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why would anyone listen to FM T-radio in Philly for music

G

Gunsmoke

Banned
I just sampled the Philly metro dial, the main signals, each station had from 10 to 15 minutes of commercials per hour, just followed up with senseless chatter and repetitious songs. With HD sides, plus all the thousands of free music channels you can receive on the internet, either at home, car or just walking around outside, on the beach, parks, malls, many with free internet, your choice of any brand music with no commercials, and no signals fading out, why would anyone listen to the stale main signals in any large market. It seems the commercial loads are increasing on many stations in the market. I can understand local news and sports signals lasting but for music, how much longer can these signals exist. Age is no barrier, as I always witness young people listening to music on their smart phones.
 
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I think the easiest way to put this is you have two types of music listeners: I'll call one the explorer, the person that always seeks new material. There is the group that sees music as something that is comforting by being known and familiar. Just as there are some that listen to lyrics mostly and those that listen to instrumentation mostly, the person that enjoys music doesn't always listen for the same reason. Radio is about attracting more and more listeners, so they cater to the music lover that wants known and familiar. The struggle radio has is when the explorer dictates, it's much like the world traveler. One might head for the tropical island, another to the cold climate, one to the Orient and another to Europe. One prefers the city while the other seeks wide open spaces. It's impossible for radio to find the consensus to have the numbers needed to attract ad dollars. Simply put because you see radio as having too many ads, it is the evidence that the business plan is a success because advertising is based on results. If you saw lower and lower commercial loads, I'd agree something is wrong.
 
TheBigA said:
Because it's free, easy, and sufficient for what they want.

Why ask why? Go ahead and spend $14 a month for Sirius.
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HD sides are free, so are the thousands of music sites over the net. Satellite radio doesn't do it for me, why pay for decades channels that are just as repetitious as T radio formats, and Slacker is so much better then Sirius/XM's rock product. The 60's channel has more chatter then lets say WFAT or KFXM great on line free stations. Doesn't cost a dime for all this great music. I may be crazy but I enjoy sitting on the beach in July listening to Christmas music on my I phone.
 
b-turner said:
I think the easiest way to put this is you have two types of music listeners: I'll call one the explorer, the person that always seeks new material. There is the group that sees music as something that is comforting by being known and familiar. Just as there are some that listen to lyrics mostly and those that listen to instrumentation mostly, the person that enjoys music doesn't always listen for the same reason. Radio is about attracting more and more listeners, so they cater to the music lover that wants known and familiar. The struggle radio has is when the explorer dictates, it's much like the world traveler. One might head for the tropical island, another to the cold climate, one to the Orient and another to Europe. One prefers the city while the other seeks wide open spaces. It's impossible for radio to find the consensus to have the numbers needed to attract ad dollars. Simply put because you see radio as having too many ads, it is the evidence that the business plan is a success because advertising is based on results. If you saw lower and lower commercial loads, I'd agree something is wrong.
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Would you say the average T radio listener would listen to an AM signal for music they couldn't receive on an FM station. In other words, would someone put up with an AM signal to hear Classic Oldies, Classic Country, Standards, Old School Soul Music, even Heavy Metal or Blazin' Rap/Hip Hop. Or is the sound quality of FM more important, as for me, I'll take the music over sound quality, but maybe I'm the only one.
 
Would the “average” listen to AM? While the definition of average may vary, by and large, no, people will not listen to AM for music (certain exceptions apply—religious, ethnic, etc.)

But to the original theme, just because something doesn’t work for you doesn’t mean it doesn’t work for others. I’ve personally found streaming while driving spotty, at least on my route, and I’m not willing to risk data overages. So FM radio or my personal library, depending on my mood, would work just fine.

Your particular gripes are not necessarily shared by others.
 
I think the big challenge is getting word out. Most AM stations hope to be found, lacking the promotional budget to marketing themselves. Then, you have to sell it.

I tend to think a music format can make it on AM if it is niche enough or reaches a group of music lovers not served by the FM dial.
 
They lack the budget or resources because listeners, for the most part, long since moved on to FM (and later added additional options) for music (with the exceptions). I’m not sure what other niche could possibly bring people to AM for music in the face of that.
 
@ Gunsmoke ..... I'm supposing you meant a scan of just the FM dial? I'm from 100 miles NW of Philly and can't name a single AM station from there who plays -- for lack of a better term -- American Pop Music. The last I can recall showing in the ratings was the Philly Soul format on WDAS 1480. And I believe they've changed twice since then.

B-Turner has it nailed. Making an AM music station 'visible', as it were, isn't in the budget anymore. 'DAS appears to've been the last notable such niche format with listeners.
 
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I was just listening to one of my favorite internet sources for music (SLACKER DEEP DIVE 60'S) heard Don't Fool with FuManChu-Rockin' Ramrods, Prisoner of Love-James Brown and the kicker In A Gadda Da Vidda-Iron Butterfly the full l-o-n-g version, all in a row. Haven't heard that in over 40 years and yes it was very refreshing and some listeners would enjoy it also. T-radio's, classic rockers, the phony play what we want stations or Sirius/XM would never touch these gems.
 
Commercial terrestrial radio has a certain order that some currently find appealing. It's not usually my first choice in 2018 because I can remember a time and not very long ago, I was once 100,000 watt dedicated to terrestrial radio. I'm at increasingly conflicted odds these days. But for others today, it still is.

Non-commercial terrestrial radio is almost a completely different beast altogether. But already, easy listening, oldies, AAA and other discarded formats end up here.

But as commercial radio chases the kids for the sake of semi-relevance in an age where many young people have actually never even HEARD of a radio. This is not a joke. I introduced not one but FIVE teenagers to radio in the last THREE years. Again, I am not making this up. But I don't blame them at all. Or even their parents. High tech distracts. Look at where we are now talking.

But the point is terrestrial radio is now probably showing it's age. Which by having two teenage kids personally is not hard to observe. They're not growing up in the era of Gary Lockwood, Charlie & Ty, Crow & West and the legendary stuff of Seattle radio I grew up with. They want to cut to the chase. Which is music.

It doesn't bode well for the future of the local "air personality" on commercial radio stations at this rate (but let's be honest and face this; It isn't like anything else really has in the last 22 years.) And in 2018, this is where we are. And what's shaped in the past (right now) often sets the course for the discernible future.
 
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Gunsmoke said:
I was just listening to one of my favorite internet sources for music (SLACKER DEEP DIVE 60'S) heard Don't Fool with FuManChu-Rockin' Ramrods, Prisoner of Love-James Brown and the kicker In A Gadda Da Vidda-Iron Butterfly the full l-o-n-g version, all in a row. Haven't heard that in over 40 years and yes it was very refreshing and some listeners would enjoy it also. T-radio's, classic rockers, the phony play what we want stations or Sirius/XM would never touch these gems.
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SiriusXM actually plays the last two occasionally. But you're right: Don't Fool with FuManChu (what?) by the Rockin' Ramrods (who?), an uber-stiff by any measuring stick, has never been heard on that service. You and, maybe, the members of the band may be the only people on this planet who think that's something that needs to be fixed.
 
Bongwater said:
But as commercial radio chases the kids for the sake of semi-relevance in an age where many young people have actually never even HEARD of a radio. This is not a joke. I introduced not one but FIVE teenagers to radio in the last THREE years. Again, I am not making this up.
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Not buying it, sorry. Never heard of a radio? What was that rectangular thing in the middle of the dash in mommy's car, then?
 
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