bbc starts shutting off local am radio

[alocispepraluger102]

the inevitable is happening......

"relegated to the dustbin of history."

bbc shuts off local am radio

'The digital switch-over has quietly started at four BBC local radio stations in England, RadioToday.co.uk can reveal.

BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Lincolnshire, BBC Radio Merseyside and BBC Radio Nottingham have all stopped broadcasting regular programs on medium wave, instead directing listeners to FM or Digital Audio Broadcasting. Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,002 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format. DAB may offer more radio programs over a specific spectrum than analogue FM radio. DAB is more robust with regard to noise and multipath fading for mobile listening, since DAB reception quality first degrades rapidly when the signal strength falls below a critical threshold, whereas FM reception quality degrades slowly with the decreasing signal.'

Edited August 21, 2012 by alocispepraluger102

[A Lark Ascending]

A disgrace.

I got the first news of Nelson's victory at Trafalgar from a.m. Radio Nottingham. They'll stop making LPs next.

[alocispepraluger102]

at this point, in the united states, shuttering am would be a good idea, much as i have loved and listened for most of my 67. years.

conservative national talk shows endlessly monotonously droning what they have read on drudge, hustling conservative friendly gea and events, religious broadcasters by the hundreds, gold hustlers, snake oil vitamin salesmen, 5 minute network newscasts endlessly offering presidential play by play blow by blow i can do without.

shoot the damn thing and put us out of its misery.

i can only sadly remember the allnight clear channel am jazz shows and hosts, particularly the ones from wcfl chicago and wham rochester.

Edited August 21, 2012 by alocispepraluger102

[alocispepraluger102]

"They'll stop making LPs next."

.....but i'm still collecting, so that when i depart this orb or become incapacitated, my junkyard will be the beneficiary of a fabulously ponderous jazz/classical lp collection.

Edited August 21, 2012 by alocispepraluger102

[A Lark Ascending]

"They'll stop making LPs next."

.....but i'm still collecting, so that when i depart this orb or become incapacitated, my junkyard will be the beneficiary of a fabulously ponderous jazz/classical lp collection.

I shouldn't worry. The steam train went out of service decades ago but steam railways are forever springing up over here for leisure purposes.

I'm sure there's a place for LPs in the heritage industry. A couple of days back I was in a National Trust shop in Cornwall and they were selling the centres of 78's as chic coasters to put your drinks on! £12 for four!

Now there's an alternative to the Blue Note T-shirt or giant wall poster.

Edited August 21, 2012 by A Lark Ascending

[alocispepraluger102]

ironically, a steam engine came through our town today, viewed and cheered by throngs.

[JSngry]

at this point, in the united states, shuttering am would be a good idea, much as i have loved and listened for most of my 67. years.

conservative national talk shows endlessly&monotonously droning what they have read on drudge, hustling conservative friendly gea and events,&religious broadcasters by the hundreds,& gold hustlers,&snake oil vitamin salesmen, 5 minute network newscasts endlessly offering presidential play by play blow by blow i can do without.

shoot the damn thing and put us out of its misery.

You're right - except...In this area, anyway, AM is where you can hear most of the Arabic & Asian "immigrant" musics presented in a non-spectator fashion. Even though I'm a spectator to the listening, it's still one less degree of separation, even though in one way it's yet another (the people on the air don't know if "I'm" listening, and they really don't care, I'm sure). And so it goes...

And every so often there's a rare AM surprise, like the time I was driving south on 35; caught a low-wattage AM station playing nothing but Western Swing & honky-tonk music, all of it newish, and all of it very good. Only pulled the signal in for about 20 minutes, but it was a good 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, those are the exceptions.

Edited August 22, 2012 by JSngry

[jeffcrom]

Yep - driving through the southern United States, you can still hear some amazing stuff on AM radio. Not as much as 20 years ago, but still - yes. And WMLB, AM 1690, in Atlanta is one of the brightest lights in a place that's kind of a cultural wasteland for a city this size. They play good music of all flavors - you might hear Count Basie, John Lee Hooker, Patsy Cline, and Debussy in the same afternoon.

[alocispepraluger102]

Yep - driving through the southern United States, you can still hear some amazing stuff on AM radio. Not as much as 20 years ago, but still - yes. And WMLB, AM 1690, in Atlanta is one of the brightest lights in a place that's kind of a cultural wasteland for a city this size. They play good music of all flavors - you might hear Count Basie, John Lee Hooker, Patsy Cline, and Debussy in the same afternoon.

thanks for the WMLB-AM recognition. they have a webcast.

what used to be exciting for me is the time when, as the sun went down, faraway different stations began to appear loud and clear. now near and far is pretty much the same.

Edited August 22, 2012 by alocispepraluger102