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Radio sucks.

Across the dial each morning, teams of overcaffeinated on-air "personalities" start your day with jarring jive, vapid phone calls from bleary listeners, overhyped contests, and the occasional hit song of the moment. It's all mixed into a matrix held together with weather, traffic, headline news, and advertisements—lots of advertisements. At some stations, more than a third of each hour is given over to nonmusical clutter.

As the sun rises higher in the sky, things don't get much better. The personalities surrender their seats to the shift workers, who slog through the day playing the same records they played yesterday and the day before. Talk-show hosts struggle to be topical, but the dead air as they turn the pages of the newspaper looking for more things to talk about is telling. They don't have anything to say.

It's not just Washington. Radio sucks everywhere. There are 12,000 radio stations in this country, and nearly half of them play the same three formats—contemporary music, country, or news—using a common template that hasn't changed since the '70s.

Federal deregulation policies that began with the Carter administration and continued through the Clinton administration lifted ownership limitations and made it possible for broadcasters to buy up more bandwidth in single cities than ever before. Companies that owned a few stations were bought by companies that owned a few more, which in turn changed the stations to suit their needs, until only a few formats managed by multi-billion-dollar conglomerates came to dominate the radio airwaves—which are supposed to be used in the "public interest."

But "public interest" has given way to "vested interest." Radio has become a delivery system for advertisements—and nothing more. And what's infuriating about radio—a $17 billion-a-year industry—is that it could be so much better. There are examples: All across the country, there are daily or weekly programs that engage and challenge the listener. They're not easy to find, but when you do find them, you tend to become such a devoted listener that you never turn off the station except when the key is removed from the ignition.

KNON-FM in Dallas kicks ass each night with a revolving lineup of one- and two-hour programs by longtime volunteer DJs who live for their weekly shifts. Those jocks put into context rockabilly, death metal, trip-hop, reggae, polka, "African Ambiance," Native American, and, for God's sake, pre-Columbian music. KNON's programming, streamed online at knon.org, may not be for all tastes, but the drive home at night is rarely less than enlightening. KNON's days are filled with community talk, conjunto, Americana country, and Texas blues.

In Boulder, Colo., KGNU-FM (which can be heard at kgnu.org) lives up to its mandate of providing "a channel for individuals, groups, issues, and music that have been overlooked, suppressed, or underrepresented by other media." Volunteer DJs cram their shifts with new and favorite tunes in genres ranging from beatbox to roots to rock en español to electronica to rockabilly to "space modern." World music wakes up listeners. Community talk and less-familiar classical—including atonal and modern music—occupies the midday.

The one thing these two stations have in common is that they are nonprofit; they work hard to earn money from listeners, not advertisers. And, by all accounts, they are doing well. KNON, which signed on in 1983, has expanded its signal to 55,000 watts and now reaches 30 miles to Fort Worth, where it draws additional financial support. After 21 years of renting space, KGNU last year bought its own building in downtown Boulder, one of the most expensive real estate towns in the country, and hopes to move into it in April debt-free.

Radio consultants—the people who tell stations how to attract the most listeners—pull out their hair when they hear of a KNON or a KGNU. Those program lineups and amateur on-air talent fly in the face of what contemporary commercial radio should sound like. It's not slick, the consultants say—listeners want consistency, and the best way to achieve that is to give them what works at other stations.

These days, the successful radio business model looks like this: Whatever your format—album-oriented rock (AOR), alternative rock, adult contemporary, urban, or country—make sure you play the same hits from the same artists that are played on every other station with your format and MTV or CMT, and separate them with up to 20 minutes an hour of advertising. Then let your on-air "personality" blab about boobs for the rest of the time.

Yeah, baby—that's what the people want.

The radio industry's craven practice of focusing only on the bottom line and the lowest common denominator has made it arrogant. The industry's usual defense is that if you don't like what you hear, you can change the station. But these days, the stations don't change, just the numbers on the dial. By and large, there is no alternative, even including what's called "alternative."

If ever an industry were ripe for competition, contemporary radio is it. Its hubris has left it wide open for a hit—and not the Billboard Top 40 kind. That challenge may arrive this summer, when two new satellite radio services begin beaming down what they promise will be a whole new kind of radio programming: a combined 200 channels of music and news/talk available anywhere across 48 contiguous states in automobiles equipped with the right radio receivers. Three satellites owned by Manhattan-based Sirius Satellite Radio are already in orbit, and two satellites operated by D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio are scheduled to be launched into geostationary orbit over the United States—one named "Roll" on March 18 and "Rock" in early May.

-- renosathug (none@none.non), February 16, 2001

Answers

It's odd that this story would show up now. I'm in the middle of organizing a boycott against wrko in Boston because they let their Saturday morning guy go (moe lausier) and instead put on some insipid little rat to take his place. (oh, did I say that outloud?)

They didn't fire this guy, they moved him--a political talk-jock--to the Sunday morning "plant" show...ugh (or ack, if you will). I have been collecting advertisers names for weeks now and posting hot links to wrko's message boards. So far, it seems to be driving the station crazy (good!).

(To the management's credit, they haven't deleted any of my posts telling people to boycott the advertisers, so that's something, I guess...)

Radio Consultants are ruining radio, isn't there some hole that they can crawl back into?

Mar.

-- Not now, not like this (AgentSmith0110@aol.com), February 16, 2001.

Hey Mar, at least you still have David Brudnoy over on WBZ. Been listening to that cat for years and years. His move to a slightly earlier time slot means I generally miss most of his show these days. :(

-- Rich (howe9@shentel.net), February 16, 2001.

Yeah, with Brudnoy you (gasp!) learn something! Love his show. Loved Gene Burns too, but now San Francisco has him. Their gain to be sure.

Mar.

-- Not now, not like this (AgentSmith0110@aol.com), February 16, 2001.

Mar,

I believe you can catch Gene's shows over the 'net. He has a saturdy food program, & being a hardcore libertarian - there's no lack of material for him from the bay area during his weeknight shows.

-- flora (***@__._), February 16, 2001.

flora,

Thanks! Do you know the call letters?

Mar.

-- Not now, not like this (AgentSmith0110@aol.com), February 16, 2001.

Here ya go Mar:

Listening Tips

-- Rich (howe9@shentel.net), February 16, 2001.

Burns is on KGO and you can listen to him here

-- renosathug (none@none.non), February 16, 2001.

Rich and Reno, thanks for the links. It still amazes me how many people on these boards are versed in *so* many subjects. That's why I keep coming back. (smile)

Mar. (who can't wait to hear Gene Burns again, wahoo!!!)

-- Not now, not like this (AgentSmith0110@aol.com), February 16, 2001.

I Was There, he said, when they first began eliminating the ownership limitations and operator licensing requirements. The latter hasn't turned out so badly, but group ownership has nearly become the death of radio.

There are all sorts of reasons; one problem is debt load.

To give you an example, say I built a modest 3KW FM in a large city many years ago. I can't compete with the 100KW powerhouses, but even with 3KW, I have a population base of, say, 500,000 people. Out of that group, surely at least 10,000 people will like, say, classical music, so I'll target that "niche" format.

I CAN'T run too many ads; people tune into my station in particular to hear music, not commercials. Further, the commercials have to be carefully produced (no screaming!). Bottom line: careful management, careful ad pricing, keeping my costs down, lets me make a very nice living for many years. I sell ads to high-end clothing stores, car dealers and restaurants. I have a small but devoted group of listeners. My staff is all classical music lovers who are willing to work for less just to keep the format alive. Everyone is happy.

But in comes the big radio group. They make me an offer I can't refuse ($10,000,000 for my little station?!? Where do I sign!!!), so I sell out.

Now: THEY'RE stuck with a 3Kw station that has trouble covering the suburbs, and they have to make payments on the note. The first thing that happens is, the staff is slashed drastically; most of the announcers are let go. The music comes from satellite. The decline begins.

It was really bad about 15 years ago when deregulation went full-tilt boogie; THEN you had "investor groups" buying stations. These people had no idea how to run a radio station whatsoever, nor did they care; to them, the station was simply an investment that they planned to hold for a few years, then sell at a profit.

That wasn't the bad part. The bad part was, when these stations (inevitably) began to lose money, these investment groups tried to manage them. That's when it REALLY went downhill, because they truly didn't know what they were doing.

Having lived through them, I can tell you, those were very dark days, indeed. I saw a LOT of very talented people leave the business then.

But not all radio is bad. And in spite of what this article says, the really interesting alternative formats just don't work. Believe me, if his Volunteer Jocks Playing Sound Effects was that viable, station management would do it 24/7. It's not. It's something that will only sustain itself for a few hours a week.

Ever hear of public television and radio? Hey, they've been doing alternative stuff for years, they have some of the best facilities (technically) in existence, and they STILL struggle for listeners. That should tell you something.

Bottom line: the article gets it about half right. (Speaking from experience.[g])

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), February 17, 2001.

One other thing that this guy misses. There's a reason why those alternative formats are placed on weekends and evenings.

Radio lives and dies by Drive Time -- simply put, when people are driving to work with the radios on. 6AM-9AM, 3PM to 7PM; that's when radio makes most of its money. From 9AM to 3PM, there are some office listeners, but only a fraction of what you have during drive time.

Nights are weekends are Alternative City. For example, our religious FM here in B'ham does very well at night. Most people are watching television; the few who choose to listen to radio aren't GOING to be religious people looking for Gospel music, or jazz devotees looking for Miles Davis, etc., etc.

THAT'S why the alternatives are done at nights and on weekends. That's when you can AFFORD to be experimental.

Further, many stations DO experiment during these times -- including many of the Evil Group Owned stations.

Again: PBS is the best example. Even after decades of trying, they cannot capture more than a tiny fraction of the listening (and viewing, for TV) audience.

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), February 17, 2001.

Typo alert: "aren't GOING to be" should be "*ARE* going to be." :)

-- Stephen M. Poole (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), February 17, 2001.

I've always been a big fan of talk radio. For my money WWDB-FM in Philly was tops for many years. Local talk ruled by local hosts. Out of curiosity tonight I tracked down what they are up to these days and it isn't pretty. Back to 80s hits music...is there no God?

What a wonderful station it was for all those years while it kept me company as I banged nails and climbed ladders. Dom Quin in the mornings, Susan Bray from 9-3, then the king, Irv Homer took over from 3-7 and on Friday from 7-12 was "Fridays with Frank" all Sinatra, all night. When we moved to Florida I missed it terribly and had withdrawal for a long time. Talk radio here in my area of FL was in a sorry state at that time. It still is really, but back to Philly talk. Several years ago WWDB was absorbed by a radio giant conglomerate that ditched the local talent for the syndicated crap of Limbaugh and Dr Laura and ratings fell, and fell, and now to a new low, 80s hits....what a fucking waste.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), February 17, 2001.

Poole:

We have three FM public broadcast radio stations in a town of about 75,000. Last time I saw the ratings one was number 1 and one was number 3. The other one [jazz and blues only] didn't make the top ten list. So it can work in some places. The #1 station has repeaters and broadcasts over 2/3 of the state and into adjoining states.

Cheers,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), February 17, 2001.

Stephen Poole:

Did you read the whole article? The point wasn't so much about the fact that radio sucks (we all know that), it's that there are soon going to be alternatives to the sucky radio. 100 channels of satellite-delivered crystal-clear audio to your car radio. 24/7. You can choose the format you feel like at whatever time you want to listen. If you are in the mood for Beethoven or Miles Davis you can get either anytime, without fades, while you drive from Boston to Los Angeles. It will cost just 9.95 a month. And I think it's going to knock traditional radio on its collective butt.

-- renosathug (none@none.non), February 17, 2001.