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Radio broadcasting has lost its dominance and is stuck largely in the past . I’ve used the same format for more than 40 years but play music released during 2022 and at times play a few older tracks mixed in . Radio is in decline and the evidence of its decline is that it’s very difficult to buy a radio in a store . The demand for radio’s is so low that to buy a radio you have to go online . The audience ofm radio is dying off . The future of it doesn’t look good .
Yeah I agree. There are stores here in Toronto that still carry radios, 2001 Audio Video, Radioworld, Golden Electronics, Even Home Hardware carries the Panasonic RF 2400 in store but for the most part you have to go to Amazon and there is all kinds and of course Ebay.
But also most large stores like “big box” stores all don’t want to be there as they want you to shop online. 3/4 of all they carry is not in store but online including most radios.
And I think that it would be pointless for radio to convert to digital as it’s still over the air radio and wouldn’t make any difference.
But when you hear 4 songs and a string of 5 minutes of commercials on and on, and on talk stations 2 callers and then we need to take a break with 10 commercials there must be people listening or the companies wouldn’t be advertising and they would all close.
Look at it this way, the procaster user that got shut down we assume by a complaint from a licensed station in a town worried that he was taking listeners shows some are still listening to radio.I have the Panasonic 2400 .It’s an excellent AM radio but the FM isn’t so good . Maybe radio is doing better in Canada than here ,USA. Other than Dollar General there isn’t any radio’s on the shelves . It’s has been many years since I’ve saw anybody walk around with a radio on the streets. The Internet is killing almost everything.
They use phones as MP3 players and either have their own stuff or get Spotify and pay for “apps”
With my “station” here I advertise it in a web site called Nextdoor which is a site for neighbors to communicate with each other and I say that I will give anyone a radio in range that wants to be a listener or needs a better one. Maybe the USA has a similar site for local neighborhoods.Fascinating. You all must live in horrible, dying communities. I still work in commercial broadcast radio. In March I will have been on the air for 50 years. I’ve been at my current station for 34 years. We consist of a 5000 watt AM station (oldies and local talk) and two 100,000 watt FM’s (classic rock and hot a/c formats) all local programmed and run by local owners. I’ve done the AM morning show for 34 years, also do a mid morning classic rock show, and have been chief engineer for decades. We continue to set sales records each year, and listenership if anything, continues to grow, including on our web stream.
Odd that you can’t buy radios where you are. Just yesterday I was checking out the offerings in our local Walmart and Target. A variety of radios available, from clock radios, to table radios to portables and even those with built in record players. There are also radios readily available on the shelves at our Ace and Hardware Hank stores. These are just the places I’ve noticed them – haven’t really sought out any.
Generally the bunches of locally owned and operated radio stations, both AM and FM around northern Minnesota, anyway, are doing just fine.
Sadly, you must all live in terribly depressed areas where radio can’t seem to get their sh*t together.
Tim in Bovey
All of the electronic stores are long gone here and back home . Only two AM stations left on the air that could be considered local .The rest surrendered their licenses . Many AM stations are operating at very low power behind the FCC back or only on the air a few days a year to keep their license. Where my mom lives at some FM stations sign off during the Winter after tourist season . The local college station sold their station to a PBS station . They couldn’t find enough students interested or volunteers to keep it operating. The under 50 age group from I can see could careless about radio . It’s all about phones and online music .
The reason I posted my comment was only to point out where radio broadcasting seems to headed . I’ve spent more than 30 years traveling the east coast through many of the wealthiest areas of this country, including the Washington DC area . For all the negatives I posted there’re a few positive exceptions . Broadcasting is doing fine when it comes to the Hispanic communities . Their stations seem to thrive . I’ve seen them takeover stations that were dead and turn them around . There are other exceptions too around the country 101.5 in the Hagerstown area , 670 am in the Norfolk area , 90.7 in the Wilkes Barre area , 1500 am in the northern suburbs of Chicago. The direction I see Fm radio heading is far less music ,more talk,news ,sports and religion . AM radio is on its last leg ,though ethnic broadcasting may keep it a float for a short time.
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