4 ms·

I know I am properly a outlier but how many people on HN actually listens to radio over FM/DAB/Other non IP systems? I dont remember when I last listened to ra

by msh 10y ago

I know I am properly a outlier but how many people on HN actually listens to radio over FM/DAB/Other non IP systems? I dont remember when I last listened to radio. Even in the car the entertainment is one or more of the following from the connected phone: - Streaming or locally stored music - Podcasts (which may include shows produced by radio stations). - Audiobooks. At home its the same, either played directly on the playback device (sonos) or from the phone. I really dont see the allure of flow radio, I hate listening to something I have no control over and if there are commercials its even worse. For my sake they could shutdown all radio broadcasts and use the bandwidth for mobile broadband. (Ok, maybe keep a single station running for emergency broadcasts).

el_benhameen 10y ago
I listen to pretty much only broadcast NPR when driving. It still has better ease of use than anything else. Nothing to set up or plug in to delay my departure (just press the power button and it's on), I don't have to choose an episode, the content is generally interesting, and there are no obtrusive ads. I have a short commute so I don't run into the problem of hearing repeat newscasts. If I spent more time in the car I might bring my own media (and I do when I go on road trips), but I quite like it for the 30-45 minutes a day that I'm in the car.
niftich 10y ago
You're gonna get self-selecting responses to this, but I listen to FM a good amount -- maybe not every day, but several times a week, mostly in the car. For me, it's a way to attune to mainstream music or a particular station format and briefly escape my otherwise carefully curated playlists, and available at no cost to me, unlike some smartphone streaming service. In truth, to me the method of delivery is not relevant: it could be IP or OTA Digital or Analog. Rather, I sometimes enjoy the unattended, externally curated format of radio, vs. having to select the next playing item myself.
adiabatty 10y ago
I listen to the local NPR music station. My car seems like it's one year too old to have some sort of expandable input, and there's no sensible way to install a Lightning cable or Bluetooth adaptor into it since the stereo system is super-integrated. Of course, once I do get a car that has a Lightning hookup…I'll probably just listen to podcasts at every possible opportunity. Right now I usually only turn the radio on if I'm going to be in the car for 30 minutes or more, which happens maybe once a month at most.
flurdy 10y ago
When driving is the only time I listen to radio. And only radio. I mostly listen to the UK stations BBC Radio 5 (no adverts) and Talk Sport which are only available on AM (MW). And my reception generally is always quite crap. I can't wait for my next car which will definitely have DAB+ where those channels are available without the analogue AM noise.
5555624 10y ago
I do. Whenever I am in the office, 2-3 days a week, I listen for about five hours a day. A radio is just easier, especially since I don't like headphones or ear buds. At home, at night, I'll sometime listen to the radio, eve though the phone is sitting right next to it. Heck, having a working FM radio in my phone was part of the reason I have a Sony Z3.
jhasse 10y ago
I have a radio alarm clock, so almost every day.
douche 10y ago
Every single day. I listen to the local sports radio, and the local rock stations in the car when I'm driving. A lot of the places I go don't really have cellular data coverage strong enough to support solid streaming audio. Meanwhile, there is one FM station broadcasting from a mountain top that I can pick up everywhere within a 250 mile radius with ease.
mavhc 10y ago
I've almost never listened to radio, but I don't like music. Been listening to podcasts since 2005, when I split them into 5 min segments and sent them via IR to my feature phone. I don't get listening to things a) not from the beginning, b) not until the end, c) without pausing, skipping forward/back, d) not your favourite things, e) missing an episode, f) listening to the same thing twice
Angostura 10y ago
I listen to radio a lot in the UK, but then the BBC has many excellent ad-free channels.
fredleblanc 10y ago
I'm in the USA, so my mileage varies. As it turns out, areas without decent cell signal — not even LTE, just a signal in general — is much more prevalent than I assumed. We just moved, only 15 minutes from where we lived, and we went from 4 constant bars of LTE to sometimes we get 1 bar of 3G. I'm still not used to this, and there are many times where I get in my car, plug in my phone, start driving, then realize I didn't download anything for the ride. So I switch back to FM radio. Up here, sports talk stations are on FM, music is on FM, etc. As much as I hate commercials, the serendipity of a one-way broadcast can be exciting. Second case: my wife's phone "connects" to her car, but only for phone calls. She doesn't listen to music through her phone really, and still relies fully on music from FM in her car. I don't think that's that weird. Third case: both of my parents still drive, and neither do these sorts of things with their phones. When my dad is working in his garden, he's got the radio on (FM, generally talk or sports channels). My mom will turn on the radio in the car to listen to while she drives. So I guess the car is the biggest case I see, and though for me it's mostly a reliable plan b, there's an older generation that still listens to a decent amount of FM (or AM) radio out there.
scholia 10y ago
Most people in the UK listen to live radio most of the time, and that includes me. These bullet points are from RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research), which is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. * Live radio accounts for 74% of the share of all UK audio consumption. It reaches 90% of the population. * 38% of audio listening is on devices other than radio sets, primarily PC/laptop (11% of all audio) and smartphones (8%). * On-demand music services account for 6% share of audio time and are listened to by 7.6 million people each week. RAJAR http://www.rajar.co.uk/ http://www.rajar.co.uk/ Audio Time – What the RAJAR MIDAS Audio Survey says about listening in the digital age http://www.rajar.co.uk/docs/news/Audio_Time%20_FINAL_pages.pdf http://www.rajar.co.uk/docs/news/Audio_Time%20_FINAL_pages.p...
pklausler 10y ago
I listen to FM radio while driving, about an hour total every day. I can do this because I live in a town with great public radio (Oregon Public Broadcasting, All Classical Portland, and KMHD for jazz). I have found that there's a strong correlation in the US between livability and good public radio, at least for my tastes.

by msh 10y ago

el_benhameen 10y ago

I listen to pretty much only broadcast NPR when driving. It still has better ease of use than anything else. Nothing to set up or plug in to delay my departure (just press the power button and it's on), I don't have to choose an episode, the content is generally interesting, and there are no obtrusive ads. I have a short commute so I don't run into the problem of hearing repeat newscasts. If I spent more time in the car I might bring my own media (and I do when I go on road trips), but I quite like it for the 30-45 minutes a day that I'm in the car.

niftich 10y ago

You're gonna get self-selecting responses to this, but I listen to FM a good amount -- maybe not every day, but several times a week, mostly in the car. For me, it's a way to attune to mainstream music or a particular station format and briefly escape my otherwise carefully curated playlists, and available at no cost to me, unlike some smartphone streaming service. In truth, to me the method of delivery is not relevant: it could be IP or OTA Digital or Analog. Rather, I sometimes enjoy the unattended, externally curated format of radio, vs. having to select the next playing item myself.

adiabatty 10y ago

I listen to the local NPR music station. My car seems like it's one year too old to have some sort of expandable input, and there's no sensible way to install a Lightning cable or Bluetooth adaptor into it since the stereo system is super-integrated. Of course, once I do get a car that has a Lightning hookup…I'll probably just listen to podcasts at every possible opportunity. Right now I usually only turn the radio on if I'm going to be in the car for 30 minutes or more, which happens maybe once a month at most.

flurdy 10y ago

When driving is the only time I listen to radio. And only radio. I mostly listen to the UK stations BBC Radio 5 (no adverts) and Talk Sport which are only available on AM (MW). And my reception generally is always quite crap. I can't wait for my next car which will definitely have DAB+ where those channels are available without the analogue AM noise.

5555624 10y ago

I do. Whenever I am in the office, 2-3 days a week, I listen for about five hours a day. A radio is just easier, especially since I don't like headphones or ear buds. At home, at night, I'll sometime listen to the radio, eve though the phone is sitting right next to it. Heck, having a working FM radio in my phone was part of the reason I have a Sony Z3.

jhasse 10y ago

I have a radio alarm clock, so almost every day.

douche 10y ago

Every single day. I listen to the local sports radio, and the local rock stations in the car when I'm driving. A lot of the places I go don't really have cellular data coverage strong enough to support solid streaming audio. Meanwhile, there is one FM station broadcasting from a mountain top that I can pick up everywhere within a 250 mile radius with ease.

mavhc 10y ago

I've almost never listened to radio, but I don't like music. Been listening to podcasts since 2005, when I split them into 5 min segments and sent them via IR to my feature phone. I don't get listening to things a) not from the beginning, b) not until the end, c) without pausing, skipping forward/back, d) not your favourite things, e) missing an episode, f) listening to the same thing twice

Angostura 10y ago

I listen to radio a lot in the UK, but then the BBC has many excellent ad-free channels.

fredleblanc 10y ago

I'm in the USA, so my mileage varies. As it turns out, areas without decent cell signal — not even LTE, just a signal in general — is much more prevalent than I assumed. We just moved, only 15 minutes from where we lived, and we went from 4 constant bars of LTE to sometimes we get 1 bar of 3G. I'm still not used to this, and there are many times where I get in my car, plug in my phone, start driving, then realize I didn't download anything for the ride. So I switch back to FM radio. Up here, sports talk stations are on FM, music is on FM, etc. As much as I hate commercials, the serendipity of a one-way broadcast can be exciting. Second case: my wife's phone "connects" to her car, but only for phone calls. She doesn't listen to music through her phone really, and still relies fully on music from FM in her car. I don't think that's that weird. Third case: both of my parents still drive, and neither do these sorts of things with their phones. When my dad is working in his garden, he's got the radio on (FM, generally talk or sports channels). My mom will turn on the radio in the car to listen to while she drives. So I guess the car is the biggest case I see, and though for me it's mostly a reliable plan b, there's an older generation that still listens to a decent amount of FM (or AM) radio out there.

scholia 10y ago

Most people in the UK listen to live radio most of the time, and that includes me. These bullet points are from RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research), which is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. * Live radio accounts for 74% of the share of all UK audio consumption. It reaches 90% of the population. * 38% of audio listening is on devices other than radio sets, primarily PC/laptop (11% of all audio) and smartphones (8%). * On-demand music services account for 6% share of audio time and are listened to by 7.6 million people each week. RAJAR http://www.rajar.co.uk/ http://www.rajar.co.uk/ Audio Time – What the RAJAR MIDAS Audio Survey says about listening in the digital age http://www.rajar.co.uk/docs/news/Audio_Time%20_FINAL_pages.pdf http://www.rajar.co.uk/docs/news/Audio_Time%20_FINAL_pages.p...

pklausler 10y ago

I listen to FM radio while driving, about an hour total every day. I can do this because I live in a town with great public radio (Oregon Public Broadcasting, All Classical Portland, and KMHD for jazz). I have found that there's a strong correlation in the US between livability and good public radio, at least for my tastes.