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Location: Mableton, GA USA (NW Atlanta suburb, 4 miles OTP)
11,334 posts, read 26,074,740 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AcidSnake
I'm saying that the argument that market forces are to blame for Atlanta dropping its rock format is bullcrap. And I'm not concentrating on the "powers-that-be" angle anymore, if I ever was. For clarity's sake I will simply stick to my ultimate logic that mega-corporations regardless of who they are(CBS, Clear, Cumulus, whatever) are to blame for this dynamic of unfairly killing the rock/metal format.
Free markets create oligopolies. Once they reach a certain level, they can do whatever they want if the government does not intervene, and consumers be damned.
We've seen it in many markets. We're seeing it in many more. This shouldn't be a surprise to any student of history.
Last edited by rcsteiner; 09-02-2012 at 11:08 PM..
Reason: Used the right term. I didn't think "oligarchy" was right, and it wasn't.
It's almost like there is a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts to Atlanta and the radio industry in general. The radio industry claims that it only plays what people want to hear. But at the same time what people want to play, the radio industry refuses to play it...at least on terrestrial radio.
It almost seems as if the radio industry is purposely pushing rock & metal stations off the mainstream radio channels and into satellite radio. Maybe that's because the powers-that-be in the media industry figure that men more that women will more likely pay for this stuff.
But what's truly sad is that I like rock and metal music...but I can't afford to pay monthly for satellite radio. I don't even pay monthly for cable tv. My yearly income simply doesn't support monthly paid entertainment. So I guess it's the white male demographic that's being sought after here. Black men need not apply...as usual.
One more reason why I despise mega-corporations with passion. Beyond what's on the internet, there is for all practical purposes, no real choice in entertainment in this country for people who do not fit the mainstream demographic; or any other cliched box that the corporate marketing industry likes to invent for certain cultural segments of American society.
So much for the de-regulation of the media industry allowing for greater freedom of choice.
Just how in the heck did we Americans got conned into buying that lying sack of dogcrap?
How!?!
And why won't we trust-bust the media industry like the old days when it was cool to kick the snot out of huge mega-corporations?
We have a winner! the Telecom Act of 1996 is what caused the stagnation of radio. Corporate conglomeration always means less choice, less quality- and nowhere to go. Until now, corporate radio is it's own worst enemy. With the availability of iTunes, MP3, streaming radio, 3G/4G devices, listeners DO have a choice to get what WE want when WE want it. Soon enough these corporate owned stations will go dark as ad dollars slowly dry up and advertisers go elsehwere. With more choices in the dashboard of new cars, you no longer have to listen to the same 25 washout songs over and over followed by 10 minutes of screaming ads and some self-important DJ's who laugh at their own jokes. This industry has created it's own worst enemy.
Do yourself a favor, continue tuning OUT corporate media and support LOCAL community radio (we have WRFG! Awesome non-profit community radio!), and maybe they'll get it, maybe they won't. Maybe they will go off the air, and open up those FM frequencies for other locally owned commercial and non-commercial stations to come on the air and actually serve their communities with LOCAL talent, supported by LOCAL businesses and listeners, and we can have OUR airwaves back from these corporate scumbags who trashed it with their homoginized vomit.
I know I'm dreaming, but one day it may come to be...
New York does not have the best radio station as far as Top40 goes, and BTW, all of you arguing about stations of different genres of music is ridiculous. Only stations of the same format can be debated against one another.
New York has never had good soft rock/ office-appropriate stations for background music while you're at work. I always wanted more pop/top40 which include doses of rap and techno that would prompt someone changing the station. Then the soft rock station would include about 40 tired old songs from the 80s/90s and play them over and over. I don't want to hear "I Will Survive" and "It's Raining Men" every week. The station catered to such a geriatric crowd that the DJ would say at lunchtime, "Time for your nourishment." I swear.
103.5 KTU is unique and for "Only in NY". It played dance music, but in a flavor only appropriate for NYC. It's the only station in the country I'm aware of that plays "Freestyle" dance music, which could be indigenous to NYC.
KISS102.7 in Los Angeles plays Top40 hits 3-4 months ahead of the rest of the country.
I worked at my first architectural firm in Boston in 1999-2000. Radio was awful there, and my co-workers loved Star94 streamed over the internet. They would always chuckle at the mention of "Spaghetti Junction" during the traffic report.
I'm so thankful for being turned on to 96.1. LOVE IT!
New York does not have the best radio station as far as Top40 goes, and BTW, all of you arguing about stations of different genres of music is ridiculous. Only stations of the same format can be debated against one another.
New York has never had good soft rock/ office-appropriate stations for background music while you're at work. I always wanted more pop/top40 which include doses of rap and techno that would prompt someone changing the station. Then the soft rock station would include about 40 tired old songs from the 80s/90s and play them over and over. I don't want to hear "I Will Survive" and "It's Raining Men" every week. The station catered to such a geriatric crowd that the DJ would say at lunchtime, "Time for your nourishment." I swear.
103.5 KTU is unique and for "Only in NY". It played dance music, but in a flavor only appropriate for NYC. It's the only station in the country I'm aware of that plays "Freestyle" dance music, which could be indigenous to NYC.
KISS102.7 in Los Angeles plays Top40 hits 3-4 months ahead of the rest of the country.
I worked at my first architectural firm in Boston in 1999-2000. Radio was awful there, and my co-workers loved Star94 streamed over the internet. They would always chuckle at the mention of "Spaghetti Junction" during the traffic report.
I'm so thankful for being turned on to 96.1. LOVE IT!
We have a winner! the Telecom Act of 1996 is what caused the stagnation of radio. Corporate conglomeration always means less choice, less quality- and nowhere to go. Until now, corporate radio is it's own worst enemy. With the availability of iTunes, MP3, streaming radio, 3G/4G devices, listeners DO have a choice to get what WE want when WE want it. Soon enough these corporate owned stations will go dark as ad dollars slowly dry up and advertisers go elsehwere. With more choices in the dashboard of new cars, you no longer have to listen to the same 25 washout songs over and over followed by 10 minutes of screaming ads and some self-important DJ's who laugh at their own jokes. This industry has created it's own worst enemy.
Do yourself a favor, continue tuning OUT corporate media and support LOCAL community radio (we have WRFG! Awesome non-profit community radio!), and maybe they'll get it, maybe they won't. Maybe they will go off the air, and open up those FM frequencies for other locally owned commercial and non-commercial stations to come on the air and actually serve their communities with LOCAL talent, supported by LOCAL businesses and listeners, and we can have OUR airwaves back from these corporate scumbags who trashed it with their homoginized vomit.
I know I'm dreaming, but one day it may come to be...
I was mighty confused this afternoon. I turned on 96.1 and got Rhianna...
Things certainly have changed. I think the heyday for Atlanta radio was the 1970s. Z93, WQXI (94.1), and 96Rock were among the major radio stations. 99X was force much later in "alternative" music.
There used to be a Top 40 Countdown but now the music industry has become so fractured that it's a hard commodity to control and make money on except by live concerts and the artist becoming the commodity.
AM lost out to FM for music and so AM turned to talk and news. And now FM is seeing its music hold slipping.
We have a winner! the Telecom Act of 1996 is what caused the stagnation of radio. Corporate conglomeration always means less choice, less quality- and nowhere to go. Until now, corporate radio is it's own worst enemy. With the availability of iTunes, MP3, streaming radio, 3G/4G devices, listeners DO have a choice to get what WE want when WE want it. Soon enough these corporate owned stations will go dark as ad dollars slowly dry up and advertisers go elsehwere. With more choices in the dashboard of new cars, you no longer have to listen to the same 25 washout songs over and over followed by 10 minutes of screaming ads and some self-important DJ's who laugh at their own jokes. This industry has created it's own worst enemy.
Do yourself a favor, continue tuning OUT corporate media and support LOCAL community radio (we have WRFG! Awesome non-profit community radio!), and maybe they'll get it, maybe they won't. Maybe they will go off the air, and open up those FM frequencies for other locally owned commercial and non-commercial stations to come on the air and actually serve their communities with LOCAL talent, supported by LOCAL businesses and listeners, and we can have OUR airwaves back from these corporate scumbags who trashed it with their homoginized vomit.
I know I'm dreaming, but one day it may come to be...
Personally, I think radio is being marginalized by the internet and ipods. A major paradigm shift in communications is going on. I've been hearing ads on the radio urging listeners to voice support for free access to radio on your cell phone. In the future, you might be regularly streaming a radio station from a web address rather than tuning in to a frequency. Opening up the radio frequencies to more internet might be better than tying a frequency to a particular station.
the problem is the Internet (especially mobile) is not available, nor affordable, to everyone. There are large portions of the country that still don't have some kind of broadband available at their homes, and wireless is even less reliable if available. Internet is a finite resource, and ISP's know this, which is why they are introducing data caps, even on fixed connections. The current streaming technologies make it impractical for large numbers of users to share connections without using large bandwidth. Bandwidth, servers, and such are not free. The Internet, or the ability to access it, is subject to interruptions that make streams unavailable, not to mention the delay that can occur.
Terrestrial radio is still king in this area. Everyone is within 10 feet of a radio when they are in a car, at work, at home, and at most businesses. Radio requires no bi-directional data connection to function, reception is completely passive, so no strain is put on a broadcaster whether 1 receiver is tuned in or a million. So long as the facility is intact and functional, reception is not affected (at least on FM) by severe weather, riots, terrorism, or anything else. Radios are cheap and most people have several. No subscription is needed, and it's an invaluable tool for mass notification during emergencies, weather events, etc.
Radio has proven invaluable during Hurricane Katrina, the NE blackouts in 2003, September 11, 2001, and even the most recent event, Issac. Portable radios can run on batteries for days, require little infrastructure compared to complex cellular networks, and can reach millions.
Internet streaming is a nice add-on, but it augments, not replaces, terrestrial radio. At least for now.
Over-the-air television is making a comeback and I haven't had cable since 2006. I love it, with all the major networks, local stations like Peachtree tv, and especially "Antenna TV" and less so, "MeTV". HD picture quality using an antenna is better than cable, because it's not compressed. In Midtown my antenna receives over 60 channels, but most of them are horrible infomercials. There is some cool stuff like France24 hour news. You can even watch HSN over the air.
I agree radio will always have its place.
For my personal music, I just download free podcasts from my favorite djs worldwide and listen to them on my ipod. I've never paid anything except $49 for my ipod shuffle, and I always have fresh new music.
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