If you tuned in lately to digital HD radio station 105.1 HD3 to hear Frank Sinatra and friends, you might have been shocked to find … Taylor Swift!

In a nod to the format stunts of the past, station owner Saul Levine has changed the format of Unforgettable LA to Unforgettable Taylor Swift. I would have called it K-SWIFT, but I digress. In addition to the digital stream that requires a special HD tuner to receive, if you live in San Fernando, you can listen on a regular FM radio via the local low-powered transmitter that simulcasts the format.

Originally scheduled to begin July 29th — my wife Jean’s birthday, by the way — it started two days early and is planned to run for 30 days.

Says Levine: “Due to the extreme interest in the coming tour of Taylor Swift, we are playing “All Taylor All the Time.” He added that the KKGO HD signals (there are four) have a potential reach of 12 million people and that many new cars include HD radios as standard or optional equipment, depending on the manufacturer.

Discovering Radio

Something wrong with the software or a module in my wife’s car causes her radio to “forget” four of the preset pages, which also leads to the radio tuning in the last AM or FM station heard no matter what other setting you had. For example, you might have been tuned into SiriusXM’s Coffeehouse when you were driving … next time you start up, you’re back listening to the radio.

I don’t think it’s a feature pushed by broadcasters in order to get people listening to traditional radio. But it is working … Jean has spent the last month listening to Alt 98.7 and KRTH 101. “It’s too much trouble to switch back,” she says, adding that she’s enjoyed the music.

AM for All

Though automaker Ford agreed to keep AM radio in its cars for at least one more model year, there are others that already removed it from the dashboard and the threat is there regardless. So work continues in the legislative arena.

Last week the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation passed the “AM for Every Vehicle Act,” sending it to the full Senate for debate.

According to the industry newspaper Radio World (radioworld.com), the act “would direct the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to issue a rule requiring automakers to maintain AM broadcast radio in their vehicles without a separate or additional payment, fee or surcharge. It says AM should be clearly visible on the vehicle’s dashboard; and until the new standard would take effect, cars lacking AM radio receivers would have to be labeled as such for buyers.”

Interestingly, the act was opposed by Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan), who stated that the act is not only unnecessary but that “Congress has never mandated radio features in vehicles ever before.”

Ah, but while Congress may not have, the FCC required something similar in the 1960s when it mandated all televisions include UHF tuners (covering channels 14-83) in the days when most homes watched VHF (channels 2-13). So it’s not exactly unprecedented. In fact, had the FCC mandated AM stereo or selected a single stereo system for the band, we may not be in the position we are in right now.

Some observers are concerned, however, that mandating AM without minimum quality standards for reception may make things worse.

Richard Wagoner is a San Pedro freelance columnist covering radio in Southern California. Email [email protected].

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