Thursday, April 13, 2023

Whither Options?

(image from here)

Can I tell you, people in Portland have it good. There are so many options for great non-commercial radio here! In most other places, you may have a college station, or a community station, & then the NPR station. Usually the NPR station doesn't compete with the college/community station for music, but in Dallas & Austin there's an NPR music station as well. A part of me doesn't really consider anything NPR does in the same category as college & community stations because they playlist. Most of their deejays are just voice talent like on commercial radio stations.

& I don't really count commercial radio stations, although of course they're an option. This is true: the only times in the last few years I have heard commercial radio stations is either coming from a car that is passing or from people working on our house. & the stations seem utterly unchanged from when I listened to them in the 1980s, over forty years ago.

But as I was saying - options! On the left side of the dial are the stations at which I deejay! Plus there's others including some low power stations on both sides of the Columbia! It's incredible. I had too many options when I came to Portland & I had to settle on three. But there are more!

Is that the reason why Self Help Radio is about options today? I don't think so. I can't remember, actually. But listen today from noon to 2pm Portland time on Freeform Portland - we're on 90.3+98.3fm in town & online at freeformportland.org. You have the option not to do so, of course, but I hope you don't take it.

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