For those of us who remember the music breakthrough from scratchy and static filled AM radio to clear and fade free stereo FM, this announcement from Norway is bittersweet. They’ve just announced they will be the first country to switch off FM radio and go all digital. In 2017, they will begin turning off the FM band in January and complete the changeover by December 13th. Car radios will never be the same.
It goes without saying this has been coming for some time, everyone already either plugs in their smartphone to access their music collection or tunes in to satellite radio, but the local FM stations you can listen to will start their inevitable disappearance. Digital offers so much more, more stations, more options, more capabilities, but what will an old Mustang or Chevelle be without an FM radio where you can spin the dial? How this all works out for the remaining local stations remains to be seen, but it looks like another signpost on the highway to the future just passed by.
No other countries have announced any switch as of yet, but you can be sure it won’t be long before they do. If you have an old Pioneer or Marantz stereo receiver stashed away somewhere, turn it on and spin the dial while you still can, those days are soon going to be in the rear view mirror.
Link: Norway announcement via The Hollywood Reporter
I build a showable car once in awhile and for the last thirty years I block off the area where the radio was. With the onset of music that isn’t music (rap) I just do away with the radio altogether and concentrate on the ‘music’ of the engine. It sounds better to me all the time, a V8 under compression–beautiful.
There are a few oldies stations, depending on your location, where you can tune in for just the right sound while you cruise in to the car show, but other than that, you’re right on the money, the sound of the engine usually trumps anything you’ll find on the dial.
Hi – My name is Daisy. I came across this article when i noticed a picture of the 1966 GTO radio we produce at Antique Automobile Radio, Inc. The radio you have pictured is a brand new modern radio for the 1966 Pontiac Tempest/LeMans/GTO. Our radios look and feel like the originals but are much smaller and have all of the modern features you describe in the article. You can pair your phone or connect to satellite radio. Please take a look at our website of: Radios for Old Cars.
That’s a nice line of new/old radios you have, I grabbed the photo from eBay or Google or somewhere to illustrate the old radios we’re likely to lose and the “old look” models you offer fooled my eye. Nice! LED lights, digital tuning, looks like the original, … pretty cool.