The beauty of SXM is that they can program to an audience like me that terrestrial radio has thrown overboard. That leaves the OTA radio stations and the business in general out in the cold when it comes to my dollars. And clearly they want it that way. So there ya go.
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Aug. 2025 6+
- Thread starter secondchoice
- Start date
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
You still miss the point, but thanks for playing. Don Pardo, tell him what the consolation prizes are.
Thanks, Mr Richards. The consolation prizes are SXM gets paid. OTA garbage in ATL doesn't. And whatever you are the "Program Director" of doesn't either. No argument from me.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
You're welcome, and now I have a question for you.
Why, if you are paying for the privilege of being an outlier, do you even bother coming here to complain about the programming you have decided you do not want?
Oh, and my being who I am matters to my clients. It doesn't have to matter to you.
I don't come here to complain. I've come to this site for 13 years because I love radio. I own radios and I like to talk about radio and read what experts in the field have to say about radio. I love DX, I love shortwave. I live in metro Atlanta, I don't care for local Atlanta radio but I am entitled to my opinion about local radio. This is in the Atlanta portion of this board.
Why do you come here to start arguments with people who have no interest in arguing?
Why do you come here to start arguments with people who have no interest in arguing?
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
Because people like you are the ones who actually start them, by turning answers to questions about terrestrial radio into excuses to bash same and extol the virtues of SiriusXM or other platforms.
I think my question is quite reasonable. There's no logical reason for you to be concerned at all about local radio, since you have yourself openly admitted that you have no use for it.
Any arguments come as a result of people who have found their own solutions but insist on tearing down the ones they rejected. And I answer based on still being in terrestrial radio, still making money doing it, and becoming more and more tired of reading posts such as I described in my first sentence.
If you cannot understand that, you have zero business questioning me.
Your question is garbage. You called me an outlier. You aren't in the Atlanta market. You don't know what local radio is like around here.You don't know what it was like to lose Ross and Wilson. You don't know what is was like to lose 96 Rock. You don't know anything about Atlanta. So you just stay in California and live your dream and let me live here and bash what I know. I've lived through it and I've earned the right to bash.
The things you are seeing in Atlanta are a microcosm of what we are seeing nationally and even internationally.
Station formats that are no longer profitable are changed. That may be because the audience has aged out of advertiser relevance or because there are too many similar stations on that field.
Talent is changed because today's radio can't afford expensive shows or because a particular talent no longer fits the style and generational appeal that the station has moved into. Seacrest replaced Rick Dees, etc.
Radio can afford to do much less because inflation adjusted revenue is off about 60% in the last two decades and listening levels are at about 25% of what they were around 1999.
In general, I will add that many radio professionals are quite able to evaluate "markets they don't live in" and their opinions can help local listeners understand the changes.
Oh, and "outlier" is a term of the trade for people who will not be satisfied by anything that one-for-many radio and programmed streams can offer. An "outlier" is someone who is uniquely so different that they have to be ignored when evaluating research and programming decisions.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
And you, sir, do not understand that what happens in your market has parallels elsewhere.
I do know what it is like to lose a favorite air talent, or a favorite format. And I have experience with both of those situations going back over 30 years.
I could claim, for example, that when The Edge went off the air here in L.A. in 1989, it was as traumatic as your losing 96 Rock. I don't have to experience the exact same situation as you did to have felt the same way. But your statement above indicates that I had to or my own experiences are not valid. I do not have to "know" Atlanta to understand how you felt ... I only had to find a parallel experience to relate it to.
I called you an outlier because that is what we in the business call people who we cannot satisfy with formats that are, by necessity, mass appeal. It is not an insult, it is a fact. But you deciding that my questions are "garbage" is an insult.
And every time anyone decides to throw up the same arguments that you and @MrRadio made to essentially say that terrestrial radio isn't worth your time because you choose to pay for SiriusXM (or anything else subscription-based) you not only insult those of us still working -- regardless of which market we are based in -- but you confirm your status as an outlier.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
K.M. still sees value in terrestrial radio, even if you don't. But I also accept that there are people like you and @Mitch Brewer who no longer see the value. As David and I both said, we have a term for you ... you are outliers, as in "outside the mass demographic we program for". And there is really nothing wrong with you making that decision for yourselves individually ... I only take umbrage when you make statements like the above, because you no more speak for me and my listeners than they and I speak for you.
I only question the wisdom of coming here and tearing apart terrestrial radio programming just because you don't like it and have already decided to listen elsewhere. It's sort of like you deciding to give up your old Toyota in favor of a Tesla and then telling everyone why the current Toyotas, which you are not driving, are pieces of sh*t.
I am a realist, believe it or not. But as I said before, when you come here and bash us for still being in terrestrial radio, it's an insult.
I hope you’re making lotsa money in OTA radio. I really do. Good luck to you.
It’s just not for me because I’m too old…at least that’s what I’m told. And I can see it in the formats offered (and not offered) in Atlanta. So I’ll go elsewhere. We had a good run, OTA radio and I. Z93, 94Q, Power 99, 96 Rock. Good memories.
There are thousands of free internet stations that are more to my liking without spending a cent on SXM.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
I am still not only making a living but also adding to the funds in my investment accounts. Thank you for those kind words.
And as I said, nothing wrong with you making that decision for yourself, and I not only respect that but will defend your personal right to do so. I am also glad you have plenty of positive memories of your past listening to terrestrial radio.
I have a sinking feeling that those are going to be "royaltied" out of existence as time goes by. The vast majority of those do not have the audience size to easily justify and withstand increases in operating cost. But they, too, do help serve the interests of the non-mass audience.
FYI: We never see "your dollars" because YOU don't pay for OTA radio. If YOU did, things would be different. We also don't make the rules.
So many angry people.
I wish someone would bring back the old Z93 for all of us old people.
🤣
Who's angry? I love everybody. I'm just stating the truth. You keep saying we're not getting your money. The truth is you never us paid a dime.
We were once your friend. We never asked you for anything. We didn't ask you for your money, your credit card number, your user name, your password. Never. Just turn us on, and we're here. That's what friends are for. Now you say we threw you overboard. But we're still here.
I stated my opinion. Mr Richardson, threw it back at me and tried to reinterpret what I said. At the end of his post, he said, right? And I responded, wrong, and I laid out again, my opinion. He wanted to argue, I stated that I wasn't arguing and he came back with this doozy:
"Funny, it sure sounds like one.
I said what I said and you then posted a response which started with you telling me that I am wrong and then making no new argument."
Just my opinion, but how can it be an argument if you agree that I made no new argument?
Have a good night kids.
"Funny, it sure sounds like one.
I said what I said and you then posted a response which started with you telling me that I am wrong and then making no new argument."
Just my opinion, but how can it be an argument if you agree that I made no new argument?
Have a good night kids.
K.M. Richards
Program Director, The Eighties Channel™
How hard is it to get my name right when it's right there on the screen while you are composing your post?
I used to indirectly pay for OTA radio by patronizing their advertisers.
I still would, if I heard their ads. But I don't. So I'm not.
In that way, the advertisers get your money. Once again, radio doesn't get your money because you don't pay us.
You buy products you want, not because they're advertised on the radio. You wouldn't buy something you don't want just to patronize an advertiser. Just as you wouldn't listen to music you don't like just because it's on the radio. Let's be honest.
The real problem isn't radio. It's where you live. If you lived in Buffalo, you'd have the kind of music you want on the radio. But you want to stay in Atlanta, and the demographics have changed. There are probably lots of other things that bother you about Atlanta besides the radio. People in Houston have similar complaints about radio. It's changed, and they feel it's deserted them. But what's really changed is the city where they live.
The fact of the matter is that the main complaint people have about radio is the advertising. So it's likely that if there was a station that played the music you like in Atlanta, you'd complain about the number of commercials, or the nature of those commercials. Because if you listen to music that aims at older people, you're not going to hear the kinds of advertisers you used to hear 25 years ago. You'd hear a lot of ads for prescription drugs and financial planning. In that way, you're better off with a commercial-free music service.