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I absolutely hate advertising on the radio. But thank goodness in "socialist" Scandinavia I have several ad-free radio stations to choose from. We've got a tax
by exDM69 7y ago
I absolutely hate advertising on the radio.
But thank goodness in "socialist" Scandinavia I have several ad-free radio stations to choose from. We've got a tax-funded national broadcaster (used to be a fee on radio ownership, then TV ownership before, but now it's tax funded) and some volunteer-run organizations that have their own radio station. Our national broadcaster also has a world feed from other national broadcasters (in their own language), the BBC World feed for example.
Not only do they provide ad-free content, but the broadcast is usually more interesting than the commercial stations. Where the commercial channels have a very short playlist that repeats over and over again (something to do with licensing deals from the record producers), the non-commercial channels have radio show hosts/DJs who can choose what they play. Some of the programs are rather specialized, like a show that plays only Cuban music and another one that plays Estonian music.
In addition to ad-free radio and TV broadcasts, they also have a news website without ads.
Not everyone agrees with me, but I'll gladly pay some taxes for this service. The ad-free radio and TV is only a bonus, what I really want to pay for is the independent news outlet.
- mxuribe 7y agoCable tv service in the U.S. started originally without ads - if i recall correctly. In fact, the whole premis was: you pay for tv, wouldn't need to watch ads, and that's how tv programs would get funded...But, that changed severely along the way. </sigh>
- draugadrotten 7y ago> But thank goodness in "socialist" Scandinavia I have several ad-free radio stations to choose from. It is naive to say that they are "ad-free". They are free from classical ads, but they are politically very left. More than 50 percent(!) of the journalists employed by Public Radio SR and Public Television SVT are voting for the Green Left, a party which has only 4% of the national voters. The journalists are hence very different from the average Sven. "Över 50 procent av journalisterna på Sveriges Radio och Sveriges Television sympatiserar med miljöpartiet, kommersiell radio och tv kommer därefter. Minst andel sympatisörer har miljöpartiet i landsortspress och populärpress." https://www.jmg.gu.se/digitalAssets/1369/1369226_journalist-2011-journalistboken-kap-13.pdf https://www.jmg.gu.se/digitalAssets/1369/1369226_journalist-... The bias is very noticeable when it comes to coverage of topics like Greta, Trump, Macron, Pride, etc. Please also note that SVT Public television is broadcasting sponsored content, and ads.But they call it sponsored content. Public radio SR is allowed to do it as well by the same laws.
- exDM69 7y agoIf there is a political bias here, it's not major and mostly affects non-news items like columnists and opinion pieces. The news reporting is mostly pretty neutral. In comparison to American commercial news outlets like Fox News, it is very neutral indeed.