New XM Subscriber Asks: Who Needs FM?

[rmerrill]

OK... so I have my new XM radio in my new gas-guzzling suv, and I listen and think to myself "This ain't bad. Why would I go back to FM?"

Let's face it XM is what FM has tried become(except no spots)... long blocks of songs strung together with nothing interesting surrounding it. So if the "real broadcasters" continue this trend, why shouldn't we all tune to XM or Sirius, where there's more variety and no spots.

My point is that broadcast radio has invited people by the millions to subscribe to satellite. Broadcasters cheaped-out long ago; dropping news and local information (if you think those traffic reports or those headlines from metro constitute information - you're kidding yourselves). Jocks are told to shut up, read the pre-wriiten liners, and track the music. That is boring radio, and it is EASILY replicated by satellite radio. Broadcasters are not offering anything unique anymore. No wonder radio annoucers get paid so little... THEY DO SO LITTLE anymore.

C'mon radio, get your personality back! Make programming about presenting shows again - not just about tracking songs.

A final example... who needs your weather reports anymore? The Sunday morning forecast gets recorded on Friday and it sounds pre-recorded. Don't tell me there'sa 40%chance of showers when it has already been raining for hours. Stuff like this goes on all the time in your all-too-often automated world. I hope it's not too late to put the magic back in broadcast radio, but if you broadcasters don't wake up, satellite is going to kill local radio - because you refuse to be LOCAL anymore. When it comes to commercials, XM will always beat you by playing fewer commercials than you do. So find another way to break through. I recommend getting local personality back into local radio. What do you think?

 

[sharksfan]

> OK... so I have my new XM radio in my new gas-guzzling suv,
> and I listen and think to myself "This ain't bad. Why would
> I go back to FM?"
>
> Let's face it XM is what FM has tried become(except no
> spots)... long blocks of songs strung together with nothing
> interesting surrounding it. So if the "real broadcasters"
> continue this trend, why shouldn't we all tune to XM or
> Sirius, where there's more variety and no spots.
>
> My point is that broadcast radio has invited people by the
> millions to subscribe to satellite. Broadcasters
> cheaped-out long ago; dropping news and local information
> (if you think those traffic reports or those headlines from
> metro constitute information - you're kidding yourselves).
> Jocks are told to shut up, read the pre-wriiten liners, and
> track the music. That is boring radio, and it is EASILY
> replicated by satellite radio. Broadcasters are not
> offering anything unique anymore. No wonder radio annoucers
> get paid so little... THEY DO SO LITTLE anymore.
>
> C'mon radio, get your personality back! Make programming
> about presenting shows again - not just about tracking
> songs.
>
> A final example... who needs your weather reports anymore?
> The Sunday morning forecast gets recorded on Friday and it
> sounds pre-recorded. Don't tell me there'sa 40%chance of
> showers when it has already been raining for hours. Stuff
> like this goes on all the time in your all-too-often
> automated world. I hope it's not too late to put the magic
> back in broadcast radio, but if you broadcasters don't wake
> up, satellite is going to kill local radio - because you
> refuse to be LOCAL anymore. When it comes to commercials,
> XM will always beat you by playing fewer commercials than
> you do. So find another way to break through. I recommend
> getting local personality back into local radio. What do
> you think?
>

I agree. My news and weather comes from the internet. Traffic isn't really an issue in the hudson valley and I find that the NYC traffic channel works well when in the city.

 

[MHVRadiofan]

Broadcasters
> > cheaped-out long ago; dropping news and local information
> > (if you think those traffic reports or those headlines
> from
> > metro constitute information - you're kidding yourselves).
>
> > Jocks are told to shut up, read the pre-wriiten liners,
> and
> > track the music. That is boring radio, and it is EASILY
> > replicated by satellite radio. Broadcasters are not
> > offering anything unique anymore. No wonder radio
> annoucers
> > get paid so little... THEY DO SO LITTLE anymore.
> >
> > C'mon radio, get your personality back! Make programming
> > about presenting shows again - not just about tracking
> > songs.
> >
> > A final example... who needs your weather reports anymore?
>
> > The Sunday morning forecast gets recorded on Friday and it
>
> > sounds pre-recorded. Don't tell me there'sa 40%chance of
> > showers when it has already been raining for hours. Stuff
>
> > like this goes on all the time in your all-too-often
> > automated world. I hope it's not too late to put the
> magic
> > back in broadcast radio, but if you broadcasters don't
> wake
> > up, satellite is going to kill local radio - because you
> > refuse to be LOCAL anymore. When it comes to commercials,
> >
>
> I agree. My news and weather comes from the internet.
> Traffic isn't really an issue in the hudson valley and I
> find that the NYC traffic channel works well when in the
> city.
>
Excepting the internet, local news is much like it was 70 years ago before Poughkeepsie’s first radio station 1450 WKIP hit the air. FM never did much news and with the AM stations on satellite 24/7 the clusters have virtually closed there news departments. Their news local news is the same headline stuff on FM presented by a reader .Seems much of it comes from the Poughkeepsie Journal, which as in the old days is many people’s main source of local news. True, Cablevision has a repeated 30 newscast I can’t comment on because I have Satellite, and WRNN is a sorry excuse for a newscast, mostly aimed at Westchester since they turned of Channel 62 in Kingston. What ever happened to serving the public? The FCC really screwed that up allowing these big companies take over. If the resulting clusters really wanted to they could economically use the news department to serve all their stations.
Its also true there no longer is any local personality on radio. Being told what to read and when is as bad as voice tracking
As to the weather how often do we have to hear do we have to hear today it will be…, Only to realize that was yesterday? Much worse still , while they do as required and broadcast the EBS severe weather announcements they are not incorporated in the later regular forecast so if you missed the EBS you are out of luck . Again this is public service?
I am not ready to fork over the money for satellite radio, but local stations should be just that as much as possible