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Seattle Mazda drivers can't change the radio dial. It's stuck on KUOW

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We know folks in Seattle love public radio, but this might be a little much. Turns out, the radios in some 2016 Mazdas are stuck on 94.9.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PAIGE BROWNING, BYLINE: This is KUOW News. I'm Paige Browning in Seattle.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

That just happens to be the frequency of NPR member station KUOW. It's now the only station that Mazda owner Scott Smith (ph) gets.

SCOTT SMITH: And when I tell people about it, they're like, oh, my God. That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard.

FADEL: Smith got into his car after shopping recently and discovered the infotainment system had frozen.

SMITH: You can adjust the volume. You can't change the station. Luckily, I am an NPR listener, and that's fine. So (laughter) I have NPR.

CASEY MARTIN, BYLINE: Mazda has not said anything about it. It's kind of a sore subject because they have a lot of people calling in.

R MARTIN: That's KUOW reporter Casey Martin. He's been trying to get to the bottom of this. He says the problem started about three weeks ago.

C MARTIN: You know, Mazda doesn't quite really know what's going on right now. There was one idea that it may have been the switch over from 3G to 5G that all cellphone companies did a couple of weeks ago, but now they're pretty sure that it has something to do with KUOW's HD radio signal.

R MARTIN: Mazda says it might have a part that'll fix the problem, but...

C MARTIN: There is a supply chain issue, and so they don't even know when they could do that. Other people told me that they were put on a waiting list and there was no time frame of when they might get that replacement part.

FADEL: KUOW says it's cooperating with the investigation. No word yet on how this might affect demand for NPR tote bags.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DRIVE MY CAR")

THE BEATLES: (Singing) Baby, you can drive my car. Yes, I'm gonna be a star. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

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Now all of that is at risk.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT is an initiative from Connecticut Public, the state’s local NPR and PBS station, to elevate Latino stories and expand programming that uplifts and informs our Latino communities. Visit CTPublic.org/latino for more stories and resources. For updates, sign up for the SOMOS CONNECTICUT newsletter at ctpublic.org/newsletters.

SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.