Death of Radio or Not?

[DaleP]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

But today, the radio stations love money, and music is just a commodity to them. They seem to have no regard or respect for the music they play.

Radio station owners have always loved money. Over the years, I worked for and have known some pretty cheap broadcasters...the type who would throw nickels around like they were manhole covers. But, these same owners also had some understanding of the importance of good programming. Most of them had always worked in radio...most in sales, some in programming and some in engineering. Most of them are gone today.

20 years ago there were many more locally owned radio stations than there are today.

20 years ago, most radio stations were operated by people who came up through the ranks and had some understanding of, and love for, the business.

Deregulation, and the consolidation frenzy it created, killed the radio you long for.

[Geebz]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

My, My, Hey, Hey, Radio will Never Die.

It jsut seems that the power of the live jock might see less resistance in the future. IMO, with the tuff times we're in and what we're headed for might lead to more people just taking a break from the iHype and tune into radio; or not. Just thinking out loud.....

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

It all comes down to results. Now it seems call-in response would be deemed a greater feedback than radio diaries. If you can keep your phone board lit up like a christmas tree and you're not doing any contests, you're doing good.

[Geebz]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

It all comes down to results. Now it seems call-in response would be deemed a greater feedback than radio diaries. If you can keep your phone board lit up like a christmas tree and you're not doing any contests, you're doing good.

Could not have said it better. We have the abilaty to be totally interactive with phones, webcam radio casting with chat rooms and it's plausible that the "reach out and be heard" vibe will play into stations getting back the live talent.....one would hope.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

I may be a republican but I also see a need for our government to protect us as well. Communication is vital to our survival and unfortunately we tend to remove that from our daily lives as we live in a world of pre-recorded playlists and podcasts.

Communication is vital. So is a healthy and competitive domestic manufacturing base and auto industry. Hopefully, all of us (whether we happen to be Republican, Democrat, Green, Independent, etc.) remember that when it comes to the issue of govt. regulation and not being indifferent to the plight of an industry we are not a part of. It's not just about making profits.

Unfortunately, unless you're willing to remain locked into your personal favorites, it takes time to go out and find things to add to your collection. Sure seems like there's a market there for finding good music and delivering it to you.

If you have an iPhone, I've got one word for you: Pandora.

[surlygirly]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

Today, stations find the best song on an album, ignore the rest, and play that one song over and over and over and over until I hate it.

They play the same "safe" songs for months. "Bubbly," "Escape," " How to save a life," or "Bad day."

I must practice "unsafe songs" b/c I've always hated each one of those! I totally agree though- and it's not just on the radio. It's TV commercials and satellites in stores and movie soundtracks and it's always the SAME FIVE SONGS. And if I hear that #$^@ing Taylor Swift song ONE MORE TIME, I swear I'm going to poke my eardrums out with a fork....

PS- Thank you for getting "How to Save a Life" stuck in my head. Grrrr.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

And if I hear that #$^@ing Taylor Swift song ONE MORE TIME, I swear I'm going to poke my eardrums out with a fork....

Easy on the eyes. I don't know about the ears.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

If you have an iPhone, I've got one word for you: Pandora.

iPhone is just one way to get it, but yes, it's a good step in the right direction.

On the downside, the channels seem a bit "narrow" in taste for radio. Can you program multiple channels and randomly select from the channels? That would be closer to what I'm thinking of.

[surlygirly]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

Easy on the eyes. I don't know about the ears.

It's not a horrible song I guess, but they overplay stuff like that on channels that aren't even country. And in restaurants. And at the waterpark. And at the movies. And everytime it comes on, all the tweens in a 5 mile radius start screeching along.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

iPhone is just one way to get it, but yes, it's a good step in the right direction.

Oh, any device that can access the web can use Pandora. But the iPhone app offers the easiest way that I know to hook up a car's audio system to Pandora, assuming the head unit has an auxiliary input.

On the downside, the channels seem a bit "narrow" in taste for radio. Can you program multiple channels and randomly select from the channels? That would be closer to what I'm thinking of.

Channels seem a bit "narrow?" Hmm, I guess it would be,...... if you simply stuck to Pandora's preset genre stations.

The beauty of Pandora over ordinary internet radio is that you can create your very own and totally unique custom stations by programming a mix of artists, composers, and/or songs. And then, you can further fine-tune the programming by giving either the thumbs-up or down rating for each song as it gets played. In other words, you literally become your own station's director of programming. You really should check out other Pandora user's custom stations to see how they do it.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

a mix of artists

OK, I need to explore it a bit more. So far it's asked me for my favorite artist and then ran with that.

[Kalalau]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

Clear Channel has decided to originate San Diego news on their San Diego stations in Los Angeles, and is evidently also doing either Denver news from Houston, or the other way around. Not a very bright decision.

[Kalalau]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

A few days ago there was a giant gas leak in Ocean Beach, you could smell it over an area of about 30 blocks, even inside the bank. Obviously a potentially dangerous situation. I knew it was silly to even try, but I did put on local radio stations to see if there was any coverage. Of course not. Deregulation was the kiss of death to the radio industry. Texas monopolists paid irrational prices for the stations they bought, the only way to make the numbers work has been to can the staff and that eliminates the industry's most important marketing asset, its immediacy. The best radio today is on par with Muzak and thats pathetic.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

yep we need a live operator in a radio station to get the word out. This is why I believe that all media devices (iPods and such) should have a Civil Defense override tuner built into their motherboards so everyone tuned out to reality will know of a situation when it happens. Even those who drive with iPod earbuds in both ears cannot hear an approaching emergency vehicle's siren. I once saw this guy holding back an Ambulance on the Pahoa Highway because he was tuned out on his mp3 player and both ears with earbuds in them.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: Death of Radio or Not?

yep we need a live operator in a radio station to get the word out. This is why I believe that all media devices (iPods and such) should have a Civil Defense override tuner built into their motherboards so everyone tuned out to reality will know of a situation when it happens. Even those who drive with iPod earbuds in both ears cannot hear an approaching emergency vehicle's siren. I once saw this guy holding back an Ambulance on the Pahoa Highway because he was tuned out on his mp3 player and both ears with earbuds in them.

The problem isn't with the mp3 player. It is the driver misusing the mp3 player. I believe it is against the law for drivers to be using any headset that covers both ears.