Is FM radio in SF officially dead? No, but its damn near close.
Statistically, FM still has an immensely larger listener base than does satellite radio; one, for the obvious reason: it's still free.
SF FM radio is mired in a bunch of clutter. Its mostly a cluster of a bunch of stations that sound all the same and have no distinct personality.
For every Lamont and Tonelli/The Bone and Alice radio, there's all the rest whose idea of revolutionary radio is a mixture of the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, generic soul and rap music, hello "Wild." OH, and let's not forget KQED radio, which has steadily risen from a platform for Marin volvo yuppies to an integral part of Bay Area radio, (due in large part to its news and Michael Krasny's Forum Show.)
Also of note, and I still can't believe how they pull it off: KCSM, the small, community-funded radio station that plays some of the best jazz and big band in the area. (God bless you Sonny Buxton)
It's a shame, really, given SF's rich history of outlets like the old KSAN, remnants of the current KBLX, et al.
You can thank the marginalization of FM, (and AM too, to a degree) to those creative wonders like Clear Channel, one of the big corporations that has led to the systematic destruction of radio as we know it.
We break no ground here in lamenting the lack of cohesive and creative FM radio; nevertheless we can muse and reflect upon the continued effing up of what used to be an integral part of our culture.
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Great job stealing the first photo you could find from Google Images.
ReplyDeleteYou are 100% bang on, SF FM radio is now a paycheck for most of it's so called talent instead of a cutting edge artistic endeavor.
ReplyDeleteYour comparisons back to the legendary AOR days of SF is spot on. Throw in KSFO in the 60's and KFRC in the 70's and we have the greatest radio ever in North American history all in our then lil old bay area backyard
what a disgrace this business is!
I don't just blame Clear Channel. Satellite Radio. CDs. iPods. Pandora. The whole works has chipped away at what FM once was or did FM just not keep those listeners to these new outlets? We are much more portable with our music today.
ReplyDeleteMy era was the 80s and The Quake and the early days of LIVE 105 were great for kids like me. But even KMEL's Classic Rock (I missed the KSAN era), KFOG, KRQR and others were memorable. Hell, I miss even later KFRC years with A's Baseball and Good Time Oldies. That was a great combo.
What about college radio? Are they still doing anything interesting?
You can still find some interesting things out there on internet radio, which is trying to become more portable like satellite radio has. You will get more choices and variety as long as the music industry doesn't trample this young outlet in there zeal for more royalties.
So why does it seem like half the stations on radio are now in Spanish? Perhaps those listeners established with some money are flooding to Satellite and their iPods and have the money to pay for that jump much like cable TV while recent Spanish-speaking immigrants don't have the extra spending cash and still prefer cheap and free radio?
Is it just too costly today to start and run a station? So much so that only large corporations like Citadel and Clear Channel can do it and they have to play it safe with no variety? With today's automation, it would be possible to run a station with minimal talent but is the broadcasting license, taxes, and royalties too much?
With even the larger station giants having money issues, I wonder if it is possible for smaller independent stations to spring up and offer hyper-local coverage much like I see some news bloggers doing with their local towns. Not you, Rich, but some of the out-of-work news reporters here in the East Bay have been doing hyper local coverage of Walnut Creek, Concord, and the Lamorinda area and are now expanding it to an AOL patch network. Starting small and building it something bigger.
Actually I find the program quality on satellite radio to be superior to what I've found elsewhere, Internet included. I guess you get what you pay for.
ReplyDeleteWow R.R.!
ReplyDeleteYour post was much more coherent that Rich's. It was well written, thoughtful, with a good use of illustrative examples, as well as a lack of distracting grammatical and punctuation errors.
Do you have a blog?
Ha! I did misspell "there/their" but didn't bash KNBR once. (I kid! I kid!!)
ReplyDeleteRR+ Zennie62? I smell the beginning of greatness!
ReplyDeleteTell you what Zennie: I have to admire you for keeping this up. What, no 'Miley Cyrus dancing around a pole' videos to get traction to your vast "network?"
It ain't Zennie62 you dirtbag....
ReplyDeleteTRY AGAIN!!!
Is it ok Rich I point some Radnich dirty tricks?..ok,He says he doesnt go negative-then rips whoever he wants to attack -this is his trick- As he does it, he laughs and giggles all through his "positive" rip. I think in the course of his show he puts down plenty of people,gets personal, and can get very offensive..but he's learned if he laughs and winks..he's not like say,Damon Bruce who talks straight,no Radnich isnt like him with rips.In reality,he's worse.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can only wonder how few minutes before this post is put under his nose as his producer and interns scour this blog,SF gate for the next writings..
ReplyDeleteAnd screw RR as his lamenting that radio stations play Spanish content. We all know what he's getting at.
ReplyDeleteThen say it and stop hiding behind an "Anon" posting.
ReplyDeleteLots of "Anonymous" postings lately, Rich. Lots of people (or just one or two) under the cover of anon coming in, hucking rocks, then slinking away. It might be time to have people use a name to post. They might be more civil that way.
So tell us what RR stands for ? Thats not hiding you nut? And tell us your point.
ReplyDelete