Terrestrial AM/FM Radio. How will it become good again?

Is there hope?


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BlueVelvetFog

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Apr 12, 2016
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Is am/fm simply a thing of the past? Is there a future for it? What will happen to it? Please discuss in a calm and orderly manner.
 
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mashburned

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Mar 10, 2009
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Titties AND make it a VIP service for $7 a month. Omg so progressive and robust, you don't have AM/FM radio??!! It's only $7 a month.
 

Ron Mehico

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Jan 4, 2008
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Radio is still extremely popular, the morning shows around my parts get boatloads of listeners.
 

funKYcat75

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Apr 10, 2008
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Two things that Satellite Radio can do that regular radio can't/won't. No commercials (on most of the channels), and very specialized genres of music/talk/comedy. Worth the $14 to me. If I was a balla, I'd have it in both (soon to be 3 ...) cars.
 

Kaizer Sosay

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Nov 29, 2007
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Two things that Satellite Radio can do that regular radio can't/won't. No commercials (on most of the channels), and very specialized genres of music/talk/comedy. Worth the $14 to me. If I was a balla, I'd have it in both (soon to be 3 ...) cars.

While this is true...most of those stations still eff it up by having a jabber-mouthed DJ who jabber-mouths waaaaaay too much.

Still better than am/fm doh.
 

Glenn's Take

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May 20, 2012
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$6 a month for Napster on my phone. I own pretty much every album I want and no commercials when I create a station. I can't even remember the last time I listened to terrestrial radio.
 

funKYcat75

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Apr 10, 2008
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$6 a month for Napster on my phone. I own pretty much every album I want and no commercials when I create a station. I can't even remember the last time I listened to terrestrial radio.
Does the data you use for that count against your cell bill?
 

Glenn's Take

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May 20, 2012
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Does the data you use for that count against your cell bill?
I have unlimited so it doesn't matter to me. If that does matter you can always just download whatever you want when connected to WiFi and listen in offline mode. An entire album can be downloaded in a minute or 2. A lot of times what I will do is just put every track I have downloaded and play them in shuffle. I'm not sure what the storage capacity is but I have about 500 songs downloaded right now and it's no problem.
 

ukalum_rivals311718

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I remember when they said that OTA broadcast TV would be the end of terrestrial radio. OTA TV is now closer to its deathbed than radio. Cable and SAT TV would be the end of broadcast TV. Cable and SAT TV will be on the dustbin of history before broadcast TV.

Once SAT radio such as XM become widespread enough, you will start to get commercials. It's already happening on streaming services such as Pandora.
 

MegaBlue05

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AM will live on as long as there's old people because they love their sports talk and many love their yelling, drooling wingnuts peddling conspiracy theories, half truths and faux anger.

FM will exist as long as there's women. I haven't listened to FM radio since the 90s. My wife, on the other hand, listens to exclusively FM radio even though her car as a docking station and CD player.
 

ukalum_rivals311718

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AM will live on as long as there's old people because they love their sports talk and many love their yelling, drooling wingnuts peddling conspiracy theories, half truths and faux anger.

FM will exist as long as there's women. I haven't listened to FM radio since the 90s. My wife, on the other hand, listens to exclusively FM radio even though her car as a docking station and CD player.

Somewhat of an exaggeration. A lot of new cars no longer have CD players. My nephew's 2015 caddy doesn't have one. FM radio will live on as long as the only alternative is XM etc. for $15 a month.

I went on a road trip to California about 15 years ago and remember the huge satchel of CD's I had to take along. Even docking stations require that you produce your own source of music.

AM and FM radio will out live OTA TV. Everybody will become old people.
 

UKGrad93

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Jun 20, 2007
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I think it has a chance to live on for a while, especially in rural areas. At least in the form of broadcasting a signal. There will be less and less local talent (we already have most of the music programmed by a few major companies). It will become more of an extender of internet radio. No local dj required.
 

MegaBlue05

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Somewhat of an exaggeration. A lot of new cars no longer have CD players. My nephew's 2015 caddy doesn't have one. FM radio will live on as long as the only alternative is XM etc. for $15 a month.

I went on a road trip to California about 15 years ago and remember the huge satchel of CD's I had to take along. Even docking stations require that you produce your own source of music.

AM and FM radio will out live OTA TV. Everybody will become old people.

I still carry that giant phonebook of CDs, partly because I'm staring middle age in the face and partly because I listen to music that is so bad or amazing - depending on who you ask - that it doesn't get played on radio. I drive an 06 model, so docking stations are non-existent for me.
 

Glenn's Take

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May 20, 2012
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I still carry that giant phonebook of CDs, partly because I'm staring middle age in the face and partly because I listen to music that is so bad or amazing - depending on who you ask - that it doesn't get played on radio. I drive an 06 model, so docking stations are non-existent for me.
I use an FM modulator in my car.
 

dgtatu01

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Somewhat of an exaggeration. A lot of new cars no longer have CD players. My nephew's 2015 caddy doesn't have one. FM radio will live on as long as the only alternative is XM etc. for $15 a month.

I went on a road trip to California about 15 years ago and remember the huge satchel of CD's I had to take along. Even docking stations require that you produce your own source of music.

AM and FM radio will out live OTA TV. Everybody will become old people.
That's not the only alternative though. Streaming music can be had almost anywhere now. I listen to AM for sports talk, but I haven't listened to FM radio in ages. If I want music I have a Pandora station that has been tuned for 6 years to know exactly what I like.
 
Feb 24, 2017
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AM radio is better than ever. There are local stations for news, preaching, and hearing who died. Some have some really good politics shows if you don't know what to think about something. I can't do much streaming on straight talk so I don't fool with it unless I'm getting the neighbors WiFi when his lardass boy gets off the damn Xbox.
 

BlueVelvetFog

Active member
Apr 12, 2016
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AM will live on as long as there's old people because they love their sports talk and many love their yelling, drooling wingnuts peddling conspiracy theories, half truths and faux anger.

FM will exist as long as there's women. I haven't listened to FM radio since the 90s. My wife, on the other hand, listens to exclusively FM radio even though her car as a docking station and CD player.
Women have ruined FM radio. Think about it.
 

ukalum_rivals311718

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May 9, 2002
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You people are talking about the 1% who are tech savvy and who are willing to go through the machinations to to stream music, rip CD's, transfer music to phones, mp3 players and flash drives. You people aren't going to kill AM/FM radio.

I'll bet the majority of people listen to radio while driving in their cars, not sitting in their living rooms. In your car, the options are far more limited; free radio, subscription radio, CD's, or create your own source of music. And that's just for music. For anything else it's just radio.

I think you techies over estimate the number of people who are able and willing to do all of that stuff, especially just driving around in the local area.
 
Aug 14, 2001
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Granted, I'm older but sometimes I get a kick out DX'ing. It's cool to pick up stations from all over the country. Granted, it's not what this thread is about but it's cool to pick up some shortwave broadcasts as well. I bought this and it does pretty well for under 50 bucks.

 

LineSkiCat14

Well-known member
Aug 5, 2015
37,265
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Two things that Satellite Radio can do that regular radio can't/won't. No commercials (on most of the channels), and very specialized genres of music/talk/comedy. Worth the $14 to me. If I was a balla, I'd have it in both (soon to be 3 ...) cars.

You pay $14/month for Sirius?? Don't be a sucker. Next time you renew, tell them your wife is getting it for $4-$6/month and you won't pay more than her cause she's just a woman. They won't put up much fight, because, well.. it's radio and their stock is worth the price of a coffee.. it's kind of sad to see them rollover just for the sake of keeping customer count..

Not many people under 30 touch Sirius as far as I know..Spotify, Youtube, downloading, and a million other apps to satisfy your music/news/podcast needs..

P.S. Make sure to mark your calendar, because it will auto-renew for like 3x the price.

P.S.S still bummed they don't have the radio sex channel anymore. RIP..
 
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BlueVelvetFog

Active member
Apr 12, 2016
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Granted, I'm older but sometimes I get a kick out DX'ing. It's cool to pick up stations from all over the country. Granted, it's not what this thread is about but it's cool to pick up some shortwave broadcasts as well. I bought this and it does pretty well for under 50 bucks.

It's fun as hell, actually...especially on certain weather days. FM gets really funky in the heat of the summer afternoons where you're at Lexington and you get stations out of Miami or if you're in Miami and get stations out of Michigan and so on and so on. For television dxing lot of the fun was taken away due to dIgital
 

LineSkiCat14

Well-known member
Aug 5, 2015
37,265
4,309
113
You people are talking about the 1% who are tech savvy and who are willing to go through the machinations to to stream music, rip CD's, transfer music to phones, mp3 players and flash drives. You people aren't going to kill AM/FM radio.

I'll bet the majority of people listen to radio while driving in their cars, not sitting in their living rooms. In your car, the options are far more limited; free radio, subscription radio, CD's, or create your own source of music. And that's just for music. For anything else it's just radio.

I think you techies over estimate the number of people who are able and willing to do all of that stuff, especially just driving around in the local area.

AM/FM radio will die with the baby-boomers. Even poors have androids and iphones. It's over.
 

MegaBlue05

New member
Mar 8, 2014
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You people are talking about the 1% who are tech savvy and who are willing to go through the machinations to to stream music, rip CD's, transfer music to phones, mp3 players and flash drives. You people aren't going to kill AM/FM radio.

I'll bet the majority of people listen to radio while driving in their cars, not sitting in their living rooms. In your car, the options are far more limited; free radio, subscription radio, CD's, or create your own source of music. And that's just for music. For anything else it's just radio.

I think you techies over estimate the number of people who are able and willing to do all of that stuff, especially just driving around in the local area.

If you live in Kentucky like me and hate country music, pop music, generic rock radio and political talk radio, you'll find a way. I listen to music more often than I watch TV. So, I've been controlling my source of portable audio for decades. Because we all know radio plays what the labels pay them to play, not what is actually good.

I do agree with your point that radio probably will always exist because your average Joe doesn't care enough to put in extra effort.
 

ukalum_rivals311718

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May 9, 2002
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AM/FM radio will die with the baby-boomers. Even poors have androids and iphones. It's over.

They have been saying that for almost 70 years, when TV first arrived. Having an android and iPhone is different from being able to transfer music and other content to these devices, especially an iPhone. You overestimate the number of people who are willing and able to do anything other than just use the phone out of the box. The cell phone will not kill AM/FM radio.
 

ky8335

New member
Oct 29, 2005
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They have been saying that for almost 70 years, when TV first arrived. Having an android and iPhone is different from being able to transfer music and other content to these devices, especially an iPhone. You overestimate the number of people who are willing and able to do anything other than just use the phone out of the box. The cell phone will not kill AM/FM radio.
The phone companies are certainly trying. Many phones built today have FM tuners built into them. But your carrier usually disables them through the software to encourage more streaming and consumption.
 

ukalum_rivals311718

New member
May 9, 2002
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If you live in Kentucky like me and hate country music, pop music, generic rock radio and political talk radio, you'll find a way. I listen to music more often than I watch TV. So, I've been controlling my source of portable audio for decades. Because we all know radio plays what the labels pay them to play, not what is actually good.

I do agree with your point that radio probably will always exist because your average Joe doesn't care enough to put in extra effort.

I am in the same boat since I moved back to Kentucky from Philly. Going from Philly radio stations to the stations here was definitely culture shock.
 
Aug 14, 2001
37,578
718
0
It's fun as hell, actually...especially on certain weather days. FM gets really funky in the heat of the summer afternoons where you're at Lexington and you get stations out of Miami or if you're in Miami and get stations out of Michigan and so on and so on. For television dxing lot of the fun was taken away due to dIgital


Glad there is someone else out there. Hell, I know it's throwback, but there is something relaxing about it. Actually thinking about getting a license. No Morse requirement anymore either.