Any thoughts or experience on the current and future of FM radio?


A bit of "thinking out loud" here.  I have enjoyed and learned much from radio in my life.  First AM rock and roll and then FM Jazz.  My question is where do things go from here?  Broadcast FM, internet music, FM stations with an internet site and anything more you can think of.

I, like most on this site, have the sound quality and as close to the original recording as possible being my pursuit.  I am more on the consumer side and would have interest in hearing anyone's take on what the future may have in store.  From LPs to 8-tracks and cassettes and various digital discs, redbook sacd etc, I have traveled the road most of you have and am hopeful that the future has an old term in mind "high fidelity". 

whatjd
tomic60 makes an excellent and important point.  Many of the best radio stations in the U.S. are public radio, meaning public funded.  Most of you have likely gone through the drag of a "funding drive", but that is the public part of public radio.  If you have a station you enjoy, please make regular donations.  Even ten dollars a year is meaningful.  I have donated what I could when I could and peaked at a famous Danish designer chair when I owned a Scandinavin furniture store.  It was such a heart warming event when the chair brought more in the auction than I sold it for in my store and rightfully so. 

Yes!!!!! Public Radio out of Tacoma plays 2 nites of All Blues every weekend- curated by working musician ( bass )!John Kessler - dial in !!!

Elliot - I also listen thru my 1965 MX-110z
which is a fantastic sounding bit of gear...
The corporate consolidation of the radio industry in the US has really hurt programming quality, and the industry's steep revenue declines - a result of its digital non-broadcast competition - mean things aren't likely to get better anytime soon. But as noted, there are some bright spots and among them, some of the stations even care about SQ. I still listen to my terrific McIntosh MR-80 tuner, although not nearly as much as I did during the glory days of FM radio.
Me and the wife always financially support our local public radio stations, particularly the ones that play classical.
I haven’t listened in years. My local station long ago became similar to MTV....talk and ads. Once I started streaming in my truck, well, I never reset the presets after a battery change. I don’t have a tuner in my main system at all, and come to think of it, don’t have a single radio in the house. The last time I pulled the blanket off the TV was to watch the Superbowl.