Old time radio

[wastedtalent23]

WFLZ was a legend. Now a joke. I remember how it was to be OMG .........morinigs in Tampa,

 

[wastedtalent23]

I apologize for my incomplete post. What I meant to say is about 20-30 years ago I used to fantasize about doing mornings on WFLZ. Back in the 80s and 90s, they were a powerhouse, had slick imaging, great sounding jocks, belting out the hits. Nobody would dare compete directly with them. Now they are a shell of what they were. Syndication, voicetracking, some weekend dayparts are jockless. Getting beat in the ratings by WPOI and WLLD most of the time. I know that this is happening nearly everywhere, but it's just plain sad. I never knew there would be so much farmed out radio in the top-20 markets.

I still have airchecks of jocks on 'FLZ and other major market stations in the 80s and 90s, and it fun, exciting, big time. Now it's just cookie cutter sounding and bland. I guess old time radio lovers are the only ones that care or even notice.

 

[TheBigA]

I never knew there would be so much farmed out radio in the top-20 markets.

It's not really "farmed out." It's done by in house iHeart talent. If you happen to be one of them, you reach a much bigger audience than you would have in the 80s. Today, if you're top talent, you want to reach as many people as possible, and get paid 6-figure money. iHeart is one way to get that.

 

[DavidEduardo]

I never knew there would be so much farmed out radio in the top-20 markets.

Look at most of the rest of the free world: most successful stations are national webs of many transmitter with the programming coming from one central location. Those stations have the nation's best talent and top notch engineering, websites and management.

 

[TheBigA]

Maybe I'm the only one who thinks of "old time radio" as when the networks ruled the airwaves in the 30s and 40s. They did it the right way, hiring top name talent and having them heard nationwide. They played live music, not records, from their own house bands. They had live comedy and real entertainment from professionals, not wanna-be's who never worked in front of a real audience. It was only after the TV talent-raids of the late 40s that radio stations, hungry for new talent, hired local staff. They did it because it was cheap and easy, not because it was good.

What we've been seeing over the last 20 years is a return to the national network days. I don't see it as a bad thing. They refer to those network days as "the golden age of radio." Perhaps we can get there again.

 

[landtuna]

It's sad Big but I think you've caught Currier & Ives disease - you know, the one that makes you cry after finishing your plate of pancakes and seeing the old time picture of Vermont under the syrup.

The "magic" of those old days was in the minds of the listener when shows, mysteries and comedies alike, fired off mental pictures as the listener relaxed in his or her easy chair and imagined the mayhem taking place in Fibber McGee's closet. I can't image a modern American sitting down to "appointment radio" in this day and age with virtually every entertainment venue being visual and enjoying just the sound.

It takes a certain mentality and I apparently have it because I have a library of some of the old shows: Amos 'n Andy, Jack Benny, The Shadow, Crimestoppers etc. I love listening to them but my kids wouldn't be caught dead and if I tied them to a chair they'd figure out how to have their phones handy.

Vaudeville lost to radio and radio lost to TV and apparently TV is losing to smartphones where your neighbors post the events of their exciting lunches.

Face it. You and I are now members of the GOML (get off my lawn) generation. The Millennials are destroying what's left of civilization.

 

[Yabadabado1]

I am not a member of the "GOML" generation. I've taken it further and tell them to "Get off My Planet." I was [and still am] a listener to the old time radio shows. Even in my late teens/early 20s I listened to "CBS Radio Mystery Theater" till the station it was on in my area dumped it back in 1979. Today, I listen to "Zoomer Radio" [AM 740] out of Toronto at 10 PM when they run back to back drama then a comedy program of old time radio shows. And I do it the way it should be done....OTA. I could listen to it online but where's the fun it that? CHML sorta Northwest of Niagra Falls also plays old time radio shows but their signal doesn't make it into NE Ohio that well.

 

[TheBigA]

It's sad Big but I think you've caught Currier & Ives disease - you know, the one that makes you cry after finishing your plate of pancakes and seeing the old time picture of Vermont under the syrup.

BTW don't misinterpret my knowledge of 30s & 40s radio as having personally experienced it. I didn't. However, I have read all the books about it, listened to all the tapes, and even spoken with a few who lived through it. There was once an "Old Time Radio" convention that attracted veterans of that era. And of course some public radio stations still occasionally play some of those old shows on Sunday nights.

 

[landtuna]

BTW don't misinterpret my knowledge of 30s & 40s radio as having personally experienced it. I didn't. However, I have read all the books about it, listened to all the tapes, and even spoken with a few who lived through it. There was once an "Old Time Radio" convention that attracted veterans of that era. And of course some public radio stations still occasionally play some of those old shows on Sunday nights.

Many of them are still available commercially as well. The fidelity is sometimes very questionable however.

 

[trusty]

There are many stations that stream "When Radio Was" (like KMOX). Check out www.whenradiowas.com for OTR programs, stations & times.

 

[Cordelia Chase]

Today, I listen to "Zoomer Radio" [AM 740] out of Toronto at 10 PM when they run back to back drama then a comedy program of old time radio shows.

I enjoy Theater of the Mind on Zoomer Radio as well. Atmospheric conditions permitting, I listen to as much as I can during my evening commute. If the signal fades too much, I'll catch the rest of the episode online at home. I like the dramas as opposed to the comedies, though.

 

[Bongwater]

Many of them are still available commercially as well. The fidelity is sometimes very questionable however.

Most of it is free and public domain on Internet Archive (although some sifting is required for best fidelity copies)