Why does FM radio suck now? It seems to be so full of ads and same songs over and over...?

Question

You only hear the popular cuts- so much wasted

Answer 1

Duh I think is correct in his assesment to a point and out of the top 100 says it pretty correct but says it more in radio lingo than common people language.

Basically radio is driven by ad revenue, more people buy ads on a station, the more the station makes.... These ad buys are governed by how many people listen (which is measured by companies like Arbitron) . Over the years, they have found people rather old and familiar with some new songs  than trying new stuff or trying to remember songs they haven't heard in a long time (it's called human behavior patterns).

As people said, when the people who love radio died or got out and was taken over by companies more worried about profit margin, is when you lost your hometown stations that would play obsure songs occasionally.

Sat radio, has more diversity, because people are paying for it, but as I've discussed with others already, a time will come when sat radio will do the cable tv business model... sneak ads more and more to get these ventures out of the red hole they sink every year deeper into... in 5-10 years, all stations will have ads I think but since FM radio won't have the choice, people will pay no matter what.

Only certain programs will be ad free and it will be after the pay tv model... pay extra for no commercials.

So I say support the backwoods radio stations.. those are the ones that got diversity.. most of what I hear on sat radio is almost the same stuff I hear on radio right now minus the commercials.

Answer 2

When radio was turned from an entertainment haven protected by owners using it as a tax shelter to a corporate commodity it changed.  Those in the business know it by it's legal genesis; "deregulation".

In true corporate style the emphasis became the bottom line.  This was implemented by people driven by the balance sheet vs. those driven to entertain (or hide money).  What the listener hears locally, usually is two to three corporate parents for 6-18 and perhaps more stations.

This lead to a fast food type of effect.  You get the same thing in NY, LA, and everywhere else as regards to spot load and music selection, like hamburgers and pizza.



The corporate types believe the masses of listeners will eat the same hamburger made here, there and everywhere.  Just as they believe the same music list and spot load is just as acceptable globally.

Musically, they fear the fringe because they are trying to appeal to the lowest common musical denominator for the particular demographic they are targeting.  

Exacerbating the problem is Arbitiron.  They have driven and trained radio to program in 15-minute spurts and many believe in only programming in quarter hours, broadcasting the same continuously (some will argue in 60 minute programming).

For people that like free entertainment or radio the news is getting better.  With Clear Channel getting out of the Top 100 it underscores the flaw with big corporations and radio.  It isn't like the Mom and Pops or The Tax Shelter Willie's are getting back into it.  But at the very least more groups are becoming regional owned and non-corporate.

The other bright spot for radio is Arbitron's "Personal People Meters".  This allows ratings to be derived from actual measured listening habits and eliminates the need for listener recall in filling out diaries.  There have been some amazing reports coming from the test markets and is encouraging for the long-term future of programming diversity.

There is some hope.  But it won't ever be the same.  But what is?

Answer 3

Well Thats Terrestrial Radio for you! Why not try Satellite Radio? You won't hear ads or songs over and over again!

Answer 4

Because once the corporations found out that FM radio could be a source of advertising that reaches out to millions of people, the corporations exploited FM radio for their own personal use.  The corporations do not care about the format of the radio station; the only thing that is important is how many people can they advertise to.  This had ruined many good music formats as well as many great FM station formats.

Answer 5

I agree. It never used to be that way. It's all about money. Another thing I hate is why Rock stations don't play more (if any) Blues music by Blues artists. That's basically how Rock got started.

Answer 6

Well, it's funny, we used to hear the same thing about AM radio years ago. Then FM came along promising more music and fewer commercials. But it didn't take long for the same complaints to surface about FM.

I'm not taking sides (I'm not crazy enough for that) but understand that all radio is a business. Terrestrial radio is free, if you're willing to listen to the commercials. Satellite costs money, but many of the channels are commercial free.

But one way or the other, they have to pay the bills.

You make your decision and then live with it - until you change your mind ;<)

Personally I have both satellite services and still listen to terrestrial radio occasionally, but I admit it's less and less. To me, it's worth $13/mo to have the choices that satellite provides. And I think soon, we'll see better deals available for satellite listeners.

-a guy named duh