Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
I'm a member of another forum that talks about local media (mostly radio/TV). No special reason, (I'm not in media) I just think it's an interesting discussion board.
I made a post on the subject of our once-mighty 50kw AM station (WJR) which has seen its ratings decline to their lowest level since recording ratings. Their format has been local jabber until noon, then Rush Limbaugh, then another national syndicated show till 5p, then a pompous local guy from 5-till who-knows-because-I'm-done-with-radio-by-then. That's been the formula since the 80s/90s.
Recently they swapped in another local "talent", (replacing Michael Savage) who talks at the audience rather than to them. Ratings are worse then ever. I threw in a couple Mopar references that I'm sure the board's Prius-driving crowd won't get, but I thought it might be interesting to hear if anyone on this board listens to talk, and if you have local/national faves. Obviously this touches on politics, so stay away if you don't like the topic. (Not because you disagree with something... I have no problem staying civil even if we disagree) As you'll see I listen to conservative and NPR shows
My post went like this...
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At 44, I should be listening to podcasts, satellite, and other more modern forms of media but I still listen to radio. I'm not a lazy person, but I just don't care enough to set time aside each day to "download". Nor do I have enough spare time to put together some awesome music collection on Mp3. When I used to drive professionally in AZ, we had a library of books-on-tape at work and I'd use the hell out of that. I've never much listened to music on the radio because it has sucked for my entire lifetime with a few exceptions (WJLB in the 80s, 90.1 when they played old-school rap early in the morning, KJZZ when I lived in Phoenix, KAJM in the present day) But I digress... My feelings on WJR:
My daytime drive begins around 4:50 so I'll listen to WJR for news until I here those magic banjo plucks around 5:25 and then this happens:
...I swap over to WWJ, which I will also do whenever I detect an insipid DTE commerical (which means every commercial break). When I can't escape that stupidity, I'll use the FM side of the radio and tune in 91.7 NPR so I can see how my tax dollars are beingspent wasted. Every so often, I get a laugh when one of their interviews doesn't work out exactly as expected... Like the time they interviewed (and lauded praise upon) some former US Ambassador so he'd tell them how horrible Trump is for not filling all the "special" ambassador positions and he instead told NPR those positions were a perfect example of government waste; that they accomplished nothing but gumming up the works for "real" ambassadors. It was so obvious that interview backfired, I think I was actually lol'ing in the car.
Once at work around 5:45, I might continue to listen to NPR if I'm in the "lab" area, but I don't listen to the radio in the office area. Because of all the instruments in the lab and the concrete box nature of the building, AM is like a French police officer in a Sharia neighborhood...a no-go zone. If I turn on WDET (the second-rate NPR station that is strong enough to make it through) I'll just get angry (again) that this amateur-hour gets my tax money and thus a strong signal, but any other "opinion" radio has to make it on ad revenue. So they must run Radio Shack™ AM or FM transmitters which cannot be heard by the common folk. Often I give up and tune into 104.3 and hope they aren't playing "Jessie's Girl" for the 5000th time.
Ride home starts at 3pm, and Hallelujah(or praise the un-being if you object), another UAW co-worker told me about 660 AM which carries a re-broadcast of Rush Limbaugh (and hog-belly prices)! I haven't been able to listen to Rush in many years and I think I now better appreciate his brilliance. He's never angry, always affable, and an entertainer at the same time. I don't agree 100%, but Compare this to Sean Hannity (1400 AM, same time) who is exactly the opposite and unlistenable, even to conservative ears. Sometimes I'll tune into WJR's Guy Gordon's show just to hear a smug, slow-motion trainwreck of a talk show.
I don't know what WJR's ratings were like during the Savage @ 3 PM days, but I'm gratified to know they're now lower than ever. And as a dedicated Savage listener, I was always amazed how many callers were from Detroit/WJR. Savage may have been running a national show, but he obviously had a Detroit following. Gordon only listens to his callers so he can do the devil's advocate response. "You may say XYZ caller, but there are those who say ABC." And that's WHEN he takes calls. Usually it's just a drone from an "expert" at the Ann Arbor center for Automotive Research... Rather than tap the drive-home audience from the industry who might say something besides a press-release.
If I'm forced to listen into Albom's horrible 5 PM show, I either switch to music, Hannity or consider a bridge abutment. All are equally appealing.
If I'm still there at 6 PM, I enjoy an hour of John McCulloch. If I have to listen later than that, the choices are bleak. More than once I have just given up and listened to the purr of my Big-Block Mopar.
I made a post on the subject of our once-mighty 50kw AM station (WJR) which has seen its ratings decline to their lowest level since recording ratings. Their format has been local jabber until noon, then Rush Limbaugh, then another national syndicated show till 5p, then a pompous local guy from 5-till who-knows-because-I'm-done-with-radio-by-then. That's been the formula since the 80s/90s.
Recently they swapped in another local "talent", (replacing Michael Savage) who talks at the audience rather than to them. Ratings are worse then ever. I threw in a couple Mopar references that I'm sure the board's Prius-driving crowd won't get, but I thought it might be interesting to hear if anyone on this board listens to talk, and if you have local/national faves. Obviously this touches on politics, so stay away if you don't like the topic. (Not because you disagree with something... I have no problem staying civil even if we disagree) As you'll see I listen to conservative and NPR shows
My post went like this...
---------------------------
At 44, I should be listening to podcasts, satellite, and other more modern forms of media but I still listen to radio. I'm not a lazy person, but I just don't care enough to set time aside each day to "download". Nor do I have enough spare time to put together some awesome music collection on Mp3. When I used to drive professionally in AZ, we had a library of books-on-tape at work and I'd use the hell out of that. I've never much listened to music on the radio because it has sucked for my entire lifetime with a few exceptions (WJLB in the 80s, 90.1 when they played old-school rap early in the morning, KJZZ when I lived in Phoenix, KAJM in the present day) But I digress... My feelings on WJR:
My daytime drive begins around 4:50 so I'll listen to WJR for news until I here those magic banjo plucks around 5:25 and then this happens:
...I swap over to WWJ, which I will also do whenever I detect an insipid DTE commerical (which means every commercial break). When I can't escape that stupidity, I'll use the FM side of the radio and tune in 91.7 NPR so I can see how my tax dollars are being
Once at work around 5:45, I might continue to listen to NPR if I'm in the "lab" area, but I don't listen to the radio in the office area. Because of all the instruments in the lab and the concrete box nature of the building, AM is like a French police officer in a Sharia neighborhood...a no-go zone. If I turn on WDET (the second-rate NPR station that is strong enough to make it through) I'll just get angry (again) that this amateur-hour gets my tax money and thus a strong signal, but any other "opinion" radio has to make it on ad revenue. So they must run Radio Shack™ AM or FM transmitters which cannot be heard by the common folk. Often I give up and tune into 104.3 and hope they aren't playing "Jessie's Girl" for the 5000th time.
Ride home starts at 3pm, and Hallelujah(or praise the un-being if you object), another UAW co-worker told me about 660 AM which carries a re-broadcast of Rush Limbaugh (and hog-belly prices)! I haven't been able to listen to Rush in many years and I think I now better appreciate his brilliance. He's never angry, always affable, and an entertainer at the same time. I don't agree 100%, but Compare this to Sean Hannity (1400 AM, same time) who is exactly the opposite and unlistenable, even to conservative ears. Sometimes I'll tune into WJR's Guy Gordon's show just to hear a smug, slow-motion trainwreck of a talk show.
I don't know what WJR's ratings were like during the Savage @ 3 PM days, but I'm gratified to know they're now lower than ever. And as a dedicated Savage listener, I was always amazed how many callers were from Detroit/WJR. Savage may have been running a national show, but he obviously had a Detroit following. Gordon only listens to his callers so he can do the devil's advocate response. "You may say XYZ caller, but there are those who say ABC." And that's WHEN he takes calls. Usually it's just a drone from an "expert" at the Ann Arbor center for Automotive Research... Rather than tap the drive-home audience from the industry who might say something besides a press-release.
If I'm forced to listen into Albom's horrible 5 PM show, I either switch to music, Hannity or consider a bridge abutment. All are equally appealing.
If I'm still there at 6 PM, I enjoy an hour of John McCulloch. If I have to listen later than that, the choices are bleak. More than once I have just given up and listened to the purr of my Big-Block Mopar.
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