Monday, December 28, 2009

Radio, radio

In my travels (so far) this week, I don't think I've heard a single radio station identified by their call letters. Instead, there were "The River," "The Peak," "The Point," "Fresh," and "Wink."

I remember when radio stations were brand names to themselves: WNEW (Where Rock Lives!) WPLJ, WCBS, WNBC. Even Z-100 bothered to tell you the radio frequency. Whatever...they all play the same adult contemporary music now anyway.

4 comments:

DCE said...

Most radio stations these days are what were known in the bad old days as "robo-stations". Most of the radio stations we listen to today are completely computer controlled. The "DJ" (and I use the term loosely) records his/her intros, outros, and announcements ahead of time, requiring less than an hour in the studio to cover four hours of air time. Most of the live shows these days (not counting talk radio) are the morning drive-time shows.

With the new robo-stations it is not uncommon to hear the same DJ on more than one radio station at the same time.

Sometimes progress isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Anonymous said...

In NYC - "WMGM - the call letters of the stars." and "1010 WINS, WINS New York"

Eric said...

Oh yeah, 1010 WINS (dee-dee-dee-dee)

Well, they're still going strong but they're a news station. I always remember WINS from when they announce the Lufthansa heist on "Goodfellas."

Mike said...

Satellite radio is where it's at. Except for Rush Limbaugh and the Yankees, that's all I ever listen to.