AM radio serves a vital role in our nation's emergency infrastructure as the backbone of the Emergency Alert System. When the power goes out and cell networks are down, the car radio is often the only way for people to get information, sometimes for days at a time.

• AM radio keeps 82 million listeners connected to news, sports and entertainment each month.
• Agricultural communities, often with poor or non-existent cellular and broadband coverage, depend on AM radio for critical weather updates, crop reports and local information.
• AM stations also serve communities of color and underrepresented groups with religious and in-language programming.

Despite AM radio’s vital role in communities, some auto manufacturers have begun removing access to AM radio from the dashboard.

Broadcasters support the bipartisan AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (S. 1669; H.R. 3413) that was introduced in the 118^th Congress. This bill would preserve AM radio in cars and ensure Americans can continue to have access to this reliable communications medium.

The bottom line: Congress should enact the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act to keep this vital service as a standard feature in all vehicles and ensure Americans’ public safety.

A free press is the bedrock of American democracy. For over a century, broadcasters and their teams of journalists have served the public interest by bringing truth to light. Unfortunately, the dominance of Big Tech platforms threatens this vital role.

• Local broadcast stations must be available on all platforms and every device to remain relevant to audiences and advertisers. But Big Tech platforms have a stranglehold on digital advertising and can dictate what, if any, revenue share broadcasters receive for their valuable content.
• Broadcast content remains free by relying on advertising revenue to support its operations. As Big Tech platforms dominate the advertising market, local broadcast revenue has significantly declined, making local journalism more difficult to support.
• The dominance and behavior of these platforms have resulted in "take-it-or-leave-it" offers for broadcasters' valuable content.
• Local stations have little power to negotiate because they would lose access to hundreds of millions of consumers if they declined to publish their content online — and federal law prohibits them from working together to jointly negotiate with Big Tech behemoths.
• Local journalism is at risk due to this unchecked competitive power held by a handful of giant companies, such as Apple, Google and Meta.

The bottom line: Congress should pass the bipartisan Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) (S. 1094, H.R. TBD) to allow broadcasters and other news publishers to jointly negotiate with dominant digital platforms to ensure they are fairly compensated when their content is accessed online.

A nearly decade-old proceeding at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could impact local television broadcasters’ ability to invest and serve audiences but it is lacking up-to-date marketplace information regarding the rise, and increasing influence, of digital distribution platforms.

• Currently, a pay-TV provider (often called a multichannel video programming distributor or MVPD) must gain consent from a local broadcast station before retransmitting its signal. This system, known as “retransmission consent,” has driven unparalleled investment in local television.
• In 2014, the FCC initiated a proceeding and proposed modernizing the definition of MVPDs to include streaming platforms that offer linear programming (but not video-on-demand).
• The proceeding further asked whether these streaming services (vMVPDs) should be on equal regulatory footing with traditional pay-TV services, such as cable and satellite, including with respect to retransmission consent.
• The FCC’s vMVPD proceeding is still open a decade later and has not been updated even though significant marketplace developments have occurred.
• As consumers increasingly rely on these streaming platforms, local broadcasters support the FCC refreshing its record with updated marketplace information, including the proposal’s effect on competition, localism and diversity.

The bottom line: Congress should continue to encourage the FCC to refresh its record in this proceeding to better reflect current marketplace realities.

Congress has repeatedly rejected the record labels' attempts to impose a harmful new performance tax on local radio stations. This proposal would financially cripple local radio stations simply for airing music. It would jeopardize local jobs, stifle new artists and harm local radio listeners.

• Broadcasters strongly support the Local Radio Freedom Act (H. Con. Res. 13, S. Con. Res. 5), a resolution that opposes a performance tax and is supported by nearly 240 bipartisan members of the House and Senate this Congress – including close to a majority of the House of Representatives.
• Broadcasters stand ready to work with Congress and the recording industry on a balanced music licensing proposal that promotes innovation and recognizes the benefit to artists and listeners of radio's free, locally focused platform.

The bottom line: Congress should stand up for local radio listeners by opposing a performance tax and cosponsoring the Local Radio Freedom Act.

The next generation of broadcast television can deliver lifesaving advanced emergency alerting, stunning pictures, immersive and customizable audio and improved reception to enhance and expand the broadcast viewing experience.

• NEXTGEN TV combines the best features of broadcast television and broadband, allowing local stations to better personalize their broadcasts with information and interactive features to give viewers the content that is most relevant to them.
• The Next Generation TV standard requires no additional spectrum and no government subsidies. To date, this free over-the-air service is available to 75% of all U.S. households.
• In 2023, the FCC announced the creation of the Future of TV Initiative, a public-private initiative that consists of stakeholders from broadcasting, the consumer electronics industry, and public interest and consumer groups, to generate a road map for the NEXTGEN TV transition.

The bottom line: As broadcasters continue to invest in the future of television, Congress can help by urging the FCC to maintain a reasonable, flexible framework for NEXTGEN TV deployment.

Go deeper: Learn more about the next generation of television at WatchNextGenTV.com.

While broadcasters relish the opportunity to embrace new technologies to better serve our communities, the improper use of artificial intelligence poses novel threats to broadcasting’s unique and indispensable role in American life.

• In an age where misinformation can spread broadly and rapidly, broadcasters’ commitment to providing reliable news is more important than ever. But the lack of attribution and sourcing in AI-generated outputs could undermine trust in broadcasters.
• It also increases the likelihood of legitimate, copyrighted broadcast content being ingested and then mixed in with unverified and inaccurate third-party content.
• Additionally, AI tools may be used to create images, video and audio that use the likeness of a trusted radio or television personality in fraudulent ways. Using AI to distort, doctor or manipulate information is a significant problem and any solution must be balanced with the First Amendment.

Importantly, the use of AI tools allows the ingestion of broadcasters’ copyrighted content into AI systems without authorization.

• This is problematic not only because broadcasters must spend more time and resources to fight the misuse and distortion of their content, but also because AI tools use stations’ work products without compensation.
• This lack of compensation means fewer resources to invest in local news, negatively impacting the communities served by stations across the country.

The bottom line: Congress should ensure new technologies do not threaten the trusted local journalism broadcasters provide.