CNN vs Aljazeera America

Other than AJ, BBC, and CNN, which news feeds on the internet are good? Suggestions would help.

 

That /\ /\ /\

But not getting for 50 channels of tv and radio. Stations that cover every single niche leaving it very hard for commercial stations to get in. If I press search on my fm it takes until 101fm before I get a commercial station. All before that and some after that frequency is hogged by BBC.

I hear your comments on Aussie radio and thats the one negative many of my friends who've moved to Aus have said. Your radio is sh*te. Some of our commercial stuff ranges from ok to pretty good, including some of the national commercial stations.

 

• 1960s - AM radio started as small, local stations, but more powerful AM stations soon dominated the spectrum and the variety, the choices, disappeared.
• 1980s - FM radio were small, local stations because 'line-of-sight' limited their range. Then ISDN connected multiple stations and it was poisoned just like powerful AM stations killed the AM band.
• 1990s - I took the antenna off the cars, nothing to hear on broadcast and cassette tapes.
• 2000s - CDs meant I could listen to what I wanted to hear, after I bought it.
• 2010s - Internet radio over cell returned variety missing from AM/FM.

The Soviet Union, heck every dictatorship of content, has shown they chase their revenue-base, their customers, to find better content by alternate means. So what would I do if I lived in the UK?

1. Not buy a TV
2. Configure a computer, Internet connection, and large monitor (no receiver)
3. Smile and have a happy.

Have our BBC/ABC 'forced customers' figured this out, yet?

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

We do have public music radio stations in the US. At least in some markets. They might be affilated with a school. I bounce between XPN out of Philly and the commercial stations. Considering the breadth of music genres, there just is too few public stations to cover it all.

While I had the free trial, I found Sirius had the newest stuff playing.

 

Thanks, I'd forgotten our XM experiment. Still have the reciever in the car and it works. I just don't turn it on.

Intially, XM was great as I could find content worth listening. Then they started shuffling the stations around and content became harder and harder to find. When Air America went away, I let the subscription lapse and have never looked back.

XM had either 'no' or 'anti-' support staff or user feedback. You could put in a complaint or question but it was like pouring water onto sand. There was at one time an effort by Clear Channel to buy or package them and that was usually the last word heard in 'original content.'

The Clear Channel motto seems to be "YOU WILL LISTEN TO OUR CONTENT AND ADVERTISERS AND NOBODY ELSE! WHERE IS YOUR MONEY MY SLAVES!!"

With Internet radio, I find content across the world. My current favorite is "[DJ] Progressive" with solid techno. Folks who come to my cube . . . well I turn it down to talk but . . .

Bob Wilson

 

lol of course they have. It's no longer a tv tax but a 'watching live tv' tax. So yes, it is legal to only watch catch up tv on your tablet, but no possible to watch live tv. How do they check? They don't. They just assume everyone has a tv and will hound any registered address that doesn't have a tv licence. Is it harassment? Probably. I have a friend who doesn't have a tv but he gets so much hassle from the BBC it's untrue. Letters, more letters, nasty letters, very nasty letters, court summons etc. You're assumed to have a tv until you prove otherwise. That's why the BBC and their licence fee/tax is so loved - not.

This is a recent link (of many) and will give you an idea of what we have to deal with. If a Hollywood star is getting lots of hassle, imagine what an ordinary person gets!

No TV but Keira is hounded to pay her licence: Actress reveals collectors demanded money despite not having a set for years | Mail Online

You don't need the hassle in your life so many end up paying regardless. But do remember, none payment is a CRIMINAL offense!! You could end up literally going to jail for not paying.

 

Wow! Now I understand the origins of 'A Clockwork Orange.'

Bob Wilson

 

We might all speak the same language (sort of), but you guys forget why you claimed independence When you're watching tv next 4th July, just think of me and my tv 'tax'

 

I watch AJ, BBC and News Hour. All others are profit driven reality TV shows

 

Haven't you heard? CNN is now called MPN (missing plane network)

 

This just in. General Franco is still dead.

Bob Wilson

Wondering if anyone else gets the joke.


iPhone ?

 

I'm not sure whether it can be seen from abroad, but ABC News 24 is good. There's a lot of Australian news, but their international news is good.

 

Our commercial radio is bloody awful. It's so bad in fact that I no longer have any commercial stations on the presets in the car, just my local frequencies for three of the ABC stations, plus the frequencies for those same stations and local ABC stations in the places I regularly drive to.

A lot of British immigrants to Australia complain about the TV too. It's OK (after Shanghai, where I had to live with illegal Philippine satellite TV, which was appalling, I think Australian TV is great), but it is not as good as British TV.

In Britain, I find that commercial music radio - pop or classical - does tend to aim squarely at the middle of the road. The reason the BBC covers niche markets is that the commercial sector won't do it.

 

Got that ABC24. Unf. its lead story is Mickey Rooney's passing. Old people just die, which seems to be the way of things. By the standard actuarial mort model, I have 18% chance to get there. It'll have to do.

 

Ah. I've been listening to music all day while working - I had no idea he was dead.

They're not as bad as the BBC in covering one story to the exclusion of all others, and they're often quite good for a bit of variety from the BBC/AJ news. But there's a fair bit of Australian domestic politics on there, and Australian domestic politics are an increasingly strong argument for dictatorship, so watching that can be quite soul-destroying.

 

Not entirely true, or I should say I disagree.

Galaxy 105 which is/was a Yorkshire station covered music to the same way BBC Radio 6 does. Then you have the other contrast of ClassicFm. Galaxy was later taken over by Capital fm and has become sh*te. There again, being in my mid 40's I'm probably no longer in their demographic

I think that the BBC having almost unlimited budget competes against commercial stations and often wins. It happens in radio and happens in tv too. A commercial channel has a great programme on at a certain time. The BBC then competes and throws money at it. Sure I'm open for competition, but the BBCs budget is the stuff of dreams to any commercial station. The BBC as you know, still shows commercials inbetween programmes - just for their own stuff. These commercials are usually expensive affairs that advertising agencies could only dream of.

lol I just object to being made to pay the tv licence. The other UK hated licence is the car tax, which luckily for the Prius is £0. It's one of a handful of £zero rated cars. Not everyone is so lucky. Even a 15 year old Ford would cost you £190 a year.