

Ask HN: Do you listen to radio? Will it survive? - jordigh

Yesterday I was without any technology other than radio, and I just turned it on to see what I could get. I was pleasantly surprised, with many stations in several languages with good music I had not heard before, and interesting programmes on diverse topics.<p>Do you still listen to radio? Do you think radio has a future as it stands now? Television broadcast over airwaves is dead or dying, and many broadcasters have shut down. Why hasn&#x27;t the same happened to radio yet?
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User9821
I think of the radio similar to television. For example, I can have any tv
show and movie at my finger tips, but sometimes it's nice just to turn on the
tv. There's something enjoyable about letting someone else make the choice.
It's the same reason you might have a DVD library collecting dust, but you get
excited when one of your DVD's appears on television. You just push a button,
no decision of which movie to watch, and no taking time to setup a DVD.

It's similar with the radio. Any song or album is available online, but
sometimes I just want to listen to music, without finding a new playlist every
hour, or switching songs constantly. Music streaming services online have this
covered to some extent, but there's something comforting about a box that's
sole purpose is to play music, and that's where the radio comes in.

Imagine if you had a box next to you, and all it had was a volume knob and 8
buttons, each for a different genre of music. You push classic rock, and it
just starts playing a non-stop stream. Get bored with it? Switch to
electronic. Your only choice is which genre, and how loud. No sign-up, no
advertisements, no accounts to manage, no downtime, no social media, etc.

~~~
trentlott
I've always thought it would be nice to write a program that auto-generates a
TV programming schedule by time of day. The first problem that's prevented me
from doing it is that my TV shows aren't divided up for commercial breaks,
which is half of the appeal.

ToonamiAftermath is the prototype for exactly what I'd like to do. TV shows
with commercial breaks and bumpers, streamed 24/7 constantly. I haven't been
able to figure out how they (he?) was able to pull it off, other than cutting
files and making each day's playlist by hand.

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DanBC
I listen to many hours of radio every day.

I listen to BBC Radio 4; 4 extra; 6 music; and the World Service. I also
listen to podcasts of some international stations. (Not as much now that "this
american life" is available on 4extra).

People might be interested in the archive of content on the BBC websites. "In
Our Time" is especially good.

~~~
gadders
I listen to Radio 4 in the mornings as I get ready for work, and then Radio 4
(mostly) podcasts on my commute.

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tptacek
I listen to NPR, but the podcast versions of NPR shows are rapidly replacing
the FM version of NPR for me.

~~~
spearo77
Have you tried the iTunes Radio NPR stream?

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/station/npr-news-and-
culture/idr...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/station/npr-news-and-
culture/idra.840950253)

~~~
tptacek
I haven't. Though, the reason I like podcasts though is I can pick what shows
I want to listen to and when to listen to them.

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coffeecodecouch
The radio (in it's traditional sense) has no chance of survival. It's only
lifeline is people listening to it in cars but even that won't last. If I'm in
the mood for listening to music I can pick my own songs or use a service that
creates customized playlists and listen to them _without_ sitting through 10
minutes of ads every three songs. The whole idea of radio stations is old-
fashioned and if it was pitched today it would be laughed at by every VC in
the room. Maybe I'm being too harsh on it, but that's just my opinion that
I've formed over many years of trying to find something good on the radio in
the car.

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danford
Radio serves the purpose of being one of the only freely available wireless
com networks. For this reason I think radio will be around for a while (will
almost definitely out live cable television).

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bdfh42
Listening to the radio - that's what cars are for.

Mind (in this context) I have the misfortune to live in the UK where music
radio stations seem to think that their output should be constant banal
chatter from a "DJ" with just the occasional tune slung in when they run out
of things to jabber about.

I am always glad when I visit the USA and can find so many music stations -
ones that actually play music.

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tobylane
Comedy on Radio4 is the only thing I seek out. Other than that it fills the
quiet, or the noise of transport. Radio is cheap, and the lines between
internet and traditional radio are blurred much more so than with TV (for one,
there's no difference - FM is about 96kps and internet radio is around that
for 3G and more for wifi).

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Pyrodogg
Only in my car on my rather short commute. I only take in about 30 minutes of
the programs/songs in a session.

It still seems very natural to me to listen in the car. Flipping it on at home
seems a bit odd to me though.

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chrisBob
Radio has a lock on the _people in cars_ market, and I don't see how that
could change.

Radio also has much lower costs than TV.

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27182818284
Listen to radio everyday. Never on an actual radio, though.

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joeclark77
I think that radio advertisements work better than TV ads for the reason that
they're pretty geographically targeted. It's a good way to advertise when you
want to reach a city-sized area but not target a whole state or region. As
long as the ads work, and people keep listening, the business model should be
sustainable. Also, how else are you going to tune in to Rush Limbaugh?

