# Radio station self-advertising **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 1, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776 "2003-04-01T19:47:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nangleator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19adc/32.png) [@Nangleator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nangleator)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/1 "2003-04-01T19:47:44Z")
Fuck radio stations advertising themselves – On the air! Why the _fuck_ would they think that was a useful expenditure of time? I’m already listening! The first thing that’s gonna make me change the channel is _a fucking commercial!_ Just like every other goddamned trend in the radio industry, one station tried it and then it spread like a fucking disease throughout the world. They talk about how the music is important while playing bits and pieces of the songs YOU COULD BE LISTENING TO if only you weren’t listening to _the goddamn, fucking commercial!_ Fuck them! Fuck them all! ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/2 "2003-04-01T22:44:28Z")
The FCC requires that a station identify itself every so often. The stations choose to make it less boring than just stating the call letters. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/3 "2003-04-01T22:54:45Z")
Maybe I should start a thread “Ask the radio Guy” over in Café Society. It’s called branding. And the stations do it, because it works. Believe it or not, we who work with radio do actually make research, market tests, use focus groups ASF. It’s not a question of one guy on a station, coming up with an idea, and all the other stations managers go [Keanu Reeves]Whoa - way cool dude[/Keanu Reeves]. The rating game is mainly done by reporting perceived listening. It doesn’t meassure \*factual/i] listening. By being heavy on the branding, chances are the listeners actually remember what they listened to the same morning. The systems vary between countries, but no **Ultrafilter** it’s not to make something the FCC demands, more entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/4 "2003-04-01T23:07:30Z")
The Straight Dope Message Board: Your web source for talk about …politics …religion …and just plain fun. All live, all the time. ---
**Author:** ![bjohn13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@bjohn13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bjohn13)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/5 "2003-04-02T03:52:31Z")
Gaspode: I know what you say is true, but it bothers me. I don’t listen to local radio anymore though I have plenty of opportunities where it would be convenient. It sucks hearing the same three second segment of a Nirvana tune all day long without actually hearing the whole thing. It gets irritating when I find myself sining those radio clips…not just one song, but the whole damn segment. “With the lights out, it’s less dangerous. I’m the man in the box. Even flow. Thoughts arrive like butterflies. Anywhere I roam. Where I lay my head is home. Black hole sun, won’t you come? All of these things you said to me.” Then I get to hear that cool little guitar riff from Interstate love song which always seems to lead into some crappy White Lion tune. I got that from one eight hour work day. It’s worse than that old Freedom Rock commercial ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/6 "2003-04-02T07:39:05Z")
> [@](#): > > And the stations do it, because it works. Of course it works. So do screaming car dealers. So do pop-up ads, junk faxes, spam, and telemarketing. Just because it works on some people doesn’t mean it won’t piss a whole lot of other people off. You can apply the preceding sentence to virtually any aspect of modern FM radio. The only thing these incessant liners serve to do is get the station name stuck in peoples’ heads when it comes time to fill out the 'ol Arbitron book. Talk about a shitty ratings system. They do have devices with which someone can simply sit by the side of the road and see which radio stations the passing cars are listening to. They don’t use them. Interestingly enough, I’ve recently been selected at random to be an Arbitron family. I should get my book in the mail any day now. I wonder if there’s any way to use the book to convey the message that you hate EVERYTHING about EVERY station. Probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/7 "2003-04-02T11:15:05Z")
I don’t think so. The way the stations soound, in pretty much all of Europe and the US, is based on how to win the rating game. It’s not important that people _listen_ - it’s importan that people _say_ they listen. If another system for meassuring ratings was used, then radio would sound fundamentally different. If there was a 2-way communication, actually showing who is listening to what, right now, then stations would be designed to actually be _liked_, thus encreasing time spent listening. Face it, radio is a product, just like any other. You want to maximize sales (to advertisers) by showing that you have many listeners. You do so, by making a product which will annoy as few people as possible. I got out of the business last year, after 25 years (including high school and college radio). The business idea where I used to work, taught to us by the BIG American radio consultant firm, was **to play music for people who don’t like music**. I works amazingly well, putting the station at top of the ratings, and making moneys for the owners. It also make for working in radio incredibly boring. ---
**Author:** ![Nangleator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e19adc/32.png) [@Nangleator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nangleator)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/8 "2003-04-02T13:33:32Z")
From The Gaspode: > [@](#): > > It’s not important that people listen - it’s importan that people say they listen. Yet another reason I hate capitalism. Maybe that’s what my thread should have been about. It worked great when this country was growing, but now that we’re established the competition has turned nasty. We’re all fighting against each other. Imagine if everyone worked towards the same goals. Instead we have planned obsolescence, companies holding back technologies, companies holding back resources to increase the market value, and money men deciding on medical treatments based on cost-effectiveness, not doctors deciding on treatments based on medical needs. Don’t get me started on capitalism. Oh. I guess you did. I’ll have to come up with a better system. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/9 "2003-04-02T16:19:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by neutron star \* > \*\*They do have devices with which someone can simply sit by the side of the road and see which radio stations the passing cars are listening to. They don’t use them. \*\* I’ve never heard of such devices. Can you point us to a link where they are described? > [@](#): > > \*\*Interestingly enough, I’ve recently been selected at random to be an Arbitron family. I should get my book in the mail any day now. I wonder if there’s any way to use the book to convey the message that you hate EVERYTHING about EVERY station. Probably not. \*\* Sure, just mark on the cover in big, bold letters **I HATE ALL THESE STATIONS!** and send it back to them, simple as that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lorinada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b5e925/32.png) [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/10 "2003-04-02T16:26:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Gaspode \* > \*\*It also make for working in radio incredibly boring. \*\* To say nothing of _listening_ to radio. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/11 "2003-04-02T18:56:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dwc1970 \* > **I’ve never heard of such devices. Can you point us to a link where they are described?** Sorry. I don’t even know what they’re called. I just remember Howard Stern ranting for pretty much an entire morning about why they used Arbitron instead of these devices for ratings. I’m assuming that if the devices didn’t exist, at least one of his 18 million listeners would have tried to call him on it. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Gaspode \* > **taught to us by the BIG American radio consultant firm, was to play music for people who don’t like music.** Wow. Just…wow. Can you imagine what would happen if every publisher in the world decided to only print books for people who hate to read? Or every TV station decided to only play shows for people who hate TV (okay, that one might be cool.)? Hmm. Just as as was typing this post, the mailman knocked on my door with my Arbitron book (and a larger package, which is why he didn’t put the book in my mailbox). Hey, there’s three dollars cash in this thing. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![bjohn13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@bjohn13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bjohn13)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/12 "2003-04-03T03:06:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by neutron star \* > \*\* They do have devices with which someone can simply sit by the side of the road and see which radio stations the passing cars are listening to. \*\* The only way this would be possible is if that device could somehow see the radio dial or if it could hear the music being played. The tuner itself doesn’t resonate any excessive signal no matter what station it is tuned to. The signal amplifier in the tuner actually resonates all of the signals simultaneously in a slightly amplified way, directly in relation to the way in which the signal was received. By tuning the dial to a ceartain station, all one is doing is tuning out all of the other stations. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/13 "2003-04-03T05:18:38Z")
What you’re saying certainly makes sense, so I do wonder then what Howard was ranting about that morning. I know I’m not mistaken about what I heard. Like many of his other pet peeves, he went on about it _forever_. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/14 "2003-04-03T08:17:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bjohn13 \* > **"With the lights out, it’s less dangerous. > I’m the man in the box. > Even flow. Thoughts arrive like butterflies. > Anywhere I roam. Where I lay my head is home. > Black hole sun, won’t you come? > All of these things you said to me."** Boy, does _that_ sound familiar… Also, Clear Channel sucks. Sorry, I had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/15 "2003-04-03T08:27:30Z")
I bitched about this almost [2 years ago!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=30124&highlight=radio) What bugs me is when they play “answering machine” recordings of people who alegedly called in to say how much they like the station. I don’t want to hear these retards babble. Give the fucking call letters as required by law and play some more music!:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radio-station-self-advertising/165776/16 "2003-04-03T16:51:33Z")
They probably do it for people like me. I channel surf on the radio so much that I usually have no idea what station I’m listening to.