Totally agreed. The only FM radio I listen to these days is NPR. AM, however, is still useful for news, incredible nighttime propogation, and near infinite battery life.

I mostly listen to XM these days. I like the music, but the news (e.g., CNN) and emergency channels are great too. But, if you compare the 6 hour battery life on the XM boombox to the 200+ hours on an ordinary AM radio, there's simply no comparison for practical purposes.

Since I always carry a handheld ham radio (either a Yaesu VX-7R or a VX-2R), I can always receive commercial AM, FM, and TV broadcasts. They are okay for picking up local stations, but in an ermergency I would certainly turn to my ancient, customized Sony 2010 (the MW dx'ers dream machine) or my CCRadio for broadcast news.