Re: Non-Comm radio in Boston

["Aaron [Bishop] Read" <aread@speakeasy.net>]

At 02:00 PM 8/28/2002, Dave Faneuf wrote:
>On Tue, 27 Aug 2002 15:22:11 -0400 "Joseph Pappalardo"
><joepappalardo2001@yahoo.com> writes:
> > For those fans of Non-commercial radio...
> >
> > In the Spring ratings, WBUR had a 4.8 share (25-54)...6th place.
> > Beating WEEI(3.7), WRKO(2.6), WBCN(3.6), WODS(4.1) and WBMX(3.8)
> >
> > 12+...WBUR has a 4.3...6th place.
> > Beating WEEI(4.1), WRKO(3.9), WCRB(4.1), WBMX(3.8)
> >
>
>What the WBUR numbers tell me is that commerical radio in Boston is not
>providing what many listeners appear to want, balanced news and
>intelligent conversation.
>df

Possibly, but I suspect it's not the (rather vague) concepts of "balanced 
news" and "intelligent conversation".  The folks at CAMERA would have us 
think that WBUR/NPR is practically giving the explosives to the suicide 
bombers when it comes to Israeli/Palestinian coverage.  So I'm of the 
mindset that "balanced news" is a relative concept indeed.
(that said, I'll go out on the same limb...I personally tend to think 
WBUR's news is more balanced than any commercial news outlet these days)

My guess is the more likely reason is that there's a lot of "world news" 
going on these days with the "war on terrorism"....and for world news 
coverage on the radio nothing beats the BBC.  Mostly because the Beeb has 
had news bureaus all over the globe for decades...it's just something they 
know how to do.  And God knows WBUR airs A LOT of the BBC.  :-)

It's not dissimilar to the substantial ratings boost WBUR got during the 
Gulf War when they first started airing the BBC in earnest.


____________________________________________
Aaron "Bishop" Read     aread@speakeasy.net
FriedBagels.com Technical Consulting
www.friedbagels.com   AOL-IM: ReadAaron