generally generally UH many talk radio programs
tend to UH in recent time criticized Democrats. But the
beauty of AM radio is that there are sometimes broadcasters
like the late Rush Limbaugh, who are on fifty five
(19:10):
hundred stations, but that's few and far between. In most communities,
whether it's a Boston or a Boise, Idaho, or Baltimore,
Maryland or Montana, you have local voices. I'm a local voice.
I'm a Boston guy, and I have my takes. And
sometimes you and I agree, sometimes we disagree, but you're right.
(19:30):
You're right. Conservative talk radio helped maintain some balance during
the Obama administration when President Obama was a very popular,
you know president. It certainly came of age during the
Bill Clinton years and maybe that was really when talk
(19:52):
radio took off during the Bill Clinton years. But I
got to tell you there is bipartisan supporting this, including
Senator Ed Markey. I don't think anyone has worked harder
on this than Ed Markey. And I'll tell you why.
I think Marky's worked hard on it. Ed Markey has
told me many times the story as a kid. You know,
he was one couple of summers he were in this
(20:14):
ice cream truck and there's a capitalist made a lot
of money, you know, particularly at the time around the
time of the Red Sox researchence in sixty seven and
sixty eight, and he tells the story with glee, and
he talks about meeting Dave Maynard from Channel from w
b Z and how WBZ has been his favorite radio station.
And I know that that Senator Markey listens to sometimes
(20:37):
the night side in the DC are because he's called
in as a as a as a guest, or as a caller.
Actually a couple of times he on this issue. You
would think he would say, well, I'm not going to
do anything for AM radio because AM radio has always
been critical of my party. But it's the op it's
(21:00):
the opposite, And I think that great. The Republicans need
to drive this. They have the majority in the House
and they have enough support in the Senate to get
this done before before this this this session of Congress.
As Patrick. Yeah.
Speaker 8 (21:18):
And it's so it's important for my liberal friends too,
because I mean, you could see the pendulum swing back
and maybe maybe uh poignant important liberal voices might find
AM radio as a place.
Speaker 7 (21:29):
Where they can get their message out there too. I
just think it's important for democracy and I cannot imagine
a time where I can't listen to Dan Ray sit
in my car having a Kelly's Roast beef. I just
can't imagine that, Dan, or how many people can't imagine
listening to the Red Sox on the radio on AM
radio during during a New England summer night. And it's
(21:50):
it's part of it's part of America. I just I
just can't imagine. I just can't imagine we are.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
And I would like to see my phone lines light
up on this top. I don't think there's going to
be anyone who's going to call and say get rid
of AM radio. But if people sit at home and
don't take the opportunity to call, that's not a good
thing because this could be taken away from us by
car manufacturers. Corporate America, believe it or not, would be
(22:19):
doing in AM radio. And you've got Ed Markey, who's
a Senator from Massachusetts, one of the more liberal senators,
fighting to save AM radio. So politics make strange bedfellows, right,
I guess that's the point of our conversation.
Speaker 7 (22:35):
Patrick, Good for Ed, Good for Ed, Good job, Ed.
Keep up the good work. We need more more more
independent thinking like this, and let's keep AM radio. We
need it.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Thanks day, sir, Patrick, Talk soon. Mary Christmas. If we
don't talk again, okay before the twenty fifth. Okay, we'll
keep rolling here. Just we have the linel lit up.
Thank you very much, everybody. I'm going to try to
move everybody a little bit more quickly. No one is
waiting any more than ten minutes or so. I got
to take a break. I'm going to get to Eileen
(23:07):
and Kevin down in South Carolina. I got Linda, I
got ron, I got Corin. We're going to get everybody
in coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Back to the phones without any further ado, going to
go to Eileen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ileen, welcome, How are
you hi?
Speaker 9 (23:33):
I'm fine, but I am for the life of me,
I can't understand why they want to remove AM radio.
Is there some electronic reason? Is it more difficult to
build in or something?
Speaker 3 (23:54):
I think it was. I think the concern initially was
with some of the EV vehicles. Now I don't know
if the argument was let's let's create a problem or
let's not address a problem. That there might have been
some interference, but that seems to have gone away. According
(24:14):
to this story that I'm looking at out of what's
called inside radio today. President Trump obviously said has not
said whether he supports the bill, and his growing relationship
with Tesla founder Elon Musk has some believing it could
sway his opinion. It would be a huge mistake if
(24:34):
President Trump. That's why I think it's important to get
it passed before this Congress gets out of session. Tesla
is among the companies that has removed AM from the
dashboards of its electric vehicles. Now again, I think that
they probably think that AM radio is a is a
(24:57):
form of radio that older people listen to more than
younger people. But I have plenty of younger callers in
this show as well, Eileen. So you know, we just
gotta look ed Markey, who has probably been criticized more
in AM radio than most because most AM radio tends
to be to the right of center. He's doing the
(25:17):
right thing here for free speech and he should be
commended for it.
Speaker 10 (25:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (25:23):
Well, I am I'm older, and I remember I was
in high school at Northfield, the Northfield School for Girls
in the nineteen fifties, and we used to WBZ fades
(25:44):
as you had as you drive west, and we didn't
get it at Northfield. But if we stayed up late
half midnight, which.
Speaker 10 (25:54):
We weren't supposed to do.
Speaker 9 (25:57):
We used to be really happy and we could get
wb Z radio on our radio.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
It has a lot to do with the setting of
the sun, time of year and all of that. But
the fact of the matter is if you're on the
wrong side of a mountain, that's going to be difficult.
We've heard in places Illinois. I've had calls from places
like Iowa, so I know that. And these are people
who are listening on the radio, not on the internet.
So thank you for your support, Eileen. I hope all
(26:24):
is going well with you. And if I don't chat
with you, Merry Christmas.
Speaker 9 (26:26):
Okay, thanks, thank you, all right, thanks Dan much.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
All right, good night. Let me keep rolling. You're going
to go to Kevin in South Carolina. Kevin, you're listening
on the radio the internet tonight.
Speaker 11 (26:38):
I listened on Alection because the static is too bad
to get you on the AM down here. But you know,
when we have an emergency like a hurricane or something
and your power goes out and your internet goes out,
all this great technology isn't worth a broken stick in
the street. Your am radio that gets you through that says, Okay,
the tides high, the rivers are backing up, these streets,
(27:00):
need to evacuate. This is your evacuation route, it's your lifeline.
Most of your serious stuff, it's all recorded. Those people
you think they're talking to you, but you know they
recorded that three days ago and they're somewhere else. They're
not telling you what's happening this very minute where you are.
And that's what AM radio does.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Exactly exactly, and I'm telling you of that right now.
The future of AM radio. AM radio will always exist,
but accessibility, you know, to it could be severely restricted.
Speaker 11 (27:35):
You know, your FM stations are mostly pre recorded. I
keep hearing Rob's voice saying, the portions of this program
could be pre recorded all over the country on stations
I listen to, so you know those are also recorded too.
But you want a live voice like yours. If you
said tonight, gee, the the Williams Tunnel is flooded, so
don't go that way, Okay, I know, yeah, yeah, I know,
(27:56):
But you know if you didn't say that, I'd drive
right into it and say, gee, how come it's flooded?
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Yeah? Absolutely absolutely, and again thank you. I don't know
how your members of Congress or how your senators are
are feeling on this down there, but every vote counts,
and get in touch with your your two senators from
South Carolina and your members of Congress.
Speaker 11 (28:18):
Okay, we'll call Nancy Mason the morning.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
All right, I would be surprised if she's not supporting it.
I would let us know, let us know. Thanks. Thanks.
Speaker 11 (28:29):
It was seventy here today, by the way.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Uh yeah, I was warm today. I got up to
about sixty year but it kept raining and it's still
raining right now. But hopefully we'll we're gonna get to
some normal. We've had some cold weather up here too,
so winter is here, whether we like it or remembers.
Speaker 11 (28:46):
You don't shovel rain here.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
This is very true.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
And I'm very merry Christmas.
Speaker 9 (28:53):
Do you?
Speaker 3 (28:53):
Thanks, Kevin, talk to you soon. Gotta go next to
Linda and Waymouth, Linda, next on, Nice, I go ahead, Linda.
Speaker 12 (28:59):
Hi, first off, Merry Christmas, and I do celebrate it.
And I've been looking for a replacement car. I'm looking
at SUVs and one of the first cars I hopped
in it had all this technology way up there, and
I said no before I really checked whether it had
(29:19):
AMFV because I had bumped it out. But I've been
listening through the days and you have that advertisement on
to call to text on AM five to eight eight six.
I wouldn't be surprised if I hear it later on tonight, okay,
And that's to let your representative know. And that's texts
(29:44):
AM five two eight eighty six. So Rob or whoever
was there can bring it up. But that's one thing
that I'm going to be looking for as I find
a replacement car. I'm not looking for electric, so it
probably have a good, better, better, yeah, better chance of
finding it. I do appreciate, even though I'm not driving
(30:07):
the expressway, hearing it for those people who are driving
it and what options they should have because of backups.
I appreciate the traffic.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
I'm sorry, Cliff, I said, I'm with you totally, and
thank you for your support on this, Linda. We really
appreciate it.
Speaker 12 (30:27):
So yeah, it's AM five two, got you in here
before the break?
Speaker 6 (30:31):
Go right ahead, Hi, Dan, I'll be quick earning Christmas
by the way, in case I don't talk with you,
but there were two. I mean, I use it that
I need it every day driving on the map Pike,
I have to tell you that there's an accent every day.
So it's very helpful for me to knowing on hospital
(30:54):
at work.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah, sometimes more than.
Speaker 6 (30:57):
One, sometime more than one exactly. And the other two
things that I just wanted to chime in with is,
you know, when we were driving to the War Trade Center,
that's what we had. Going down the mass Pike heading
to Fort Stewart Airbase, we had nothing else to give
(31:20):
us the news that was rapidly changing. And the same
way it was a Hurricane Katrina. That's what we had.
And those are two of the There were no political
sides one way or the other in those moments, and
(31:41):
so that's that's right.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
That's.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Test I get that that is very strong testimony. You
never think that it's something like nine to eleven can happen. Again.
I know that you're with one of those twenty four
hour groups where you got to have a bag ready
to go, and I thank you for that service, and
I thank you for the call tonight, because I think
people they forget we get, we get lazy, and as
they say, I have you offered uttered some criticisms over
(32:12):
the years of my friend Ed Markey. He stole my friend,
but on this issue he is, He's in the forefront
of it. And so we got to get the New
York the majority leader, New York Senator Chuck Schumer needs
to take this loose and get it out of committee,
get it on the floor, and get it over the
House and get as a president Biden desk. Simple as that.
Speaker 6 (32:34):
Okay, yeah, I will do what I can.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
I appreciate it, Thank you very much. All right, six one,
seven thirty. Those are the only lines they're open right now.
No sense of downing the other six one, seven, two, five, four,
ten thirty. Back on the night's side right after this.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
night Sight Studios, Don Bzy News Radio.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
All right, let's head to the to the rest of
the call. It's going to go to Corinn in Bridgewater. Krinn,
welcome back. How are you hi?
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Dan?
Speaker 6 (33:07):
Great?
Speaker 13 (33:07):
Thank you so much for taking my call. I think
I'm really yeah, I'm passionate about this, as your other
callers are in yourself as well. I'm definitely with the
caller from Cambridge. What's the point. Why why does someone
just want to make the name for themselves like I
understand cars grow with technology. We don't have a trax,
(33:28):
we don't have CDs, we don't have cassetts mostly in
cars anymore. I get that, But AM radio, what's to
gain by not having that you have? There's only a
lose here. Am I missing something?
Speaker 3 (33:41):
I don't think you and I don't. I don't think
you are. As it turns out, it seems to be
the group that has kind of headed this UH are
the UH, the the automobile faction manufacturers from out of
the country, And apparently this was really started by Audi
and Vovo and Tesla, and I.
Speaker 7 (34:04):
Don't know why.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
I think a lot of them are into electric vehicles,
and I think that they were concerned that the vehicles,
the electrical systems in the vehicles might conflict with AM radio.
I don't understand it, but that's what we're being told.
So the problem is it is stalled, and if it
doesn't get passed by time the new Congress is seated,
(34:26):
which I believe is January third, they got to go
back and start at square one. And that's not a
good sign. So at this time, the Republican Mike Johnson,
the Speaker of the House, and Chuck Schuman, the majority
leader in the US Senate, the Democrat. They got to
get their act together and get this passed by both
both houses and on the desk of President Biden, because
once January third passes, all the progress that it has
(34:50):
been made is reversed and they go back to the
starting line. That's the dirty little secret that I'm trying
to make people understand tonight. It has to be done now,
in the next two or three weeks, or it won't
get done.
Speaker 13 (35:03):
Here're talking to a head addresser, Dan, I hear you,
and I will be loud and proud about that, believe me,
all right. I also I'm concerned. I'm concerned about it.
Sounds like the majority wants to keep it. By the tone,
it sounds like, so yeah, okay. So I'm confident in
(35:23):
hearing that, and that makes me feel good because I'm
the next, uh next fella coming in. I thought he
was very pro military and understands communications very deep. But
I don't know if his new friend that doesn't want
it in his cars are getting more of an air
from him waiting to kind.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Of here, good luck with you and me trying to
get his ear, that's for sure. And again Ed Markey
has done a good job on this, and so I
want to commend him for it, as simple as that.
Hope to right.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
I'm proud you. Let that be known.
Speaker 13 (35:55):
That's it. Thank you, Dan for doing your job and
getting this message out. I'll keep it up. Okay, thank
you very.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
Much, great, appreciate it very much. Thank you. All right,
gotta get three in here, starting off with Jeff and Whitman. Jeff,
you're next time Nightsager right ahead.
Speaker 14 (36:09):
Hey Dan, I think the thing that's being lost is
a lot of people like, what does it matter? We
have these apps and stuff. The problem is you have
dead zones with SOUL coverage. Take a look at Hanson.
If I drive through Hanson, my calls drop and data
is even worse. And that's the big issue.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Now.
Speaker 14 (36:26):
On the other side, Marque's our rep. I know Steven
Lynch's office says he's for it. The question is how
do we escalate it higher? So in our area it
sounds like everybody's for it.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
First of all, I yeah, well, supposedly sixty three of
the US senators. That's almost two thirds. All you need
is a majority, and then two hundred and seventy one.
I think it's the latest figure in the House. That's
more than a majority. If you get two eighteen in
the House, you can pass anything you want. So there's
obviously bipartisan support, both democratic and liberal, both democratic and
(37:03):
conservative and the Republican, I should say, or a liberal
and conservative. Let's get it done, because if we don't
get it done by January third, everything that isn't done
goes away. It's not like they say, well, we'll continue
with and we'll get it done in late January. You
they'll look at this, it'll be not done for another
two years. So time is of the essence.
Speaker 6 (37:26):
All right, begg you, sir, begg you, Jeff, talk.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
To Merry Christmas. Let's go to satchi uh in, Saga
satchi you next time nights. I want to get you
and Jerry from New York and go ahead, Sachi hi Dan?
Speaker 7 (37:40):
What do you call?
Speaker 1 (37:41):
You know?
Speaker 10 (37:41):
I like the station. Then I listened to a three
hundred and sixty five days a year. But there's a
question mark is do you remember the CBE radios?
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Sure?
Speaker 10 (37:56):
Okay, so back in the day is CEB radio was
great and I had to light for licenses back in
the late eighties to get a frequency. I think it's
a question mark. Is technology is changing, they don't have
enough frequency to have it.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
I think I think they might be. I think they
might be calling it bandwidth, but I don't think that's
the issue. I think the issue is that some of
the electric vehicle manufacturers said they had a little bit
of a problem in basically allowing an electric vehicle to
accommodate an AM radio, and it can be done. Might
(38:33):
cost him a few bucks to put in some additional wiring,
but it's it's a convenience and that that is important.
That's that's all.
Speaker 10 (38:42):
And I just want to give you a really quick
one minute story. I used to travel to Toronto, Canada,
where you offer back in the day, is that I
used to have a radar detector because of the feeding
and for the police cause and when you pass the border,
(39:03):
you cannot have the radar detector because it's interfered with
the frequency in Toronto, Canada. So if you get caught,
there's a big fine, like a thousand or two thousand
dollars fine back in the days.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Yeah, well that's interesting, but that takes me away from
what I want to talk about Tonight's at you I
hope you understand that.
Speaker 10 (39:25):
I just want to bring it up, that's all. And
technology is changing. Probably they're going to come up with
something better.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
I don't think so, but I think I want to
straight Thanks. I have a great night Jerry and New York. Jerry,
You're next night said you're going to wrap the hour
for ust go right ahead.
Speaker 4 (39:45):
Thank you very much. Dan. I am very upset about
this issue. I do not understand. I don't understand the
reasoning for getting of AM radio in cars, and there.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
Was no good reasoning, Jerry. There is no good reasoning
for it. And the only reasoning that I have heard
from some of the electric car manufacturers is that AM
radio might cause some interference in electric vehicles. But all
they have to do is work on that and fix it. It's
as simple as that.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
I definitely understand that, and I love your show. I've
listened to it for years, and if it went if
it went away because of this issue, I probably it's
not as serious as being heartbroken, but it is because
(40:47):
you hit all of the important things and I just
am a devout listener. I live in Syracuse, my best
childhood friend lives in Medway. I graduated from Medway and
to do this year.
Speaker 3 (41:05):
But I am now running out of time. Do me
a favorite, call me earlier some night, and I'd love
to know more about your friendship and your relationship with Medfield.
Merry Christmas. Okay, thank you very much. We're done for
the night. Rob Brooks, thank you very much, Mariita, thank
you very much. Jerry. I didn't got you off there, Okay,
I promise we will tell you as always that end
(41:25):
the show. All dogs, all cats, all pets go to heaven.
That's from my pale Charlie Rays, who passed fourteen years
ago in February. That's all your pets are her past.
They loved you and you love them. I do believe
you'll see them again. Please stay dry. I have a
great Thursday. See you tomorrow, every one. I'm going to
talk with an expert on serial killers tomorrow
It's nice eyes.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Undoing Boston News Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
All right, it is thank you very much, Day Hawkins,
and it is now eleven o eight on a very
rainy night. By the way, just a little parenthetical comment
as I I'd like to just mention that do you
remember a few months ago we had no rain September, October, November,
(00:29):
I mean very little, And in the last two or
three days it has been nothing but rain. And today
I'm listening during the show to the rain outside and
it's coming down. I'm sure wherever you are as well,
so maya. My observation is that eventually it kind of
all evens out. I'll be interested to see if we
(00:49):
end up with a shortage of whatever our normal rain
total is. The meteorologists will tell us that. But we
had obviously the fires that brush fires that broke out
in October and into November. I don't think we have
any more brush fires in a while after this reign
of the last few days. So thank God literally for
the rain, There's no doubt about that. Anyway, I want
(01:13):
to talk to you about a subject that is near
and dear to me, and it should be near and
dear to you, And I also want to point out
that at least one of our senators in Massachusetts, Ed Markey,
has been actually in a leadership position on this. There's
been an effort by some car makers to I'll try
to simplify it as much as I can, to eliminate
(01:35):
AM radios in their cars. Now. I don't know why.
Difficult for me to understand why. But on my car,
which is I drive a very old car, it's about
it's over ten years and it's a Volvo. I used
(01:55):
to like Volvos because I felt they were safe cars.
I do not have the same feeling. My next card
will not be a Volvo, at least I don't think
it will be. I'm looking at a couple of other makes.
I want safety, and I want the bells and whistles
that come with new cars. Uh. And I'm happy with
(02:17):
the numbers of Vovos that I've had over the years.
But I think that Volvo has recently sold and I
think that Volvo is is not the same product that
it was the last time I bought I bought a Vovo.
But putting that aside, there's an effort by some car
manufacturers to eliminate AM radios in their cars. Now they're
(02:42):
bringing more electronics into cars. You have now these big
screen that you can watch if you if you're doing
ways or Google Maps or something like that, which is great. Uh.
And of course FM is a popular band. No one
said just think to eliminate FM. You can get some
(03:03):
of these services that are out there which gives you
satellite services on your car radio that costs money that
is not free. But AM radio serves an important purpose,
an important purpose to people in cars, are also an
(03:24):
important purpose to people at home. For those of you
who do not realize it. AM radio has a much
stronger signal than FM radio. FM radio is high quality
sound and someone argue it's a better sound than AM radio.
(03:45):
I don't believe that. But what is indisputable is that
the F stations may have a thirty four maybe even
a fifty mile reach, but not much more than that.
(04:06):
We get outside of Boston and try to pick up
radio stations, you know, Boston FM radio stations, and they're
tough to get. Now a lot of them will have
their affiliate down the Cape, or maybe their affiliate in
New Hampshire or whatever, but it's a different station. You're
not listening when you listen to WBZ, you're listening to
the same station, whether you're in New England or whether
(04:27):
you're further down the coast in North Carolina, Virginia, out
west West Virginia. We've had callers tonight from those states. Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida.
We've had again. I think everybody understands it. And AM radio,
which of course was the original form of radio FM,
(04:51):
didn't come along until sometime in the late sixties early seventies.
AM has been around for over one hundred years. WBZ
celebrated the one hundredth birthday in nineteen twenty one or
other twenty twenty one. They won in the air in
nineteen twenty one and all rooms to the contrary. I
was not working at the station at the time, but
(05:13):
it's a great history of great tradition and part of
the service that AM radio has always provided over the
years is a big signal that reaches a lot of people,
and in times of crisis, whether it's a blizzard here
in New England or a hurricane, we can reach a
lot of people simultaneously, or god forbid, if there was
(05:37):
ever some sort of a military attack on the United States,
it's where people would go for their information. So at
this point, there is an effort in Congress to basically
say to car manufacturers, you need to have AM radio
(06:01):
in all of your automobiles as an option. Uh, and
leading the charge in the Senate, one of the leaders,
if not the leader, is Senator Marqute from Massachusetts, and
we have to I have to certainly thank Ed Markey
for his leadership here. I've tried to reach him in
the last few days through a couple of his staff people,
(06:22):
and I was hoping even having on having him on tonight,
but that didn't work out. And so, Uh, this current Congress,
it's a lame it's a lame duck session because many
of these members of Congress are either retiring or they've
been turned out of office. And right now across the
(06:46):
board there are more and more House members joining as
co sponsors. And Inside Radio, which is one of the
sort of the bibles of this industry, points out that
right now they have more than enough that they had
two hundred and seventy one supporters in the House to
basically keep AM radio. The title of the bill is
(07:10):
the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, so you have
well above the number of members of the House and
in the US Senate. In the Senate version, and I'm
quoting now from the inside Radio says the bill, as
(07:31):
well as its Senate counterpart, have both passed out of
committee in both chambers and are awaiting final votes. House
Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana is among the co sponsors,
but he has yet to bring the bill up for
a vote. The Senate version passed out of committee in
July of twenty twenty three, that's over a year ago,
(07:52):
but Majority Leader Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democratic of
New York has yet to bring the bill to the
floor for vote, despite sixty three Senators co sponsoring it,
Schumer is not among the co sponsors of the legislation. Now,
that could either mean the Schumer's opposed to it or
(08:13):
Schumer is agnostic towards it. Not likely, But if they
do not get this passed and signed by President Biden,
they go back to square one in the next congress. Now,
this is pretty simple. It's pretty simple. There are a
(08:37):
lot of people, a lot of people who rely on
AM radio, not only here in New England, but around
the country. The biggest, most powerful radio stations in the
country in terms of coverage, strength of signal or AM
radio stations, and in a time of cri you want
(09:01):
those stations available not only in people's homes, people's places
of work, but also in their cars. So I'm going
to open up the lines and give everyone an opportunity
to tell me what they think about this piece of legislation.
I know some will say, well, we shouldn't be dictating
(09:22):
to automobiles what they should or should not have in
the cars. Well, got to tell you if they were
going to eliminate windshields in cars, I think that the
government has an interest in saying nope, nope, they're going
to eliminate backup mirrors. A lot of the bells and
whistles that now are in cars. If they're going to
(09:43):
eliminate side mirrors, look, it's a product I'm talking about
the automobile that virtually every family in America has one.
And in case of any sort of a crisis, you
want everybody to be able to have as many forms
(10:03):
of communication available to them as possible. That's my position,
I hope it's yours. Feel free to join the conversation.
One line at six one, seven, two, ten thirty, A
couple of lines at six one seven nine three one
ten thirty. And again if Senator Markey is listening, and
he has listened to this show on occasion, he's actually
called in a couple of times as a caller. I
(10:26):
thank Congress Senator Marque. Senator Markey, they want to do
he was a congressman for a long time. One thanks
Senator Market for his leadership on this issue. And let's
get it done, because if they wait until this Congress adjourns,
they are back at square one with the next Congress.
Slight these lines up. If you like AM radio and
(10:48):
you want to have it in your car, particularly a
time of crisis, whether a natural disaster or a man
made disaster, you want to urge your member of Congress
to support this bill, the Am Radio for every Vehicle Act.
There's a house built. There's a house version in the
Senate version. I can get into some of that if
you want, but I prefer to hear from you back
(11:09):
on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
By the way, Robers sent me an article Ford you
know an American automobile manufacturer had considered getting AM radios
out of twenty twenty four models models that are obviously
on sale now this article, which came out in May
of twenty twenty three, Ford essentially said no, We've decided
(11:40):
to keep AM radios. They will continue offering AM radios,
citing the need for emergency alerts. Exactly what I just
have been talking about all twenty twenty four Ford and
Lincoln models will Lincoln models will have AM radio, according
to a tweet bye Ford CEO Jim Farley. While Ford
planned to remove AM radios from the it's new vehicles,
(12:01):
Farley said that plan was mixed due to the importance
of AM's emergency alert system. Well good for Ford. Since
AM radio was already discontinued on the F one Lightning
and Mustang mack E Macmarck E model. Ford plans to
restore it fire and over the year software update. So
(12:23):
good for Ford, good for Ford. The demise of AM
radio was something other automakers such as Audi, BMW, Vovo
and Tesler have already started to do, specifically on their
electric vehicles. However, this led to backlash from lawmakers and
many others who claim AM radio is vital because it's accessible, free,
and important for public safety. Just last week, a bipartisan
(12:47):
group of lawmakers this is talking about May of twenty
twenty three, introduced important legislation to mandate that automakers offer
AM radio in new cars. For a Reuter's report, Well, again,
they're making progress, but we need to make sure we
get this ball across the line because AM radios in
(13:08):
cars very very important. Let's go to the phones. We're
going to start off with someone who's very concerned about
civil defense issues. It's my friend Patrick down in the
District of Columbia. Patrick, how are you tonight?
Speaker 1 (13:24):
You better believe this subject caught my ear fast.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Buddy.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Well, I appreciate that. I know how committed you are
and how concerned you are. And look, you got all
of this stuff. Now. I'm sure you've been following this.
The drones that are flying over New Jersey and Pennsylvania
at night and the government says they have no idea
what those are. Have you heard this story?
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I haven't been following that one because I've been going
door to door for people who need to organize themselves
in communities where they would need to evacuate in the
low lying watershed areas of the Chesapeake Bay. You know,
to make sure that once again you know who your
(14:05):
neighbors are and what they need, and you know people
who are handicapped or you know children with special needs.
You got to help those families and understand what an
evacuation is and why you do it, and why am
I even here telling you to do it? Because we
are not civil defense minded, and we used to be
civil defense minded and we were very efficient. That is
(14:27):
one of the things that has done. We were a
very efficient country, very organized, and there is something within
preparedness that puts it all together.
Speaker 3 (14:40):
No, I agree with you. I mean, you have to
think about what if? What if? And I know that
there's a lot of companies out there trying to sell
you twenty years of food. I look at that. I
don't know what you think about those. I look at
that as a bit of a scam. But the idea,
why would would any of these vehicle want to take
(15:00):
AM radio out of their cars in the first place.
Speaker 5 (15:03):
I mean, you know, I have serious I have serious
XM radio in my car because when I'm out and
about it, I'd like to be able to listen to
something other.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Than just music and local news. You know, I can.
I can listen to local news on WBZ. Obviously I
can listen to some music, but I want to have
some other options. And one of the options that I
always want to have is AM radio.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
The fact that I can get in the car and
I can hear what's going on in Boston, or hear
what's going on in Pittsburgh, and hear what's going on
maybe from Saint Louis if the Saint Louis Blues are playing,
and or WBT coach.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Now coach now by Jim Montgomery, the Bruins coach that
was fired and hired by the Blues, with I think
a matter of forty eight hours, not maybe even less.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
And you know, and then there's the radio station in Charlotte.
It's it's it's important. If we were discussing things about
local newspapers providing local news, well, am radio stations provide
local news, and that is very important as let's bring
(16:16):
that aspect in here. So released newspapers, local newspapers and
local stories can can flourish and can develop, and it's
the skills. It's our free society, it's our freedom of speech, which.
Speaker 6 (16:31):
Makes us us you know.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
So I don't think we should take away AM radio
and be stupid and take it out of cars because
we have so many cars as it could be stuck
in traffic somewhere and they have to have a constant
signal that's going to provide them with the information that
they would need. That's just plain and simple. You know,
you can have a lifesaving situation being a lifesaving situation
(16:54):
like on the Pennsylvania Turnpike or anywhere in the country
and you need that constant source. That's it in a nutshell, Harriet.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Good agree, you more well, said my friend. Thank you Patrick.
As always, let's keep in touch. Okay, all right, you
got it, sir, got you soon. Have a great night.
Next up Pat and Charles Patrick and Charlestown Patrick. Next
on night Side.
Speaker 7 (17:14):
Oh Ve Dan o, Hey, listen. The one thing that's
come to mind for me on this is why in
the world would Republicans ever allow for this to go forward?
And I have to tip my hat to add Markey
on this because usually I'm on opposite sides of most
issues with that guy, but I have to tip my
hat on him for this one because I mean, if
(17:36):
you think, especially over the last twenty or thirty years,
before the advancement of at least Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter,
we had pretty much dominance one sided view and all
media disciplines, from newspapers, television, internet platforms banning people. The
(17:56):
one exception to all of that was AM radio. You
would get a diverse set of opinions and a diverse
set of ideas, And it was almost like there's a strangleholder,
a bottleback on on all major sources of American media,
but for AM radio and proud voices like you and
and back when the great Rush Limbaugh was alive, keeping
(18:18):
debate alive, UH and and to prevent a complete monopoly
of one one set of views. I just feel as
though a diverse set of media is absolutely critical for democracy.
And so it just seems to me that those who
want to support Republican radio report AM radio would be
(18:40):
the Republicans. And how I mean, do you agree with that? Dan?
Is there any any I understand?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
I understand that generally generally UH many talk radio programs
tend to UH in recent time criticized Democrats. But the
beauty of AM radio is that there are sometimes broadcasters
like the late Rush Limbaugh, who are on fifty five
(19:10):
hundred stations, but that's few and far between. In most communities,
whether it's a Boston or a Boise, Idaho, or Baltimore,
Maryland or Montana, you have local voices. I'm a local voice.
I'm a Boston guy, and I have my takes. And
sometimes you and I agree, sometimes we disagree, but you're right.
(19:30):
You're right. Conservative talk radio helped maintain some balance during
the Obama administration when President Obama was a very popular,
you know president. It certainly came of age during the
Bill Clinton years and maybe that was really when talk
(19:52):
radio took off during the Bill Clinton years. But I
got to tell you there is bipartisan supporting this, including
Senator Ed Markey. I don't think anyone has worked harder
on this than Ed Markey. And I'll tell you why.
I think Marky's worked hard on it. Ed Markey has
told me many times the story as a kid. You know,
he was one couple of summers he were in this
(20:14):
ice cream truck and there's a capitalist made a lot
of money, you know, particularly at the time around the
time of the Red Sox researchence in sixty seven and
sixty eight, and he tells the story with glee, and
he talks about meeting Dave Maynard from Channel from w
b Z and how WBZ has been his favorite radio station.
And I know that that Senator Markey listens to sometimes
(20:37):
the night side in the DC are because he's called
in as a as a as a guest, or as a caller.
Actually a couple of times he on this issue. You
would think he would say, well, I'm not going to
do anything for AM radio because AM radio has always
been critical of my party. But it's the op it's
(21:00):
the opposite, And I think that great. The Republicans need
to drive this. They have the majority in the House
and they have enough support in the Senate to get
this done before before this this this session of Congress.
As Patrick. Yeah.
Speaker 8 (21:18):
And it's so it's important for my liberal friends too,
because I mean, you could see the pendulum swing back
and maybe maybe uh poignant important liberal voices might find
AM radio as a place.
Speaker 7 (21:29):
Where they can get their message out there too. I
just think it's important for democracy and I cannot imagine
a time where I can't listen to Dan Ray sit
in my car having a Kelly's Roast beef. I just
can't imagine that, Dan, or how many people can't imagine
listening to the Red Sox on the radio on AM
radio during during a New England summer night. And it's
(21:50):
it's part of it's part of America. I just I
just can't imagine. I just can't imagine we are.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
And I would like to see my phone lines light
up on this top. I don't think there's going to
be anyone who's going to call and say get rid
of AM radio. But if people sit at home and
don't take the opportunity to call, that's not a good
thing because this could be taken away from us by
car manufacturers. Corporate America, believe it or not, would be
(22:19):
doing in AM radio. And you've got Ed Markey, who's
a Senator from Massachusetts, one of the more liberal senators,
fighting to save AM radio. So politics make strange bedfellows, right,
I guess that's the point of our conversation.
Speaker 7 (22:35):
Patrick, Good for Ed, Good for Ed, Good job, Ed.
Keep up the good work. We need more more more
independent thinking like this, and let's keep AM radio. We
need it.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
Thanks day, sir, Patrick, Talk soon. Mary Christmas. If we
don't talk again, okay before the twenty fifth. Okay, we'll
keep rolling here. Just we have the linel lit up.
Thank you very much, everybody. I'm going to try to
move everybody a little bit more quickly. No one is
waiting any more than ten minutes or so. I got
to take a break. I'm going to get to Eileen
(23:07):
and Kevin down in South Carolina. I got Linda, I
got ron, I got Corin. We're going to get everybody
in coming back on Nightside.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
Back to the phones without any further ado, going to
go to Eileen in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ileen, welcome, How are
you hi?
Speaker 9 (23:33):
I'm fine, but I am for the life of me,
I can't understand why they want to remove AM radio.
Is there some electronic reason? Is it more difficult to
build in or something?
Speaker 3 (23:54):
I think it was. I think the concern initially was
with some of the EV vehicles. Now I don't know
if the argument was let's let's create a problem or
let's not address a problem. That there might have been
some interference, but that seems to have gone away. According
(24:14):
to this story that I'm looking at out of what's
called inside radio today. President Trump obviously said has not
said whether he supports the bill, and his growing relationship
with Tesla founder Elon Musk has some believing it could
sway his opinion. It would be a huge mistake if
(24:34):
President Trump. That's why I think it's important to get
it passed before this Congress gets out of session. Tesla
is among the companies that has removed AM from the
dashboards of its electric vehicles. Now again, I think that
they probably think that AM radio is a is a
(24:57):
form of radio that older people listen to more than
younger people. But I have plenty of younger callers in
this show as well, Eileen. So you know, we just
gotta look ed Markey, who has probably been criticized more
in AM radio than most because most AM radio tends
to be to the right of center. He's doing the
(25:17):
right thing here for free speech and he should be
commended for it.
Speaker 10 (25:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (25:23):
Well, I am I'm older, and I remember I was
in high school at Northfield, the Northfield School for Girls
in the nineteen fifties, and we used to WBZ fades
(25:44):
as you had as you drive west, and we didn't
get it at Northfield. But if we stayed up late
half midnight, which.
Speaker 10 (25:54):
We weren't supposed to do.
Speaker 9 (25:57):
We used to be really happy and we could get
wb Z radio on our radio.
Speaker 3 (26:04):
It has a lot to do with the setting of
the sun, time of year and all of that. But
the fact of the matter is if you're on the
wrong side of a mountain, that's going to be difficult.
We've heard in places Illinois. I've had calls from places
like Iowa, so I know that. And these are people
who are listening on the radio, not on the internet.
So thank you for your support, Eileen. I hope all
(26:24):
is going well with you. And if I don't chat
with you, Merry Christmas.
Speaker 9 (26:26):
Okay, thanks, thank you, all right, thanks Dan much.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
All right, good night. Let me keep rolling. You're going
to go to Kevin in South Carolina. Kevin, you're listening
on the radio the internet tonight.
Speaker 11 (26:38):
I listened on Alection because the static is too bad
to get you on the AM down here. But you know,
when we have an emergency like a hurricane or something
and your power goes out and your internet goes out,
all this great technology isn't worth a broken stick in
the street. Your am radio that gets you through that says, Okay,
the tides high, the rivers are backing up, these streets,
(27:00):
need to evacuate. This is your evacuation route, it's your lifeline.
Most of your serious stuff, it's all recorded. Those people
you think they're talking to you, but you know they
recorded that three days ago and they're somewhere else. They're
not telling you what's happening this very minute where you are.
And that's what AM radio does.
Speaker 3 (27:18):
Exactly exactly, and I'm telling you of that right now.
The future of AM radio. AM radio will always exist,
but accessibility, you know, to it could be severely restricted.
Speaker 11 (27:35):
You know, your FM stations are mostly pre recorded. I
keep hearing Rob's voice saying, the portions of this program
could be pre recorded all over the country on stations
I listen to, so you know those are also recorded too.
But you want a live voice like yours. If you
said tonight, gee, the the Williams Tunnel is flooded, so
don't go that way, Okay, I know, yeah, yeah, I know,
(27:56):
But you know if you didn't say that, I'd drive
right into it and say, gee, how come it's flooded?
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Yeah? Absolutely absolutely, and again thank you. I don't know
how your members of Congress or how your senators are
are feeling on this down there, but every vote counts,
and get in touch with your your two senators from
South Carolina and your members of Congress.
Speaker 11 (28:18):
Okay, we'll call Nancy Mason the morning.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
All right, I would be surprised if she's not supporting it.
I would let us know, let us know. Thanks. Thanks.
Speaker 11 (28:29):
It was seventy here today, by the way.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
Uh yeah, I was warm today. I got up to
about sixty year but it kept raining and it's still
raining right now. But hopefully we'll we're gonna get to
some normal. We've had some cold weather up here too,
so winter is here, whether we like it or remembers.
Speaker 11 (28:46):
You don't shovel rain here.
Speaker 3 (28:48):
This is very true.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
And I'm very merry Christmas.
Speaker 9 (28:53):
Do you?
Speaker 3 (28:53):
Thanks, Kevin, talk to you soon. Gotta go next to
Linda and Waymouth, Linda, next on, Nice, I go ahead, Linda.
Speaker 12 (28:59):
Hi, first off, Merry Christmas, and I do celebrate it.
And I've been looking for a replacement car. I'm looking
at SUVs and one of the first cars I hopped
in it had all this technology way up there, and
I said no before I really checked whether it had
(29:19):
AMFV because I had bumped it out. But I've been
listening through the days and you have that advertisement on
to call to text on AM five to eight eight six.
I wouldn't be surprised if I hear it later on tonight, okay,
And that's to let your representative know. And that's texts
(29:44):
AM five two eight eighty six. So Rob or whoever
was there can bring it up. But that's one thing
that I'm going to be looking for as I find
a replacement car. I'm not looking for electric, so it
probably have a good, better, better, yeah, better chance of
finding it. I do appreciate, even though I'm not driving
(30:07):
the expressway, hearing it for those people who are driving
it and what options they should have because of backups.
I appreciate the traffic.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
I'm sorry, Cliff, I said, I'm with you totally, and
thank you for your support on this, Linda. We really
appreciate it.
Speaker 12 (30:27):
So yeah, it's AM five two, got you in here
before the break?
Speaker 6 (30:31):
Go right ahead, Hi, Dan, I'll be quick earning Christmas
by the way, in case I don't talk with you,
but there were two. I mean, I use it that
I need it every day driving on the map Pike,
I have to tell you that there's an accent every day.
So it's very helpful for me to knowing on hospital
(30:54):
at work.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
Yeah, sometimes more than.
Speaker 6 (30:57):
One, sometime more than one exactly. And the other two
things that I just wanted to chime in with is,
you know, when we were driving to the War Trade Center,
that's what we had. Going down the mass Pike heading
to Fort Stewart Airbase, we had nothing else to give
(31:20):
us the news that was rapidly changing. And the same
way it was a Hurricane Katrina. That's what we had.
And those are two of the There were no political
sides one way or the other in those moments, and
(31:41):
so that's that's right.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
That's.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
Test I get that that is very strong testimony. You
never think that it's something like nine to eleven can happen. Again.
I know that you're with one of those twenty four
hour groups where you got to have a bag ready
to go, and I thank you for that service, and
I thank you for the call tonight, because I think
people they forget we get, we get lazy, and as
they say, I have you offered uttered some criticisms over
(32:12):
the years of my friend Ed Markey. He stole my friend,
but on this issue he is, He's in the forefront
of it. And so we got to get the New
York the majority leader, New York Senator Chuck Schumer needs
to take this loose and get it out of committee,
get it on the floor, and get it over the
House and get as a president Biden desk. Simple as that.
Speaker 6 (32:34):
Okay, yeah, I will do what I can.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
I appreciate it, Thank you very much. All right, six one,
seven thirty. Those are the only lines they're open right now.
No sense of downing the other six one, seven, two, five, four,
ten thirty. Back on the night's side right after this.
Speaker 2 (32:50):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
night Sight Studios, Don Bzy News Radio.
Speaker 3 (32:57):
All right, let's head to the to the rest of
the call. It's going to go to Corinn in Bridgewater. Krinn,
welcome back. How are you hi?
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Dan?
Speaker 6 (33:07):
Great?
Speaker 13 (33:07):
Thank you so much for taking my call. I think
I'm really yeah, I'm passionate about this, as your other
callers are in yourself as well. I'm definitely with the
caller from Cambridge. What's the point. Why why does someone
just want to make the name for themselves like I
understand cars grow with technology. We don't have a trax,
(33:28):
we don't have CDs, we don't have cassetts mostly in
cars anymore. I get that, But AM radio, what's to
gain by not having that you have? There's only a
lose here. Am I missing something?
Speaker 3 (33:41):
I don't think you and I don't. I don't think
you are. As it turns out, it seems to be
the group that has kind of headed this UH are
the UH, the the automobile faction manufacturers from out of
the country, And apparently this was really started by Audi
and Vovo and Tesla, and I.
Speaker 7 (34:04):
Don't know why.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
I think a lot of them are into electric vehicles,
and I think that they were concerned that the vehicles,
the electrical systems in the vehicles might conflict with AM radio.
I don't understand it, but that's what we're being told.
So the problem is it is stalled, and if it
doesn't get passed by time the new Congress is seated,
(34:26):
which I believe is January third, they got to go
back and start at square one. And that's not a
good sign. So at this time, the Republican Mike Johnson,
the Speaker of the House, and Chuck Schuman, the majority
leader in the US Senate, the Democrat. They got to
get their act together and get this passed by both
both houses and on the desk of President Biden, because
once January third passes, all the progress that it has
(34:50):
been made is reversed and they go back to the
starting line. That's the dirty little secret that I'm trying
to make people understand tonight. It has to be done now,
in the next two or three weeks, or it won't
get done.
Speaker 13 (35:03):
Here're talking to a head addresser, Dan, I hear you,
and I will be loud and proud about that, believe me,
all right. I also I'm concerned. I'm concerned about it.
Sounds like the majority wants to keep it. By the tone,
it sounds like, so yeah, okay. So I'm confident in
(35:23):
hearing that, and that makes me feel good because I'm
the next, uh next fella coming in. I thought he
was very pro military and understands communications very deep. But
I don't know if his new friend that doesn't want
it in his cars are getting more of an air
from him waiting to kind.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Of here, good luck with you and me trying to
get his ear, that's for sure. And again Ed Markey
has done a good job on this, and so I
want to commend him for it, as simple as that.
Hope to right.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
I'm proud you. Let that be known.
Speaker 13 (35:55):
That's it. Thank you, Dan for doing your job and
getting this message out. I'll keep it up. Okay, thank
you very.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
Much, great, appreciate it very much. Thank you. All right,
gotta get three in here, starting off with Jeff and Whitman. Jeff,
you're next time Nightsager right ahead.
Speaker 14 (36:09):
Hey Dan, I think the thing that's being lost is
a lot of people like, what does it matter? We
have these apps and stuff. The problem is you have
dead zones with SOUL coverage. Take a look at Hanson.
If I drive through Hanson, my calls drop and data
is even worse. And that's the big issue.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
Now.
Speaker 14 (36:26):
On the other side, Marque's our rep. I know Steven
Lynch's office says he's for it. The question is how
do we escalate it higher? So in our area it
sounds like everybody's for it.
Speaker 3 (36:39):
First of all, I yeah, well, supposedly sixty three of
the US senators. That's almost two thirds. All you need
is a majority, and then two hundred and seventy one.
I think it's the latest figure in the House. That's
more than a majority. If you get two eighteen in
the House, you can pass anything you want. So there's
obviously bipartisan support, both democratic and liberal, both democratic and
(37:03):
conservative and the Republican, I should say, or a liberal
and conservative. Let's get it done, because if we don't
get it done by January third, everything that isn't done
goes away. It's not like they say, well, we'll continue
with and we'll get it done in late January. You
they'll look at this, it'll be not done for another
two years. So time is of the essence.
Speaker 6 (37:26):
All right, begg you, sir, begg you, Jeff, talk.
Speaker 3 (37:30):
To Merry Christmas. Let's go to satchi uh in, Saga
satchi you next time nights. I want to get you
and Jerry from New York and go ahead, Sachi hi Dan?
Speaker 7 (37:40):
What do you call?
Speaker 1 (37:41):
You know?
Speaker 10 (37:41):
I like the station. Then I listened to a three
hundred and sixty five days a year. But there's a
question mark is do you remember the CBE radios?
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Sure?
Speaker 10 (37:56):
Okay, so back in the day is CEB radio was
great and I had to light for licenses back in
the late eighties to get a frequency. I think it's
a question mark. Is technology is changing, they don't have
enough frequency to have it.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
I think I think they might be. I think they
might be calling it bandwidth, but I don't think that's
the issue. I think the issue is that some of
the electric vehicle manufacturers said they had a little bit
of a problem in basically allowing an electric vehicle to
accommodate an AM radio, and it can be done. Might
(38:33):
cost him a few bucks to put in some additional wiring,
but it's it's a convenience and that that is important.
That's that's all.
Speaker 10 (38:42):
And I just want to give you a really quick
one minute story. I used to travel to Toronto, Canada,
where you offer back in the day, is that I
used to have a radar detector because of the feeding
and for the police cause and when you pass the border,
(39:03):
you cannot have the radar detector because it's interfered with
the frequency in Toronto, Canada. So if you get caught,
there's a big fine, like a thousand or two thousand
dollars fine back in the days.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
Yeah, well that's interesting, but that takes me away from
what I want to talk about Tonight's at you I
hope you understand that.
Speaker 10 (39:25):
I just want to bring it up, that's all. And
technology is changing. Probably they're going to come up with
something better.
Speaker 3 (39:33):
I don't think so, but I think I want to
straight Thanks. I have a great night Jerry and New York. Jerry,
You're next night said you're going to wrap the hour
for ust go right ahead.
Speaker 4 (39:45):
Thank you very much. Dan. I am very upset about
this issue. I do not understand. I don't understand the
reasoning for getting of AM radio in cars, and there.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
Was no good reasoning, Jerry. There is no good reasoning
for it. And the only reasoning that I have heard
from some of the electric car manufacturers is that AM
radio might cause some interference in electric vehicles. But all
they have to do is work on that and fix it. It's
as simple as that.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
I definitely understand that, and I love your show. I've
listened to it for years, and if it went if
it went away because of this issue, I probably it's
not as serious as being heartbroken, but it is because
(40:47):
you hit all of the important things and I just
am a devout listener. I live in Syracuse, my best
childhood friend lives in Medway. I graduated from Medway and
to do this year.
Speaker 3 (41:05):
But I am now running out of time. Do me
a favorite, call me earlier some night, and I'd love
to know more about your friendship and your relationship with Medfield.
Merry Christmas. Okay, thank you very much. We're done for
the night. Rob Brooks, thank you very much, Mariita, thank
you very much. Jerry. I didn't got you off there, Okay,
I promise we will tell you as always that end
(41:25):
the show. All dogs, all cats, all pets go to heaven.
That's from my pale Charlie Rays, who passed fourteen years
ago in February. That's all your pets are her past.
They loved you and you love them. I do believe
you'll see them again. Please stay dry. I have a
great Thursday. See you tomorrow, every one. I'm going to
talk with an expert on serial killers tomorrow
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