I do. Most stations in my region are just crappy music and dumb call-in shows, but there’s still a few stations with quality programming. FM radio is where I get my news, where I listen to press conferences, old-school audio theatre and (surprisingly) where I get new music recommendations. Hard to believe that modern streaming platforms’ algorithms can be outperformed by traditional media.
I have found almost all radio status near me play a mix of 12 songs and ads. Tuning in to any station was likely to result in ads and not music.
My radio is tuned to static so I can get into my car without being forced into hearing an ad while my Bluetooth connects and I can start playing a book.
I listen to BBC Radio because it’s still excellent. BBC Radio 6 is my go-to daily station which specialises in new music and has DJs who are passionate and have a lot of freedom, but the station also follows John Peel’s A-B-C format which keeps things nice and grounded. Also, BBC Radio 3 for jazz and classical (unlike Classic FM, which only plays movie soundtracks) and BBC Radio 3 Chill which is self-explanatory.
ABC’s Triple-J deserves an honourable mention. Student radio can be good as well.
The local commercial stations are all homogeneous slurry, lowest common denominator saccharin slop where every shred of character and local identity has been eradicated. I grew up listening to Rock FM (Lancashire) and Trent FM (Nottingham), both were cheesy but authentic local pop stations that have been thoroughly Borged into ultra-branded and means tested chaff.
In my car, yes.
I don’t want my car to have any other radios. No wifi, no bt, no 5g. Just a dumb AM/FM radio
that sounds like a nightmare for me. bluetooth + apple music means I can sing anything I want static free! WOOO!!!
That’s what aux and USB are for.
nope. Even when i drive, I listen to music on my phone. Haven’t listened to the radio in… over a decade.
I don’t miss the static noise. Radio died for me the second mp3 devices became affordable like cd players, md players, the first ipod etc.
Just whichever NPR affiliate comes in clearest on a drive.
It’s always fun trying to find the next one when the previous goes out of range on road trips. Yes, we could look it up on a phone, but it’s more fun to guess each station genre as quickly as possible.
“Country, Christian, Christian country, classic rock, country, WAIT this might be NPR…”
I still listen to FM radio and, if you’ll please pardon me tooting my own horn, I also help make some of it as part of a long-running weekly talk show. (I’ve been off the air for the past couple weeks, but I’m back next week.)
I was a listener to the station and the program for a long time before I joined up. I still listen to radio often, and the medium continues to mean a great deal to me.
I stream my local college radio station while I work. There’s charm in hearing the student DJs kind of stumble through everything as they play a wide assortment of music.
I listen to NPR everyday. I listen to college radio stations where young people awkwardly talk about young people topics and the music they play stretches my tastes. Radio is human and alive. Where ever you are, acquire a radio and scan with your little fingers and listen with your ears.
No.
I was an NPR supporter for years but now I find them to be more in line with being a voice for corporate Democrats and the status-quo.
The rest of the radio is a wash.
Yes, we have community radio here, and I listen & also contribute a little $ each month.
ETA: there used to be one good commercial station too, alternative rock, but they got bought out by a bigger conglomerate and now are a Spanish station, and unfortunately not a Spanish alternative station, that would be awesome but no, just a pop station, a clone of the others we already had!
I drive a truck for work; the radio is absolutely a lifeline for me. Usually just local weather/traffic updates for whatever city I’m passing through, maybe the news if I stumble upon an NPR station in time for All Things Considered. I stick to my music/audiobooks all other times though.
Unless I’m passing through home. Listening to my hometown stations helps me get out of “work mode” at the end of my rotation.
Where I live (The North of Scotland), there’s really only about 6 FM radio stations. I tend to stick to the BBC, and alternate between Radio 4 (mostly grown up, politics/current affairs and some plays/comedy), Radio Scotland (regional news and ‘Get it On’, a music request show with a daily theme), Radio 2 (lightweight entertainment and phone-ins aimed at a middle age demographic) and that’s pretty much it. I also listen to Radio X on my Alexa, but it’s basically a 90s indie playlist with adverts, so not sure that counts.
Hell yes I do. There’s a great local rock station here.
There’s one radio station near me that’s halfway decent to listen to every now and again but the host that’s normally on when I’m driving just plays the same 5-7 songs on loop most days.
Also the adverts are insane, they’ll maybe get through 2 songs before going to 10 mins of ads then come back for one song and go into some radio competition before going back to ads again.
I do, public service radio every day, all day.
