WTAW

4,504 Views | 34 Replies | Last: 10 mo ago by hijakeroo123
meinkee
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Great article in Washingon Post today regarding AM radio and many car manufacturers discontinuing AM radios in their new models.

The commentary highlighted WTAW and included many great pictures of their staff, our cities and the mayor of Bryan.

The mayor and his longhorn were pictured together...it made me wonder if they will do a follow up investigative report.



maroon barchetta
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I like AM radio. Why are they discontinuing it?
BQ_90
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AG
maroon barchetta said:

I like AM radio. Why are they discontinuing it?


They aren't but some car manufacturers won't have am radios in future models
D Nauti
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The story is all the electronics in the car interfere with the AM signal and they don't want to spend the time and money to get it to sound OK.

I'm an hour and a half west of Austin and listen to stations in Houston, San Antonio, Austin and occasionally a station out of DFW. Some days it I can get them all other days I can't get any of them so 90% of the time I just stream them on my phone. It's also nice that I can continue to listen as I get in and out of the truck and do other things.

I'm pretty sure there is enough tech in the new cars to allow this.
maroon barchetta
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Sorry, that was really my question. Why would automakers not include them? That's dumb.
meinkee
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I tried to share the article without success. I was actually more excited about our locals being showcased in the Post than the car manufacturers eliminating something else. As stated streaming it is sure an option.

And Mayor G pictured with a longhorn....well..priceless.

meinkee
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Are you saying the left owns all the auto manufacturers? Seems like a pretty broad brush to me.
The Brazos Kid
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Here ya go: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/13/am-radio-electric-cars/
jeffk
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AG
When I comes to decisions made by corporations or industries, Occam's Razor is pretty much "let's cut costs."
doubledog
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There are 16-20mins of ads per hour of broadcasts (AM and FM), which is a bit annoying.
Songs and podcasts can be downloaded and played add free in your car.
maroon barchetta
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Breaking news doesn't come thru well on a downloaded podcast.

Does pretty well on AM radio.

Same for weather alerts.
Stupe
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S
And call-in specialty shows (auto, gardening, hobbies, etc...)
doubledog
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maroon barchetta said:

Breaking news doesn't come thru well on a downloaded podcast.

Does pretty well on AM radio.

Same for weather alerts.
I agree, once or twice a month is worth listening to AM for 10 mins.
doubledog
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Stupe said:

And call-in specialty shows (auto, gardening, hobbies, etc...)

If you are into that then yes. You tube is often an better source of information.
maroon barchetta
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doubledog said:

Stupe said:

And call-in specialty shows (auto, gardening, hobbies, etc...)

If you are into that then yes. You tube is often an better source of information.


Yeah.

Why would I want to listen to a TAMU horticulture or entomology expert taking calls live on the air from people that live in my area and have similar questions about their yards?

I should just go to YouTube. And it's so much more convenient while I'm driving.
doubledog
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maroon barchetta said:

doubledog said:

Stupe said:

And call-in specialty shows (auto, gardening, hobbies, etc...)

If you are into that then yes. You tube is often an better source of information.


Yeah.

Why would I want to listen to a TAMU horticulture or entomology expert taking calls live on the air from people that live in my area and have similar questions about their yards?

I should just go to YouTube. And it's so much more convenient while I'm driving.

Because at home your not distracted by those gotcha moments
Stupe
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S
maroon barchetta said:

doubledog said:

Stupe said:

And call-in specialty shows (auto, gardening, hobbies, etc...)

If you are into that then yes. You tube is often an better source of information.


Yeah.

Why would I want to listen to a TAMU horticulture or entomology expert taking calls live on the air from people that live in my area and have similar questions about their yards?

I should just go to YouTube. And it's so much more convenient while I'm driving.

Shame on you for not being in someone else's little circle of what they think is useful.
Hornbeck
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meinkee said:

The mayor and his longhorn were pictured together...it made me wonder if they will do a follow up investigative report.



I've given up on local media caring about investigative reporting. I get email daily from the local paper wanting me to pay them money for articles, but I don't see them doing any real journalism either.
milner79
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This is an amazing thread.
TyHolden
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AG
AM radio is all we'll have left after the alien invasion....
Jetty
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AG
We love listening to WTAW in the mornings.
Koko Chingo
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AG
maroon barchetta said:

Breaking news doesn't come thru well on a downloaded podcast.

Does pretty well on AM radio.

Same for weather alerts.


Alerts do not come through a podcast but they do come through your phone if you set it up. I get weather alerts much faster on my phone than anywhere else. I am also setup to get both weather and breaking news alerts for my home address and also based on my location.

Most of us have our phones with us all the time. For many of us, our phones automatically sync to our cars via Bluetooth once we get in.

I get the nostalgia of AM radio. I grew up in a family of baseball fanatics. The AM radio was the king of baseball before cable and the MLB network.

We used to joke that no matter where you were in the United States at night, you could always get a country station, a Spanish radio station, and a message from the mothership in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Now I AM radio is dominated by talk radio whether it's sports, political, or otherwise.

I don't think the content that is on AM radio is going to go anywhere. It just might move to a different format such as live streaming over an app or the web. That seems much cheaper than converting to FM.

Plus, old cars came with terrible stock stereo systems. Didn't make a whole lot of difference with AM radio. Now every car comes with a decent sound system..... and power windows.

I don't think this will happen quickly. Plus some small stations are AM only and a rule change would destroy the business. I don't think anybody wants that.

maroon barchetta
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My phone is always with me

I can set it up to get alerts faster than hearing them on the radio

I can go almost anywhere and get some kind of AM radio signal. Not so with a cell phone

It has a place and I don't want to see that change

I'm not a HAM radio operator but they have used those to communicate with the ISS when normal comms were down between the ground and the space station

Radio needs to stay viable and available

Whoever said it will be the only radio we have after the alien invasion was correct. I just wish the aliens would hurry up. We know we are living in their simulation
Koko Chingo
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AG
I hear you. I agree with you. I just think AM slowly on its way out. The biggest reason there is no rush is because I don't think spectrum is that valuable to auction off. It could be later on, but the cell phone and data service companies want higher frequencies.

Since you mention HAM. You can now get a GMRS license for $35 (valid 10 years) and that gives everyone in your family radio privileges. It's not AM so communicating with the space station or shooting skip to Australia wont happen.

And there are repeaters out there; or you can set up your own repeater (as long as you follow the rules).
meinkee
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Was hoping Wapo might sniff out a story, not the locals. It is a pretty freaking embarrassing omn3...
b0ridi
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What's with the writing style on WTAW?

"May 16, 2023 marked the second anniversary that an employee at the Kroger store in College Station was working the customer service counter when a man threatened to start shooting if he didn't get all the money in the cash registers.

When the employee said no, the man left the store.
Last October, a man who lists no hometown was indicted on a robbery charge.
Last Thursday, 20 year old Hector Guerrero was booked in the Brazos County jail.
Guerrero is also wanted for three robberies in Harris County and two robberies in Brazoria County.
According to the CSPD arrest report, Guerrero confessed to robberies in College Station and a Kroger store in the Houston area.
There were also text messages from Guerrero stating he was going to rob the College Station store."

https://wtaw.com/man-accused-of-robberies-in-three-counties-now-held-in-the-brazos-county-jail/

Is the Hector Guerrero suspected of being the man who threatened to shoot at Kroger? Is he the same one who was indicted last October? It reads like they voice-to-text-ed a radio announcement.
Hornbeck
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Chat GPT writes way better articles….

Edit: grammar
FamousAgg
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Y'all listen to WTAW on AM, try 94.5 FM
Legacy Work Spaces
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Love me some Bill Oliver! He's got the best radio news voice!
Legacy Work Spaces - www.LegacyWorkSpaces.com

Office Space - CoWorking- Meeting- Virtual Mail-Technology
BCS-Ag
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I listen to WTAW morning show every day....

...on a podcast I download from Google Podcasts and play on Android auto. It works beautifully & on days I am short on drive time, I can skip to the important parts using the buttons on my steering wheel.
oldag76
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AG
Boy do I miss Tradio, too
taxpreparer
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AG
I thought Trdio was on KORA-AM.
crbongos
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AG
DJ
Brother Joe Daniels, " if you want to see how you really lookgo and get your picture took".
Classic.
CRBongo
Hornbeck
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#1 Brother Soul!!!!
hijakeroo123
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AG
Koko Chingo said:

maroon barchetta said:

Breaking news doesn't come thru well on a downloaded podcast.

Does pretty well on AM radio.

Same for weather alerts.


Alerts do not come through a podcast but they do come through your phone if you set it up. I get weather alerts much faster on my phone than anywhere else. I am also setup to get both weather and breaking news alerts for my home address and also based on my location.

Most of us have our phones with us all the time. For many of us, our phones automatically sync to our cars via Bluetooth once we get in.

I get the nostalgia of AM radio. I grew up in a family of baseball fanatics. The AM radio was the king of baseball before cable and the MLB network.

We used to joke that no matter where you were in the United States at night, you could always get a country station, a Spanish radio station, and a message from the mothership in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Now I AM radio is dominated by talk radio whether it's sports, political, or otherwise.

I don't think the content that is on AM radio is going to go anywhere. It just might move to a different format such as live streaming over an app or the web. That seems much cheaper than converting to FM.

Plus, old cars came with terrible stock stereo systems. Didn't make a whole lot of difference with AM radio. Now every car comes with a decent sound system..... and power windows.

I don't think this will happen quickly. Plus some small stations are AM only and a rule change would destroy the business. I don't think anybody wants that.


This isn't an across the board solution, but in larger markets, the benefits of HD radio desperately need to be marketed more clearly. In major markets, AM stations are also often available on the HD subchannel of a co-owned station, with more clear (FM quality) sound as a plus. The problem is, many people have HD radio receivers where they can access these AM stations and don't even realize it. The fed also needs to make a push in mandating HD radio as a standard feature in vehicles as an alternative for manufacturers/models where AM is being dropped. Yes, the HD Radio receiver royalties might add $5 to a vehicle's production cost, but it has the potential to drastically improve access to information/entertainment, much like DAB has in Europe. Plus, unlike streaming, an HD radio signal is much closer to real time, making it a huge asset in emergencies.
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