Endangered Species: AM Car Radios?

In the 1930s, dashboard AM radios (Audio Modulation) became a standard feature in US cars, and drivers could change stations safely with push-button tuning. In the 1950s and early 60s, teenagers cruised the streets listening to Rock n’ Roll from radio DJs like Murray the K, Alan Freed, Robin Seymour, and Wolfman Jack. AM radio became part of driving for these baby boomers.

1970s car radios included the FM (Frequency Modulation). FM delivers music with less static and greater sound range, often in stereo. Music broadcasters (and listeners) moved to the FM band. AM stations are fine for voice transmission, and can be heard over greater distances. AM became the kingdom of talk radio, often religious or conservative political opinion shows.

So: talk radio, mostly conservative, is largely broadcast on AM to conservative and older listeners, prone to listening to radio in their cars. Works all the way around, right? Except that tomorrow’s electric cars likely won’t have AM radios. It costs too much to shield them from motor interference. Yet another reason for conservative oldsters to hang on to their gas burners, no matter how right-wing Tesla boss Elon Musk gets.

If a reasonably-priced workaround isn’t found, talk radio broadcasters will have to transition to FM, or teach old-timers how to use podcasts.

More:

“Will Electric Cars Kill AM Radio?”, Jim Motavalli, Autoweek

“In a Future Filled With Electric Cars, AM Radio May Be Left Behind,” Michael Levenson, New York Times

“The End of Terrestrial Radio? Electric Cars and AM Radio,” Jim Flammang, Consumer Reports

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Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Radio in Space @ Distance

If extraterrestrials out in space are listening to Earth’s radio broadcasts right now, what are they hearing? Hip Hop? The Beatles? Walter Winchell? Al Jolson? Enrico Caruso? That depends on how far away they are. That’s the premise behind simulation website Lightyear.fm.

More:

“Lightyear.fm shows the ‘contemporary’ music extraterrestrials are rocking out to,” Christopher Curley, A.V. Club

“Stunning Sim Shows How Far Hit Songs Have Traveled in Space,” Tim Moynihan, Wired

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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DC Gentrification Displaces Bluegrass Music Radio

WAMU, the Washington public radio station owned by American University, has broadcast Bluegrass music since 1967, but that will end on New Year’s Eve 2017. On Thursday afternoon the NPR affiliate announced it will stop over-the-air broadcasts of the “High Lonesome Sound” and seek a buyer for its online music service Bluegrass Country due to “tremendous demographic shifts” in the Washington DC area.

“From 1967 through the 70s and 80s, generous support from the bluegrass community allowed WAMU to expand. Today, WAMU’s Bluegrass Country is a 24/7 bluegrass music service broadcasting at 105.5 FM, HD on 88.5-2, and streaming on http://bluegrasscountry.org . Bluegrass Country’s social media includes a YouTube channel with over 4.4 million views.”

— “WAMU Seeks New Owner for Bluegrass Country,” WAMU website (links added)

Hey buddy, want to buy a radio station? Look here. If nobody buys Bluegrass Country by the end of December, the service will close, so listen while you can, right here (click on “listen live”).

More:

“WAMU Will Sell or Close Its Bluegrass Station,” Andrew Beaujon, Washingtonian

“Bluegrass Country seeks new owners,” John Lawless, Bluegrass Today

Related:

“Washington D.C., The Bluegrass Capitol – The Story of Bluegrass in Washington, DC,” a film by G.T. Keplinger [24:27]

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Soul Sixteen

In New York City during the 1960s, radio station WWRL-AM (1600 kHz) exerted a cultural force well beyond its 5000 watt signal. Under program director Hal Jackson the “Soul Sixteen” broadcast a wonderful blend of regional Soul and R&B, including a healthy dose of Memphis Soul as well as Motown.

Disk Jockeys included Jerry Bledsoe, Hank Spann, Gary Byrd, and above all Frankie Crocker, a master of oral-formulaic composition who was so influential that there was an LP of his DJ patter.

Here’s an excerpt. If you don’t dig it you’ve got a hole in your soul and you never eat chicken on Sunday:

NPR Demographics

“As NPR came of age in the 1980s, its audience matured with it. Three decades later, that is starting to look like a problem.

Many of the listeners who grew up with NPR are now reaching retirement age, leaving NPR with a challenge: How can it attract younger and middle-aged audiences — whose numbers are shrinking — to replace them?”

— “NPR is graying, and public radio is worried about it,” Paul Farhi, Washington Post

“Though NPR is seeing some listening gains on digital platforms, particularly with podcasts, its broadcast audience has dropped. Average–quarter-hour (AQH) listening during morning drive time has dropped 11 percent in the past five years, and afternoon drive audience has declined 6 percent. The only age bracket that has increased listening to NPR stations is the 65-plus audience.”

— “Drop in younger listeners makes dent in NPR news audience,” Tyler Falk, Current

More:

“Who Isn’t Listening to Public Radio,” Justin Fox, Bloomberg View

“WNYC is leading public radio’s transition to public podcasting,” Jack Murtha, Columbia Journalism Review

“Why I Left NPR,” Stephen Henn, Medium

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Image (“NPR Demographics, after Norman Rockwell”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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TV: Will the DC NFL Team Name Be Benched?

Sportscasters Tony Dungy, Phil Simms, Tom Jackson, and Lisa Salters won’t use the racist, derogatory name of DC’s NFL team. Neither will ESPN’s Lindsay Czarniak, who comes from the DC area. But what if the FCC rules that name cannot be uttered over the public airwaves?

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler says he finds the name “offensive and derogatory” and believes it should be changed. He hopes DC team owner Dan Snyder will come to his senses and change the name voluntarily.

But former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt and former Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Nicholas Johnson are urging the FCC to make an indecency case against broadcasters who use the name on the air.

Rob Ford, Sports Junkie

106.7 THE FAN Sports Radio in Washington has a new heavyweight sports commentator, The Honorable  Rob Ford, the controversial Toronto mayor. Mr. Ford will phone in to the station every Thursday. He’s got lots more free time since the Toronto City Council relieved him of most duties. Perhaps  he can find 6 more radio stations to call on each of other days of the week.

Anyway, the show is broadcast on 106.7 FM Thursday morning from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM Eastern Time. If you’re not in the Metro DC area you can tune in online here.

Palin Kicked Off Fox News

Sarah Palin, former part-time Temp-Governor of Alaska, has ended her relationship with Fox News. Mrs. Palin impersonated a political commentator on the cable news outlet with the same authority she brought to the 2008 GOP presidential campaign, and Fox was tired of looking like John McCain.

Sarah Palin was on Fox for three years, a year longer than she was Alaska’s governor, but may draw on her other past experience in future endeavors. The former Miss Wasilla would be a great spokesmodel for products like Naughty Monkey high-heeled shoes or Bushmaster assault rifles. And Mrs. P, who now has a home studio, was once was a sportscaster on an Anchorage TV station. Here’s an aircheck we’re submitting to ESPN:

Al Jazeera America Expands

Surely Fox News is saying “Al Gore Sells Out to Al Jazeera,’ ands it’s sort of true. Al Jazeera America just bought Mr. Gore’s Current TV network in an effort to expand its presence in the USA. Price: $500 million.

Despite winning acclaim and awards for good journalism, American xenophobia and cable provider cowardice have keep Al Jazeera from reaching many US viewers. The new acquisition deal may not help. Time Warner Cable, which carried Current TV, said it won’t carry AJ America.

Breaking News for Islamophobic Fox News Patriots: Saudi Prince Walid bin Talal is the second-largest Fox shareholder.

More:

“Al Jazeera Seeks a U.S. Voice Where Gore Failed,” Brian Stelter, Washington Post blog

“Al Jazeera Buys Current TV, Predictable Bigotry Ensues,” Taylor Berman, Gawker

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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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All Hurricane, All the Time

The Eastern Seaboard of the United States is currently experiencing the ravages of Hurricane Irene, and local television stations are desperately trying to justify their 21st-century existence by keeping staff meteorologists up ’round the clock and sending hapless reporters to the beach. As far as we’re concerned, reporters assigned to the Delaware Shore when steamed crabs and frozen custard are unavailable deserve hardship pay.

Local TV news coverage of hurricanes chiefly consists of shaky, intermittent video, and lots of wind noise. Live remote broadcasts show reporters invading evacuated coastal resort towns, driving through standing water, walking on the beach, and doing all the things citizens are cautioned against by emergency officials.