Is good radio dead?

[rogerzilla]

Exhibit A: UK DAB quality is crap, with the exception of BBC R3 which no-one listens to, and even that has been watered down over the years.
Exhibit B: Other digital services are making you use their app (for data harvesting purposes), bricking smart speakers and streaming boxes that use TuneIn etc.

Ironically, the services that still mostly work well are terrestrial FM and satellite via Astra, both of which are very old technologies.

Do people actually listen to music radio any more, or do they all stream via phone apps?

[The Family Cyclist]

Do you mean poor quality transmission or shit content

I have been a big fan of 6 music but they have over the last few years moved several of my favourite presenters to different slots or off the station so I'd reckon I split it about 50/50 with listening live to sounds. For example I'm now listening to Gid Coe from last night as I canny stand Mary Anne Hobbs presenting style. I'm sure she's lovely and I'd not wish her any misfortune I just don't like listening to her

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I used to listen to radio music - but found it increasingly bland.  Over the last 10 years the new bands I've got into have been through:

- seeing support acts
- You Tube recommendations that actually turned out to be interesting
- Classic Rock free CD samplers

Anything I buy goes onto my iPod and that sits in the car to play radio CET, with a playlist of 14000+ songs which is far more diverse and interesting (to me) than any radio station - that tends to avoid anything genuinely weird and interesting in case that causes punters to switch off.

[Kim]

I stopped listening to music radio when I moved to Canterbury in 1999, where all you could really get on FM was the BBC.  A couple of years later, I started living with barakta and confined my radio-listening to headphones (she can't tell the difference between Radio 4 and someone speaking in the next room).  These days, I'll spin up a web thinger to listen to a specific programme that sounds interesting, but that's about it.

[Mr Larrington]

This Unit mostly stopped listening to music radio in 1982.  Brief forays back into it have proved unsatisfactory, though I imagine 6 Music might be otherwise if ICBA to look for it.

[De Sisti]

Exhibit A: UK DAB quality is crap, with the exception of BBC R3 which no-one listens to, and even that has been watered down over the years.
Exhibit B: Other digital services are making you use their app (for data harvesting purposes), bricking smart speakers and streaming boxes that use TuneIn etc.

Ironically, the services that still mostly work well are terrestrial FM and satellite via Astra, both of which are very old technologies.

Do people actually listen to music radio any more, or do they all stream via phone apps?

I would disagree with Exhibit A. I find the DAB quality (in the Cotswolds) very good, and that
the programmes I want to listen to on Radio 3 very much to my liking.


About three years ago, a doorstep survey from an Ipsos Mori guy, enquired about how much radio
I listened to, and how many radios I had in my house. As I listen to the radio every day, I invited
him in and completed the survey (after which I received £5, which I wanted to decline, but he
insisted I take it, as it was part of his job description to give the cash to anyone who completed
the survey).


Since then, every three weeks (for seven days) I complete an online survey detailing which radio
stations I listened to, how long for, and what type (FM/AM/DAB), and where, (home/work/car).


I receive 100 points for each survey (and sometimes get bonus points) which I can redeem in
their online rewards catalogue.


https://www.rajar.co.uk
https://www.rajar.co.uk/index.php
(https://www.rajar.co.uk/listening/quarterly_listening.php

As of 15th July 2021, in an email I received from RAJAR (RAJAR stands for Radio Joint Audience Research) there are currently 55,032 people nationwide taking part in the regular survey.

[rogerzilla]

I don't think any UK DAB is actually hi-fi, original DAB being MP2 at low bitrates.  Almost all is worse than FM (although you need a decent aerial for quality FM, by which I mean S/N> 50dB; I can get 60dB on some stations and 70dB on one).  DAB+ is gradually taking over - and bricking many older DAB radios - but, although it has potential for better quality, they are just cramming more stations in.

Satellite radio and Internet radio have much better bitrates and better compression algorithms, but radio stations are increasingly insisting you use their own app; tough luck if you bought a dedicated piece of hardware.

[ian]

I don't think I've used an actual radio (analogue or digital) since, erm, whenever.

I do listen to Radio X on the internets though the playlist rapidly repeats so it mostly just a couple of DJs that entertain me with their banter. I tried BBC 6 Music, but other than the occasional song I like, there's too much waffle and it starts to sound like something that suicidal insomniacs listen to at 3 am. I generally have background music on during the day, sitting in silence disturbs me. I obviously don't want to be able to hear my own thoughts.

Other times, I'll surf the recommendations on Apple Music to find new music (I aim to find at least one new artist I like per week).

No one has lived till they've experienced US radio (often satellite these days, but local stations offer great value, especially south of the Mason-Dixon).

[andrewc]

I regularly listen to live concerts on R3, though some of their other programming can be a bit irritating.  Not listened to R4 for a while as I got fed up with their news service.


A very good FM tuner & a big aerial mounted in the loft & aimed at Holme Moss by compass bearing!

[The Family Cyclist]

Signal wise the DAB in 2016 van is pretty bobbins but cuts out so consistently that i reckon I could tell blind folded where I am on my commute

[mrcharly-YHT]

BBC Scotland is pretty good.

I found myself listening to the football program. I hate football.

However, these (gravelly accented) scots were funny and entertaining. They had the recent nobel prizewinner for chemistry on, david macmillan (he's a big football fan).

While playing the football yokel act, it became obvious that they had read up on David, plus, studied a bit of the subject. It was really good interviewing.

[Pingu]

We only listen occasionally to Gideon Coe (6Music) on Sounds or download with Get_Iplayer.

[nicknack]

I haven't listened much to music radio since 1967 when Radio London shut down. John Peel and Annie Niightingale on Radio 1 occasionally - and Mixing It on R3. These days it's only ever R4 for the news or programmes like More or Less, Science Now or Inside Health.

[De Sisti]

From: panel@radiodiary.co.uk <panel@radiodiary.co.uk>
Sent: 11 February 2022 13:15
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Subject: Your Next Radio Diary Starts on Monday!

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[Mr Larrington]

No one has lived till they've experienced US radio (often satellite these days, but local stations offer great value, especially south of the Mason-Dixon).

2002.  My first visit to USAnia, driving east from Reno on I-80.  Stations gradually disappeared until the only ones the car radio would pick up were W-JSUS* and W-GODD*, which were identical.  Even down to broadcasting the same shitverts at the same time.  I decided wind noise was preferable.

* Possibly.  Certainly they were heavily Christian.  Ever had a hellfire preacher trying to sell you a Kia with a down payment of only $99?

[rogerzilla]

BUY THIS CAR OR BURN IN HELLFIRE

[Mr Larrington]

Even if it’s built by heathen Korean robots…

[Cudzoziemiec]

I AM THE GOD OF HELLFIRE AND I BRING YOU...

THE KIA RIO WAGON.

No, hang on, wait. Even the Sodomites and Gomorrhans didn't deserve that. Sorry, humans, here's a rainbow by way of apology. Oh, that was a sandstorm! Getting the old weathermongery mixed up all the time nowadays.

[Feanor]

No one has lived till they've experienced US radio (often satellite these days, but local stations offer great value, especially south of the Mason-Dixon).

Ah, yes indeed.
The drive from Houston to Nawlins along I 10 is like a Bad Trip, travelling randomly through both time and reality.

Once you leave the big city of Houston and head into the sticks the stations drop off the dial.
Welcome to the Jimmy Swaggart world of dollar evangelism.
Radio stations that sell God.

The shitverts are for every crawdad shack along the gator infested freeway.
"Best crawdads in town! Suck dem heads!"

Baton Rouge on the Misssissssipppi River, is the capital of Louisiana.
Sounds like a lovely French styled historic town.
Wrong.
It's a massive petrochemical plant, the air for miles around pungent with carcinogenic aromatic compounds.
Think the opening scenes of Bladerunner, which Ridley Scott based on the Wilton Chemical Plant on Teeside.
It's exactly that.

But with added God. And crawdads.
Suck dem heads.

[TheLurker]

Radio 3 burbles away in the background on my ancient* transistor radio when I'm at work**.  To my mind the best of the programming is early morning, up to about 6:30.  Composer of the week around midday is usually worth a listen, especially if it's one of the less well known (to me at least) ones, but you can take Sean Rafferty out and shoot him for my money.



*Well, *I* don't think it's ancient cos it's only 25 or 30 years old, but I daresay a young person would classify it as antediluvian. However, it is refreshingly free of digital computing circuitry, so there's no decoding lag and, more importantly it doesn't impersonate a poorly tuned SW radio when atmospheric conditions aren't "just so" unlike most digital broadcast systems of my acquaintance. What's more if I want to listen to R4*** I can tune to Long Wave and listen in glorious mono on a rock-steady signal that doesn't fade in and out if I move from room to room.

** I.e. in my "study" bashing a keyboard for "the man".

***V. v. rarely these days.

[MikeFromLFE]

I'll generally have Radio 3 on in the morning as I'm waking up. And I'll often put Scala Radio on as I'm in bed reading before going to sleep (The Space is their late evening programme which is completely ruined by the adverts).

Daytime it's bubblegum pop in the background (Boom, Solid Gold Gem, Dazzle FM, Caroline Flashback etc)

At the allotment, if I stop for a cuppa there's an ancient tranny in the shed for Radio Caroline on medium wave.

[ian]

No one has lived till they've experienced US radio (often satellite these days, but local stations offer great value, especially south of the Mason-Dixon).

Ah, yes indeed.
The drive from Houston to Nawlins along I 10 is like a Bad Trip, travelling randomly through both time and reality.

Once you leave the big city of Houston and head into the sticks the stations drop off the dial.
Welcome to the Jimmy Swaggart world of dollar evangelism.
Radio stations that sell God.

The shitverts are for every crawdad shack along the gator infested freeway.
"Best crawdads in town! Suck dem heads!"

Baton Rouge on the Misssissssipppi River, is the capital of Louisiana.
Sounds like a lovely French styled historic town.
Wrong.
It's a massive petrochemical plant, the air for miles around pungent with carcinogenic aromatic compounds.
Think the opening scenes of Bladerunner, which Ridley Scott based on the Wilton Chemical Plant on Teeside.
It's exactly that.

But with added God. And crawdads.
Suck dem heads.

My advice: don't.

And yes, Baton Rouge. Baton Shithole, more like.

Mind you, once you've drunk your tornadoes in the French Quarter, N'awlins is a bit shit. I did win $1.25 in the casino that last time I was there (from a Sharnado themed fruit machine). They also don't call them 'fruit machines.' Are you English, asks the waitress. Will it get me attentive drinks service? Apparently. She got the $1.25 as a tip. I am English, and that's a lesson for you, we're a miserly bunch, Tawny.

[Mike J]

I used to like Absolute radio but they moved off FM and are now Greatest Hits Radio, the only way to listen to Absolute is via their app, which we did for a bit using a plug in dab adaptor (one of the ones where you tune your FM radio to a spare frequency) but it would cut out a lot so I know just press play on itunes whilst in the car.

Would probably still be listening to Absolute if they hadn't got us to move to their app.

[rogerzilla]

Absolute is still in TuneIn...for a week or two. I hate apps and they can jog on.

[ian]

I just ask the speaker to play whatever station and it does (sometimes it mishears me and plays something else, like Christian Country FM and then the screams begin). I have no idea how that works. Global Player or somesuch.