C
Classy Fred Blassie
Guest
AM or FM - the Binghamton radio market is so dire, so suckling the udders of the Clear Channel/Citadel piggies (and the "independently owned" stations are just the bottom-of-the-barrel in actually brining anything to the community) that upon my first month of returning to the area I bought a Sirius satellite radio for my home and had one installed in my car.
Binghamton radio had become insufferable. The FM dial was basically bogus “classic rock,” whatever hip moniker they slapped on the old “soft rock” format, and the same 6 artists on KGB hard drive being played all day (albeit they alternate the artists songs every three to four days), mediocre PBS affilaites with no local flavor, and WHRW - which sounds more like a wannabe of the local stations than anything (whatever happened to Uncle Pete???).
The AM dial is basically the same sports-talk/right wing rhetoric dominating the airwaves that most markets offer up; only with a bit more respite (ethnic stations and local-based talk stations offer respite from the big boys - but not in this market. The closest thing ot something different is picking up "radio Disney," and that's just vile)
Flash forward one year later: I recently realized I stopped listening to local radio altogether around the time I bought a Sirius boom box (my 3rd unit) for the office.
I'd like to add that several of my coworkers expressed similar disappointment with what the local radio market offers after being turned onto satellite radio and have since gone to the format (both Sirius and XM).
Compared to rarely talking about local radio at all (except to complain about how it used to be better than what it's become now); when the topic comes up in conversation we're usually glowing about the satellite offerings.
This market is joke and as a resident I felt nothing but contempt and scorn from the stations and their owners. This "new station," in the market appears to be a case of S. S. D. S. (the last "S" is not for "situation," but "station" in this case) and their horrible P. R. campaign where they wouldn't reveal what they were going to offer up as programming - only to serve up the same slop as another local station - was the last straw for me. I'll continue to put my dollars into something with a future and a company that doesn't hold its listeners in so much contempt that it renders the area a cultural Twilight Zone.
In any other city of similar or larger size/market the argument about "what about local news/emergencies/events/content" might hold water. Not in the Binghamton market, where it's more of a slap in the face and window dressing in between hours on the network feed/hard drive, than in offering up anything of value. This even applies to its pair of dismal NPR affiliates (both owned by the same people), and WHRW - which has the worst community relations of any college station I know. It's become near-impossible for locals to gain access during the summer and holiday breaks.
It is not without irony that I am about to leave the market and will be relocating to a city with better local origination programming on its AM and FM airwaves (Pittsburgh). I might end up splitting my listening time between satellite radio and terrestrial radio! It's going ot be nice knowing that I have that option again. I love satellite radio, but the lack of local information does tend to be a minor negative.
However, in Binghamton, given how much disdain the local stations have towards offering the community something economically viable AND different – I won't be wasting any time subjecting myself to the indignation that comes from the Broome County radio market: a region where a handful of Neros fiddle as its listeners are forced to burn with whatever is forced upon them.
Sorry. Tony Russell isn't "local programming." It's a death rattle and contemptuous insult to what the area used to offer on its airwaves (besides, his program is little more than low class crap).
Binghamton radio had become insufferable. The FM dial was basically bogus “classic rock,” whatever hip moniker they slapped on the old “soft rock” format, and the same 6 artists on KGB hard drive being played all day (albeit they alternate the artists songs every three to four days), mediocre PBS affilaites with no local flavor, and WHRW - which sounds more like a wannabe of the local stations than anything (whatever happened to Uncle Pete???).
The AM dial is basically the same sports-talk/right wing rhetoric dominating the airwaves that most markets offer up; only with a bit more respite (ethnic stations and local-based talk stations offer respite from the big boys - but not in this market. The closest thing ot something different is picking up "radio Disney," and that's just vile)
Flash forward one year later: I recently realized I stopped listening to local radio altogether around the time I bought a Sirius boom box (my 3rd unit) for the office.
I'd like to add that several of my coworkers expressed similar disappointment with what the local radio market offers after being turned onto satellite radio and have since gone to the format (both Sirius and XM).
Compared to rarely talking about local radio at all (except to complain about how it used to be better than what it's become now); when the topic comes up in conversation we're usually glowing about the satellite offerings.
This market is joke and as a resident I felt nothing but contempt and scorn from the stations and their owners. This "new station," in the market appears to be a case of S. S. D. S. (the last "S" is not for "situation," but "station" in this case) and their horrible P. R. campaign where they wouldn't reveal what they were going to offer up as programming - only to serve up the same slop as another local station - was the last straw for me. I'll continue to put my dollars into something with a future and a company that doesn't hold its listeners in so much contempt that it renders the area a cultural Twilight Zone.
In any other city of similar or larger size/market the argument about "what about local news/emergencies/events/content" might hold water. Not in the Binghamton market, where it's more of a slap in the face and window dressing in between hours on the network feed/hard drive, than in offering up anything of value. This even applies to its pair of dismal NPR affiliates (both owned by the same people), and WHRW - which has the worst community relations of any college station I know. It's become near-impossible for locals to gain access during the summer and holiday breaks.
It is not without irony that I am about to leave the market and will be relocating to a city with better local origination programming on its AM and FM airwaves (Pittsburgh). I might end up splitting my listening time between satellite radio and terrestrial radio! It's going ot be nice knowing that I have that option again. I love satellite radio, but the lack of local information does tend to be a minor negative.
However, in Binghamton, given how much disdain the local stations have towards offering the community something economically viable AND different – I won't be wasting any time subjecting myself to the indignation that comes from the Broome County radio market: a region where a handful of Neros fiddle as its listeners are forced to burn with whatever is forced upon them.
Sorry. Tony Russell isn't "local programming." It's a death rattle and contemptuous insult to what the area used to offer on its airwaves (besides, his program is little more than low class crap).