More on My Radio Listening Options

I was writing a few days ago about how one of my local radio stations around Gainesville, 100.5/WHHZ/"The Buzz", switched its musical programming format back to independent/alternative and away from the hard rock it had been exclusively playing for about six years.  Well, after listening to it for a while, I have to make a slight correction in my assessment...

It's true that WHHZ is playing more of what I would deem to be indie/alternative music, but they are also continuing with some of the harder stuff...of which, incidentally, I also approve!  Recently, I wrote an article praising the old Seattle grunge band Soundgarden, so knowing that this station will also play some of their material, along with other acts like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, and Linkin Park, adds to the appeal of its programming.  Of course, this tends to thin out the more indie type music that I'm likely to hear...so perhaps I should keep up with my Internet listening as well.  Also, the signal from WHHZ is relatively weak, and I can't pick it up on my MP3 player.  Instead, it is on my personal push-button radio station rotation when I'm driving. 

Speaking of my favorite stations while driving, what are they?

AM: 850 WRUF and 1230 WGGG (both sports)

FM: 100.5 WHHZ and 102.9 WOKV (both alternative rock)

Also on FM: 104.9 and 105.9 (oldies), 97.3 and AM-980 (conservative talk), 89.1 (public radio), and 90.5 (traditional Christian music).

Note that nowhere among my favorites are stations playing country and western, hip-hop/rap, electronic "party", or "top forty"  hit music.  Please also note that this is no accident, since I tend to steer clear of that stuff.   I also tend to shy away from contemporary Christian music in favor of hymns and older songs of faith, so I clearly prefer the 90.5 (BBN) station to the one on 91.7 (Joy-FM). There used to a station on AM-1390 that had liberal talk programming, but it seems to have left the air.  As did Alan Colmes and his evening show that used to be on AM-980. That's a shame: I like hearing different perspectives on the news and issues, not just one side slamming the other. In this area broadcast radio is abominably inferior to other types of media.

I don't listen all that much to the radio...except perhaps when I'm driving, so I really don't need too many good stations to listen to.  Well, let's be frank: I really don't need ANY of them...if they all went off the air tomorrow I don't see how my life would suffer at all!  After all, most of my favorite songs nowadays I have never heard played on the radio (and probably never will).  As a matter of fact, I can easily get all of just about anything I would want from radio off the Internet and television, and to a more satisfactory degree at that...