Bad radio format ideas

[davideduardo]

I don't care what anyone says. Stations like that are NOT operating in the public's best interest (or in their interest at all) and should be forced off the air. Even if they (only) came on during severe weather, people would still have to know that they are there. Which doesn't seem likely.

They don't come on for severe weather; they just come on to be able to say they are meeting an FCC requirement to keep the license alive.

It's likely not coincidental that this station went silent at the start of the recession. It is likely that what was a marginal station became unprofitable and could not find a buyer. At some point, they should surrender the license, but with no new AM daytimers being granted, that means that the community will never have another local service of that kind.

 

[firepoint525]

It's a 250 watt day-timer! Who cares? They're broadcasting to deer.

David kind of addressed that with his next message. I was down that way over the weekend, and didn't even bother trying to tune them in.

My point is that the FCC should pull the plug on these wannabe stations. I can name some (including some that I have worked for) which should probably leave the air.

 

[firepoint525]

They don't come on for severe weather; they just come on to be able to say they are meeting an FCC requirement to keep the license alive.
It's likely not coincidental that this station went silent at the start of the recession. It is likely that what was a marginal station became unprofitable and could not find a buyer. At some point, they should surrender the license, but with no new AM daytimers being granted, that means that the community will never have another local service of that kind.

And the FCC likely doesn't have the staff to oversee the station, and likely no one in Alamo still gives a damn enough to try to report them. It is situated between Jackson and Dyersburg, and is likely better served by stations in those locations. The county is relatively small, just like the county where I live. We lost our only hometown station last year, and despite efforts to bring it back, I don't see it returning. The station became a joke, and this station at Alamo still is a joke.

Fairview, here in middle TN, lost their station, too, but I don't think anyone ever really missed it.

 

[firepoint525]

WSEV 930 in TN is all "Tourist Radio". COMPLETE waste of frequency. Tourist radio is, and always should be, the 10 watters on 530 and 1610 (or other X-Band frequencies) - not a full power 930!

There are some very low-powered stations like that up and down the Natchez Trace Parkway that just repeat tourist information (sites up and down the parkway) over and over again. I listened to one of them while traveling the parkway, and the information was at least relevant to the stretch of parkway on which I was traveling at that time. I don't think that the particular "station" that I was listening to was on one of those frequencies, but then again, it is AM radio, and a very low-powered broadcast at that (in a rural area, no less) so who really cares? Drive a couple of miles further and you will lose it. Still, though, very pertinent information for where I was at the time. There are signs up and down the parkway telling you when you can tune in.

 

[gr8oldies]

Yes, those are TIS stations all over the state at 530, 1620 and wherever else TIS stations are heard

 

[GeneSavage]

I've joked about going to an "all golf game coverage" radio format for April Fools Day... can you imagine? :-D

 

[TheBigA]

I've joked about going to an "all golf game coverage" radio format for April Fools Day... can you imagine? :-D

It's been done.

 

[vchimpanzee]

There are some very low-powered stations like that up and down the Natchez Trace Parkway that just repeat tourist information (sites up and down the parkway) over and over again. I listened to one of them while traveling the parkway, and the information was at least relevant to the stretch of parkway on which I was traveling at that time. I don't think that the particular "station" that I was listening to was on one of those frequencies, but then again, it is AM radio, and a very low-powered broadcast at that (in a rural area, no less) so who really cares? Drive a couple of miles further and you will lose it. Still, though, very pertinent information for where I was at the time. There are signs up and down the parkway telling you when you can tune in.

In my motel room in the mountains I could pick up a station at 1610. The nearby interstate exit had a sign saying to tune to that frequency for information. I think the station may have had road work alerts or something like that. I've also seen these on 530 AM.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I've joked about going to an "all golf game coverage" radio format for April Fools Day... can you imagine? :-D

I've heard of this being done for actual golf events. Believe it or not, one station that did this was on FM.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Did anybody remember the "Movin'" format? I imagined it didn't last long.

Myrtle Beach SC still has it.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Here in Tennessee, TDOT has an all-traffic station at AM 1680, at least here in the Nashville area. So I am guessing that it is run by the state, and thus not a commercial operation. The messages just repeat over and over again, so it is definitely automated, and it must be relatively inexpensive to operate it. We pass by signs on the interstate telling us about the station, with an admonition to tune in whenever the lights on that sign are flashing. Problem is, too often, the lights are flashing when there is no urgent or especially important information on that frequency. The amber alert signs over the interstates often do a better job with that type of information.

I see this has been mentioned.

 

[nd2023]

How about a station that only plays one song on repeat: Nelly - Hot In Herre

105.7 in San Francisco did that recently

 

[davideduardo]

How about a station that only plays one song on repeat: Nelly - Hot In Herre

105.7 in San Francisco did that recently

Playing the same song over and over for several days goes back to the 60's at least. It's been done hundreds if not thousands of times.

The first time I recall hearing it was around 1961 when Gordon McLendon played a song over and over on 1390 in Chicago prior to launching WYNR.

 

[bobdavcav]

Getting back to the traveler advisory stations, I've picked up a couple of these from my home as well. The most recent one I can remember was when they were working on 45th street in Seattle's University District. It was a very weak signal, but I was surprised to pick it up about 10 miles or so away.

 

[GeneSavage]

I've heard of this being done for actual golf events. Believe it or not, one station that did this was on FM.

Oh, man... I'd LOVE to hear this!!! Do you know if there are any airchecks floating around? Hard to imagine this being much more exciting than listening to grass grow, or paint dry... :-D

 

[firepoint525]

I remember a former pastor at a church that I formerly attended say that he intentionally did not have the Lord's Supper (communion) on Sundays when we would be on the air, and the reason for that is the long passages of silence between events, which would not translate well on radio.

I can't help but imagine that golf would be the same way.

 

[davideduardo]

I can't help but imagine that golf would be the same way.

WPRA, a station in Puerto Rico, broadcast domino tournaments in the 70's... and amazingly, they pulled it off with the lifestyle commentator (I'd call it the "color" guy, but since dominoes are black and white, that does not seem to fit),

 

[nd2023]

The greatest hits of the 20s and 30s, without the rap, Older Than Oldies Radio. Most of the target demographic would be dead. Heck, the radio wasn't even popular in the early 20s.

 

[CTListener]

I've joked about going to an "all golf game coverage" radio format for April Fools Day... can you imagine? :-D

Play-by-play of all PGA tournaments plus Ryder Cup, Masters, US Open and British Open has been on Sirius XM for several years. It's a niche format, obviously. Since most people who don't follow golf find it boring to the nth degree, it's no surprise that there's hardly any casual audience for the sport on radio, and it's also no surprise that the mainstream response to the concept of golf on radio is laughter and derision.

 

[davideduardo]

The greatest hits of the 20s and 30s, without the rap, Older Than Oldies Radio. Most of the target demographic would be dead. Heck, the radio wasn't even popular in the early 20s.

Radio in the early 20's (starting with the licensing of hundreds of stations in 1922) was wildly popular, spawning at least a dozen national magazines and creating an industry for sets and components that literally had thousands of manufacturers as well as retail locations and service facilities.