Skirting the Traffic Jam on the FM Band

Can you pinpoint the precise moment you first proclaimed "radio sucks"?

For many people in the U.S., that eureka moment happened in the years following the 1996 Telecommunications Act, when it suddenly became legal for giants like Clear Channel to gobble up many more radio and TV stations than previous restrictions allowed. The result was a homogenized sound heard round the nation (among other consequences, including a decline in minority ownership), sometimes multiple conglomerate-owned media existed in one market. Years later, the bubble of this business model burst, and the giants began liquidating stations they had acquired in smaller markets. Sure, there was probably a small trickle-down effect and some areas might have slightly better sounding radio now than they did in the late '90s, but overall, not much sounds different.

Sure, we've got the left end of the dial, aka the non-commercial FM spectrum, where community radio provides solace and salvation in many metropolitan areas and college towns across the U.S. But let's face it, religious broadcasters are in control of much of the non-commercial spectrum in most parts of the country, so even this allotted span of relief on the FM band doesn't provide much alternative programming. There is a group called Common Frequency out there, and they are trying to help community groups grab open FM slots on the non-commercial band before the religious megacasters can get to it.

The LPFM movement has also allowed more independent voices access to the airwaves in recent years, and that effort will likely continue to grow in the years to come. One may argue that tossing teeny 100-watt-or-less scraps of spectrum to the people while large conglomerates and religious broadcasters can stretch out over the wide expanse of the FM prairie isn't a great way to manage the public's airwaves, but that's where things stand.

Why does NYC radio suck so much?

Perhaps you've heard Station Manager Ken rant over the air about how NYC radio sucks, despite it being a rich and diverse uberforce of art, music, and culture. Spin the dial and see what happens. Chances are, you'll land on something that does not blow your mind or even fire one measly synapse in your noggin. We are luckier than most towns in the U.S. in that there are multiple non-religious broadcasters on the non-commercial end of the dial.

But the dial in NYC is like a rush hour train in Tokyo. In a such large and extremely crowded radio market, even fellow non-commercial broadcasters have been known to go at each other's jugulars in attempts to gain or defend a few watts here and there. People live on top of each other in NYC, and the same goes for the FM band. The situation is worsening with the advent of digital radio, which operates in the narrow corridor of breathing room that once existed between frequencies. The result is a garbled mess in the frequencies with fewer watts, WFMU's included. Clearly there are few, if any, unclaimed slivers of spectrum for a newbie prospecting broadcaster in our area. LPFM is not an option in many metropolitan areas of the U.S.

If there's no space on the dial, the people take to the internet, and many local internet radio projects have cropped up quite recently here in NYC: Indie Darkroom, Heritage Radio Network, and Newtown Radio. These new voices add to the many other web radio projects in our area, including East Village Radio, Free103point9, and the now-defunct Radioo. There is also a new web radio voice in Chicago called the Chicago Independent Media Project, who took to the internets last year when left with no FM options. The uptick in new web radio projects is interesting to me, especially since radio's funerary processional theme has been hummed so many times since the internet took over our entertainment needs.

I'm not sure how internet radio will make broadcast radio suck less, but it may drive people away from their tuners and further into the abyss of plenty. A person living in a plains state serviced only by megabroadcasters and religious programmers can access community radio from New Orleans thanks to the magical internet. But the catch is, they have to know how to find their other radio options. Sure, people aren't stupid and they know how to search the internet using terms like "good radio" or their genre of choice, but there aren't too many opportunities for chance encounters on the internet (you have to know what you're looking for in order to "discover" it, sort of oxymoronical). Plugging a specific term into the goog ain't the same as spinning the dial to see what you can catch. And listening to a station in another part of the country isn't going to deliver the cultural flavor endemic to your locality.

Another issue with independent voices being pushed to the internet is that webcasting gets expensive. I've already ranted plenty about the webcasting royalty battle that emerged a few years ago (and still isn't really resolved), not to mention servers, tech upkeep, etc. Most of the newbies in the webcasting game are basing their finances on fee schemes for DJs, underwriting, fees for artists if they want to be played, or the deep pockets of vested interests. A few have been successful with listener support campaigns and foundation funding through grants.

Time is obviously the only way to measure the success or staying power of any new radio voices, or on the flipside, the perseverance of broadcast radio iteself. Will we reach a point when broadcast radio no longer matters and all radio listening happens via the internet? If so, what will that mean in terms of new programming discoveries, funding, or localism?

Thanks for reading my latest radio rant... it's been a while!

Comments

[Tor H Tor]

Radio doesn't suck, DNA sucks.

[hairwaves]

Is there any other station out there beside 'FMU? Seriously, after Vin Scelsa left WNEW fm in 1982 I have never again listened to commercial radio. WPKN, WNYU, WFDU, and here is the only over the air stuff I've listened to since then.

[no radio]

I'm with ya, man. Every time I wander from the left side of the FM dial and explore, I regret it. Commercial radio is like fingernails across a blackboard... silence is preferable, nay, bliss in comparison.

I've pretty much given up on FM as a viable music source, with a few rare and infrequent exceptions. The hell of this is, if a good LPFM station actually made it onto the air in my market, I don't know if I'd bother going to the trouble to tune in or not; I haven't had a radio in my car for several years now and generally only tune in at home for news.

Long term, my bet is that we'll all have to give up FM anyway so the FCC can whore out the bandwidth to the highest bidder for more wireless gadgets. Hope I'm wrong about that.

iPad killed the radio star!!!

[toober]

I think the coming of internet radio is the best thing to happen to radio since, well, radio. Sorry Mr. Armstrong, but the digital network is just a much better way to get sound out to listeners. Great quality, it scales well, a huge number of potential stations so the smallest voice can be heard, very little censorship...what is the downside? Pretty soon everyone will have some sort of iPhoneoid gadget, so connectivity will not be a problem.

So yes, broadcast radio mostly sucks. Let it die.

I hope WFMU has some sort of long term plan for the death of FM. I think it will come fast - maybe at soon as ten years. Perhaps the band will still be open, but it may not be economical to even bother transmitting over the airwaves. Would WFMU be willing to keep its transmitter active if on-air listener numbers fall below, say, 1000 people? What about ex-WXHD, with even fewer listeners? Does WFMU even have anyone on staff (or volunteer) that really enjoys the technology of broadcast radio transmission?

--
Will

[Dale]

We got a Logitech Squeezebox at Christmas and it was a revelation as to the great stuff out there. It also made me realize that there's a lot of sucky radio in the world in general. I mean, why is there so much awful techno on European radio? I thought if I tuned into Paris it would be all Brel and Hardy and Gainsbourg, but I feel like I tuned into a kickboxing class.

[blahblahblah]

People think New York radio sucks? Wow. You don't know how lucky you guys are. Next time, try living in any medium-sized city in the Midwest, you'll be scurrying back to New York radio in no time.

[Vic]

Radio sucks way worse than it has to, but I'm gonna be real original and blame all the baby boomers who decided before their 30th birthdays that they never wanted to be surprised by an unfamiliar song on the radio again.

Shoutout to WRCT in Pittsburgh, a station than an FMU fan can listen to without earplugs!

[alex tocaben]

Just a quick correction: I listen to Indie Darkroom all the time and it IS a new streaming radio station, but it is also broadcast on the actual FM dial on 87.7 WNYZ in NYC. (8pm to 5am, m-thurs)