I was stuck listening to FM radio today and the commercials were nonstop. It was a local rock station. I decided to time the break between one song and the next. One commercial stretch was TWELVE minutes. Even worse, only one was a business commercial and the rest were COVID jabs, “food insecurity” and mental health PSAs.

Are the government checks so fat that they don’t have to worry about attracting an audience anymore? That bullshit should’ve been considered psychological torture.

Yup - same here. I only listen to FM when driving because options are limited. I change the channel anytime a commercial comes on. I turn off FM when anything about the jab comes up (I'm thinking it must be FCC compulsory or something - doesn't make sense to come on these otherwise Brandon averse stations). I have 3 rock stations, 1 country station and 1 classical station. It's not uncommon for me to end up listening to CD's because of the commercials.

Ra-Dio? Rodia?

Oh, is that the thing where it's like mp3s or streaming music, only someone else gets to pick what I'm going to listen to plus they get to bombard me with ads in between songs?

Huh. I could have sworn that died out years ago.

I listen to the morning show on the local FM rock station on my commute, Spotify for the drive home.

Haven’t voluntarily listened to FM radio in years. Don’t really miss it.

I stopped listening to music on the radio quite some time ago. Sometimes when I can't sleep at night I'll pull out a radio and scan the AM airwaves for stations right on the edge of reception, but always talk radio and nothing but. It's as much about the skill of capturing a distant signal as it is about the content.

I can't stand FM. I pay for Sirius in the cars. I do have some music on my phone, but not enough.

Yep. Between Sirius and CarPlay, I have not actually listened to broadcast radio in years. I did buy a Panasonic battery powered AM/FM radio. Might come in handy when TEOTWAWKI gets here.

I have apps for two classical music stations on my iPhone. KUSC-FM and WQXR-FM. Both are decent.

I stopped listening to broadcast radio years ago.

My wife and I have subscribed to Sirius since we bought our new Jeep in 2016. That's all we listen to when driving.

At work, I use the app and connect with the vehicle I'm driving.

All I listen to is Ozzy's Boneyard. When my wife is with me we'll listen to the 70's channel mostly. Occasionally we'll listen to the 50's or 60's channel too.

Sirius XM and Apple Music far surpass FM radio offerings. Most big stations here gave up local "talent" and content, and pay for syndicated "big shows."

In general, all shows have devolved into self-aggrandizing buddy comedy attempts where the audience is those who are in the station studio, laughing inanely at the star's commentary, story, or mind-numbing soliloquy. They don't speak to the listeners, only to each other.

I don't listen to FM radio or really watch TV often at all. Any time I do, I say to myself "No wonder everyone's so stupid."

I listen to talk radio from time to time.

The big one in town has been at it for over 100 years.

They still don't know how to control the volume between the announcements, ads, studio, or guests.

I worked the low end of broadcast radio for a few years immediately after High School (board operator, later, on-air overnight at an Adult Contemporary station whose audience at 2:00am was probably fewer than 200.) Fun, but underpaid.

"Why are we running this spot?" was not a question that was asked, ever, because the answer was always "$$$." And the government-- state AND Fed-- were paying customers for those ads.

I listened to the online stream for one of my old stations late last year, and was amazed by the same thing that Leemur observed: How the hell did they find actual music tracks to play that were short enough to fit between the advertising. Insanity.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve in PA:
My wife and I have subscribed to Sirius since we bought our new Jeep in 2016. That's all we listen to when driving.

At work, I use the app and connect with the vehicle I'm driving.

All I listen to is Ozzy's Boneyard. When my wife is with me we'll listen to the 70's channel mostly. Occasionally we'll listen to the 50's or 60's channel too.

Try Little Steven’s Underground Garage on channel 21 also.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

I have apps for two classical music stations on my iPhone. KUSC-FM and WQXR-FM. Both are decent.

Decades ago when I lived in the Chicago area, WFMT was my favorite station. Their focus was classical music, and they also featured some of the Chicago folk musicians, such as Steve Goodman, John Price, etc. I believe that they have a streaming app.

With my hearing loss, I can't listen to music any more, so I haven't tried the WFMT app.

The only radio stations I listen to are:

1) The University of Houston, digital channel 2, which is all classical music.

2) Whatever AM station carries a baseball game I am interested in, which is rare.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
I have apps for two classical music stations on my iPhone. KUSC-FM and WQXR-FM. Both are decent.

LOL - same here. Unless I am driving through LA, I will listen to them on my phone before listening to FM.

And not the Charger has Sirius soooo, Old Time Radio!!!

I couldn't listen to most all of any of todays music even if there were no commercials.
Yes, there is some now so-called oldies 70~80's that may have a decent tune now and then.
I just play my own collection of ripped to FLAC files on a flash drive or stream from Qobuz.
Spotify, Tidal and Amazon Music all does the same but I mainly use Qobuz.
I am surprised there are any music stations left and I am sure their ad money is hurting.
Talk radio ~ sports or political is another thing and doing pretty well albeit on AM.