Powerball presents further evidence that terrestrial radio is dying.
"Classic rock fans who tuned in WRRK-FM (96.9) [Tuesday] morning got a rude awakening when…the Steel City Media station, licensed to Braddock, flipped to ‘Bob FM‘…"
I really hope 96.9 follows Sacramento’s 92.1 and ditches Bob in favor of an all-80’s format.
By now I'm sure most if not all of you know that Howard Stern is moving to Sirius satellite radio. Whoopee. I'm not a fan of Stern, so I won't miss him. However, that doesn't mean I don't care about what his departure is doing to radio. As a result of the ratings vacuum Stern's move to satellite is leaving, several stations are switching to all-talk formats.
WHAT?!?
Does FM radio need any more !@#$ talk?! Thanks to Stern's popularity, every rock station has its own cheap imitation of his show. It's a pain is the @$$ trying to find a station with both music I like and a minimum of talk in the morning. My butt is dragging when in the morning and the last thing I want is a bunch of nitwits making fart jokes. Give me good old-fashioned rock! I want to bob my head and tap my toes on the bus, not hear the latest celebrity gossip.
Stern imitators have ruined rock radio in the morning. Now, thanks to Stern's move, things are about to get a lot worse. Several Infinity Broadcasting stations, which currently carry Stern, are switching formats. Some are turning into Jack FM, which is basically a 24-hour broadcast of a college student's iPod Shuffle. Others, like WYSP in Philadelphia, are turning into Free FM, 24-hours of talk. Ugh. WYSP has been playing a mix of modern and classic rock for as long as I can remember. It was never as good as WMMR, but it wasn't crap, either. Now it is. I really hope WRKZ in Pittsburgh doesn't suffer the same fate. They play a decent mix of classic rock, early 90's grunge/alternative, and 80's hair bands. No other station in Da Burgh has a mix like that.
Radio is going down the toilet and Infinity is helping to flush. It's too bad internet stations can't easily broadcast on FM. If you want to hear good rock that's actually mixed and transitioned by talented DJs, I recommend Radio Paradise and Radio Free Colorado.
I’ve been listening to the Jerry Bowyer Program on WORD-FM fairly often these days. Jerry replaced Marty Minto, who was fired under contentious circumstances. On the whole, I like the show. I like tone and style and I think Jerry handles callers well. There’s a good balance between charity and patience on the one hand and avoiding time-wasting arguments with nuts on the other. When he talks about Christian topics, I enjoy listening to him and calling the show. Something worries me, though.
Politics and economics are crowding out other topics. Jerry seems to have drunk too much Republican kool-aid. Some of his recent interviews, for instance, have had absolutely nothing to do with faith or Christian living. What do Steve Forbes’ tax obsessions or Pat Toomy’s healthcare reform crusade have to do with Christ?!
If you’re going to bring up a political or economic topic on your show, Jerry, try to make it relate it to Christianity.
Radio Network Claims It’s Being Bumped for Howard Stern
"The Word Network, an urban religious station featuring programs like ‘Rainbow Push with Jesse Jackson,’ claims that it is being dropped by Sirius Satellite Radio to make room for shock jock Howard Stern."
….
"Sirius has a ‘duty to find room on their dial for wholesome broadcasting that serves the public interest,’…
The fact of the matter is that satellite radio is losing money. If the Word Network isn’t making Sirius money, why should they be obligated to continue broadcasting it? I’m getting really sick of this entitlement crap and its attendant victims and martyrs. There are Christians in this world facing real persecution. This kind of whining reflects poorly on on Christians and does nothing to help people who really have no voice.
"The Word Network started a letter writing campaign to try to retain its broadcasting place on Sirius Satellite Radio. The campaign has resulted in over 15,000 letters being sent to Sirius calling for ‘more balance to programming,’…"
I wonder how many of those 15,000 people ponied up the $150 per year for the service (plus the cost of the radio).
Anyhow, what do you folks think?
June 22, 2005
I still get a number of hits to my post about the firing of Christian talk show host Marty Minto. I never quite finished it because I got tied up in more important things, so I decided to come back and do just that. For those interested, the original entry can be found in its entirety (misspellings, bad grammar, and all) here.