Nope. Traffic reports are live 24/7 even when news is pre-recorded (I think starting at 1 or 2 AM)
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KYW Celebrates 60th Year
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Since you stopped they are using Accuweather again and stopped Reporters Roundup. I don’t have time to re-read your post and see what else you’ve complained about that is no longer the case
They recently added an hour long week in review show Saturdays and Sundays at 3 om. It’s worth a listen.
I do wish they still had a Harrisburg reporter. Because you’re not listening anymore you are missing Pat Loeb who is their city hall reporter and sometimes has scoops you can’t read or hear elsewhere. Kristen Johanson has done some long form investigative reporting (multi-part series).
But they used to have school numbers. And for that, they must wear the brand of shame.
I haven’t noticed that it’s any better or worse than it ever has been. They still do traffic and weather on the 2’s and cover national and local stories in between. I will grant you that their traffic reports are hit or miss but they’ve been that way for as long as I can remember.
Here is more on KYW Radio as it turns 60 for the All News format.
The worldwide playing of "We Are The World", I assume. I heard it on another (non DelVal market) station.
A few years back I was on my way home from Southern NJ. I had KYW on, and they alerted me of a massive traffic jam that would have affected me, had I not been listening. Took their advice, and glad I did. What was that again about " not being relevant " in 2025? When I needed them the most, they were there for me.
The operative words are: "A few years back." KYW gets traffic reports from Total Traffic, owned by I Heart Radio. Their reports are also heard on several other stations in the area. Total Traffic gets the information from road monitoring companies which also feed various smartphone apps. The apps give you alerts immediately - no waiting 10 minutes - on problems relevant to your location or route - no having to listen a litany of back-ups.
By that logic, radio (and tv for that matter) aren’t even necessary. Why tune in if you can just stream or pop in a CD or DVD or check your phone for alerts? One thing you should consider is that recorded music existed decades before most people even had access to a radio and yet over 100 years later almost 90% of the population still listens to it weekly.
Also, when people are barreling down a highway at 80 MPH, the last thing they should be doing is checking their phone screen for traffic alerts. That’s when live radio comes in very handy.
When kids in the 40’s started buying 78’s, radio was there. When they switched over to 45’s in the 50’’s, radio was there. And finally, after 8 track tapes were invented in the 60’s people said there was no more need for radio because you could literally bring your music library along with you on the road. Since then the technology has shifted to cassettes, CD’s, streaming, and now back to vinyl records.
And through all of those advancements over the years, one thing has remained constant. Radio. It was here before us, and I guarantee it’ll be here after us.
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Do you even have a smartphone? They can talk to you if there is an alert. Many cars have dashboard screens.
Records came into common use early in the 20th century - not in the 40s. Attempts were made to put record players in cars but the attempts failed. 8-track and cassettes came into use about the same time in the 60s. There were problems with 8-track and that technology didn't last. But people were putting one of the other into their cars. Then people put CD players in cars. Now streaming or music stored on smart phones or USB drives.
Radio will be around only in the sense that smartphones are wireless technology. But newer technologies do many of the things old style broadcast radio used to do and do them a lot better. No need to sit listening to somebody read a bunch of numbers to find out if school is closed. No need to hear about a traffic jam when you're already in it (or when it's already been cleared).
The broadcast era is over. Welcome to the on-demand era.
Thank you. When I said a few years back I literally meant 2-3, not 20 or whatever. But regardless of what year it is we still have traffic jams, and I avoided one thanks to radio. I need to wear glasses to even read the screen on my phone, yet don't need them for driving. Which means I'd have to stop every time to look at the phone vs radio. I don't do enough driving to warrant having one of those GPS maps, I'm sure they are convenient to have. Not knocking modern devices, yes they are great, but my eyes aren't.
8 tracks are fun. I record my playlists onto them to this day. With the right tapes and gear, they sound very good.
Anyway, yes I have a smartphone. And according to said smartphone, 88% of the population listens to radio weekly so your statement about the broadcast era being over is inaccurate. There’s no sense in debating it further, it’s simply untrue.
I do agree with you about school closure numbers; dropping them is just one of many examples of how radio has evolved over the years and will continue to evolve in the future. Perhaps you are part of the 12% who doesn’t listen but if so I’m not sure why you’d be here in the first place.
Regarding records, I said earlier that recorded music existed decades before radio was common, not invented in the 40’s.
Finally, when it comes to traffic reports, every 10 minutes KYW has a sponsor for them so obviously businesses and individuals still consider them an asset. Your smart phone can tell you there is a slow down or an accident a few miles ahead and perhaps that’s sufficient for some but there are many others who still prefer to hear a live report. Maybe it’s the potential for more detailed information. Maybe it’s the human connection. Or maybe it’s both.
To qualify for that 88 percent (assuming the figure is accurate) someone has to listen for five minutes, once a week. How long ago was this figure obtained and what method was used to obtain it? Self-reporting is inherently unreliable and no qualified social scientist puts much faith in it. Even if based on PPMs, the sample is still self-selected (people have to agree to participate, which is inherent bias). But anyway you look at it, radio use (like newspaper readership, movie attendance and live OTA TV viewing) has been and is in steady decline. Use of obsolete technology doesn't end instantly.
A few weeks ago. The method was Nielsen PPM. The basis is now 3 minutes, not 5:
Radio: ‘We Have The Reach.’
Arby’s has the meat. Radio has the reach! That was the rallying call from Pierre Bouvard at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Bouvard, Cumulus Media/Westwood One Audio Active Group
What's in decline is the time spent listening. It's been in steady decline for over 30 years as the use of other devices have chipped away. This is why radio companies are shifting resources away from broadcast radio and diversifying to other usage of their content.
In the case of an all-news station like KYW, they own a lot of exclusive content. The goal is to find multiple ways to monetize that content. Hubbard's WTOP has done a great job of that. Prior to the bankruptcy, Audacy was not very good at capitalizing on its content advantage. We'll see if that improves under new management.
Yes, but...
Average listening time per week in 2000 was between 18 and 21 hours, depending on the market. Today it is between 5 and 6 hours. Radio revenue, in inflation-adjusted dollars, is off over 2/3 since 2005.
KYW has not received traffic from Total Traffic in 8 years, back when Audacy was still CBS.
CBS Radio Moves Traffic Reports To Radiate Media
CBS Radio will move production of its traffic reports to Radiate Media starting April 1, 2017 with Radiate handling national
radioinsight.com
Audacy moved traffic reporting in house. Stevie Reece's Facebook and Linked In pages say she works for Audacy, not Total Traffic.
You should really put this quote in your signature. It more or less addresses just about every single complaint lodged on this board.
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