NIA Broadcasting and CircuitWerkes Take on Big Auto

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, March 1, 2023 | 12:06pm CT

NIA Broadcasting President Neal Ardman has announced that in conjunction with CircuitWerkes President Kyle Magrill, an initiative to force the big Electric Vehicle manufacturers to stop causing interference to the AM band.

"EVs don't just cause noise to the radios built into the EV," said WTMP-AM President Neal Ardman, "they also cause harmful interference to the cars that are nearby."

Magrill added, "The rf noise from EVs has caused so much interference on the AM band that the EV manufacturers have chosen to remove AM radio from the cars rather than solve the interference problem." He added, "While that hides the problem in the EV, it makes it impossible for the person driving next to the EV to enjoy AM radio in their own car.

Ardman noted that AM radio is protected from unintended interference by law and AM serves a very diverse audience including groups listening to sports, talk, ethnic and religious programming. WTMP-AM has programmed all Black programing for the last seven years. Other AM stations in Tampa serve the Hispanic community as well as other small minority groups.

Ardman and Magrill went on to discuss the ways available for EV manufacturers to shield the electric cars so as not to interfere with AM radio. Ardman said that he had held talks on this subject with Magrill and various groups including HD Radio Company Xperi and the NAB. The two have also enlisted the help of veteran FCC attorney John Trent.

According to Mr. Ardman "we are hoping to work something out with the makers of EV cars without having to file law suits in any federal court, that said if we must file to protect the AM band from this incursion then we will do just that."

NIA Broadcasting was founded in 1994 by Neal Ardman and currently owns and operates radio stations in Florida and Georgia. The company is also in the television syndication business on a national level.

CircuitWerkes, Inc. was founded in 1989, owns and operates FM translators in Florida and is a manufacturer of products for radio such as broadcast transmitters and remote controls.