Radio General - Is it dead, alive, or on life support while being raped by Clean Channel

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

Awhile back I had to go through Detroit, Michigan to enter Canada. In the process of this long midnight hour style drive I happened upon a local radio station strong enough to reach. Was a pure Jazz station broadcasting artist I'd never heard of and probably never will again. The host was obviously some aged black guy who'd been doing this for forever.

Lot of media that uses "radio" as a setting nowadays has it as a local station. (Nightville, ect.) But local now doesn't really seem the same when either their signal strength is the entire state or it's owned by a larger media company like Clear Channel/iHeartMedia. Though I've read that there are still small local stations in the boonies of Appalachia and in like rural Africa.

As online creation and sharing on the capital I Internet has become the norm now It seems instead of what used to be public access style late night shows now we simply get podcast like Therapy Geko.

There are options like Radio Garden out there, but it really comes down to how long that will even last.

Is radio still viable and is any of it still interesting or not corporate owned? Do you know any interesting shows in your local area or have stories of old radio programs? Any experience with AM style stuff? I'd like to talk to people more about it.

 

[herefortheactualthreads]

radio will be viable if you sit in a bunker while the nuke rockets are going kaboom. if we loose internet and tv then yeah.

 

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

radio will be viable if you sit in a bunker while the nuke rockets are going kaboom. if we loose internet and tv then yeah.

I recently watched that documentary Empire of Dust and they splice in bits from a local radio host. Guy is the best part and it made me wonder if stuff like that even still exist. The guy essentially said "if you've got issues with my music choice I'll be at X bar after I finish the show and you can tell me there."

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

Radio has been going out of business in five years for nearly a century

 

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

Radio has been going out of business in five years for nearly a century

What actually keeps it going? Is it just such a well established form of media that you can't really realistically kill it?

 

[Linksys WRT]

Empire of Dust

I was just about to mention Carlo Kalombe. Truly the king of the Empire of Dust.

Radio is super cool. I have a scanner that I use to listen in on amateur stations, which is cool, but on the topic of music I have a few public stations that I like. They're generally run by local community colleges or the like. I'd love to link them but I'm afraid it's a bit too revealing. If I want to hear some cool shit I've never heard of, public radio is the way to go. I Shazam'd this one a while ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkHTuwHaeQI

and I caught this one too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVePE9QKV8M&list=RDYVePE9QKV8M&start_radio=1

Look local. Public radio is the best. I want the cool stuff I've never heard before.

 

[NH-8340]

I listen to the radio sometimes on this little gadget I bought.

Was $20 on eBay. Retekess V115. It has support for AM, FM, and even shortwave. The last of the three is really cool because at night (and with a bit of luck) you can pick up broadcasts from thousands of miles away. Most of the shortwave stations here in the US are typically religious programs, but every once in a while you can find something interesting. I picked up a broadcast from Brazil last week, and just barely managed to get an audible signal from some Vatican radio too.
Of course this hunk of Chinesium has its problems, works for me well enough though. Look at Tecsun radios if you have a higher budget than me (like $80 USD).

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

There are options like Radio Garden out there, but it really comes down to how long that will even last.

It clearly isn't dying, probably can get subsidized in some places because of the disaster relief angle, and now you can easily listen to any station in the world. If I want to listen to CNA938 in Singapore, I can do that in seconds.

The barrier to entry for online-only stations is low since they don't have to operate a transmitter. Even lower if the streamer isn't paying licensing fees for anything, like some really tiny niche channels wouldn't.

https://kiwifarms.st/threads/good-online-digital-radio-stations.219047/

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

it also gets cheaper from hardware
like Zara does 95% of what station automation needs even pro grade
and you can do an internet connection to the tower instead of the old beemer

 

[888Flux]

I am going to shill for the Ham radio thread
and also the Number Stations thread by @Hey Johnny Bravo

 

[Brenda Holiday]

Best thing around here is when the pop station takes a break from the generic slop and does their weekend special, the host genuinely has fun and you can request any song you want. Half the enjoyment is hearing people call in. Other local listener supported station plays the good shit but that one doesn't come in clear and 99% of the time it's bluegrass which gets old. Classic rock station sneaks in a deep cut occasionally, I listen to them out of habit. I wanted to do pirate radio a while back but I have no knowledge on the subject... probably a bad idea anyways. It seems like fun to be a radio dj.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

Best thing around here is when the pop station takes a break from the generic slop and does their weekend special, the host genuinely has fun and you can request any song you want. Half the enjoyment is hearing people call in. Other local listener supported station plays the good shit but that one doesn't come in clear and 99% of the time it's bluegrass which gets old. Classic rock station sneaks in a deep cut occasionally, I listen to them out of habit. I wanted to do pirate radio a while back but I have no knowledge on the subject... probably a bad idea anyways. It seems like fun to be a radio dj.

rock station back in the day would do payola weekend for charity like memorial day weekend
but bullshits like Alice's Resteraunt cost extra

 

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

They're generally run by local community colleges or the like.

Look local. Public radio is the best. I want the cool stuff I've never heard before.

See I've lived in and around some college towns and it's always a fun surprise when you find out that student radio stations are still a thing.

I listen to the radio sometimes on this little gadget I bought.
The last of the three is really cool because at night (and with a bit of luck) you can pick up broadcasts from thousands of miles away. Most of the shortwave stations here in the US are typically religious programs, but every once in a while you can find something interesting.

Even those religious programs can be fun if you've got a guy who's like an old style "Fire and brimstone" type.

I am going to shill for the Ham radio thread
and also the Number Stations thread by @Hey Johnny Bravo

Great threads I'd also recommend.

Classic rock station sneaks in a deep cut occasionally, I listen to them out of habit. I wanted to do pirate radio a while back but I have no knowledge on the subject... probably a bad idea anyways. It seems like fun to be a radio dj.

One time I randomly heard "Roundabout" by Yes on a radio station in a different part of my state and it floored me that they could/would play it. Honestly was excited by it.
I've also considered the pirate radio route as in the past I've been told I really have a voice for radio and being a DJ seems pretty fun.

 

[Brenda Holiday]

One time I randomly heard "Roundabout" by Yes on a radio station in a different part of my state and it floored me that they could/would play it.

That's really funny because Roundabout is on heavy rotation right now on the classic rock station. It normally isn't though, don't know why but occasionally they'll play a certain track more often then slowly stop.

 

[Kofi Drinka]

Cars still use FM radio. Most the big stations are bought up under mega stations now and they charge subscription models for online options to make money. You can get main station and the last 5 decade stations free but if you want Hard rock it's a subscription. They use the same presenters to host all the stations and cut in the segments between songs as they run out.

I wish there were good talk radio stations online. Podcasts killed that genre and it lacks the channel surfing discovery when you pick who you follow.

 

[ChaosReignsOnSomeSaturday]

That's really funny because Roundabout is on heavy rotation right now on the classic rock station. It normally isn't though, don't know why but occasionally they'll play a certain track more often then slowly stop.

It's just such a long song that I never thought especially nowadays it'd get air time.