Add 'Ben' to the list of radio station names

[Peter Murray]

 From what I've heard, Ben is a reference to Ben Franklin, which holds 
special significance to Philadelphians.

Here in DC, WRQX "The New Mix 107.3" (105.7 District of Columbia) has 
just tweaked their "best of the '90s and today" mix to include late '70s 
and '80s, in the same fashion as the "Ben" and "Jack" stations.

I do not believe this play is going to work. 25 years ago, when FM was 
coming into its own, you had MOR stations that were full-service - and 
with few alternatives to the radio (cassette/8-track was expensive, no 
CDs yet), radio stations had a broad spectrum of audience to satisfy, 
and thus played a far broader spectrum of music than you'd (until 
recently) usually hear on a typical mid-to-large market radio station.

Today's listeners are becoming more accustomed to having the content 
they know they like available to them on-demand, whether its available 
to them via solid-state media, rotating media, bitstreamed, or wide-band 
FM. Wide-as-a-bowling-alley playlists won't provide this, because you 
are now far more likely to play something that a listener doesn't like - 
and if they're not willing to wait until the next song, they will switch 
to another source of content.

I'll repeat what I said more than a year ago - terrestrial broadcasting 
in its current form is entering the end stages of its current existence. 
Satellite broadcasting will provide a few of the nails in that coffin, 
but it too will ultimately suffer a similar fate, as it's the same as 
the terrestrial, but with more available channels and wider coverage 
area. Packetized, network-based streaming - whether from the listener's 
collection at home (or an offsite provider), or from another source will 
be the way non-live content.will come to those requesting it.

All we're waiting for is ubiquitous broadband to the mobile user and IPv6.

-Peter

Peter Murray (N3IXY)
Vienna, VA

Matthew Osborne wrote:
[snip]

>Is it just me, or does this actually sound a
>bit awkward to anyone else on the list as an on-air
>name?
>  
>