Ford Reconsiders, Now Keeping AM Radio

[radiofan2023]

Never had to do that (thankfully), but "Rollermania" was a thing...and yeah, it could go real wrong.

At least you were never a rollerskating rink DJ….

 

[davideduardo]

And, although some stats overlap services, it appears that the effect of inflation and a mini-recession over the last two years has caused OTA use to actually increase.

Thanks for the "like" on this, Kelly. It is amazing how few people today are unencumbered by facts and data, but will instantly believe "influencers" on the web who have no actual and factual data to burden their delightfully ignorant opinions. They are today's circus clowns.

 

[Kelly A]

Thanks for the "like" on this, Kelly. It is amazing how few people today are unencumbered by facts and data, but will instantly believe "influencers" on the web who have no actual and factual data to burden their delightfully ignorant opinions. They are today's circus clowns.

And there's a lot of them. BTW, I hate clowns! Particularly the ones in makeup and giant shoes riding in clown cars equipped with AM radio.🤡

 

[davideduardo]

And there's a lot of them. BTW, I hate clowns! Particularly the ones in makeup and giant shoes riding in clown cars equipped with AM radio.🤡

I detest clowns, and have never found them funny. Mostly, I find them frightening.

I have once or twice considered rewriting the "Sound of Music" song about "my" favorite things but reversing it to the most detestable. Clowns would be there, along with the IRS and robocalls.

 

[radiofan2023]

I detest clowns, and have never found them funny. Mostly, I find them frightening.

I have once or twice considered rewriting the "Sound of Music" song about "my" favorite things but reversing it to the most detestable. Clowns would be there, along with the IRS and robocalls.

I’d add tractorcades, the 1-877-Kars for Kids jingle and door to door roofing salesmen.

 

[davideduardo]

I’d add tractorcades, the 1-877-Kars for Kids jingle and door to door roofing salesmen.

Definitely the Kars-for-Kids. Maybe twice. And the My Pillow guy, for a variety of reasons.

 

[cc333]

Definitely the Kars-for-Kids. Maybe twice. And the My Pillow guy, for a variety of reasons.

Kars-for-Kids is a mainstay on KCBS, and I usually turn down the volume when I hear it because it gets kind of boring (It seems like KCBS airs more commercials than ever lately, so I tried an experiment wherein I recorded an hours' worth and stripped out the commercials and Audacy PSAs. It cut almost 15 minutes off the recording, if I remember correctly. I suppose they need to make money somehow).

As for the My Pillow guy, he's not that bad, really. Kinda a buffoon, though. In his commercials, his style is actually rather quaint and reminiscent of the kinds of infomercials I used to see back in the late 90s and early 2000s, which tended to be somewhat less melodramatic and a bit less overproduced.

He definitely should've stayed out of politics, though....

c

 

[radiofan2023]

Definitely the Kars-for-Kids. Maybe twice. And the My Pillow guy, for a variety of reasons.

When I first saw the commercial with Mike Lindell inside the couple’s medicine cabinet, I didn’t know whether to laugh at how ridiculous it was, or be disturbed. In case someone hasn’t seen it:

 

[cc333]

When I first saw the commercial with Mike Lindell inside the couple’s medicine cabinet, I didn’t know whether to laugh at how ridiculous it was, or be disturbed. In case someone hasn’t seen it:

Ah, yes, I've seen that one recently (My Pillow TWO POINT OH!!). It's... weird.

I wouldn't say it's disturbing, but it is definitely ridiculous.

I don't know why he went into politics. He should just stick to selling pillows (and now apparently also sheets, slippers, and all kinds of other sleep-related stuff).

Likewise, I feel that a certain other person should've just stuck with real estate development and TV game shows....

c

 

[michael hagerty]

(It seems like KCBS airs more commercials than ever lately, so I tried an experiment wherein I recorded an hours' worth and stripped out the commercials and Audacy PSAs. It cut almost 15 minutes off the recording, if I remember correctly. I suppose they need to make money somehow).

That's actually light for a news or news-talk format. I'd expect them to be at 18 minutes an hour. Music stations do 14.

 

[Kelly A]

That's actually light for a news or news-talk format. I'd expect them to be at 18 minutes an hour. Music stations do 14.

Was talking with someone high-up in the sales operation at a fairly major group. They decided to on certain smaller market stations, do the unthinkable: Shrink breaks. The reason was there were simply not enough local advertisers to keep the break length, and most of the PSA's used for filler are either old, or just garbage. BTW; for as awful as they are, Kars For Kids pays for those spots.

 

[michael hagerty]

Was talking with someone high-up in the sales operation at a fairly major group. They decided to on certain smaller market stations, do the unthinkable: Shrink breaks. The reason was there were simply not enough local advertisers to keep the break length, and most of the PSA's used for filler are either old, or just garbage. BTW; for as awful as they are, Kars For Kids pays for those spots.

I know it's been eons, but when I programmed music radio, the minutes of PSAs were unchanging....whatever it took to meet the requirement for the week, usually in off-hours.

I drew hot clocks for a range of spot loads. We NEVER made up for being undersold by packing PSAs in to stopsets in place of commercials. Promos, maybe---but never more than three per hour.

 

[davideduardo]

That's actually light for a news or news-talk format. I'd expect them to be at 18 minutes an hour. Music stations do 14.

I'm glad you mentioned this. Many wonder how news, talk and news/talk stations appealing to 45-64 or even just 55+ exist.

It's all rather simple math and logic: they run more spots an hour and can sell them a bit cheaper than the big 25-54 stations. At lower rates, they can attract a lot of local direct business that is not so demographics-focused. And by running about 4 more minutes an hour of spots, they can be among the top billers.

 

[TheBigA]

They decided to on certain smaller market stations, do the unthinkable: Shrink breaks.

Back when he bought CBS Radio, that had been one of the goals of David Field, particularly on rock stations.

But yes, the lack of local advertisers is a major problem. Some groups are simply providing more 'value' by bonusing spots to advertisers rather than using PSAs.

 

[awsherrill]

When I first saw the commercial with Mike Lindell inside the couple’s medicine cabinet, I didn’t know whether to laugh at how ridiculous it was, or be disturbed.

Maybe a callback to this series of commercials for a popular antiperspirant:
Right Guard Hi Guy!

 

[kfbkfb]

I just bought a Sony ICF-P27 AM/FM pocket radio at Walmart today ($24), the P27 box says: "Newly Developed Tuner IC Enables Easy Channel Selection and Long Battery Life" (also on the box - 94h in a battery shaped symbol), the P26 box makes no such claim.

Seems like Sony market research determined that there was enough of a market for a pocket AM/FM radio to spend money developing a new AM/FM tuner IC.


Kirk Bayne

 

[KeithE4]

I just bought a Sony ICF-P27 AM/FM pocket radio at Walmart today ($24), the P27 box says: "Newly Developed Tuner IC Enables Easy Channel Selection and Long Battery Life" (also on the box - 94h in a battery shaped symbol), the P26 box makes no such claim.

Seems like Sony market research determined that there was enough of a market for a pocket AM/FM radio to spend money developing a new AM/FM tuner IC.


Kirk Bayne

It's a DSP chip. The P26 it replaced was analog. DSP is nothing new anymore, except to attempt to simulate analog tuning when it actually tunes in 10 kHz steps. That's fine for the Western Hemisphere, and there are likely similar models that tune in 9 kHz steps for the rest of the world.

 

[davideduardo]

It's a DSP chip. The P26 it replaced was analog. DSP is nothing new anymore, except to attempt to simulate analog tuning when it actually tunes in 10 kHz steps. That's fine for the Western Hemisphere, and there are likely similar models that tune in 9 kHz steps for the rest of the world.

I saw one, not sure which, for sale in Chile and you could set it to 10 kHz or 9 kHz by holding down two or three buttons until it beeped. And again to go back.

 

[Theater of My Mind]

It's a DSP chip. The P26 it replaced was analog. DSP is nothing new anymore, except to attempt to simulate analog tuning when it actually tunes in 10 kHz steps. That's fine for the Western Hemisphere, and there are likely similar models that tune in 9 kHz steps for the rest of the world.

I think you mean it's an SDR tuner chip. If so, there should be no need for separate models for different parts of the world. It should be programmable via menu or keypress combination.

SDR (Software Defined Radio) tuners include DSP (Digital Signal Processing) functionality but its role is to process the audio quality and reduce noise.

 

[KeithE4]

I think you mean it's an SDR tuner chip. If so, there should be no need for separate models for different parts of the world. It should be programmable via menu or keypress combination.

Why? Barring propagation that allows Ancient Modulation reception across the oceans (it does happen, but it's rare), no listener in the Western Hemisphere will hear stations in Europe, Africa, or Asia, and vice versa. There's no reason for manufacturers to add circuitry (even if it's just one switch or pushbutton) to include both.

SDR (Software Defined Radio) tuners include DSP (Digital Signal Processing) functionality but its role is to process the audio quality and reduce noise.

SDR receivers can process RF directly, and have been able to for many years.