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My favorite station around here lapses into Christmas music in mid-November every year, calling it their "tradition". I find it all boring and repetitive, so I also have a tradition: the Changing of the Pre-Set Button. But it has to be a success for them or they would not be doing it every year.
Based on everything I've seen, these stations that feature an all-Christmas format see massive spikes in the ratings no matter how early they switch over. I find this interesting, because overall I see a lot more complaining about this practice than I do positive comments.
I still listen to some public radio stations, particularly those with eclectic formats. Of course those same broadcasts are usually streamed as well, so sometimes in the home "listening" is actually streaming.
Either way, the good thing about local radio and TV broadcasts is their immediacy. What other format can have listeners call in and speak with the host in real time?
Our FM easy listening station starts Christmas music right after Halloween. UGH. I don't listen much.
I started listening to talk radio with Owen Span, Gordon Liddy and others . Then Rush L. came on and at first I didn't care for him but he grew on me and I still miss his show. Buck and Travis are okay but they talk too much and I wish they would open up the phones more. Also, I don't care about a lot of the sideline topics they talk about : movies, music, vacations, etc. They are not as good as Rush.
I don't listen much to NPR except for the classical music in the afternoon. I don't care to hear their left- wing commentary or guests. NPR and PBS do not get any of my money even though I do watch some TV shows.
I still listen to some public radio stations, particularly those with eclectic formats. Of course those same broadcasts are usually streamed as well, so sometimes in the home "listening" is actually streaming.
Either way, the good thing about local radio and TV broadcasts is their immediacy. What other format can have listeners call in and speak with the host in real time?
I only occasionally listen to the classical station. The other music station is fantastic. While it skews modern/current, they might play Sinatra followed by Devo, then Prince or the Clash. I regularly discover great new stuff or some terrific deep cut from the 80s or earlier.
And I catch up on the news (local is great) and have weekly programs I try not to miss (The American Life, Radio Lab, etc.).
NPR has devolved into a repetitive litany of sponsor ads and ever greater schilling for donations. Much of it is prerecorded, plugged into the programming and repeated over and over and over ad nauseam. Some of their sponsors have dubious merit. I've heard ads for Fisher Investments. Fisher Investments have higher fees that are not the best choice for many. NPR does not care. They want the money. Many NPR programs are reruns repeated over and over and over. We get it. You need money to pay bills. Pity NPR is inching closer and closer to commercial AM with ad after ad and ad.
The ratio of NPR ads (although they may call them something else, are nonetheless ads by any other name) to substantive content has been shrinking your years.
NPR and other entities with a presence on both radio and internet, provide a choice. I'd chose the their internet presence over their radio presence to avoid those annoying radio ads every time.
Reflect back to mid-1990's. The first few years of mass adoption of internet in America were heady and exciting. Fast forward to today, and what is the internet for most people? Has it not become first and foremost a place to entice folks to buy stuff?
Today's internet has put the capital "C" on consumerism.
Many Americans have double car garages. They come in useful to store all the stuff bought on the internet. I see UPS/Fed Ex/Amazon delivery vehicles everywhere. Much of what they carry will eventually end up in a landfill or in your your garage.
Last edited by Bergman; 12-24-2023 at 03:51 PM..
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