Public Radio Cruisers and Divers

[fred flintstone]

Suits from public radio stations are in town trying to figure out ways to staunch their loss of listeners (and of listener loyalty).

Mikey Klein in the Inky:

Public radio trying to improve reception
If the hundreds of public-radio programmers who gathered in Philadelphia this week seemed a tad edgy, it is because they are facing a new challenge: a declining audience.
Read Full Column

I've started a general thread on this topic on the Public Radio/Non-commercial board:
PubRadio Losing Listeners - PDs Gather to Seek Solutons

One presentation divided public radio station into three categories:

• Climbers - llistening and loyalty increasing.
• Cruisers - listening and loyalty flat.
• Divers - listening and loyalty decreasing.

Among Philly's three public radio station's:

Cruisers:

• WHYY-FM90.9 - News and information format
• WXPN 88.5 - Alternative

Divers:

• WRTI 90.1 FM - Split classical and jazz formats.

Both the "cruisers" have bureaucracies filled with highly paid suits and fancy facilities. They don't look like underdogs any more and they don't look like they need the money. Plus WHYY keeps dropping out of NPR's flagship news magazine shows - the programming that brings in listeners in the first place - for insipid local features.

WRTI with its "wisdom-of-Solomon" format has set it up so a big chunk of listeners are unhappy and not getting what they want half the time.

 

[amfmsw]

Am I alone with my mental image of most PBS / Non-Com Radio listeners:

driving a Vovlo/Saab, Main Line commuters, crossoint chomping, NY Times reading, Starbuck pioneers, educated...but not necessarily smart or wise, Banana Republic shopping, somewhat snobby, horse show attending, annoying sport fans (Cowboys/Mets/Yankees...anyone but the "home" team), etc.....

 

[Betrayed]

Am I alone with my mental image of most PBS / Non-Com Radio listeners:

driving a Vovlo/Saab, Main Line commuters, crossoint chomping, NY Times reading, Starbuck pioneers, educated...but not necessarily smart or wise, Banana Republic shopping, somewhat snobby, horse show attending, annoying sport fans (Cowboys/Mets/Yankees...anyone but the "home" team), etc.....

Yep. That's them to a tee. Leftwing, bleeding heart liberals, standing around singing Kum-Bi-Ya. Anti-everything America, thinking somebody should do something, somebody should feed the hungry, somebody clothe the naked, somebody should shelter the homeless. But, whoa, not them. Don't expect them to sacrifice any of their stuff and style. However you forgot one key component. They love the top of the hour NPR news and actually believe the spin NPR uses is accurate.

 

[fred flintstone]

Am I alone with my mental image of most PBS / Non-Com Radio listeners:

driving a Vovlo/Saab, Main Line commuters, crossoint chomping, NY Times reading, Starbuck pioneers, educated...but not necessarily smart or wise, Banana Republic shopping, somewhat snobby, horse show attending, annoying sport fans (Cowboys/Mets/Yankees...anyone but the "home" team), etc.....

In contrast to dittoheads and Bushlovers:

Drive a pickup with a gun rack.
Northeast commuters.
Donut chomping
Daily News reading look at pictures
Boilermarker drinking
Uneducated - Ignorant and proud of it
Wal-Mart shopping
Nasty and arrogant
NASCAR attending
Annoying sports fans who boo the home team (and everybody else) and throw things at players, officials, mascots and Santa Claus.


They also vile and reprehensible little nazis who can't stand the thought of anything they don't like - for any reason - being allowed to exist. Therefore, come into a thread discussing radio and add nothing but irrelevant cheap shots. They are incapable of both real discussion and of keeping their mouths shut.

 

[radioskeptic]

Fred, you are absolutely on-target with both of the above posts!

 

[amfmsw]

I belive the comments referring to Rush listeners lend creedence to my argument about NPR listeners. The "Image" is that of people, many liberals, who, with no real
substance to an argument, resort to negative, childish put downs.

Yes, I booed the stinkin' home team Eagles yesterday after I paid $120 for seats, $20 for parking, $7 in tolls, $3 for a small bottle of water, and various trinkets for the kids, then the birds "dropped the ball", literally. When my home team blows it, I'm allowed to show disappointment and dissaproval.

And I'll think of you next week when I take my seat across from pit road at Dover Downs for the Nextel Cup race. It's hard working people that attend these events.

There's nothing wrong with working with your hands for a living, and stretching your family's money by shopping at Wal-Mart instead of Nordsteom or Macy's. when their team blows it, they're allowed to show disappointment and dissaproval.

Fred, all you're doing is proving my point that the "image" of NPR listeners is elite. I never said they were, just the "mental Image". Sorry I lit your fuse.

 

[fred flintstone]

I belive the comments referring to Rush listeners lend creedence to my argument about NPR listeners. The "Image" is that of people, many liberals, who, with no real substance to an argument, resort to negative, childish put downs.

Conservative pot calls Liberal kettle black. A live report at 11.

 

[Weezknight]

Am I alone with my mental image of most PBS / Non-Com Radio listeners:
driving a Vovlo/Saab, Main Line commuters, crossoint chomping, NY Times reading, Starbuck pioneers, educated...but not necessarily smart or wise, Banana Republic shopping, somewhat snobby, horse show attending, annoying sport fans (Cowboys/Mets/Yankees...anyone but the "home" team), etc.....

Don't peg me in that category! I love WXPN, yet I am registered Republican, drive a Ford Ranger, and am not that fond of horses. I'll give you the sports teams, though, although I'm sure I'm one of very few Bengals/Blue Jays/Calgary Flames fans in these parts. 'XPN, though, is one of the places I can actually hear a lot of the bands that I enjoy. If people can't keep politics and music separate then that is their problem (I'm talking to you Bruce Springsteen!).

Honestly, show me commercial station in Philly that plays the Cure, Beck, Fiona Apple, Morrissey, and Matisyahu in a 1-2 hour period!

 

[Herb999]

Can you really diss the Limbaugh listeners?

They are the ones who let you merge in

They are the ones who wait till there is room for them to pull out onto the road and not cut someone off

They are the ones who smile at a stranger, not give them a dirty look

They wave at you when a non lib let's them in, the lib gives you the finger and rides the bumper of the car in front of them



Fred was great here for making me laugh, a lib says someone else is nasty and arrogant, almost as good as Mel Gibson calling someone an anti-Semite.

 

[fred flintstone]

Gee, driving courtesy at home.
This week's award for creative fiction writing.

And yet they want to torture and kill people overseas.

 

[Herb999]

No, I think your fiction writing was great Fred, libs like you are great with fiction, in fact you are so good at it that you create a fictitious world for you to live in everyday that hardly resembles reality.


I won't change your mind on this, after all you are a liberal, but you can't be an a-hole to people 24/7/365 and then act as if you are a compassionate caring person for doing a little charity work, I wonder if libs will ever get this. This country would be so great if only libs could be half as courteous, honest, respectful, and kind as conservatives. The decent people in the blue areas would love to have the crime rate and kindness found in red areas.

 

[fred flintstone]

I won't change your mind on this, after all you are a liberal, but you can't be an a-hole to people 24/7/365 and then act as if you are a compassionate caring person for doing a little charity work, I wonder if libs will ever get this. This country would be so great if only libs could be half as courteous, honest, respectful, and kind as conservatives. The decent people in the blue areas would love to have the crime rate and kindness found in red areas.

Actually, I am not a liberal. Sorry, I don't fit into your simplistic political view.

And I was making a satiric reply to an earlier post stereotyping public radio listeners. And while you may agree with that stereotype, a substantial portion of public radio listeners describe themselves as conservatives.

And the nice people you describe in Norman Rockwell's America are the dupes of the Neo-cons.
Not many real conservatives around any more. Libertarians are about as close as you get.

 

[BRNout]

Gee, driving courtesy at home.
This week's award for creative fiction writing.

And yet they want to torture and kill people overseas.

"Fred", you're out of control. I've been reading these posts of yours and this is the last straw. People like you have no clue about how to deal with the rest of the world, so all you do is criticize. Our soldiers are over there trying to do their honorable service while you sit at a hot spot in a Starbucks somewhere in la la land, baselessly accusing them of murder. You should be ashamed.

I'm new to the area and find the description of the typical R5-riding, liberal jerk from Wayne to be spot on! Do you mean to tell me that shopping at Whole Foods makes you more intelligent than shopping at Super Wal Mart (none of which are within 20 miles of the Main Line, I might add)? Spending 35% more money for the same products doesn't strike me as an endorsement for the "progressive' lifestyle.

You know what? Yeah, I'm a conservative, no I don't care for NASCAR (just not into it), don't root for the local teams (I'm a transplant), don't like boilermakers, don't drive a pickup, and I DO vote republican and listen to Rush (if I'm not working). Your stereotypes are ridiculous and you make O'Hara look open minded!!

One more thing. The comment about who is nice and who is too self absorbed to be nice is dead on. Go to a "red" place like Oklahoma or Nebraska and you'll run into a lot of very nice people who will be quite friendly and helpful - on the road or in a store. Go to a "blue" place like Radnor or Westchester County or Rockville, MD or Vermont and you'll deal with snobs who will resent your very presence there. After all, how dare you take up THEIR precious resources. All are snotty jerks and many are freaks who come from a pampered, rich lifestyle.

You know, for that matter; folks around West Chester/Downingtown/Exton are much nicer than those around Radnor/Bala Cynwyd. It's like a different culture in the same state, in fact. I suppose its because Chester County folks have to work for a living and don't have the luxury of a trust fund. In a nutshell, it illustrates the difference between the average (p1) NPR listener (Radnor) and the Rush one (Downingtown).

And, having moved here from the outskirts of Boston, I can assure you that the average listener to WBUR or WGBH-FM (both NPR) there tended to drive a Volvo, Jag or (if "poor") a Subaru; drank lattes; had a beard or pony tail (or both) and generally wasn't smart enough to prove their point in a political discussion without immediately getting personal. It seems no different here.

 

[Herb999]

Funny [EDIT] here:


Fred: "I am not a liberal"

"the nice people you describe in Norman Rockwell's America are the dupes of the Neo-cons"


Yeah, as if any non extremist leftist drooler would call someone a neo-con. Actually you saying you are not a liberal is being a liberal, since dishonesty is at the center of the liberal ideology.

Sorry, loving America and wanting the best for all of our citizens is not being duped, it is making sure that a lib like you doesn't destory this nation.

Libs like you tend to think there is something wrong with someone for being nice, respectful and kind. BRNout nailed it here, funny to destory a lib in a debate all you need to do is be honest, I think that speaks volumes about liberalism and liberals.

[EDIT-profanity]

 

[fred flintstone]

"Fred", you're out of control. I've been reading these posts of yours and this is the last straw. People like you have no clue about how to deal with the rest of the world, so all you do is criticize. Our soldiers are over there trying to do their honorable service while you sit at a hot spot in a Starbucks somewhere in la la land, baselessly accusing them of murder. You should be ashamed.

If you support the war, how come you're not over there?
If you were, I could at least respect the sincerity of your convictions.
But chicken hawks, all cowards and hypocrites.
Willing to let other people go get shot at.
Like Dick Cheney, who told the draft board he had better things to do.
Or George W Bush, whose daddy's conections got him a nice cushy spot getting free flying lessons in Texas.
Or Rush and the pimple on his butt (both large).
You have no idea what military service is like or what it does to people.
All you same capable of doing is hating people who are smarter than you, have better taste than you and more money than you.
There have always been political elites in this country willing to exploit the anger and hatred of the lower classes (generally referred to as "poor White trash") to gain power.
In your case, and many others on this board, it's worked.
Radio is filled with people duped by the right wing, Wall Street, corporate elite - who keep acting and voting against their own self-interest.
By the way, there's a Wal-Mart in Exton.
The R5 stops in Exton.
Right across the street from Whole Foods, there's a K-Mart.
I prefer Trader Joe's, however.

 

[Weezknight]

If you support the war, how come you're not over there?
If you were, I could at least respect the sincerity of your convictions.
But chicken hawks, all cowards and hypocrites.
Willing to let other people go get shot at.

I'm not really "in" on this conversation, but I do want to point out that there are many people (such as myself) who are medically restricted from serving in the Military. We're not cowards, in fact, I would've loved to have served in the Air Force, but I cannot. I just wanted to point that out.

 

[BRNout]

If you support the war, how come you're not over there?
If you were, I could at least respect the sincerity of your convictions.
But chicken hawks, all cowards and hypocrites.
Willing to let other people go get shot at.

You have no idea what military service is like or what it does to people.
All you same capable of doing is hating people who are smarter than you, have better taste than you and more money than you.
There have always been political elites in this country willing to exploit the anger and hatred of the lower classes (generally referred to as "poor White trash") to gain power.
In your case, and many others on this board, it's worked.
Radio is filled with people duped by the right wing, Wall Street, corporate elite - who keep acting and voting against their own self-interest.
By the way, there's a Wal-Mart in Exton.
The R5 stops in Exton.
Right across the street from Whole Foods, there's a K-Mart.
I prefer Trader Joe's, however.

OK, you know nothing about me, what I do or whether I have served in the military or not. Frankly if you don't have the balls to serve, you should shut the hell up about those who do. As for me, I grant them respect AND the benefit of the doubt. Remember, YOU made the accusations about US military behaviour in Iraq (a misplaced one - in a thread that was supposedly about radio). I didn't - I stuck up for them. By your logic, you criticize the guys who paint your house and only the painters themselves can refute your comments. That's illogical. I should be telling you to serve or shut up - not the other way around.

Nor do you know anything about MY education, with which I'm quite comfortable about taking you on in any argument - any time. Once again, the liberal resorts to a personal attack (this time on me) to support an unsupporttable argument. Thanks "Fred".

My disdain for the stated group has nothing to do with finances and everything to do with attitude. I'm fine with our household income and am not jealous of trust fund snots - nor would I ever be interested in belonging to their elitist clubs. Perhaps you are - as a poseur, no doubt.

As for having "better taste" than me, how elitist (yet ignorant) to make a statement like that about a subjective thing such as personal preferences. More proof that the truly intelligent mind is the conservative one. The liberal mind just thinks it is - then, when proven wrong, it moves on to a different phony issue.

By the way, we all know that the "Main Line" section of the R5 ends in Paoli and that's the section which features the NPR listeners whom I described. I used Exton as an example of a more conservative (and normal) area - and I know about the Wal Mart there. It does not surprise me that you like Trader Joe's, which attracts the same crowd as Whole Foods.

We like Wegman's and Super Wal Mart, in that order.

 

[Herb999]

The lib says if you support the war then you should be in Iraq fighting.

Ok, so the libs who support Cindy Sheehan and Hugo Chavez, just when are you going to go to Israel or Iraq and blow yourself up. Yup, just the typical lib chicken terrorist.

Same thing, conservatives and moderates want us to succeed in Iraq, for our soldiers not to die. Libs on the other hand are all bash Bush and nothing else, they want for us to fail in Iraq and hope for the death count of our brave men and women to go up. Don’t think they are anti-Semitic, well check out Joe Lieberman in black face at their favorite lib site, nuff said.

 

[fred flintstone]

The lib says if you support the war then you should be in Iraq fighting.

Ok, so the libs who support Cindy Sheehan and Hugo Chavez, just when are you going to go to Israel or Iraq and blow yourself up. Yup, just the typical lib chicken terrorist.

Same thing, conservatives and moderates want us to succeed in Iraq, for our soldiers not to die. Libs on the other hand are all bash Bush and nothing else, they want for us to fail in Iraq and hope for the death count of our brave men and women to go up. Don’t think they are anti-Semitic, well check out Joe Lieberman in black face at their favorite lib site, nuff said.

It is because of people like you that the rest of the world hates the US.
People like you and the policies you support are the cause of planes flying into the Trade Center, of people being killed in Iraq - including US forces, which is apparently all you care about; other lives are meaningless to you.
People like you who support the policies of militaristic, genocidal theocracy which feels it has the right to slaughter Palestinians and take away their homeland.
And people like you who are rude and aggressive drivers; I see a lot more pickups cutting off other cars and pedestrians than I do Volvos.
You people have convinced me of one thing:
I do hate you so-called "conservatives." You are hateful, vicious people. You prove it by the ways in which you ridicule anyone in the world with ethical values, anyone who tries to do the right thing.
Not to mention people like you generally don't what you are talking about and are incapable of making a logical argument
The reason liberals think they are better than trash like you is because they are.
Sorry to take you away from Rush, Hannity or whoever else you depend on to tell you what to think.

 

[sameold]

wow this topic has completely gone in a different direction...


brnout... there are idiots everywhere... 'red states' 'blue states'
they are all around... i've lived in the south... i've lived in new england.. and lived right here in philly.

but there are good people all around as well... just like there are good people on both sides of the dems and republicans... which is why i listen to kidd chris, hannity, and npr on my drive home...
get a nice little diversity...

helps to not be so closed minded as a lot of you are appearing to be.

So why is it do you think npr is loosing listeners? wasnt that what the topic was actually about?