Saving AM Radio

[yeoldeschool]

As to your data on "emergency radios" keep in mind that most of those are also used just to listen to something. Most are, in fact, not sold for emergency preparedness but for working in the garage, while gardening, when at the pool or camping or on a picnic.

If that's true, it would destroy the notion people aren't buying radios anymore. I linked to only 9 models on just Amazon, and their total sales were 324,000+ per year (27,000+ per month).

Also, if people simply wanted radios for everyday household activities, why are they buying so many "readiness commando" looking emergency models when they could get normal, visually pleasing models instead? For fun, I just searched for the same number (9) of best-selling non-emergency radios on Amazon. The current total sales figure for those? 312,000+ units per year (1 (3K+), 2 (5K+), 3 (2K+), 4 (6K+), 5 (6K+), 6 (1K+), 7 (1K+), 8 (1K+), 9 (1K+)).

The only explanation I can see for this is that the large numbers buying emergency radios are doing so because they actually want them for their emergency features (NOAA and crank/solar charging), whether they plan on using them casually between emergencies or not.

The people in Minot had, apparently, not been well enough trained and were simply incapable of activating the EAS. They did not even react by finding someone who could step in and activate the system.

The technical minutia of what happened in Minot involved comms systems little known to the public and virtually every media report presented overly generalized accounts. Had those esoteric details been published, people would have known that Minot was more a case of Murphy's Law scoring a trifecta (and then some) than of catastrophic training failures or apathetic emergency people. The Minot police did in fact attempt an EAS activation, first using equipment whose NVRAM, unbeknownst to them, had become faulty due to power spike damage, and then directly using its county's police band frequency allocated for EAS alert uplink transmissions. That uplink transmission worked, but unfortunately, the LP station designated for monitoring it had it incorrectly configured in its receiver, and never received the uplink transmission itself. Where the police department's training failed outright -- because they were unaware of this backup method existing -- was in not making a second EAS activation attempt using a hardline into NAWAS, which would have let them send their alert through the region's local NWS transmitter to the local LP(s). Instead, they went directly to the final backup method defined in their county EAS plan, making ordinary phone calls to the LP stations. But because the market was fully automated when the train derailed, nobody answered. The police department ultimately found some home phone numbers for station employees, but by then it was too late.

I know no way of finding the official EAS plan documents for Minot in 2002, but you can see typical EAS monitoring plans for a few California counties here, here, and here. Note the frequencies monitored by their LPs with names like SHASCOM, LA County Voice, CLERS, and Control One. Every county has designated frequencies like those upon which local agencies can uplink EAS alerts to monitoring LP station(s). It was one of these type of frequencies that the Minot police used and that failed to be received. Most of the long technical papers on how Minot went down seem to have fallen victim to internet data rot, but you can find a reference to this -- how the police actually did get an alert sent -- by Ctrl-F searhing this PDF for "crystal". (The station's receiver for that radio frequency dated to the EBS days and was crystal-controlled rather than using PLL synthesis. Only it's baseband output would have been routed into the station EAS unit, so its age wouldn't have prompted anyone to replace it. Only its frequency configuration mattered.)

 

[yeoldeschool]

They aren't listening to radio as their primary form of news and information.

But they begin listening to radio as their primary form of news and information starting when, and lasting as long as, their normal primary forms are out. They did it again during Helene:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/30/media/hurricane-helene-local-radio-north-carolina/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/intern...cut-hurricane-helene-victims-world-rcna173324

Please understand: the only reason I began this EAS discussion was to theorize about a way stations in automated markets could be taken over by officials non-stop (rather than just for the 30-120 seconds current EAS equipment lets them speak per alert). So, when it came to most of what I said about EAS' ongoing value on radio, my advocacy primarily pertained to the period after initial warning(s) got issued through modern communications, and before those modern communications subsequently got wiped out. One variation of that scenario: when an unexpected disaster strikes and all modern communications get wiped out by it immediately, in which case people resort en masse to radio not for warnings, but for explanations and critical streams of what-now instructions. Anyway, only secondarily to those common and plausible possibilities did I mean to bring up as asides hypothetical ways EAS over radio could also matter, like situations where foreseeable harms (toxic plumes) coincided with modern communications outages (coordinated terrorist attacks?) -- situations where gramps listening to Your Memories Station would become the neighborhood's siren, by knocking on everyone's doors.

On that note, and about @TheBigA's Edison link showing 39% of people in 2022 (likely 46% today) now owning no stand-alone radios, I can't help pointing out that 92% of Americans own cars. Setting aside the alphas and late zoomers whom you say (and I agree) would crawl into fetal positions when their phones stopped working -- at least initially, others have enough awareness of radio to listen in their cars after tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes if they lacked stand-alone radios and all the modern communications infrastructure was down. And the alphas and zoomers would learn quickly from them.

Combinations of things like high anxiety, empty stomachs, confusion, injuries, impassable roads, knee deep water, downed power lines everywhere, total blackness after sunset, collapsed homes, and deprivation from the rest of the world can make even the trendiest of smartphone zombies sit still in a car for news about when the emergency food, water, and first aid trucks will be rolling through, what the current progress is on restoring communications/services, and what the newest developments are on what happened to the other neighborhoods they know in their various communities. And all I meant to do by raising this subject was to argue there must be a way for local officials to take over stations in fully automated markets so they can do exactly that kind of running commentary themselves -- commentary not limited to 30-120 second alerts -- until such time as those stations' employees can reach their facilities and go on-air.

Coming up with scenarios based on your personal perception to fit your narrative isn't relevant to the real world.

Narrative? I had no disingenuous motives for anything I said. I also could have lived without reading that I was trying to debate by attrition or that my position was boring, tedious chaff.

No, that I haven't. When you characterize those people as impossible to EAS-train or unable to remember that training, I have no frame of reference for understanding why that is.

I didn't say anything was impossible.

Okay, so then why take the position that local activation in emergencies isn't very effective because people will forget their codes and training, etc.? For me this is simple. You train emergency services employees and test them and the equipment periodically. The fact they may only use their training or equipment for a real event once (or never) in their careers is immaterial. Police and EMS also train for extracting victims from collapsed buildings and pancaked freeway overpasses following massive quakes. But the average cop or medic will only encounter such things once or never in his career given the scarcity of huge earthquakes. They still periodically train and practice, though. The same ought to be true of EAS operators, and that once-per-career activation that saves lives will be the ROI.

Most municipalities know more about their preparedness and how to handle a situation than you do. Leave that to the professionals.

Well, I would just say that professionals isn't the word if they can't maintain and activate a life-saving warning system when needed, because their superiors don't think it matters enough to keep their training and practice fresh enough to enable that.

But let's assume your and David's pessimism is correct and that despite the best efforts to train and periodically test every last one-horse town dispatcher, there will always be high failure ratess. Fine; in that case, designate each county's sheriff dispatch center an EAS activation agent for any local agency unwilling to practice or otherwise experiencing unexpected trouble initiating EAS on its own. All local agencies always have the unlisted direct phone numbers and VHF/UHF mutual aid/access frequencies for communicating with their counties' sheriff comm centers. They use them day and night, daily, for dispatcher-to-dispatcher intercommunications and other mutual aid. Those, they could never forget how to use, even if they tried; and equipment failures with such regularly exercised gear get instantly noticed and fixed. So, there's the solution.

Oh, and Radio Discussions doesn't pay by the word, so your long volumonous responses are doing nothing but occupying precious time that you'll never get back.

There was nothing wrong with their lengths. Everyone nowadays is so used to tweets, Facebook walls, text messages, and comments sections, they've forgotten its OK to discuss stuff in detail on the real parts of the internet.

 

[CTListener]

If that's true, it would destroy the notion people aren't buying radios anymore. I linked to only 9 models on just Amazon, and their total sales were 324,000+ per year (27,000+ per month).

Also, if people simply wanted radios for everyday household activities, why are they buying so many "readiness commando" looking emergency models when they could get normal, visually pleasing models instead? For fun, I just searched for the same number (9) of best-selling non-emergency radios on Amazon. The current total sales figure for those? 312,000+ units per year (1 (3K+), 2 (5K+), 3 (2K+), 4 (6K+), 5 (6K+), 6 (1K+), 7 (1K+), 8 (1K+), 9 (1K+)).

The only explanation I can see for this is that the large numbers buying emergency radios are doing so because they actually want them for their emergency features (NOAA and crank/solar charging), whether they plan on using them casually between emergencies or not.

"Preppers," especially those suspicious of the government and anticipating either a revolution or anarchy, are snapping up many such radios. The purchases are fueled by paranoia, not the desire for entertainment.

 

[TheBigA]

On that note, and about @TheBigA's Edison link showing 39% of people in 2022 (likely 46% today) now owning no stand-alone radios, I can't help pointing out that 92% of Americans own cars.

The chart I linked clearly said "In The Home." So yes, the fact that they own cars is wonderful, but that's not what they were looking at.

 

[yeoldeschool]

"Preppers," especially those suspicious of the government and anticipating either a revolution or anarchy, are snapping up many such radios. The purchases are fueled by paranoia, not the desire for entertainment.

The preppers are primarily stocking up on cheap Baofangs for two-way communications and shortwave radios. They think everything on the domestic broadcast bands is propaganda except for Alex Jones.

The chart I linked clearly said "In The Home." So yes, the fact that they own cars is wonderful, but that's not what they were looking at.

I pointed it out because it means 92% of Americans still have radios.

 

[TheBigA]

I pointed it out because it means 92% of Americans still have radios.

Call them "accidental radios."

 

[MarioMania]

This thread went off topic a while ago

 

[Kelly A]

But they begin listening to radio as their primary form of news and information starting when, and lasting as long as, their normal primary forms are out. They did it again during Helene:

And watch what happens in thirty to sixty days from the storm. Once Internet is restored to smartphones, anything carried on radio will be a distant memory. Will they be grateful to radio for information? No. Will they have used this opportunity to move away from streaming or social media instead moving to linear listening?
No. Another several years go by and what happened with Helene will become a teeny historical footnote. That's assuming there aren't more due to global warming. In that case all this will be wash, rinse, repeat.

Please understand: the only reason I began this EAS discussion was to theorize about a way stations in automated markets could be taken over by officials non-stop (rather than just for the 30-120 seconds current EAS equipment lets them speak per alert).

You really don't get it do you? In spite of David, Scott and I trying to explain the way things are in most cities, counties, and states. I've got better things to do and time to spend than trying to explain it again.

Narrative? I had no disingenuous motives for anything I said.

You keep trying to push some 'new' idea that's already in place, or propose a narrative that isn't grounded in reality.

I also could have lived without reading that I was trying to debate by attrition or that my position was boring, tedious chaff.

Sorry, but consider it an intervention.

There was nothing wrong with their lengths.

Tell you what. Scroll around to any other discussions and compare the contributions by any other posts with yours. Tell me yours aren't at least 50% longer, usually involving a long diatribe saying the same thing as the long diatribe prior. No offense, but it seems like you're one of those folks who only relates to output, with minimum input.

Everyone nowadays is so used to tweets, Facebook walls, text messages, and comments sections, they've forgotten its OK to discuss stuff in detail on the real parts of the internet.

Sometimes less is more.

 

[davideduardo]

If that's true, it would destroy the notion people aren't buying radios anymore. I linked to only 9 models on just Amazon, and their total sales were 324,000+ per year (27,000+ per month).

That is 0.1% of the population. And most of the sales, if you even believe the Amazon data, is for the kind of radio that can be used in emergencies... that is, ones

Also, if people simply wanted radios for everyday household activities, why are they buying so many "readiness commando" looking emergency models when they could get normal, visually pleasing models instead? For fun, I just searched for the same number (9) of best-selling non-emergency radios on Amazon. The current total sales figure for those? 312,000+ units per year (1 (3K+), 2 (5K+), 3 (2K+), 4 (6K+), 5 (6K+), 6 (1K+), 7 (1K+), 8 (1K+), 9 (1K+)).

Again, battery operated radios. Suitable for an emergency, like a power failure or a storm. One does not get battery powered radios for the kitchen or workshop or as a bedside clock radio.

The only explanation I can see for this is that the large numbers buying emergency radios are doing so because they actually want them for their emergency features (NOAA and crank/solar charging), whether they plan on using them casually between emergencies or not.

OK, so they are mostly for emergencies. Each of our thought processes shows that they are not for entertainment. And that is still 0.1% of the population. Add in Best Buy and Costco and Walmart and maybe you have 0.2% of the population.

The technical minutia of what happened in Minot involved comms systems little known to the public and virtually every media report presented overly generalized accounts. Had those esoteric details been published, people would have known that Minot was more a case of Murphy's Law scoring a trifecta (and then some) than of catastrophic training failures or apathetic emergency people. The Minot police did in fact attempt an EAS activation, first using equipment whose NVRAM, unbeknownst to them, had become faulty due to power spike damage, and then directly using its county's police band frequency allocated for EAS alert uplink transmissions. That uplink transmission worked, but unfortunately, the LP station designated for monitoring it had it incorrectly configured in its receiver, and never received the uplink transmission itself. Where the police department's training failed outright -- because they were unaware of this backup method existing -- was in not making a second EAS activation attempt using a hardline into NAWAS, which would have let them send their alert through the region's local NWS transmitter to the local LP(s). Instead, they went directly to the final backup method defined in their county EAS plan, making ordinary phone calls to the LP stations. But because the market was fully automated when the train derailed, nobody answered. The police department ultimately found some home phone numbers for station employees, but by then it was too late.

In any case, it was a lack of training (which would have probably noted the tech failures), and not the fault of broadcast radio. In fact, were it not for automation, those stations would not have been on the air at all overnight in such a small market.

I know no way of finding the official EAS plan documents for Minot in 2002, but you can see typical EAS monitoring plans for a few California counties here, here, and here. Note the frequencies monitored by their LPs with names like SHASCOM, LA County Voice, CLERS, and Control One. Every county has designated frequencies like those upon which local agencies can uplink EAS alerts to monitoring LP station(s). It was one of these type of frequencies that the Minot police used and that failed to be received. Most of the long technical papers on how Minot went down seem to have fallen victim to internet data rot, but you can find a reference to this -- how the police actually did get an alert sent -- by Ctrl-F searhing this PDF for "crystal". (The station's receiver for that radio frequency dated to the EBS days and was crystal-controlled rather than using PLL synthesis. Only it's baseband output would have been routed into the station EAS unit, so its age wouldn't have prompted anyone to replace it. Only its frequency configuration mattered.)

Again, were it not for automation, the stations' (plural, there was a cluster) would not have been on the air at all at the time that the spill occurred.

 

[davideduardo]

The preppers are primarily stocking up on cheap Baofangs for two-way communications and shortwave radios. They think everything on the domestic broadcast bands is propaganda except for Alex Jones.

Huh? There is nearly nothing left on shortwave today.

I pointed it out because it means 92% of Americans still have radios.

Mostly because they have them in their car. Over a third of homes no longer have radios of any kind.

I think that you can say that for every home that buys an emergency radio, there are tens of thousands that discarded or never had a radio.

 

[kfbkfb]

EAS - Framing it as a Government liability issue - maybe the insurance companies that sell insurance to city/county/state Governments could say that the Government entity buying insurance will get a lower rate if it can prove that everyone likely to be responsible for activating EAS is fully trained on EAS (ongoing training too). The EAS concept isn't complicated and with a "fill in the blanks" script with the 5 Ws + what to do, it seems almost anyone could send out an EAS alert.


Kirk Bayne

 

[yeoldeschool]

Call them "accidental radios."

Fair enough, but they're radios nonetheless, putting radio ownership and access at 92% of Americans. Moreover, all those accidental radios are conveniently and instantly at hand, existing both at home when the car is in the garage, and automatically at all the places their owners accidentally drive them to.

Huh? There is nearly nothing left on shortwave today.

All I can think of is that they want RX capabilities for the international shortwave amateur bands, since those always light up in disasters with emergency nets. Or maybe the metronome effect of WWV and WWVH helps them quell their existential anxieties and fall asleep at night.

Mostly because they have them in their car. Over a third of homes no longer have radios of any kind.

But every home with at least one car in the garage or driveway has radios people can use in emergencies, when modern communications are out. So for the purposes of deciding how valuable continuous emergency commentary by OES types would be through stations in a theoretical perpetual EAS takeover mode, I'm looking toward that statistic as negating any others (e.g. Edison's) that unmask the shrinking in-home presence of radios.

Again, battery operated radios. Suitable for an emergency, like a power failure or a storm. One does not get battery powered radios for the kitchen or workshop or as a bedside clock radio.

Actually all the non-emergency models I linked take batteries or AC, except for 3 that were palm-sized pocket radios.

OK, so they are mostly for emergencies. Each of our thought processes shows that they are not for entertainment. And that is still 0.1% of the population. Add in Best Buy and Costco and Walmart and maybe you have 0.2% of the population.

I think that you can say that for every home that buys an emergency radio, there are tens of thousands that discarded or never had a radio.

If you're estimating Walmart, Costco, and Best Buy would collectively double the total Amazon is selling, then the yearly number would come in around 1.27 million. 324,000/year emergency radios plus 312,000 non-emergency radios = 636,000 x 2. Go higher if you add all the remaining models Amazon sells that weren't in my top 9 emergency and top 9 non-emergency lists, and higher still if you count every other retailer nationwide. Whatever the case, your last statement is right and is what counts. The Edison study proves even these numbers are being canceled out, such that even if they prove people still buy new radios in droves, that win is pyrrhic. Ultimately though, even that shouldn't matter, as with cars accounted for, there is really no drop happening at all in "last man standing" radio listenability. There is only a fundamental shift taking place in where folks will be doing their future listening in disasters where other communications have gone out -- when they will be tuning in just wanting explanations, instructions, and situation updates.

 

[yeoldeschool]

And watch what happens in thirty to sixty days from the storm. Once Internet is restored to smartphones, anything carried on radio will be a distant memory. Will they be grateful to radio for information? No. Will they have used this opportunity to move away from streaming or social media instead moving to linear listening? No. Another several years go by and what happened with Helene will become a teeny historical footnote. That's assuming there aren't more due to global warming. In that case all this will be wash, rinse, repeat.

I never remotely suggested people's exposure to radio during disasters would have a positive effect on its post-disaster broadcasting popularity/ratings. I don't know where you read that into my words but it wasn't there and it isn't even within the possible scope of what I was discussing. The only remark that came close was my saying millennials and zoomers would learn fast during emergencies that they can get information from radio. But that was meant to mean they would remember radio as a source for emergency info in future disasters where communications were out again, not that it would suddenly turn them into new ratings points.

Sorry, but consider it an intervention.

Respectfully, I don't need it. You're the first person to complain that my public forum/newsgroup/echo posts were too long in 35+ years of writing them. The forum's owners also have a limit on message lengths, one I didn't realize existed in my two decades here until participating in this portion of this thread at this precise instant in time. So if some of my posts are longer than average, they've still always been within the bounds the admins decided were sane a long time ago.

Tell you what. Scroll around to any other discussions and compare the contributions by any other posts with yours. Tell me yours aren't at least 50% longer, usually involving a long diatribe saying the same thing as the long diatribe prior. No offense, but it seems like you're one of those folks who only relates to output, with minimum input.

I can't even take that seriously. Mixed with the overwhelming number of good things, this forum showcases never-ending, repetitious diatribes about the decline of radio as a whole, not to mention its endless permutations of commiseration about clusterfarts like AM STEREO. My own faux pas posting certain ideas or sentiments more than once are no different than any others', and sometimes I do it purposely because there is a different crowd participating in one thread than in another. If you read everything everyone posts here, you'll be one of the few to notice.

As for your all talk no listening assertion, I have 378 posts to my name since 2004.

 

[davideduardo]

But that was meant to mean they would remember radio as a source for emergency info in future disasters where communications were out again, not that it would suddenly turn them into new ratings points.

If you don't think of radio as a basic information source in day to day activities, you are not going to suddenly find it important or critical during an emergency.

You're the first person to complain that my public forum/newsgroup/echo posts were too long in 35+ years of writing them. The forum's owners also have a limit on message lengths, one I didn't realize existed in my two decades here until participating in this portion of this thread at this precise instant in time. So if some of my posts are longer than average, they've still always been within the bounds the admins decided were sane a long time ago.

Being within bounds is one thing, but you are not Charles Dickens who was paid by the word and profited by being verbose.

I find many if not most of your posts too lengthy with a writing style that is difficult to follow, complicated by lengthy paragraphs and compound sentences. While I can enjoy lengthy stories by Tolstoy or Aramburu or Ayn Rand or even L Ron Hubbard's Mission Earth, I don't find much of your writing of easy assimilation.

Mixed with the overwhelming number of good things, this forum showcases never-ending, repetitious diatribes about the decline of radio as a whole, not to mention its endless permutations of commiseration about clusterfarts like AM STEREO.

Returning to analyze the history of that episode is of value as the elements of timing, technology and litigation are applicable to new developments today..

 

[davideduardo]

All I can think of is that they want RX capabilities for the international shortwave amateur bands, since those always light up in disasters with emergency nets. Or maybe the metronome effect of WWV and WWVH helps them quell their existential anxieties and fall asleep at night.

Most members of the newer generations under 35 don't even know what ham radio is. And they certainly don't know about WWV.

But every home with at least one car in the garage or driveway has radios people can use in emergencies, when modern communications are out. So for the purposes of deciding how valuable continuous emergency commentary by OES types would be through stations in a theoretical perpetual EAS takeover mode, I'm looking toward that statistic as negating any others (e.g. Edison's) that unmask the shrinking in-home presence of radios.

I even wonder how long it would take for most of those same under-35's to realize that they might get in the car, turn on the radio and find information on an emergency situation.

If you're estimating Walmart, Costco, and Best Buy would collectively double the total Amazon is selling, then the yearly number would come in around 1.27 million. 324,000/year emergency radios plus 312,000 non-emergency radios = 636,000 x 2. Go higher if you add all the remaining models Amazon sells that weren't in my top 9 emergency and top 9 non-emergency lists, and higher still if you count every other retailer nationwide. Whatever the case, your last statement is right and is what counts. The Edison study proves even these numbers are being canceled out, such that even if they prove people still buy new radios in droves, that win is pyrrhic.

And, again, we need to look at the buyers. I'll bet that those under 40 do not think of a radio as part of an emergency preparedness kit as they don't find radio useful for information on a day to day basis. The buyers are likely to be older people who are frightened by the recent storms, heat waves, floods and the like.

Ultimately though, even that shouldn't matter, as with cars accounted for, there is really no drop happening at all in "last man standing" radio listenability. There is only a fundamental shift taking place in where folks will be doing their future listening in disasters where other communications have gone out -- when they will be tuning in just wanting explanations, instructions, and situation updates.

If younger people don't think of "radio" for news and information in everyday life, why expect them to do so when under the pressure of an emergency? I've been in several very severe earthquakes outside the US and a state of panic is not conducive to analytical logic.

 

[Kelly A]

I never remotely suggested people's exposure to radio during disasters would have a positive effect on its post-disaster broadcasting popularity/ratings. I don't know where you read that into my words but it wasn't there and it isn't even within the possible scope of what I was discussing.

Since your posts frequently contain a much more than average word count and unusual paragraph structure, it's difficult sometimes to understand what point you're trying to make. It sure looked to me as you were suggesting that radio could, or already is a communications lifeline to the general public. Wouldn't that lifeline from a human interest aspect include some form of gratitude from potential listeners? The answer is, maybe, except that smartphones are the go-to portable do-everything device that radio will never be. My point was; what happens to radio once the dust (or in this case) water clears? It still needs to function as a viable business.

The only remark that came close was my saying millennials and zoomers would learn fast during emergencies that they can get information from radio. But that was meant to mean they would remember radio as a source for emergency info in future disasters where communications were out again, not that it would suddenly turn them into new ratings points.

I never mentioned ratings either. It would be silly to assume anyone cares about ratings during a crisis.
And just to clarify, reports are that other than NWS warnings via EAS, iHeart stations and others that remained on the air stepped up to collect and broadcast out relevant information for local effected listeners. That included bringing in staff to report live on availability of local shelters and assistance.

Respectfully, I don't need it. You're the first person to complain that my public forum/newsgroup/echo posts were too long in 35+ years of writing them. The forum's owners also have a limit on message lengths, one I didn't realize existed in my two decades here until participating in this portion of this thread at this precise instant in time. So if some of my posts are longer than average, they've still always been within the bounds the admins decided were sane a long time ago.

Some of your posts? Actually, they're all longer than just about any others on this board.

I can't even take that seriously. Mixed with the overwhelming number of good things, this forum showcases never-ending, repetitious diatribes about the decline of radio as a whole, not to mention its endless permutations of commiseration about clusterfarts like AM STEREO.

We agree on the benign discussion of AM stereo, but as David mentioned, it was an element of AM history. Which, when you think about it, is pretty common for this site. There could be significant changes to the industry involving larger station groups or industry trends, yet what ignites the most debate may involve some community college station, LPFM, 1kW AM, ATSC 3.0, how AM stereo could have saved AM, or argument about the Billboard ranking of some one-hit-wonder back in 1966. I don't get it either, but life is too short to spend hours of my day writing a two thousand word rebuttal for something that could be said in a couple sentences. I also wouldn't expect anyone would read anything that long. The term 'bloviating' comes to mind.

My own faux pas posting certain ideas or sentiments more than once are no different than any others', and sometimes I do it purposely because there is a different crowd participating in one thread than in another. If you read everything everyone posts here, you'll be one of the few to notice.

Perhaps your personal situation dictates you have a lot of time on your hands because of retirement, health issues, whatever. That's fine, everyone needs a hobby. But, since it seems like you enjoy textually pontificating, I suggest you may want to consider moving your more voluminous inclinations over to a place like Substack: Substack - A new economic engine for culture which is more geared toward blogs or long-form editorial opinions. There are lots of high word count folks over there.

As for your all talk no listening assertion, I have 378 posts to my name since 2004.

And I'll bet if you added up the number of words in those 378 posts, it will way exceed the summed word count of folks with over 5,000 posts.
Again, sometimes less is more.

 

[TheBigA]

Fair enough, but they're radios nonetheless, putting radio ownership and access at 92% of Americans.

Just because they have them doesn't mean they use them.

 

[b-turner]

It was said earlier that the government entity should be able to take over an automated station to deliver constant information. Two issues with that: the FCC stresses we must be in control of the station. If the county or other entity just take over, this might not jive with the FCC Rules. Second, from dealing with Emergency Management and the command centers, if they bother to activate the EAS, they want to be in and out quickly because they're not radio people. In an emergency situation, everybody has a job to do and likely is overwhelmed, so who is going to become DJ for X amount of time? A news conference, okay, but after that who?

I was an applicant for a station and was trying to work a sweet deal for rental on their tower. I offered the opportunity to interrupt the programming in the event of an emergency. Nobody with the city wanted to hold that baton. I suggest the police chief and the mayor said the guy was overkill on most things and we'd be crazy to 'give him the key'. So, offering the ability, nobody wanted the ability to do so.

 

[Kemosabe]

A week after Helene, this woman's only "access to the outside world" is her transistor radio:

 

[AMRadioGuy]

All this talk about new radios... doesn't account for the millions of radios already out there. Up until a year or so ago, I regularly listened to terrestrial radio. I probably have a dozen radios. I don't think I've ever bought one new, aside from just for kicks to see how the reception compares. I have no need to buy a new radio because for the quality and cost of a new one, I could just get a much better old one. So there is that... I'm not sure that new radio sales are exactly a good way to figure out the popularity of radio today.