tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020726079869673159.post1135868082978737632..comments2024-03-17T23:04:04.405-06:00Comments on hearth/myth: Streaming: the death of movies?Lynne Cantwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05397656985652575608noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020726079869673159.post-38015849265154146612022-03-28T11:15:24.345-06:002022-03-28T11:15:24.345-06:00Okay, one more thing: About tuning in at a specifi...Okay, one more thing: About tuning in at a specific time to hear a specific thing. This still happens at stations like WTOP that run news and weather at regular clock times and promote the hell out of them ("traffic and weather on the 8s!").<br /><br />But y'know, TV used to be like that, too. If you wanted to watch the new episode of X show, you had to tune in at 7pm on Mondays or whatever. Now you can record it. Or stick to streaming and watch the new episode on the day it drops at whatever time suits you -- or on whatever day in the future it suits you.<br /><br />That was part of the charm of first-run movies, too. Those midnight showings I used to take my kids to? It was partly for bragging rights. <br /><br />Opening night at the movies, TV episodes that ran at the same time everywhere and not again until (maybe) reruns, contests on the radio, Larry Lujack's "Animal Stories" -- those were cultural touchstones, and today they're pretty much gone. Maybe that's contributed to the cultural divide in America as surely as Fox News.Lynne Cantwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05397656985652575608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020726079869673159.post-82092228998385685382022-03-28T11:04:33.558-06:002022-03-28T11:04:33.558-06:00I can't argue with anything you've said. T...I can't argue with anything you've said. There are a few songs in the current 70s on 7 playlist that I would have been thrilled to never hear again. ("*This* thing again?" *punches over to Classic Vinyl*)<br /><br />I take heart (see what I did there? ;) ) that iHeart Media has spun off its outdoor billboard business and is apparently ready to concentrate on its radio-ish business. It's still a huge corporation, but maybe its mission is clearer now. Maybe. Time will tell, I guess.<br /><br />Like you, I'm sad for the days when over-the-air radio was actually entertaining. And it sucks that I'm locked into paying (especially as an allegedly retired person) for a streaming service with content that I used to be able to get for free.Lynne Cantwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05397656985652575608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020726079869673159.post-728389930433604162022-03-28T10:49:49.535-06:002022-03-28T10:49:49.535-06:00Yes, but with the FCC allowing so few corporations...Yes, but with the FCC allowing so few corporations to own so many stations, I think that's unlikely. <br /><br />Homogenous ownership leads to homogenous content. <br /><br />But, I share the same wish. In 1979, when I was in broadcast school, I was really poor. Scrambling to pay the very cheap rent every month kind of poor, let alone eat. <br /><br />I didn't have a TV, and I didn't miss it at all, because in my room and in my car, I had a radio. The lineups were so great and entertaining that I made it a point to be near my radio at specific times of day. Even the promotions were more enticing then.<br /><br />I can't imagine someone ever making a point to tune in at a specific time these days. <br /><br />And I'm greatly disappointed in Sirius XM. With all the music in the world to pull from, they have a miniscule playlist as tight as any corporate-owned station. <br /><br />Sometimes I think that if I hear one more Carly Simon, James Taylor, or Carol King song on the seventies on seven, I'll snap. <br /><br />I don't, of course, I just plug in a podcast or audiobook instead.<br />Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11360561223313297176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020726079869673159.post-10564985569922004012022-03-28T10:08:14.413-06:002022-03-28T10:08:14.413-06:00It's interesting that you mention Sirius XM, b...It's interesting that you mention Sirius XM, because I had it in mind when I wrote this. I haven't been a subscriber for as long as you have -- only since I bought Eli in 2019 -- but my car radio has only deviated by accident from satellite radio since then. <br /><br />You and I are both latecomers to satellite radio. When I worked for WTOP-AM in DC, one of our part-time anchors talked about maybe getting involved with XM Radio, which he was sure was the Next Big Thing. That would have been in 1995 or so. Wikipedia tells me that XM merged with Sirius in 2008.<br /><br />I have a lot of feelings about terrestrial radio. :D I'll mention this: Many years ago, driving in the Chicago area in my old car, I tuned across the AM band and found a Spanish-language station that seemed to be running a top-40 sort of format. The jocks were obviously doing a lot more than reading liner notes, and even though I could only understand every third or fourth word (my Spanish is pretty rusty), it was clear they -- and their listeners who called in -- were having a ball. <i>That's</i> the model that terrestrial radio ought to get back to, before they lose their listeners entirely.Lynne Cantwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05397656985652575608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020726079869673159.post-85133361110929429002022-03-27T23:09:53.177-06:002022-03-27T23:09:53.177-06:00Are we sure radio isn't dead?
I theorize tha...Are we sure radio isn't dead? <br /><br />I theorize that it might be like the dinosaur shot in the head. It's dead all right, but it's still walking around like it has good sense, because it's brain is the size of a pea. <br /><br />That's my Ted Talk on the state of radio in 2022.<br /><br />I'm probably not the right person to speak on this, though. I haven't listened to a regular, terrestrial-based radio station in more than six years. I think that aside from maybe catching a baseball game in the car, I never will again. <br /><br />We've had our new car for a year and I have only bothered to set the preset buttons for Sirius XM. Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11360561223313297176noreply@blogger.com