Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Fred Waterer, who shares this message from his friend, Jarrad Brooke:
Radio. Now is your time to shine.
As more and more mass gatherings are cancelled and outdoor entertainment is cancelled – more and more people will turn to other forms of media for entertainment. Netflix and streaming are the obvious choices – but I believe even Free to Air TV and yes -radio will get a free kick as well.
I’m not talking about those in isolation or quarantine – as that is obviously an extremely small portion (or hopefully!) a small portion of our potential audience. I’m talking just the general population who feel they need somewhere to go, tune out, escape and be entertained… seeing as they have no where in groups outdoors to do it anymore.
Radio – now more than ever, needs to make sure they use this free kick of audience to their advantage to make sure they become loyal and stay. Everything that goes to air right now needs to be to the highest quality – every song, announcer break, commercial and element needs to fit now more than ever.
Radio did such a great job in the bush fire emergency. Now build on that and maximise it even more. You never know, you could be a listeners emergency today in needing them needing an escape from reality for a while.
My hope is that some format changes come about in the AM and FM universe… Sports talk is dead in the water. People will require real information and content even if /when the internet crashes. Lots of idol studios and microphones could be put to use. I don’t want to see people loose their jobs but quality content can bring listeners and might save lives.
We listen to a lot of radio over the internet. My Denon receiver has vtuner built in and we use it daily about 4-6 hours. Below are some of our favorite stations.
WOMR in Provincetown, Cape Cod. This is an all volunteer station and the DJ’s can play whatever they want. Perhaps my favorite station: https://womr.org/
WQXR in NYC is a great classical station;. We tend to listen to classical a lot as it is very calming; https://www.wqxr.org/
BBC Radio 6 plays a wide variety of pop and rock. This is might be the best pop station ever; https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_6music
BBC Radio 3 is considered by many to be the best classical station on Earth. Great music https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_three
WFMU Rock ‘n’ Soul Ichiban channel (Ichiban means #1 in Japanese BTW) is 100% no hits radio, They don’t play the B sides of records. They play the C and D sides. You will hear some crazy stuff here; https://wfmu.org/
Radio Caroline Flashback has a very interesting oldies mix. A lot of what they play are UK and EU oldies that I have never heard before. Lots of fun; http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html
WMBR is an all volunteer station at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts and they play a wide mix. My favorite show there is Backwoods, “The best in vintage rock ’n’ roll, country and western, and rhythm ’n’ blues. More songs about Cadillacs and chickens” hosted by John Funke This is our favorite show on radio and has to be heard to be believed. Give this a listen! It is live at 10AM EST on Saturdays or you can listen to past shows here too. https://wmbr.org/www/sched-sat#show6393
Zack Schindler N8FNR
Like most here, I’m tuning in local radio for the latest developments here near Seattle and then distracting myself with DXing in the evenings.
But let me also throw out a reminder that many nonprofit radio stations, from the largest NPR affiliates to the smallest community-run stations, have curtailed or canceled fundraisers due to the ongoing pandemic. If you can throw a little money their way, they’d appreciate it.
The small community station I volunteer for in Everett, Washington, has locked up its studio from the volunteers to minimize any health risks and is running remotely for now. Our spring fundraiser is has been reduced to just reminding listeners via email and social media that we’re still taking donations.
I hope Fred is right. Of course there are other wireless options to choose from, namely the Internet, but at this QTH I’m surgically attached to an AM radio at least half of the day, either in the house using a Panasonic RF-2200 or outside using a Sony Walkman headphone radio. It’s just a lot simpler and less cluttered with annoying ads and constant obtrusive prompts that Internet apps bring along. Plus no one’s tracking my whereabouts or placing cookies to gather info about my lifestyle when listening to my favorite AM radio station. There’s also regionalism with AM radio; I can spin the dial to different stations to find out the scoop in different locales of my tri-state area. There’s beauty in the simplicity of broadcast radio and I hope the public will become more aware of it.
Fred thanks for the post and I hope radio and OTA TV will become more popular in these trying times.