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> Automakers pointed to an existing system that distributes warnings across AM, FM, internet-based or satellite radio and over cellular networks.

> "This is simply a bill to prop up and give preference to a particular technology that's now competing with other communications options and adapting to changing listenership," the automaker group said.

No, that's not true. I was recently in #Alabama and found that cellular alerts were inconsistent at best. Two people might be sitting next to one another with cellular phones on different networks. One will get an alert and the other may not alert at all ... or if they do, it may be twenty minutes or more later than the first, which can be too late.

Alerts on various television channels (OTA broadcast, cable, satellite) get divided into small fractions and are often just a text crawler across the bottom of the screen ... if you're not looking, you don't know.

That leaves AM and FM radio ... and NOAA weather radio. Honestly, NOAA's system is best, because even if you're not presently listening, your weather radio will pick up the alert and activate itself, blaring an alarm and then playing the messages. But for people who don't have NOAA radios or don't know how to set one up ... or for people travelling in vehicles, AM radio is by far the best option (for example, there are AM stations that can be heard for hundreds of miles in the evening), though I think the FCC may wish to set aside a specific AM channel / frequency for localized emergency alerts, such that car radios can quietly monitor for alerts in their area and automatically switch to said alerts.

Now, there was at one point an attempt to mandate that all cellphones include FM radio capability "for emergency purposes". I thought at the time (and still do) that AM radio is better for that purpose.

This may not be something that should have to be mandated, but on the other hand, there are relatively few automakers and it takes a lot of capital and approvals to enter the business, so they are immune to persuasion via targeted market forces such as boycotts or brand recommendations.

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