Do any of you still listen to the radio?

I still listen to the radio. I'll put it on NPR in the morning to get the news and weather report as I'm eating breakfast and getting ready, then I turn to sports radio..."Boomer and Gio," which is on from 6 am to 10 am. Apart from sports stuff, this crew of middle-aged or middle-aging, straight guys are pushing the envelope on what you can say on radio, thanks to Pat McAfee on ESPN. Lately they're tittering about saying "circle jerk," Gio is giggling through "BG Balls," an underwear brand they're hawking, and guffawing over the fact that one of them dropped (or nearly dropped) the C word recently. It's an eyeopener for this gay man to what passes for straight guy, locker room humor today.

Alison Stewart is on at NPR between 12 and 2. She usually as some good guests and segments. Teri Gross (a face made for radio if ever there was one) and Ari Shapiro are very good usually.

For music, there's a good classic rock station that has good programs. Early Sunday morning they have "Attic Alternative," a selection of alternative music from the late 70s through 2000. After that it's "Brunch with Bruce," featuring Springsteen music.

when i wake up in the morning. my alarm is the radio

Someone who loves me, switch the radio ON!

Si.

I listen to NPR wherever I go. somewhat less now that I listen to so many podcasts while shaving, showering, dressing, cooking and doing household chores (I rarely listen to music these days for whatever reason.

But I always check out Brian Lehrer’s weekday radio show from 10:00am to noon (est) even when I’m away on vacation. I listen through the WNYC app, which is the local NPR affiliate in NYC.

I do, I am a supporter of the local jazz station in LA, KKJZ or K-Jazz 88.1. It's on most days at my house.

I’m a weirdo and I like listening to the djs banter. The old alternative station turned into a an “urban station”. I like listening to didi in the morning and dl Hugley. I turn the station though during the prank call minute and this Secret whole body spray ad that I hate. The classic rock station still has a local morning show and that’s my back up station. I hate when a song from the early 2000’s plays . Makes me feel old.

My job moved to remote status after covid hit. I alternate between listening to the radio some alternative rock stations and NPR and podcasts when I'm not in video meetings. The only thing that sometimes bugs me is some of the commercials.

I listen to the radio all the time in the car, mainly classic rock.

Though I live half-way round the world, I listen to ABC Radio Sydney—for some reason I like their “overnights”, with random callers and a quiz for night-owls. If I get bored, I switch over to BBC Radio 4.

Earlier this week, I took a cab from LaGuardia back home and the driver had the radio on (Z100, apparently). After two songs there was an ENDLESS parade of ads. After 10 minutes of it, I had to ask the driver to turn it off. I'm weirdly sensitive to audio quality, so low-fidelity, dynamic range compressed FM radio is irritating enough for me, but the radio ad voice drives me up the wall.

I remember my dad used to always get angry and annoyed at commercials and I couldn't understand it as a kid. I'd think to myself that he ought to chill the fuck out. These days I understand exactly what he felt.

Never bother with the radio when I drive, I’d rather hear my own selections from my iTunes library. Sirius radio can suck it!

Only when I'm in the car and forget to take my phone. Otherwise, I listen to Pandora or songs on my phone library.

I live my life in the songs I hear

On the rock 'n' roll radio

I stopped when our local station added The Bob and Sheri Show in the mornings. I couldn’t stand them, their insipid chitchat, or Lamar, their trashy movie critic. Now it’s basically just NPR and classical music stations for me, when I’m not using my phone library.

I havent listened to radio in decades. Cant stand chatter or ads, I use a paid streaming music service almost exclusively

Aerial in my car is disconnected because it makes a noise when its up at higher speeds

No, I exclusively stream music off my phone, unless there’s no data service.

haven't listened for years. NPR is to be my to when driving. Now I stream audio mystery books from the library on my Libby app.

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Radio is awful. I switched to satellite in 2007 and never went back to terrestrial radio. I mostly use streaming now.

When I was young I'd listen to the radio Waitin' for my favorite songs When they played I'd sing along, it made me smile Those were such happy times and not so long ago

Local AM radio here for me. John Moore in the morning in Toronto is a joy to listen to. He has such a voice for radio. Wonderful, old school radio host.

"Jungle Boy" listens to the radio. He said to turn it up.

I'm a...

In my car, I switch back and forth between two local college radio stations & the local classical station, but sometimes I listen to the throwback R&B or classic rock stations.

At home, I use Radio Garden to listen to what suits my mood at the time. Lately, it's been a few different Depeche Mode radio stations.

No. Never.

The Ads are an abomination, especially the unimaginable amount of them.

[quote] Boomer and Gio,"

Omg I completely forgot I’m related to one of these guys.

My second-oldest iPod is in the glovebox of my car plugged into the audio system. 2300 songs selectable in alphabetical order sitting in the dashboard. I can drive to Canada without a repeat.

I never turn on the radio anymore. About ten years ago I had a leased Chrysler with Serius radio, some of the shows on which were so flamingly awful (the pet psychic was OTT) that I’d never pay for it again. The traffic and weather are on your phone now.

Who’s still listening to the radio (outside of drivetime) given the alternatives? Their audience has disappeared or rather fragmented.

1010 WINS baby, in 22 minutes they give me the world.

I listen to French talk show radio. For instance call in radio about life and relationships. Very corny, soothing and old fashioned French. Seems to come beamed in from another era. I don't mind French Friday and Saturday night dance music programs either. I like Nile FM in English when I'm in Cairo.

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Me, too, R11. It’s an inconvenient sensitivity to have but I do, and there doesn’t seem to be anything to do about it beyond becoming a hermit.

Well, there are earplugs and headphones. They help.

"NPR" is radio, you dumbfuck, erudite-wannabes.

Yes, A classical music station.

Another classical-only listener -- KDFC in San Francisco. Since it is a listener-supported station there are no ads (or extremely brief ones for upcoming concerts). It's excellent background music/company. And sometimes I'll hear something and think, What is THAT? it's so beautiful. Oddly enough, I rarely listen to that station in my car (I get enough at home), so I'll listen to NPR or one of the playlists on my phone (no streaming required). I'm home as I type this and not listening to anything. Sometimes silence is nice, too.

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Every morning before I get out of bed, I listen to 30-60 minutes of WWJ-950 AM Detroit news radio for my local news fix. In the car I also listen to WWJ, but also NPR and Sirus radio.

SiriusXM

Local talk radio for traffic and local news

Pilot of the Airwaves, here is my request: you don’t have to answer cuz I know you’ll do your best. I’ve been list’nin’ to your show on the radio and you seem like a friend to me.

I guess DL are cheap welfare cases and can’t afford SiriusXM subscriptions

Stopped basically about 25 years ago—since then, either on local classical FM station or else playlists, albums or WABC aircheck station through my iTunes.

No. I joined satelite almost 20 years ago and Apple Music 10 years ago and haven't looked back.

As others have noted too many ads and too much chit chat that as I get older seems more and more low-brow.

Philly still has some good radio -- WHYY (NPR, mostly news and interviews like Fresh Air), WRTI (Temple U., classical by day and jazz at night), KYW (news radio, weather, traffic, etc.), a sports talk station that also has Phillies games. Aside from that, Sirius is amazing.

Mohammad’s

i listen to cds

There was a good FM station here for a while but it disappeared and it's just some mexican talk radio now that barely comes in. It must have been college radio or some kind of independent thing - they would play 80s pop, new wave, post punk, goth, and uk club/techno classics. Overall it's godawful. If I do listen to the radio throughout the day I'll hear the same songs over and over again. The local morning zoo wannabes are absolute embarrassments.

[quote] If I do listen to the radio throughout the day I'll hear the same songs over and over again.

I have Sirius with my new car. Yes, they have lots of channels, but I'm dismayed by how often I hear the same songs on each.

Let's hope you never leave, old friend

Like all good things, on you we depend

So stick around, 'cause we might miss you

When we grow tired of all this visual

I listen to a local news station in my car for the latest traffic and weather reports, then I switch to streaming songs from my phone.

I listen to Leonard Lopate on WBAI — I enjoy his show a little less on BAI than I did on NYC, because he has to be more political/progressive on there.

But whatever his faults, he’s a great interviewer and has fantastic guests on. I find his show very comforting.

Oh I should have also mentioned Le Show — while I listen to it as a podcast, as far as I know it’s still on KCRW in Santa Monica. I love his regular information segments, with a couple of exceptions. I don’t really like his bits as much, especially the interminable songs, which I always fast forward through. His political stance on a few issues can also be exhausting. All that said, I still listen to (a lot of) it every week.

Forgot to add Clear Channel ruined radio here too. Same songs repeated over and over. One station bought a rival station and now has two channels that are identical.

Somebody is listening to this shit. There’s like 4,000 AM stations still in the US….

No, OP, I don't—for exactly the reasons you mentioned. It's why I almost never watch broadcast television, either. I'd rather pay to have uninterrupted music or video. I know that advertising makes the world go 'round, but I wish they'd all shut the hell up, or at least be quieter.

Today I heard Shakin' All Over by Johnny Kidd and The Pirates. What a treat.

Radio someone still loves you.

At least Limbaugh is dead

I grew up in NYC and I was fortunate to have access to perhaps the best AM & FM stations in the country in the 1960s - 1980s. The mainstream stations were pop, rock, soul, country, disco, new wave/punk, rap, indie/college, grunge, alternative, etc. It was by late 1980s that it started to go bad. The most popular stations were bought out by media conglomerates nationwide and they all were getting playlist based on whatever they believed was best suited for getting the most dedicated listeners and justified more ad revenue. By the 1990s even the smaller stations were following suit, even the FM stations. By the 2000s few stations outside of perhaps some college radio and some indie leaning stations were worth listening to. Also talk radio became more of a thing, and bloviating nut jobs like Rush Limbaugh captured a conservative listening audience that were more susceptible to right wing propaganda and bullshit, which was basically a blueprint for Fox News. I don't think I turned on my radio in over 5 years, despite having a stellar stereo system with AM/FM receiver. The last station I would sometimes listen to at times was WFUV, which is a non-commercial radio station from Fordham University radio station in the Bronx that is still broadcasting to date. Video didn't kill the radio star, greedy corporate interests did.

[quote]Radio is awful. I switched to satellite in 2007 and never went back to terrestrial radio. I mostly use streaming now.

The first time I heard Pandora Radio I knew it was the future and I'd never have to listen to crappy terrestrial radio again. Back then it was so small that Tim Westergren came to town and invited Pandora listeners for coffee and chat and gave us T-shirts for supporting it.

Now I listen to LiveOne (an ad-free streaming service with hundreds of stations and no ads), or the TuneIn radio app on my phone. Soma.FM is good, too, with some interesting curated stations. I like Secret Agent: "

When u was growing up our town had a radio station. It was the first thing everyone turned on in the morning. Not tv, but radio. They told us about what sales were happening at the town department store, what events were at local schools (Spring/Winter Concert, high school play, upcoming football game), told us about lost and found pets, gave birthday and anniversary wishes to townspeople, announced engagements.

It was great.

In my car, I listen to NPR all the time. Or the FM Jazz station.

I have to piss soooo bad right now!

Radio consumption is way down since the pandemic. I guess more people working from home has led to the big decline. Also, young people don't listen to much radio anymore. They stream music from their phones.

I've noticed that so many of the Top 40 radio stations have changed format and are now oldies stations playing music from the 80-90s. That's a reflection of who is still listening to radio, and who isn't.

I only listen to the radio in the car. The never-ending ads piss me off.

[italic]Radio, everybody listens to the radio[/italic]

Who Listens To The Radio - The Sports (1979) Australian new wave group.

And I still have the 45.

TuneIn radio is my favorite app. I listen to BBC6, Radio 3 España, FIP, KCRW, Studio Brussel, KEXP, Ibiza Sonica, NTS, and Dublab.

I haven’t lived anywhere that can pick up a decent radio station for years.

I was a frequent listener of Dr. Joy Browne.

^ WOR

Corporate radio sucks. There are many better local independent stations.

I love KPOO in SF.

I just realized that my therapist has a radio tuned to a classical station in his waiting room, and so once a week I hear this thing called radio. Other than that, never.

In the Bush years I used to be one of those people who always had NPR playing in the background. Is Terri Gross even still alive?

KPOO? The brown sound?

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[quote]I love KPOO in SF.

Me too!

The AM radio news culture found in larger cities is supplanted here by Christian right wing talk radio.

The loony Christian stuff is on some city radio too.

You can hear clear channel AM stations hundreds of miles away after dark. You can hear Canada and Cuba in the eastern US. Talk radio is an international cesspool, not limited by urban/rural divide.

I do not.

I broke down and got Sirius in 2005, and have not listened to terrestrial radio since. Between the idiot announcers, and the endless commercials, and the same songs over and over, I had enough. Sure, Sirius isn't cheap, but to have hundreds of channels available, and no ads, makes it worth it. My newest love is John Mayer's channel.........

Not only don't I listen to the radio, I rarely watch broadcast or channels like Netflix. Almost everything I look at on TV is YouTube or free TV streaming services. When something I really want to see returns to Netflix for another season, I'll probably get Netflix again until I see it.

R71. Not only Dr. Joy Brown on WOR, but Joan Hamburg in the morning and Bernard Meltzer for financial advice.

Wasn't there a married couple that did financial advice, r84?

Back in my working days, my alarm clock was set to a local news station. As right-wing pundits grew more common in AM radio, that station grew unbearable. I kind of missed on Saturdays, when a call-in gardening show came on. If I forgot to turn off my alarm for Saturday morning, I'd lie there and listen to people talking about their rosebushes. I listened to a classic-rock morning show for a while with a gay DJ. And then I retired. Now I only listen to radio on road trips.

Nope. I always have my phone hooked up to my car (thank goodness for Carplay) so I'll play my own music or audiobooks. I used to listen to the radio but no more.

R84. There was a married couple that gave financial advice, I think they eventually transitioned to TV. (No, don't misinterpret that!)

[quote]Do any of you still listen to the radio?

Which radio is that, dear?

CBC is great. I listen in the car and occasionally at home.

I keep my radio tuned in to my local listener-supported classical station, of which I am a member. I listen to it nights, usually falling asleep with it on. Earlier this evening, they played Mahler's Second Symphony, one of my favorite piece of music.

I actually have Sirius. I drive a lot and I love it. I can listen to indie music, pop, rock, comedy, sports, or news. It's totally worth it for me.

(I tried to give it up and just do the radio, Spotify, or audiobooks, but I just hate all three after five minutes.)

I do.

I can listen to my playlist anytime. Thing is, if I listen to radio I get the surprise effect of which song is next and that song may be a song I never would have put on my playlist. I was born in the mid 80s, but now I listen to stations that play 60s - now (though I don’t listen to any station that just plays new music or even 50% new music.

WE SNAPPIN'!

R45, WKDU 91.7 (Drexel) and WPRB 103.3 (Princeton) are freeform [commercial free] independent/college-run radio stations. I can attest that despite being in Princeton, WPRB is clear in the city and eastern Delaware County, but it's spotty in other parts of Delco. & Montco.

R95. You sound like a WXPN guy!

I don’t have a car as I live in NYC but when I visit my mom, I take hers around. I tried an FM rock station but, like OP says, it was more ads and banter than anything else. So I went back to Sirius and Seth Rudetsky talking about Chita Rivera. He’s STILL talking about Chita.