Does anyone listen to the radio anymore?

Only in my car. I listen mainly to a couple of talk radio shows.

I am perhaps a unique position. I like classical music and often when I am in the mood to listen that is what I want. I live on the fringe of what may be the best classical station on the east coast. I can nearly receive it live over the air on a real tuner at my home in VA though not as well as I would like. I can also listen via internet radio and get a compressed mp3 format stream. The streaming option gives consistent signal that does not fade out but not very high audio quality...but at least it works consistently. The FM source is excellent on occasion but often is really awful in terms of noise and distortion because of multipath and other degradation. As I rebuild my home, I am debating the inclusion of a tuner to get this station I like or just staying with the streaming option. Its a hard choice.

I am perhaps a unique position. I like classical music and often when I am in the mood to listen that is what I want. I live on the fringe of what may be the best classical station on the east coast. I can nearly receive it live over the air on a real tuner at my home in VA though not as well as I would like. I can also listen via internet radio and get a compressed mp3 format stream. The streaming option gives consistent signal that does not fade out but not very high audio quality...but at least it works consistently. The FM source is excellent on occasion but often is really awful in terms of noise and distortion because of multipath and other degradation. As I rebuild my home, I am debating the inclusion of a tuner to get this station I like or just staying with the streaming option. Its a hard choice.

In the Puget Sound area KNKX (NPR)  has great programming lots of jazz, all- blues Saturday and Sunday from 6pm, and great signal. KUOW (NPR) has even better non-musical programming but as others have mentioned, terrible coverage. I stream both when possible. KNKX haa a second stream-only that streams Jazz at 256K AAC 7X24, so their sound quality is quite good. KING-FM is a claasical station, but their programming tends towards later Classical periods (mid 19th - mid 20th century) thats just not my thing. Other than that, there's not much of interest to me. 

I listen to the radio every day. in south east Michigan we have a great "listener supported" station. no commercials. classical from 5 a.m. - 7 p.m., jazz from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. WRCJ, 90.9 fm, HD-1 Detroit. love Lynne Warful on the weekends with Saturday Cinema. great tunes from movies. good stuff. sound is really good also.

I stream classical and local radio stations. 

yes  Radio Garden      has  every  radio station in  the  world  available, 

To "guscreek", my compliments to your Farnsworth ancestor for the fine radios and phonographs that bear the Farnsworth name.  

Having had a career as a professional musician, I still hear something every day on Baltimore's WBJC [91.5] that I've never heard before.  Their programming is fresh even with the old favorites that predominate.  Founded in 1951, ALL classical and still going strong !  At a distance of 75 miles, my trusty KLH Model 21 pulls it in loud and clear.  I think my 1100 foot elevation makes that possible.  Any serious listening is on my "Big Rig", but who can sit in the "sweet spot" all day ?  Oh, that we could !!

WFMU. Every day. 

@moto_man

college radio or free form is the answer to keeping it fresh and interesting. You can stream it or go terrestrial if you can pick it up. Either way it’s a fun way to hear new things and surprise yourself. Or hear some of your favorite tunes that would never, ever make it on commercial. (Of course some stuff that’s not my thing at all but I give it a listen.)

I’m a Gen Xr so it’s the way I learned about music beyond what was on the “radio” if you know what I mean. So in that sense it is a bit of nostalgia too. I just love it as a mix into my regular music playing program.

Yes in my car 89.1 oldies station.

Does streaming radio count?  I live in the mountains of NC, and on weekend mornings I listed to KLOI, public radio from Lopez Island, WA.  No ads, good selection, and almost never a song that makes me want to change the channel.   Give it a try.  YMMV.

I have both a Denon TU-680NAB broadcast monitor and an Ocean Digital WC-10 internet tuner in my system here in Dayton, OH. I use the Denon to listen to our local Classical outlet, WDPR/Discover Classical as for some reason, the WC-10 won't pick up their stream. 'DPR has no processing on its signalm so it sounds very pure. On the WC-10, I listen to WZUM, the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel, Jazz 24 from Tacoma, and TSF Jazz from Paris as well as our local, all-volunteer Oldies station, WSWO-LP/Oldies 97.3. That last one plays "music from the 50's, 60's, 70's and beyond." They have the deepest and broadest library of Oldies I've ever encountered and play a lot of songs I've never heard in my life. They also have a show on Dayton Funk every Sunday night at 11. Great stuff. The radio is always on in our place.

Jazz FM91 plus one ... 

I stopped listening to the radio since the late 90s; although every year I tune in to listen XMas music during Xmas week. That's it.

 

Everyday. I have a MR88 in my reference system that's fed by a combination FM/HD/Sirius outdoor antenna.

I have an Onkyo T9090 tuner that was recapped and it now also allows me to swap out the OpAmp output stage - akin to rolling tubes. Makes for a really good sound.

Has amazing sensitivity and I use it for the lesser known stations that still broadcast live versus simply sending their internet feed across the air waves.

Gets really interesting at night when Skywave propagation kicks in and you start pulling in stations from all over. I can get Cleveland from Toronto :-)

I have a Magnum Dynalab MD-102 that I use in my system for FM.

There’s a good college station, a classical station & several others.

The sound quality is excellent, using that tuner.

 

I also stream a San Diego station 91X, Radio Huaraki from New Zealand, and 8Radio from Dublin.

 

There are some great radio stations out there…

 

Unfortunately, it seems too much airtime is going to the advertisers...too many commercials, and not enough music.

Also, here in Chicago, the rock stations are too afraid to veer off the "safe, don’t take a chance" path. I recall a DJ talking about how much fun Robert Plant had with Alison Krauss. So much so, that they were going to do another album. Did they play a Robert and Alison song? Of course not, Communication Breakdown.

Luckily, there’s WONC down at 89.1 out of Naperville (North Central College).. Thank Goodness I have Shazam to find out who sings all this awesome stuff I’ve never heard before. I don’t know who’s doing the actual programming, but it is funny to hear these kids let me know that I just heard "Jessica", by the ALL - MAN brothers. : )

I’ll take it tho, as long as they keep doing what they’re doing.

We listen to "Wait, Wait, Donʻt Tell Me" on NPR, on our Tivoli table radio. I also listen to NPR in the car. Thatʻs it for FM. No reason to tune into AM.

I pitched out my FM tuner 25 years ago. We had just bought our home in the San Francisco area and at last, I had a home on which I could put up a high end FM yagi antenna with a rotator! I was pulling in stations 150 miles away!

 

But it was all stuff I didnʻt want to listen to. KJAZ was gone by that time. KCSM was playing jazz, but I didnʻt like what they programmed. Other than that, FM was pop and rock music, Country & Western, Christian rock, Christian talk radio, Right-wing talk radio and Spanish Language stations.  The classical stations kept repeating the same limited play list and they never played a symphony all the way through.  Theyʻd play one movement, then play something completely different.  It was classical MUZAK.  

There was nothing I wanted to hear, so I pitched it all out. GONE.

Internet radio sounds just as good and you can find stations from all over the planet for free.

FM tuners are audio buggy whips. You may get great reception, but reception of what?

I listen all the time. I upgraded my Tuner a few months ago just for that reason.

Where I live in the Monterey Bay area there are 2 college and 2 community radio stations that I listen for hours a day both at home and in the car. One of my favorites is KZSC. Each DJ student has a slot each week and plays what they like and what they want at their discretion. Similar to FM in the 60's. I hear great new songs and old songs I have never heard before and songs I have not heard for years. Example: One of my favorite DJ's is Jet Jaguar. Her set is every Saturday at 2:00. Breakfast in bed Sunday's at 9:00. It's all Female artist. KSQD has Soul Town every Saturday evening. Another station is KKUP. They have a slot Tuesdays at 7:00am. Psychedelic music from the 60's. When was the last time you heard Moby Grape on the radio? I also stream UCSB's station. ( have 2 daughters that did and are attending). My sons grandfather on his mothers side has a slot Sunday's at 5:00 am on KVMR. I could go on forever.

Oh certainly. Here in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, I love listening to JPR. Jefferson Public Radio plays an eclectic blend of music, ranging from Americana to Country to Alt. Rock and Electronic to folk. It also has various other shows from the larger NPR universe that are fabulous. Regular radio stations are actually kind of boring, sticking to the main formulas of the 80s and 90s. Nothing new or novel. And talk radio and Christian stations are abominable. 

While I am driving I listen to 75% sports radio talk shows and 25% music. That’s about it.

I have no idea what the quality of what the actual quality of the signal is and I don’t really care.

It’s car radio. You just listen and and sing along when something good comes on.

It is nice sometimes to get rid of our need to analyze and just enjoy the music.

@evanpress Yes well written, kind of ground breaking.  Wickedly funny, lovable characters and of cours Lonnie Anderson.  I nominate News Radio and Frazier to a lesser degree fun radio based shows.  Ironic I guess considering how one came to render another irrelevant.

I can't understand the attraction of listening to FM when we have Roon and all of the streaming services.  Is it nostalgia?  I an't imagine using to an FM station and trying to listen to it, full of commercials, low quality sound and not even related to the music that you really would like to hear.  Sometimes we just need to let old technology go, like the Sony Walkman.

I'm listening to the radio as I type this.   What can I say, I grew up with it, listening to the growth of the FM stations in Chicago. I love WFMT plus I really like all the college stations at the bottom of the dial.  They're a great source of new music for me and stuff I missed along the way.  I purchase quite a bit of Avant guard music including  jazz and classical music besides what the younger generations are listening to.  I mean I would have not found Acid Mothers Temple, Ozric Tentacles, At The Mountains of Madness(Zorn), The Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, Prayer For Kala Rupa (anyone remember the movie "Altered States" ), Bowery Electric,  Gergiev's Scheherazade, and on and on recent purchases.  And B-4 I forget, note to self:  pickup Nick Caves latest recording, "Wild God".

We are lucky here in the Spokane area to have 3 good FM stations, which I listen to at home and in the car. An NPR station that plays classical during the day, has great news, and multiple jazz, bluegrass, alternative, and blues programming. A college station that plays mostly jazz with some good blues programming and a private rock and roll station that plays an eclectic mix. I live out in the country and all of them come in clearly.

NPR does good work. Yes, it skews left, but it’s not that hard to mentally adjust for it.

It’s like the oven in your kitchen. If you want 350 degrees, you know from experience you have to turn the knob to 375. It doesn’t take a genius.

 

I only listen to the radio in the car and primarily listen to a local station here in Memphis, TN WEVL 89.9 wevl.org

You can stream them online.

I encourage everyone to check them out.....and support if you enjoy

They have only 1 paid position. The rest of the staff are all volunteers, WEVL....we volunteer.

The genre of music changes ever 1-2 hours with the DJ

They hold a spring and fall pledge drive and raise about $75k on each one and then have random fundraisers throughtout the year.

Been on the air about 50 years now.....love them!

@yogiboy 

THANK YOU for sending me this! 🙏🎶

Jazz stations? Absolutely!

In the car.

WRTI 90.1 - Temple University broadcasts HD classical and jazz full time over its two channels.  Excellent programming on each.  I spin vinyl for my focused listening sessions but daily have WRTI on while reading or doing chores or simply not in the mood to change Lp’s.   The HD signal through my Outlaw Receiver certainly provides a richer sound than I get streaming Spotify or Sonos radio.  Through both channels I have been introduced to new material and artists which I have then sought out on vinyl which I purchased to add to record collection.  Support local radio.  It beats algorithm derived playlists any day.  

At times, KBACH 89.5 classical music in the greater PHX area. Listen through my Sansui 8080 or Kenwood KR7400 depending where I am in the house. 

@timstella +1

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/npr-editor-uri-berliner-resigns-after-accusing-outlet-liberal-bias-rcna148258

I stopped listening to the radio maybe about 15 years ago. There is nothing locally besides NPR or another public radio station locally worth listening to. So much ash and trash radio stations out there. However recently wit the advent of being able to stream stations from around the world things seem to be opening up for me. An actual radio no, but streaming a station yes.

Just great to hear a human voice and the most complex algorithm, the DJs brain taking us in directions we didn't know we wanted..."All the worlds a stage"

@guscreek  well said.

@devinplombier getting a decent antennae is important. I have a Fanfare FM-2G

omni and a Winegard directional can aim at weak distant stations. The Marantz has dual antennae inputs. Also has wide and narrow signal selection.

As a former owner of a beautiful sounding Marantz 10B, I lament the loss of quality classical music programming!! In CT, we have lost all quality programming except for WMNR, with a limited range of reception. So, in the Hartford area, there is nothing more than NPR leftist talk radio. I will not be sorry if funding is cut to these sources, because they no longer serve the public! Streaming of these stations pales in quality compared to the quality analog signal that used to be broadcast! It’s all about the bottom line. Yet, they’re always asking for money? Get rid of it, and stop using our tax dollars for this! Wake up folks!

As a former owner of a beautiful sounding Marantz 10B, I lament the loss of quality classical music programming!! In CT, we have lost all quality programming except for WMNR, with a limited range of reception. So, in the Hartford area, there is nothing more than NPR leftist talk radio. I will not be sorry if funding is cut to these sources, because they no longer serve the public! Streaming of these stations pales in quality compared to the quality analog signal that used to be broadcast! It’s all about the bottom line. Yet, they’re always asking for money? Get rid of it, and stop using our tax dollars for this! Wake up folks!

https://www.metopera.org/season/radio/saturday-matinee-broadcasts/station-finder/

 

Some people consider Live Broadcast FM Radio to be the best source possible.  Here is a link to all the stations in the US that you can tune into for the Met's weekly Matinee.

Live broadcast from the met is one the best quality sounding sources, on par with the very best vinyl and dac solutions.

@simchowitz +1

For some reason I was convinced that over-the-air FM radio was on its way out, to go off the air in a couple of years and be replaced by HD radio. I even thought the AM / FM radio spectrum had been auctioned off to broadband operators.

Anyway, this thread made me look it up and I was wrong, it actually sounds like FM has a couple few decades ahead of it still... So maybe it's worth getting a good tuner after all 🙂

 

All the time. Have a dynalab md109 and a marantz10b. Listen to Kbuu malibu which is so helpful when you have no internet. Programming is awesome and sounds great. Classical radio 91.5 is amazing. Radio sounds amazing with a good one and is a great solution besides streaming that is free. Live broadcast from the met is one the best quality sounding sources, on par with the very best vinyl and dac solutions. Radio 📻  is a must in my opinion. 

Yes frequently. We are lucky in Philadelphia to have an excellent Classical / Jazz station.  Have an old but goodie Kenwood KT-8300 tuner in my system with a good antenna. 90% Classical / 10% other. In the car, about 80% Classical / 20% other. 

I have unreliable land line dsl service so I listen to a  classical and a jazz station from Portland Oregon on a tuner. I am also far enough away to have gone through many tuners to settle on one that works very good. A local dealer is happy I went through all those tuners, too. And no interruptions from the programming if I use a tuner.

Like many here only in my car.  95.9 The Krush Santa Rosa CA and The River 97.7 for Northern CA.  I'm much like @nicholsr in that I enjoy the obscure artists and the wonderful DJs who have the common decency to tell who you just heard and probably some interesting insight into the artist.

Also the local news and some interesting shows such as weekly interviews with the Mendecino County Marijuana Board members.  Just great to hear a human voice and the most complex algorithm, the DJs brain taking us in directions we didn't know we wanted...

I then put that info to use on the home system via streaming.

I   also LOVE antique radios from the 1925-1950 period.  So I decided to figure out the radio on the cover of The Spirit  Of Radio.  The key clue came from a picture on a Rush website from the album that showed the radio from behind.  The three tubes visible had AL GL NP imposed one set of initials each.  Through the magic of Google lens it turns out to be a Westinghouse 30 licensed to RCA as a model 140.

For the cover art the front grill had been redone to make a suitable background for the mystic figure for lack of a better term  which made it so hard to determine  from  the front.

Here is what I find the most interesting.  I mean why this radio model?  A website, RadioMuseum is a great resource for vintage radio pics, schematics, description and period advertisements.  This particular ad started "All the worlds a stage" basically when you chose the RCA 140.  That choice of radio is no accident.

Gorgeous furniture, ALL TUBES BB ;) and some really great sound and reception!

I am incredibly lucky to have had a Farnsworth Capehart 1948 114N2 passed to me.  Cost 1748.00 in 1948 and was the last word in home entertainment.  Benefiting from post WW2 tech and a cost is no object frame of mind it is a master piece!  The 41 E record changer is unreal.  Google Bobs 41E 33 conversion. First year of the Jensen 5/15 coaxial speaker.  Weighs  300 lbs, 250 made or so.

It would be interesting to see some Stereophile type reviews of top end gear from the old days IMO.

The deep connection to this beauty is the fact that I am a Farnsworth myself and a distant relative of Philo.  Cool beyond words to look at the data plate and see  The Farnsworth Radio and Television Company.  

A gift beyond price that's almost free RIP Neil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Absolutely!

I listen in my vehicle to Jazz station KNKX through the week while in the greater Seattle area and also to Jazz station KOHO out of Leavenworth when home on the weekends. Really enjoy my Accuphase T-101.

I sold my tuner many years ago. I listen to Qobuz while driving, and occasionally tune in to NPR.