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Post by egnlsn on Apr 17, 2013 7:12:55 GMT -6
The only thing I can really disagree with you on is "Most all online purchases now are made from phones." That sounds fishy to me. If the stat were "mobile devices" then maybe, but it's still hard to believe. Ninety percent of my wife's purchases are via her phone. In fact, ninety percent of all her online activity is on her phone. Her phone is right there, no matter where she is. She doesn't have to go to the other room to use her laptop or grab the tablet, or even wait 'til we get home. Small and lightweight, her phone is just much easier for her to use than anything else. It is sad that local radio has become what it (for the most part) is -- just a bunch of music, with buttons being pressed (or icons tapped) by hosts that have little or no personality. I mean, you used to listen to a radio station and listen to things like Danny Kramer and Tom Barberi's race around the world, or Hans Peterson's conversations with his "cast of characters," or things that made it fun to listen. The same music could be found at a handful of other stations, but you listened to your favorite because of the personalities.
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Post by bonnevillemariner on Apr 17, 2013 8:27:38 GMT -6
The only thing I can really disagree with you on is "Most all online purchases now are made from phones." That sounds fishy to me. If the stat were "mobile devices" then maybe, but it's still hard to believe. I did mean "mobile devices." Just found this in a Forbes article from October 3, 2012: Why is this an issue? Simple: more than 20 percent of all e-commerce shopping sessions are already happening on mobile devices – and that number is growing by 2-3x each year. Over the next 18–36 months, mobile will comprise more than 50 percent of all e-commerce shopping sessions, becoming the primary way people shop online.
So as of 10/2012, it was over 20 percent but predicted to be over 50% by at least 2014. I don't do much purchasing myself (online or otherwise), but my wife makes almost all non-grocery purchases from either her phone or tablet. Back to radio, even though the majority of my listening is podcasts or streams, I'd still take a good radio show over those options. Traditional radio just doesn't offer that any more. There are a few exceptions out there still. KZMU in Moab is one. It's kind of a whack job community radio station. I don't care for most of the music and cringe to wonder what their hosts' political views are. The hosts themselves are not trained or professional. They ramble and misspeak. BUT, they are passionate about the music they present, the playlists they carefully put together in order to convey that passion. When I drive into Moab, I turn the iPod off and tune into KZMU because I've got a friend on the radio-- a real guy or gal reaching out specifically (or so it seems) to me. KZMU also one of the 25 or so favorite streams on my phone. Another good example is Nashville's WSM and a number of other stations in the South. For whatever reason, the American South seems like traditional radio's last stronghold. Here in SLC, KSL might be the best example when it comes to news/talk-- especially the Nightside program. I don't care for KSL's political agenda (yes, they've got one), but the chemistry between Ethan and Alex is unmistakable and the humor-laced format draws the listener in.
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Post by bonnevillemariner on Apr 17, 2013 8:52:51 GMT -6
If radio wholeheartedly embraced that philosophy, radio could have a new renaissance. The danger is that they don't and they become more irrelevant or worse have online stations step in and do it for them. Bingo! The recent KDYL switch is a good example. While Ralph is broadcasting Chinese propaganda over the airwaves, Danny is quietly building a great station online. Hmm... wonder which one I'll choose to listen to...
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Post by kenglish on Apr 17, 2013 10:44:43 GMT -6
If radio wholeheartedly embraced that philosophy, radio could have a new renaissance. The danger is that they don't and they become more irrelevant or worse have online stations step in and do it for them. Bingo! The recent KDYL switch is a good example. While Ralph is broadcasting Chinese propaganda over the airwaves, Danny is quietly building a great station online. Hmm... wonder which one I'll choose to listen to... I'm listening to both, and getting a good sampling of what they are doing.
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Post by bonnevillemariner on Apr 22, 2013 7:34:32 GMT -6
Boy, KNRS just doesn't learn! Driving into work today I tuned into KNRS at the top of the hour to get the latest on the situation in Boston. Monday morning, important news cast that I can get streaming (see my comments re: Stitcher above). But if I don't need to stream for news, I'd rather not, so I figured I'd get it from KNRS.
No dice. I heard the Fox News update begin, but it was buried by an overlapping commercial. Then another. By the time the commercials ended, the segment on Boston was over. I always complain about the commercial part of the phrase "commercial radio" overshadowing the radio part of the phrase, but this takes the cake! Commercial was literally drowning out the content. For a good 2 minutes!
So I think I have the answer to one question I've always had about radio these days (and KNRS in particular): Does anybody over on Decker Lake Drive actually listen to their station? Obviously not-- at least not attentively enough to do something about it quickly. If they're not listening, why should I?
Being that I'm not a fan of KSL's news format, I simply plugged in my phone, which automatically downloaded and streamed the latest Fox newscast. That download cost me a negligible amount of data (~1MB), and I was updated on the story in time to tune back into KNRS and hear, once again, the first bit of Glenn Beck cut off by an ad! Brilliant!
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Post by dxstuboy on Apr 23, 2013 21:31:07 GMT -6
That to me sounds like nobody is awake at the steering wheel in the studio, or they just don't care/notice/etc. Sloppy radio, that I'm sure you weren't the only one hearing. With a signal that strong, its a heck of a waste to do what they're doing.
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Post by radioprm on Apr 24, 2013 11:46:33 GMT -6
It appears that no one is paying attention to the on air automation computer or liner-commercial computer. Perhaps the newsperson (if there is one) around the studio should check it once in a while. omputrs do glitch, may be mis-loaded or the clock may be off.
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Post by bonnevillemariner on May 2, 2013 8:47:19 GMT -6
Not to beat a dead horse, but it seems like every time I try to get over this, something else jolts it to the forefront of my mind.
I think we all agree that two of the strengths of (and possibly last features exclusive to) traditional radio is coverage of local emergencies and universal accessibility. And while we may not agree on the rate at which new media is overtaking legacy media, I think it's obvious that traditional radio as a whole fails to capitalize on these strengths
The latest example is KSL. Driving west on I-80 yesterday I noticed heavier than usual traffic. I turned off my iPod, tuned into KSL, and learned about the fatal accident near 7200. However, during the 30 minute period between tuning in and passing the accident, KSL briefly went off the air two times. I want to say it was around 10:00 am. I lost the transmission once just as I got onto the freeway downtown, and once around 5600 W. Literally off the air for a few seconds.
Now I certainly appreciated the traffic report that was accurate and timely, so good on KSL for that. And I do realize broadcast radio technology is extremely stable. It's unfair to criticize technological glitches the broadcast medium when there are still a myriad of issues with IP. But that doesn't mean we should excuse things like this. I listen to maybe 1 hour of traditional radio per week-- imagine the gaffes I don't hear! These may seem like small nitpicks to some of you, but they're deterrents to my radio listening. Those two drops were two more reasons for me to plug the iPod back in.
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Post by dxstuboy on May 2, 2013 21:40:47 GMT -6
You are right. People will tune out even if the station starts to fade, they do not want to hear static. We get that here a lot with the mountains in the way, and the stations not being high enough power. My beef with this is our engineer is not really looking to do anything about this. They'd rather run a radio station via the internet, let it sound like utter crap, and call it good. Not cool! I would so do things different if I was in charge.
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Post by bonnevillemariner on May 15, 2013 11:16:41 GMT -6
You are right. People will tune out even if the station starts to fade, they do not want to hear static. We get that here a lot with the mountains in the way, and the stations not being high enough power. My beef with this is our engineer is not really looking to do anything about this. They'd rather run a radio station via the internet, let it sound like utter crap, and call it good. Not cool! I would so do things different if I was in charge. I'm a project manager, not a radio engineer, so forgive me if my descriptions of these anomalies is elementary. The drops I experienced that day seemed less like reception drops and more like transmission hiccups. The areas I was in get exceptional reception. It's almost like the station stopped broadcasting briefly. For the record, I have experienced this before on occasion-- once while I had the car radio and a portable radio on at the same time. Transmission dropped for both radios. (I often switch to a portable when getting out of the car, and there's sometimes a few seconds of overlap-- you know, so I don't miss any of those riveting work-from-home commercials). I can't be the only one who experiences this. Does this scenario ring a bell for any of you engineers?
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Post by CAwasinNJ on May 15, 2013 22:55:23 GMT -6
I'm only an amateur engineer, but what you're describing sounds like a drop out in the transmitter to me. I don't understand why people don't care, but as was recently described on the This Week in Radio Tech podcast, mostly we live in a world where "good enough" is OK. That isn't acceptable, but that's what owners allow.
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Post by bonnevillemariner on Jun 13, 2013 10:52:08 GMT -6
I wonder if somebody at KNRS reads this board because I've noticed a minor change to at least their morning programming-- specifically the first moments of the Glenn Beck Program being cut off by ads. Last time I listened, an extra ad cut off most of the bumper intro to the show. The ad ended and audio cut abruptly to bumper in progress. It was a jarring transition that drove me nuts because it's a blatant example of the increasing trend of ads trumping content, but also because that bumper is a great piece of audio. I think I like it better than the show itself.
When I tuned in yesterday, however, I noticed a slight change. Rather than cut abruptly from the extra ad to the bumper, they've edited the bumper to shorten it significantly. So now you hear the extra ad followed by the beginning of the bumper with a smooth transition to the end of the bumper. You miss about 25 seconds of the bumper, but the transition isn't as jarring.
How about just eliminating the extra ad? Crazy talk, I know. Heaven forbid content be king. They'd sardine 18 more ads into that show if they could get away with it. I assume this happens with other shows all day, and with music stations too. I just happen to only be able to listen to radio in the morning. Thanks but no thanks, KNRS-- I'll just continue listening to that show via app or on podcast.
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