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FM radio love and hate relationship

Mike_S said:
KEXP doesn't always come in well at my house, so have to stream it. I'm in the South Sound.
All streamed radio sounds compressed and lifeless.
Yeah, JackFM has a place, do tune into it. There are no Dj's, but they play a wide variety of music, it's great when you just want background music.

When I lived in the Bay Area, used to listen to Live105, have streamed that from time to time.
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They are very weak here in Duvall, too.

Ya might want to try the KHKM stream, at least played through your stereo system. Sounds better than KJAQ is over the air. I'll PM you the links I have for the various stations I do listen to.

That's cool.
 
Most of our radio stations are owned by Clear Channel and the classic rock, metal, alternative channels each have three playlists they alternate through every day. Without fail they play quite a bit of crap. For Example the "classic rock" station will play: Monday will be Aerosmiths "Living on the Edge", Tuesday they'll play "love in an elevator", Wednesday "dude looks like a lady".. they always play a bands most commercial (and crappiest) songs. They also assault my ears with a daily dose of Michael Jackson, which earns a quick channel change unless it's Beat It (I like the Eddy Van Halen guitar solo).
I listen mainly to the classical station out of Santa Fe, except for the two week long money begging period they do every year.
 
WMMR was predictable time-wise for several years before they got a new program director. About 11 and 3 you got one of two things. If they played Pink Floyd at 11, you got Bob Marley at 3. The next day Bob O'Clock was 11, Floyd at 3. It just flipped back and forth every weekday.

The lineup hasn't really changed, they just shuffled around the times and I haven't quite worked it out yet.
 
I've had to endure plain old FM radio for about 3 months over the last year. The first time my car got stolen and in the two months it was missing/being fixed, I had two rentals with truly awful sounding systems in them. I put my USB stick that I use in my car in both the 2022 Honda Accord, and the 2023 Dodge Challenger, and it just sounded bad, so I switched back and forth from the USB to FM, and between the ads, the repetitive music, even on the oldies stations, it got very old after a while. I even started listening to AM talk radio to get away from the awful audio both cars had. Later on, my car was hit while I was stopped at a light and I had another Challenger with the same awful audio system and that three weeks seemed to go on forever. Lawyer ads nonstop, car dealer ads, prescription medicine ads, weather, weather, and more weather. And some of the worst show hosting I've ever heard. Even though Sirius sounds pretty lame, at least the ads are under control, if there are ads at all. I rarely listen to FM at all at home, and only occasionally in my car, which it sounds pretty good on.

Makes me long for CKLW, "The Big 80" and 20/20 news. I loved that news. I wish someone would post more 20/20 to Youtube. I loved the "Ted Baxter" announcers.
 
I listened WMMR though the 1970-1980 decade.
What a time that was for FM. I grew up north of Philly, and rigged up an old TV antenna on a rotator in the attic so I could listen to Philly and NY stations...So it was WMMR and WNEW. In those those early days both stations were active in promoting new group like Yes, Bowie, Springsteen, etc but also played a wide diversity of material from Cheech and Chong or Firesign Theatre through Steeleye Span, Zappa, Jethro Tull, or new jazz like Chick Corea. Looking back, I now see the two stations were related - no wonder...WMMR History
Now, of the commercial stations I listen to, it's mostly WEQX over the air, but also a couple rock stations from a local small radio group (Pamal) unlike the Iheart for the better - by antenna WNYQ (classic rock but deeper cuts than most).
And by stream WXPK, (AAA format, or "adult album alternative").
They have adds, but the music mix is more diverse. In general, the time of day influences the ad vs. music density...most advertisers want to air the ads when people are in cars either going to or coming from work.
 
Started listening to WNEW 102.7 in NYC from my home in SW CT when i was in high school. The music was great, like the groups mentioned by BoB@FM. The DJ's were Roskoe, who would read Kahlil Gibran, Alison Steele "The Night Bird", Scott Muni, Jonathan Swartz and many new album were debuted on that station. They would play the whole album, hard to find that anywhere today.
 
Listen to FM regularly in truck and at home. Historically listen to WSMW Simon 987 not officially Jack format but probably similar. Audacity (formerly Entercom) but lately you get bombarded with the "Call Dad" HVAC ads around the clock. Who knew there could be a more annoying radio spot campaign than Kevin Powell (Motorsports and Foothills Ford). Been driving me to listen more to the locally owned Dick Broadcasting WKRR (Rock 92) when they are actually playing classic rock and not rebroadcasting their morning show. Apparently not worthy of the Call Dad advertising dollars. Periodically try several of the iHeart (formerly Clear Channel) stations around here but their signal seems to sound a bit flat often with too much background noise for my taste.

Sometimes can catch some appealing jazz or whatever on WNAA the NC A&T campus station.

Helps to listen at the hours when advertisers don't look to buy time also stations don't seem to do as many self promotions at those hours either.
 
Avid FM listener reporting. Lucky enough to live in a city with three public radio stations. One being talk a classic and lastly alternative. The two local HS student run stations also listen too.
The only time I listen to commercial radio, iHeart or Clearchannel stations will be when testing a tuner out.
 
FWIW I had a long commute when I lived in Austin, TX. I got tired of listening to the same old stuff. I started listening to the classical station, though I had no "training." Now that's about all the radio I listen to. If you have reflexively avoided classical or jazz, give them some time and they may grow on you.

I hate what IBOC does to analog broadcasts, but when I drive a newer (rental or loaner) car, it is nice to have more choices from my local public radio stations.

I do miss the weather-only NOAA band I had on my 1990 BMW! Very handy in Austin where the weather is very changeable.

I know KBAQ always publishes their full playlists on their web site; I don't know whether any pop stations do.
 
I don't mind jazz or classical, but some of it is just too slow for me to deal with unless I'm trying to go to sleep. I do honestly like non-vocal music though. Its easier for me to just jam out than things I have to listen to and comprehend lyrics on.
 
OBMG74 said:
The confusing thing is that apparently iHeart has a lot of listeners.

Their ads sure don’t target younger people.
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For the rock stations 18 -35 is the magic age bracket. They have no interest in you if you are older than that.
 
Ya I miss the old days when new music Tuesday was a special event and even MTV had world premier videos. I try to listen while in the car but like everyone else, it's the same core 3-5 songs from the big bands. Sometimes while travelling, I find that out of the metro station that plays the 3rd or 4th hit or the little known band classics.

They must be making money, they haven't changed anything for at least 15 years. Remember when bad stations got a format revamp? It used to happen all the time, now it's very rare.

If I had some other investors, I thought making a radio bar might be fun. A place to have some suds and food and chat with the on-air DJ. An old radio station back home used to have a lounge area and pool. I met a few bands there (before their concerts) through my friend and it was good times.
 
my last local 70/80/90 station was just poisoned with political advertisements. I don't want to hear that stuff. It "forces" itself into too many aspects of life as it is and I don't need another source of it around.

Such a shame, it was an enjoyable local station. I understand a local station has to make money where it can, but this is just a step too far for me. They've resisted airing it up until now, which signifies a change in their station. Whether or not it's an economically forces change is irrelevant to me, I don't want to support it.

I'll stream or bluetooth from my phone from now on.

It's been fun FM and we'll always have fond memories of youth, but good-bye.
 
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funny thing - whether you enjoy FM really depends on your location, above all. But also your taste in music. Which can certainly change since the 70's.
Not everyone has the "same experience" as some negative posts.

I stream too, but the odd thing is, most of the stations I stream are live FM broadcasts from other cities, where folks are listening "over the air" on FM tuners.

I've been using tuners for a long time, and since the inception of online internet chat groups, (mid 90's ?) people have been saying how FM was dead, analog FM would turned off like TV, it sucks, etc.

And yet commercial free FM from college, community, and public stations continues to delver very satisfying music for many people that make the effort to explore the options.
but yeah, it depends on where your antenna is located.
Your local FM station formats are a reflection of the community you live in. If everyone likes country music, that is what they will play...
 
Bob@FM said:
And yet commercial free FM from college, community, and public stations continues to delver very satisfying music for many people that make the effort to explore the options.
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We have a few here that I immensely enjoy. A good antenna is needed, but worth it.

Most of the music from my youth I first heard on stereo FM. We only had a few stations in the Montana area I grew up in, but I think their product was still very good. The dial had space between stations, and if the conditions were right, we'd get stations skip in from as far away as AZ and Mexico.

I read an article that algorithms are used to determine corporate play lists and those playlists maximize broad listenership, and profits... not necessarily unique music that may or may not hit the target.
 
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