I can only listen to WLS for about 10 minutes before they start playing a commercial. I could care less about the commercials and more about the talk portions of the station. During the day, it is increasingly hard to listen to them for 15 minutes before I have to turn back to WGN. Does anyone else have any problem with it?
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WLS 890 cannot stop playing commercials!
- Thread starter rbrown
- Start date
Yes there are a lot of commercial's it is common on newstalk stations now. WGN, WBBM in Chicago WHAS in Louisville KMOX in Saint Louis Wlac in Nashville. It is all over the country and is too much. A news or talk station that is live is very expensive to run, which is why stations like WBBM are rare. What's really bad is that FM music stations are almost as bad now. It's much more noticable on music stations too. At certain times it is hard to find any station without a commercial on. I am starting to listen to my ipod more and more in the car.
Commercials are what pays the bills, except for non-profit and educational stations. However, I have to agree that the spot load on most stations is way too heavy and it is becoming a big tune-out factor, at least for me. One thing I particularly loathe is the endless repetition of 800 numbers-- three, four, and even five times in one ad! My car tuner has 15 buttons for FM, and it is not uncommon for me to find that evey one of those stations is airing a spot except for the noncommercial FM stations. I am willing to pay for some sort of radio just to avoid having to listen to those ads. Maybe someday there will be a service like that. Until then, I listen to NPR and CDs.
I would subscribe to satellite radio except for the comments from users saying that the audio quality is not that great. Fortunately I do have several noncommercial classical stations available to me on FM (including one that does NOT broadcast in HD), so I proudly support three different stations in two states.
I get the audio quality issue, especially if you're an audio guy... But you're in your car! There is engine noise, road/tire noise, wind noise, etc. It isn't exactly an audiophile's paradise to begin with. So the compression and overall quality isn't as big a deal. I had it for years (mainly because I am a Stern fan), and could not really tell a sizeable difference vs. the regular quality of Chicago's FM stations, especially out here in the far western/NW suburbs! Seriously, it isn't that big a deal!
The only reason I dumped it was because I purchased a newer car (that still was XM), and no one made the brainbox converter to convert the XM to Sirius using the factory GM antenna like I had in my previous car.
The only reason I dumped it was because I purchased a newer car (that still was XM), and no one made the brainbox converter to convert the XM to Sirius using the factory GM antenna like I had in my previous car.
C
cspotrun
Guest
I Love This topic...WLS890 cannot stop playing commercials! Gee. i though Older demo stations couldn't attract Advertisers :
Today I was out in the western burbs and thought I would listen to WSPY 1480... wow, they were virtually at the noise. Much worse than even a few months ago.
So I decided to tune over to the FM and see what they had to offer. Holy cow, you would not believe the number of spots being aired on that station! It was horrendous! I gritted my teeth and listened for about 25 minutes. During that time, they played ONE song. The rest was a mix of national ads (the same ones played several times), PSAs, self promotions, and the "Sponsor Wheel". First they promo'd the Sponsor wheel several times. For this, they read off the name of every single advertiser. It sounds like someone reading the phone book! (This cannot possibly be effective advertising for any of their sponsors). Then they actually played the sponsor wheel game for the third caller (I could not believe they actually had three calls-- maybe it was the same guy calling three times until he got in). The prize was $22 (yes, twenty two dollars). An electronic sound effect was played to mimic the sound of the wheel turning. The guy did not win. The announcer said they were adding anothe $2 to the pot, so the prize next week would be $24. Unbelievable.
So, you see, radio can actually be even worse than WLS. Hard to believe, but true.
So I decided to tune over to the FM and see what they had to offer. Holy cow, you would not believe the number of spots being aired on that station! It was horrendous! I gritted my teeth and listened for about 25 minutes. During that time, they played ONE song. The rest was a mix of national ads (the same ones played several times), PSAs, self promotions, and the "Sponsor Wheel". First they promo'd the Sponsor wheel several times. For this, they read off the name of every single advertiser. It sounds like someone reading the phone book! (This cannot possibly be effective advertising for any of their sponsors). Then they actually played the sponsor wheel game for the third caller (I could not believe they actually had three calls-- maybe it was the same guy calling three times until he got in). The prize was $22 (yes, twenty two dollars). An electronic sound effect was played to mimic the sound of the wheel turning. The guy did not win. The announcer said they were adding anothe $2 to the pot, so the prize next week would be $24. Unbelievable.
So, you see, radio can actually be even worse than WLS. Hard to believe, but true.
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