Media Memories of 2020

[Bobbert]

• Watching ESPN in a Leo's Coney Island on the morning of Thursday, March 12, hearing the news that the NBA was shutting down its season because some players tested positive for COVID-19. That seemed to be the moment when things really changed.

• In the spring, listening to Paul W. Smith regularly for the first time, to listen to his coronavirus-related interviews with people in government and business. When a politician apologized for making something political, Smith quickly interrupted him and said, "Everything's political in the response to the coronavirus." One of the truest statements I heard this past year. I turned to Smith's program because I was avoiding the overload of coronavirus information that I knew was coming from TV news. I stuck with Smith for a few weeks before all the filler and fluff got to me, especially that food segment with Dayna Clark.

• Getting my baseball fix in the spring by watching a YouTube video of the seventh game of the 1971 World Series. What a pleasure it was to watch a World Series game played during the day with minimal TV chatter and two starting pitchers trying to pitch a complete game (Mike Cuellar and Steve Blass). Just a beautiful experience, as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1.

[JLesinski]

Watching all of our stations barely even try to be neutral in their political coverage. Sometimes it was just painfully obvious.

[Deleted User 14896]

Watching all of our stations barely even try to be neutral in their political coverage. Sometimes it was just painfully obvious.

Isn't the "political coverage" you speak of national news? So what if the local news focused more on .... Local news?

Instead of leaning on the satellites to fill more and more of the broadcast, call around and find out what happened around town. Have a few crews out digging up some stories.

There's plenty of local news out there. It just takes a little work to pull it together, polish it up, and get it on the air.

It's a lot easier (and lazier) to just pull video, and the pre-written script for it, off a feed. Hence, the slanted political coverage.

[Mega Hertz]

The sun:
*rises in the east*
+
News:
"The sun is rising in the east"
+
trump:
"The media and democrats lie! The sun rises in the west!"

=

BIASED MEDIA!!!

[Mega Hertz]

Anyway, sitting and waiting for Hot 107.5 to change to...fucking ANYTHING else. Still waiting.

My youth ending when 89x went cousin fucker music.

Hearing the same songs on the Hot AC station as I do on the "alternative" station.

The one station in the area that played some deeper 90s cuts turning into the shit you hear when you walk by the Gap.

Catching Bon Jovi playing on 4 stations at the same time.

WDFN flushing sports. Both listeners were devastated.

XYT and the major cutbacks.

I don't watch the news, so I don't have anything on what happened on TV.

And lastly...Netflix losing the Office. Fuck it, I'll buy the DVD set. I'm not buying ANOTHER streaming service.

[JLesinski]

Watching all of our stations barely even try to be neutral in their political coverage. Sometimes it was just painfully obvious.

Isn't the "political coverage" you speak of national news? So what if the local news focused more on .... Local news?

Instead of leaning on the satellites to fill more and more of the broadcast, call around and find out what happened around town. Have a few crews out digging up some stories.

There's plenty of local news out there. It just takes a little work to pull it together, polish it up, and get it on the air.

It's a lot easier (and lazier) to just pull video, and the pre-written script for it, off a feed. Hence, the slanted political coverage.

Well sure, there is all that but when there is local coverage and the anchors can barely hide their disdain or giddiness when its thrown back to them and/or the tone of the local story seems to always be positive for one candidate and negative for the other it just leaves them open for fair criticism.

[armchair pd]

My youth ending when 89x went cousin fucker music.

Cousin Fucker Music is the name of my Hank Williams Jr. tribute band

[Bobbert]

Watching all of our stations barely even try to be neutral in their political coverage. Sometimes it was just painfully obvious.

In print journalism, one of the lowest points was when the Associated Press decided to use its style book to make a political statement when they mandated that the word "black" be initial-capitalized when referring to people. The style book should be the last word in neutrality and objectivity.

[Bobbert]

It was also the year when the Internet business model of local newspapers finally reached the tipping point, when they went to the subscriber model. So far, I've resisted—I can get enough news from the headlines, free stories, and buying the paper edition once or twice a week.

[Mega Hertz]

My youth ending when 89x went cousin fucker music.

Cousin Fucker Music is the name of my Hank Williams Jr. tribute band

You're not serious! That is the greatest

[lidoshuffle]

My memories of 2020 media? Why is Jeff Riger on almost 18 hours a day on 97.1? He is more part of the morning show than the three full time personalities that are "supposed" to be on every morning...

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

• Watching ESPN in a Leo's Coney Island on the morning of Thursday, March 12, hearing the news that the NBA was shutting down its season because some players tested positive for COVID-19. That seemed to be the moment when things really changed.

• In the spring, listening to Paul W. Smith regularly for the first time, to listen to his coronavirus-related interviews with people in government and business. When a politician apologized for making something political, Smith quickly interrupted him and said, "Everything's political in the response to the coronavirus." One of the truest statements I heard this past year. I turned to Smith's program because I was avoiding the overload of coronavirus information that I knew was coming from TV news. I stuck with Smith for a few weeks before all the filler and fluff got to me, especially that food segment with Dayna Clark.

• Getting my baseball fix in the spring by watching a YouTube video of the seventh game of the 1971 World Series. What a pleasure it was to watch a World Series game played during the day with minimal TV chatter and two starting pitchers trying to pitch a complete game (Mike Cuellar and Steve Blass). Just a beautiful experience, as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1.

COVID 19 isn't political at all. Research how the "Spanish flu" was handled from 1918-20.

How is does your viewing of a 1971 baseball game have anything to do with 2020 media?

[MotorCityRadioFreak]

Anyway, sitting and waiting for Hot 107.5 to change to...fucking ANYTHING else. Still waiting.

My youth ending when 89x went cousin fucker music.

Hearing the same songs on the Hot AC station as I do on the "alternative" station.

The one station in the area that played some deeper 90s cuts turning into the shit you hear when you walk by the Gap.

Catching Bon Jovi playing on 4 stations at the same time.

WDFN flushing sports. Both listeners were devastated.

XYT and the major cutbacks.

I don't watch the news, so I don't have anything on what happened on TV.

And lastly...Netflix losing the Office. Fuck it, I'll buy the DVD set. I'm not buying ANOTHER streaming service.

Damn. The Office is gone? Wow.

I have to echo that 89X and the River(my #1 and #2 favorite stations) being canned is probably the biggest change to Detroit radio of probably my life, much less the year.

[Mega Hertz]

Anyway, sitting and waiting for Hot 107.5 to change to...fucking ANYTHING else. Still waiting.

My youth ending when 89x went cousin fucker music.

Hearing the same songs on the Hot AC station as I do on the "alternative" station.

The one station in the area that played some deeper 90s cuts turning into the shit you hear when you walk by the Gap.

Catching Bon Jovi playing on 4 stations at the same time.

WDFN flushing sports. Both listeners were devastated.

XYT and the major cutbacks.

I don't watch the news, so I don't have anything on what happened on TV.

And lastly...Netflix losing the Office. Fuck it, I'll buy the DVD set. I'm not buying ANOTHER streaming service.

Damn. The Office is gone? Wow.

I have to echo that 89X and the River(my #1 and #2 favorite stations) being canned is probably the biggest change to Detroit radio of probably my life, much less the year.

Yep, today is the last day it's on Netflix. After that, Peacock has it. It's all just a ploy to get you to buy into NBC's ultra-left wing liberal agenda and -- erm, sorry. Spending too much time here again!

Anyway, I just got into it a couple years ago and love it. Figures, as soon as I start enjoying something...POOF! I think streaming has ironically pushed me back into physical media. I pay X amount of dollars per month to borrow a show or movie. At least back when, I could tape it. But now, it goes away, and I gotta spend another 5, 10, 15 a month for one show and a couple movies I like. Screw it. Just buy what I like and forget the rest.

As for Bell Media? Fuck 'em.

[MWmetalhead]

Biggest memory:
The morons at Entercom firing its morning show, Kim Adams and others from 98.7 The Breeze right before Thanksgiving, as the station was playing Christmas music no less, in favor of a fake "alt" station that is destined for failure.

This is the second time in two years Entercom broomed airstaff and flipped formats during Christmas music marathons at 98.7 FM.

The Breeze was a moderately successful station that should STILL BE ON THE AIR!!!

20-somethings are NEVER going to come back to FM radio in droves. In many markets across the nation, CHR and Urban stations are losing AQH listeners hand over fist. Many such stations are currently witnessing their worst ratings, in 20, 30 or even 40 years. Many alternative stations had poor ratings prior to COVID; the pandemic turned an already bad situation worse. Hypertargeting millennials and/or younger listeners is a TERRIBLE strategy. An FM station needs to have a sizable cohort of listeners over the age of 35 to be successful, in my opinion.

David Field is a piece of human garbage. I'm rooting for his company to fail and for the creditors to fire him once the company falls into Bankruptcy.