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Boston FM need to get in Touch ( 106.1)

R

rapking

Guest
Its a shame that the only Urban A/C FM station in Boston , is on a Pirate 106.1 Touch FM . Boston Need a FM Urban A/C ( Yeah I said it and I will keep saying it , until it happen ). Touch Website http://touchfm.org/ . Boston radio dial is so awful right Now . Im not a fan of this Jack ( No D J stations 1090,92.9 and 93.7) take over stations . If I want to Listen to Music without local D J's , I can listen to the Music Choice Channels, on Comcast Cable ( better than Boston radio, no DJ Crap )Like I said before , College Stations and Pirate Stations are only Music stations worth listening to , in Boston . Why so many FM Crappy Talk shows on sunday Mornings ??
 
>> Why so many FM Crappy Talk shows on sunday Mornings ??

Not as many listeners then, so they dump these shows (to satisfy FCC requirements for public service)
there. Touch FM doesn't have to satisfy these requirements as they are an illegal operation.
Lots of rap/R&B on satellite radio, I notice, often including those Naughty Words the FCC
deems offensive. Hear the songs without the bleeps!
 
rapking said:
Its a shame that the only Urban A/C FM station in Boston , is on a Pirate 106.1 Touch FM . Boston Need a FM Urban A/C ( Yeah I said it and I will keep saying it , until it happen ). Touch Website http://touchfm.org/ . Boston radio dial is so awful right Now . Im not a fan of this Jack ( No D J stations 1090,92.9 and 93.7) take over stations . If I want to Listen to Music without local D J's , I can listen to the Music Choice Channels, on Comcast Cable ( better than Boston radio, no DJ Crap )Like I said before , College Stations and Pirate Stations are only Music stations worth listening to , in Boston . Why so many FM Crappy Talk shows on sunday Mornings ??
Click to expand...

I was at the Boston Center for the Arts last month to see a play. Would you believe Touch 106.1 was advertizing in the program? You can call it a pirate or you can call it community radio. I'm impressed to see Touch active in the arts community.
 
While I cannot condone what the pirates are doing, Ed has a good point. "Touch 106.1" attempts to fill a big void in the market that none of the conventional broadcasters have seen fit to address.

It demonstrates that there is something really wrong when the public's airwaves have been sold off to the highest bidders and when those bidders program stations based on stereotypical notions about the marketplace. Yes, pirate broadcasters are breaking the law and that should not be something that we endorse. But it is sad that we end up needing such broadcasters because the legal ones have so ignored certain communities.

Boston's radio market today is slightly reminiscent of radio in Britain - circa 1965. They had popular pirates too - because the legal broadcasters chose to ignore the public's changing tastes. Over there, they had multiple BBC signals and that was it. In Boston now, it's rock, rock, classic rock, classic rock, alternative rock, lite rock, rock-based oldies - and that's about it. Almost nothing to serve those who prefer R&B music. That this has gone on for so long just amazes me. Even Fort Wayne, Indiana has more programming diversity. What does that tell you?
 
BRNout said:
Boston's radio market today is slightly reminiscent of radio in Britain - circa 1965. They had popular pirates too - because the legal broadcasters chose to ignore the public's changing tastes. Over there, they had multiple BBC signals and that was it. In Boston now, it's rock, rock, classic rock, classic rock, alternative rock, lite rock, rock-based oldies - and that's about it. Almost nothing to serve those who prefer R&B music. That this has gone on for so long just amazes me. Even Fort Wayne, Indiana has more programming diversity. What does that tell you?
Click to expand...

It tells me to keep a large collection of CD's close by? This way...I can program the music I want without the hype and stopsets that run as long as 7 minutes! :eek:

argytunes
 
argytunes said:
BRNout said:
Boston's radio market today is slightly reminiscent of radio in Britain - circa 1965. They had popular pirates too - because the legal broadcasters chose to ignore the public's changing tastes. Over there, they had multiple BBC signals and that was it. In Boston now, it's rock, rock, classic rock, classic rock, alternative rock, lite rock, rock-based oldies - and that's about it. Almost nothing to serve those who prefer R&B music. That this has gone on for so long just amazes me. Even Fort Wayne, Indiana has more programming diversity. What does that tell you?

It tells me to keep a large collection of CD's close by? This way...I can program the music I want without the hype and stopsets that run as long as 7 minutes! :eek:

argytunes
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

or an MP3 player ;D
 
raccoonradio said:
>> Why so many FM Crappy Talk shows on sunday Mornings ??

Not as many listeners then, so they dump these shows (to satisfy FCC requirements for public service)
there. Touch FM doesn't have to satisfy these requirements as they are an illegal operation.
Lots of rap/R&B on satellite radio, I notice, often including those Naughty Words the FCC
deems offensive. Hear the songs without the bleeps!
Click to expand...

You SURE about public service requirements? They certainly were real back in the '60s, but I was under the impression that the FCC ditched all such requirements more than a decade ago.
 
pbf1 said:
BRNout said:
Boston's radio market today is slightly reminiscent of radio in Britain - circa 1965.
Click to expand...


Really? Which stations does OUR government own and operate?
Click to expand...

Check your dictionary for the word "reminiscent" - hint: it doesn't mean equal. I was simply drawing a parallel between two underserved audiences that those who control the marketplace are not addressing. In Britain, it was the government; in today's Boston, it is a cabal of a few big corporations who act to squeeze anyone else out (e.g. CC's programming of Kiss and JAMN).

Even the simplest mind should be able to make sense of this analogy. At least, I thought so.
 
DanStrassberg said:
but I was under the impression that the FCC ditched all such requirements more than a decade ago.
Click to expand...


Still have to file quarterlies indicating what issues the COL has, and what broadcasting has been done to deal with them. The 30-minute (buried) show still looks good on paper, so many (maybe most, not sure) are still doing it.

(An FCC license is a terrible thing to waste!)
 
DanStrassberg said:
You SURE about public service requirements? They certainly were real back in the '60s, but I was under the impression that the FCC ditched all such requirements more than a decade ago.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sure. Any FCC inspection now includes a check of the local public file, and if you don't have the required quarterly issues-and-programs report, a fine is a certainty. The requirements to report how much news and public-service programming a station ran at license renewal time went away decades ago, but the FCC still insists that you document every quarter what local issues are and how the station's programming addressed those issues.
 
I agree with you Ed (rapking), I am caucasian, and I love soul and r&b music, and it's amazing that Boston, even with 25% of the population African-American, has no FM Urban AC. So much damn rock and even Oldies 103, North Shore 104.9, and 105.7 WROR tend not to play much 70's and 80's soul and r&b music, and you will only hear it occasionally on Easy 99.1 and Magic 106.7 So there is definitely a void in Boston radio for Urban AC. Even Portland, Maine has an LP fm on 105.1, WJZP, that plays smooth jazz during the day, and Urban AC and jazz at night.
 
radiojay1 said:
I agree with you Ed (rapking), I am caucasian, and I love soul and r&b music, and it's amazing that Boston, even with 25% of the population African-American, has no FM Urban AC. So much damn rock and even Oldies 103, North Shore 104.9, and 105.7 WROR tend not to play much 70's and 80's soul and r&b music, and you will only hear it occasionally on Easy 99.1 and Magic 106.7 So there is definitely a void in Boston radio for Urban AC. Even Portland, Maine has an LP fm on 105.1, WJZP, that plays smooth jazz during the day, and Urban AC and jazz at night.
Click to expand...

I'm with you radiojay, being another caucasian who loves soul/R&B music. Here in Philly (where I am stationed at the moment), I like to listen to WDAS-FM and WRNB, two Urban ACs. Each plays great music and Boston would be well served by either one.

The idea that the audience must necessarily be black and only black is absurd. Would it be a large percentage? Sure. But, this isn't like a Spanish language format which would ONLY be listened to by latinos. Non-blacks DO listen to "urban" formats. So, you can't just state the percentage of blacks in the market and leave it at that. Because to do so is making a mistake by using old stereotypes.
 
Hey, I like R&B/Soul too! I just think that the reality is that the colglomerates here will not do it, for reasons that I have stated in the past.
 
I'm Caucasian and I love blues. The African-American tradition that inspired rock and roll/R&B soul, etc. The blues show I'm a part of will touch upon basic blues, soulful blues, folk/country/Delta, New Orleans, gospel,
piano based, guitar or harmonica based, and from a variety of eras. Thankfully college and public stations
(and some commercial outfits) can bring you the likes of Albert Collins, Roomful of Blues, Marcia Ball, Saffire The Uppity Blues Women, Howlin' Wolf, Cephas and Wiggins, Etta James, and more.

"The blues had a baby and they named it rock'n'roll"
"Say! That Led Zepplin song 'Whole Lotta Love' sounds a bit too much like Willie Dixon's
'You Need Love' (sung by Muddy Waters)... :)
 
I think he was referring more specifically to the inner city which has hovered between 25-30% black for about the past 20 years...and that is per the US Census Bureau. Of course, the radio market as defined by Arbitron has a much lower percentage...

And I am another Caucasian guy who enjoys R&B music as well...

pbf1 said:
spilot113 said:
radiojay1 said:
...even with 25% of the population African-American.
Click to expand...

Just curious....where did you get that figure?
Click to expand...

Sounds like the dreams of someone wishing for an Urban AC.

(Jay: it's 6%, not 25%.)
Click to expand...
 
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