It's a shame what's happened to radio • Hacker News Board

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#171

Post by JohnFen » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 1:47 PM UTC

leeter wrote: post #141

mobilene wrote: post #138

I'm the OP, and I'm surprised to find this article on HN at all, let alone the front page! Many comments are focusing on music but the thing I tried to get across in the article was that good radio wasn't primarily about the music, it was about fun and connection. A good DJ kept you from just turning the radio off when you heard that same hit the fourth time today -- you wanted to keep listening because the DJ made i…

Possibly controversial opinion, but radio stopped being relevant to me personally when congress removed the ownership restrictions for a single market. It's only gotten worse from there IMO. Radio is about catering to a very specific, and generally older, market at least where I am.

Agreed. That was the beginning of the end of good radio.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#172

Post by gruzzlymug » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 1:48 PM UTC

I agree with this sentiment. There was so much more to old radio than music, too (cf Relic Radio podcasts). A good DJ could add a lot to the experience of music as well (eg Dick Buckley...I am still waiting for the Chicago Public Library to make his Archives of Jazz shows available).

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#173

Post by NuclearPM » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 1:49 PM UTC

Radio always sucked to me. Full of annoying ands and annoying hosts.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#174

Post by dredmorbius » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 1:49 PM UTC

lkramer wrote: post #98

veltas wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also listened in the car but since they've recently shut down the LW tower I can't receive it anymore in the midlands, only occasionally get FM signal.

It might not work in your scenario, but I too listen to radio a lot and found the signal issues annoying. My car is pretty old and doesn't have aux/bluetooth input so I can't plug in my phone and use the Sounds app, but I got a bluetooth to FM signal transmitter and now listen to my phone through my car radio, including a lot of streaming radio.

FM dongles for smartphones and tablets are a thing. You can stream your own playlist or podcasts over your tuner (and anyone else's within a small radius). The devices are cheap but effective.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#175

Post by NuclearPM » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 1:53 PM UTC

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #111

charcircuit wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This still exists today. When a new song gets released on YouTube for example a group of people close to it in latent space gets it recommended. By seeing a recommendation of a song in your feed you are part of a cohort of people with similar tastes.

That is the core issue. Only a preselected cohort are exposed to new media. That limits common experiences to digital islands rather than shared among the masses.

How is this an issue at all?

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#176

Post by SamuelAdams » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 1:54 PM UTC

deltarholamda wrote: post #167

In 2005, right after Katrina hit, a lot of people in the Gulf lost power for a long time. All cell towers were overloaded constantly. What kept working was radio. A bog standard Sony radio would run for a long, long time on a few AA batteries. Back then, you could also pick up the audio portion of UHF and VHF analog TV too. It was the main lifeline for news and local updates. Radio is a fantastic technology that is b…

It’s also great in wartime, when communications are likely to be interrupted. For an example read the book “All the light we cannot See” by Doerr

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#177

Post by couchand » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 1:55 PM UTC

Radio is still cool! But it's just not really on the FCC-licensed bands anymore. Independent Internet radio stations keep the spirit alive. Look around, there very well might be a vibrant local music-and-more community right in your neighborhood! Two stations I listen to regularly here in NYC:

8 Ball Radio - https://8ballradio.nyc

Radio Free Brooklyn - https://www.radiofreebrooklyn.org

Who else has favorites to share?

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#178

Post by NuclearPM » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 1:56 PM UTC

carlosjobim wrote: post #153

gabriel666smith wrote: post #75

It is a shame. I think it’s especially a shame for children and young people. A counter to radio remaining relevant is “I can listen to whatever I want, via this digital technology”. Fine - but young people don’t yet have a complete mental map of what culture they enjoy. In the UK, funding for libraries and the arts (public radio, the BBC) has been increasingly cut in the name of austerity. I think that’s true in the…

> Fine - but young people don’t yet have a complete mental map of what culture they enjoy. Spotify and the likes will suggest new and different things for people to listen to. Apple has a special app just for classical music, which is the highest level of musical culture. > Even worse: many of these (eg, Spotify) hide real access behind subscription fees. If you grew up broke, like I did, you will understand how inac…

> Apple has a special app just for classical music, which is the highest level of musical culture.

Really? Why?

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#179

Post by baron3dl » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 1:56 PM UTC

mobilene wrote: post #138

I'm the OP, and I'm surprised to find this article on HN at all, let alone the front page! Many comments are focusing on music but the thing I tried to get across in the article was that good radio wasn't primarily about the music, it was about fun and connection. A good DJ kept you from just turning the radio off when you heard that same hit the fourth time today -- you wanted to keep listening because the DJ made i…

I do miss the DJs of my childhood local rock station, WHJY, Providence. They were with me in the car for many, many hours. It's nostalgia though, I tuned out when they hired a program manager that played too much early 80's rock, like Van Halen, and not enough alternative. I tuned out after the 400th time the PM DJ dunked on his cohost's weight, the 347th time the AM DJs made a prank call, and the 500th time the evening DJ objectified his sultry-voiced intern. Later, I cancelled SiriusXM because I couldn't listen DJs anymore, not one more word.

I miss the locality, the connection, the need to cope outside the safe zone for nothing other than lack of options. Despite the nostalgia, and sensing what is lost, I think I would make the same choice again. Mostly so I never have to hear Jump again.

Re: It's a shame what's happened to radio

#180

Post by projektfu » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC

prmoustache wrote: post #58

What's up with US radio names sounding like amazon chinese electronic devices autogenerated brands with just a string of random letters? Weren't they allowed to have "normal" names like anywhere else in the world?

They often have a mix of their call sign and another brand. The conglomerates have a few brands like The River (something for everyone is nothing at all). Local stations sometimes emphasize the call sign or they have something else, like 88.5 in Atlanta is "Album 88", or WRAS.