So I want to listen to Mix 2 online for some dance music right now, and instead I hear public affairs programming at this "graveyard" hour. I check the HD1's stream, and it's playing music.
The FCC ensures that radio is supposed to serve the public by requiring a certain number of hours of public affairs programming per month. The stations serve the public at 5 or 6 in the morning on Sunday, a time when almost no one listens to the radio. Mix 106.5 is further ensuring no one hears it by putting it on the HD2.
There's honestly no point to even require public affairs programming, since stations will air it at times no one listens to the radio. And now they air it on HD stations. It's a waste of time to produce the show, it's a waste of time for the people being interviewed because no one will hear them, and it doesn't serve the public interest to have it at 5 in the morning on an HD2. The public interest is better served by keeping sleepy drivers awake by playing the regular music format. If someone wants to hear local news or talk, they'll tune to a public radio station or WBAL. People won't go out of the way and buy an HD radio, wake up at 5AM on Sunday, and tune to 106.5-HD2.
The FCC ensures that radio is supposed to serve the public by requiring a certain number of hours of public affairs programming per month. The stations serve the public at 5 or 6 in the morning on Sunday, a time when almost no one listens to the radio. Mix 106.5 is further ensuring no one hears it by putting it on the HD2.
There's honestly no point to even require public affairs programming, since stations will air it at times no one listens to the radio. And now they air it on HD stations. It's a waste of time to produce the show, it's a waste of time for the people being interviewed because no one will hear them, and it doesn't serve the public interest to have it at 5 in the morning on an HD2. The public interest is better served by keeping sleepy drivers awake by playing the regular music format. If someone wants to hear local news or talk, they'll tune to a public radio station or WBAL. People won't go out of the way and buy an HD radio, wake up at 5AM on Sunday, and tune to 106.5-HD2.