During a conversation about the potential elimination of AM radio from vehicles starting next year, it seemed that John Catsimatidis, the owner of WABC Radio, proposed a job opportunity to host Joe Pags at his radio station.
The destiny of AM radio and the publication of John Catsimatidis’ new book “How Far Do You Want to Go?” were the topics of conversation between the two men on Friday during The Joe Pags Show.
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but I actually used to be a news anchor in Albany, and I remember driving down to do a show on WBAC on a Saturday. I greatly admire the station; it has a wonderful legacy,” Pags shared with Catsimatidis. However, before Pags could continue, Catsimatidis interrupted him and encouraged him to “return; we need more common-sense voices.”
The conversation shifted towards AM radio as Pags expressed his attachment to it, mentioning that he had listened to it since childhood and that losing the AM band would mean losing 150 out of his 170 stations. Pags went on to voice his concerns that AM radio might be phased out, but Catsimatidis interjected and confidently stated that AM radio was here to stay.
According to Catsimatidis, there are two reasons why there’s an effort to eliminate AM radio: firstly, some individuals are attempting to silence conservative viewpoints, and secondly, automobile companies are looking to charge listeners $9.99 per month to access AM radio.
“Let me tell you what Ford, General Motors, and Mercedes want to do,” said Catsimatidis. “Instead of giving you a $200 radio in your car, they want to give you a complicated system that will charge you $9.99 monthly to listen to AM radio. Do you know what happens if the grid goes down? You’re not going to have any radio, and you’re not going to have a car to drive.”
“We get our emergency alerts, our emergency system, whether it’s the weather or something else going on, from AM radio,” said Pags. “Plus, there are great conservative voices on AM radio all over the place.”
