Do weak batteries effect a radio's reception?

So i was sitting in the dark, a couple days removed from last weeks ice storm but still without power(5 days total) trying to listen to the Patriots game on a small portable radio that uses 3 AA batteries. I couldnt remember the last time I put new batteries in the radio as I hadnt used it for a while. The radio would come in fine if I held it my hand or put it in a certain area of the room and I stayed in another area but if I tried to take it into the other room or if I walk past it the reception would cut out and all I’d hear was static.

This got me to wondering if strong batteries equals better reception. In other words: Will the reception remain constant until the batteries could no longer power the radio/speaker itself and simply fade out in volume? Or, would there be a gradual increase in static before the battery life completly drains and the radio dies?

I did try putting brand new batteries in but I did not notice any discernable increase in reception. However, for one I do not know if the old batteries were still fine and I was simply replacing good batteries with equally good batteries and second, I was probably close to a six-pack into the game and was probably not in the best frame of mind to make a sound judgement call.

So, anyone know what the deal is with batteries and radio reception?

Thanks,
Van

Older radios’ reception would definitely decrease as the batteries wore out. Newer radios may use voltage regulators which keep the sound quality pretty constant until they just quit.

The word is “affect”, not “effect”.