An unvarnished blog that dips into the past and comments on the present of WBAI-FM, a once significant, intelligent New York radio station that for years has suffered chronic abuse from within and now nears extinction. Your comments are welcomed and will not be censored.
‘Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue.’
ReplyDelete~ La Rochefoucauld
Well, then there must be a hell of a lot of virtue out there somewhere…
~ ‘indigopirate’
Upon entering WBAI's streaming site the following message is emblazoned: "It's not about you, it's us...we are experiencing technical difficulties". What a Goddamned understatement!
ReplyDeleteAt least the wording is correct. On a previous occasion it read:
ReplyDeleteITS NOT ABOUT YOU, IT'S US..
WE ARE EXPERIENCE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
The latest from the Programming Manager Mr. Bates
Delete"There has been a major failure at the WBAI transmitter site. Operations Director, Tony Ryan and WBAI engineer, Jake Glanz are addressing the issue. I will keep you posted as updates are available."
We know that Bates instinctively lies and that Tony Ryan is technically incompetent and more interested in emulating bland black DJs of another era. He was on with his highly dispensable show yesterday—why was he not doing his sledgehammer dance in the transmitter room?
DeleteThis whole thing has plummeted beyond 3rd-rate farce.
Interesting article. I think non-profits can hide stuff easier than commercial stations.
ReplyDeleteDozens of listeners at their CAB? WBAI is lucky to get a dozen people - period.
Well, WBAI is still off the air. It really makes me wonder how many online listeners and donators they have. Since it's the transmitter that is off the air, I really am curious what the problem is.
SDL
Has there been any mention of this in the stream? If so, I haven't heard it. There clearly is a serious problem—perhaps they actually pulled the plug. Streaming alone isn't going to cover the bottom of the tin cup.
DeleteAt this point, does the dead air even make a difference in their fundraising? After flogging the same crap for so long and so often, is there anybody out there who wants and can afford this crap, who has not bought it already?
DeleteYou make an excellent point.
DeleteI didn't listen to the stream except to see it was on, so I don't know.
DeleteIt's probably a tech problem. maybe a tube burned out or something. I wonder if the ESB could just pull the plug, as there must be some FCC rules a transmitter/antenna host must have to abide by. You can't just allow a host to pull the plug when it wants, or they will do so if they don't like the programs on a station.
Anyway, there's a short thread on the NY Radio Message Board about this. No answers, just the same question
http://www.musicradio77.com/wwwboard/
SDL