Option Drought in an Option Overload Age: Ronn Owens-Like Radio
In an age of option overload it's hard to believe there is something you can't find, but it happens: I want a friendlier, more up-beat alternative to the NPR morning radio signal we receive now.
NPR is very high quality radio, but if I and others can start the day being entertained ... the economy will tick up and we'll all be better off.
I don't want podcasts because ... there's something about starting the day and needing to hear the local weather and needing to tune in together. In the morning, especially, you need to feel present and really alive as you shower and dress for work.
Ronn Owens, a San Francisco Bay Area radio host who once was the only local broadcaster to outperform Rush Limbaugh in the same timeslot, is "back on iTunes" in this household.
By "back on iTunes" I mean for the last month we can hear Owens' shows more clearly in our podcast-downloading system because his terrestrial radio show -- now shortened to just 10 minutes presumably because his station's new owners and his legacy Hall of Fame salary were a mismatch of wills -- is clearer in volume, tone and no longer interrupted with ads.
His newest terrestrial show recovered its signal to noise ratio.
You hear callers and the regionally preferred talk show guests -- California congresscritters, gubernatorial candidates, millenial-targeting San Francisco Symphony conductors. Owens is a quality broadcaster: he has a broadcast instrument (voice) good rhythm, timing, is smart, funny opinionated and can carry a show.
He's also just middlebrow enough to tie a diverse region of diverse ages together. He regularly recaps on Monday mornings the previous night's Grammy awards or Emmys or Oscars with calls in from area listeners.
I would try listening in to live 105 but I assume already it's not aimed at an audience of my age or cultural group. I listened to Ronn Owens when my grandmother did. His show, like his station's signal, spanned a broad cultural and geographic expanse. It was serious when it needed to be and provided space for us to share a laugh.
Incisive questions to his interviewees and the fact he reads several newspapers so you don't have to makes you feel sharp and smart.
For now we turn on the television to one of the morning programs, usually the CBS version.
But I don't want to watch the morning program. I want to hear a modern-day Larry Bubbles Brown riff me the news as I'm playing my shower radio then sucking down my caffeine. I want the hosts to keep announcing the time every ten minutes as they do or did on KGO.
--- Let's go further. We're facing an isolation epidemic. Someone returning from a military gig overseas could either a) quickly join the workforce or b) be disoriented for a long time. Regional radio with callers provides value, provides connection, and expresses local flavor for people attempting to get back to life at home. The human voice is a very sensory-rich connection, distinct from connecting to friends through likes, optimized photos, and composed comments. And regional variegated media which can highlight local goings-on ticks up the economy which makes life better for everyone.
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Further reading: understand what we mean by "variegated" media in Media and 'Variegated' Media. Read the subtle ways only some of us are facing an isolation epidemic while the rest of us are too connected in Disruption and Disconnection Amplify Post Traumatic Stress.
NPR is very high quality radio, but if I and others can start the day being entertained ... the economy will tick up and we'll all be better off.
I don't want podcasts because ... there's something about starting the day and needing to hear the local weather and needing to tune in together. In the morning, especially, you need to feel present and really alive as you shower and dress for work.
Ronn Owens, a San Francisco Bay Area radio host who once was the only local broadcaster to outperform Rush Limbaugh in the same timeslot, is "back on iTunes" in this household.
By "back on iTunes" I mean for the last month we can hear Owens' shows more clearly in our podcast-downloading system because his terrestrial radio show -- now shortened to just 10 minutes presumably because his station's new owners and his legacy Hall of Fame salary were a mismatch of wills -- is clearer in volume, tone and no longer interrupted with ads.
His newest terrestrial show recovered its signal to noise ratio.
He's also just middlebrow enough to tie a diverse region of diverse ages together. He regularly recaps on Monday mornings the previous night's Grammy awards or Emmys or Oscars with calls in from area listeners.
I would try listening in to live 105 but I assume already it's not aimed at an audience of my age or cultural group. I listened to Ronn Owens when my grandmother did. His show, like his station's signal, spanned a broad cultural and geographic expanse. It was serious when it needed to be and provided space for us to share a laugh.
Incisive questions to his interviewees and the fact he reads several newspapers so you don't have to makes you feel sharp and smart.
For now we turn on the television to one of the morning programs, usually the CBS version.
But I don't want to watch the morning program. I want to hear a modern-day Larry Bubbles Brown riff me the news as I'm playing my shower radio then sucking down my caffeine. I want the hosts to keep announcing the time every ten minutes as they do or did on KGO.
--- Let's go further. We're facing an isolation epidemic. Someone returning from a military gig overseas could either a) quickly join the workforce or b) be disoriented for a long time. Regional radio with callers provides value, provides connection, and expresses local flavor for people attempting to get back to life at home. The human voice is a very sensory-rich connection, distinct from connecting to friends through likes, optimized photos, and composed comments. And regional variegated media which can highlight local goings-on ticks up the economy which makes life better for everyone.
-------
Further reading: understand what we mean by "variegated" media in Media and 'Variegated' Media. Read the subtle ways only some of us are facing an isolation epidemic while the rest of us are too connected in Disruption and Disconnection Amplify Post Traumatic Stress.
