so i saw this on tdw yesterday, but didn't want to just go around copying her content. (that's a joke, kids.)

WIBC, probably indy's oldest radio station, is hopping from AM to FM in january. that's good news if you love rush limbaugh but can't bring yourself to flip to the AM dial in order to listen to him, but it's bad news if you listen to rush and live out in BFE where you're out of range of the FM signal (since FM doesn't carry nearly as far as AM). and it's bad news if you're a fan of top 40 radio, since the frequency WIBC is moving to is 93.1.

yes, in order to make room for WIBC, they're doing away with radionow 93.1, which was the city's only real top 40 station. devoted radionow listeners can still hear the station online or using future bricks called "HD radio receivers", but the on-air personalities like nigel have all been fired (so who will write all those redneck parody songs now?). in other words; they haven't killed radionow; they've merely gutted it and are letting it bleed to death.

WIBC doesn't flip tuners until january. but radionow is already gone. in its place: christmas music! that's right, in this time when other radio stations are looking for halloween material to play, emmis is skipping all the way to xmas. i tuned in yesterday and the first song i heard was "do they know it's christmas?" as dave barry would say, i'm not making this up.

i've never been a big fan of radionow, but i did have it programmed on my car radio for something to switch to when WHHH plays too many songs featuring t-pain (switch off the damn vocoder, t-pain!), so i will miss it a little bit. they had a friday dj mix featuring dj orion that was kinda cool, though not as cool as WHHH's mikki fikki mix. they were also one of only 15 stations in the country to air radio with a twist, which as far as i know is the only lgbt-themed syndicated radio show in the country. but apparently owner emmis communications thinks they can make more money off rush limbaugh and other talkers than from top 40 radio, so i'll just have to adjust my listening habits accordingly.¶

Radio sucks so bad, it hurts. The power adapter for my XM broke, and I've been too lazy to replace it. Consequently, I've been re-learning what I hated about free radio.

I swear, every time I get into limited radio reception areas, the only station I can pick up is playing "new" Bad Company or .38 Special. This was bad enough back in 1990 when I first noticed the phenomenon, but it's the *same* shit 17 years later. Maybe it's something about having a Bush administration and a war in Iraq. ¶

stAllio,

You might find this interesting.

Spectre
---------------------------

Indianapolis Star,
4:09 PM October 10, 2007

Two days after Emmis Communications Corp. announced it was pulling the plug on WNOU-FM (93.1) because of poor ad revenue, the company said it is selling the station to competitor Radio One.

Radio One will broadcast RadioNow programming in Indianapolis on WYJZ-FM (100.9), which is currently a jazz station.

RadioNow was one of Indianapolis’ few Top 40 radio stations. It has been off the air since Monday, when Emmis announced plans to move the news-talk programming of WIBC-AM (1070) to 93.1 FM in January 2008. In the interim, Emmis is broadcasting 93 days of Christmas music.

“The decision to take RadioNow off the air was a difficult one,” said Tom Severino, vice president and Indianapolis market manager for Emmis. “It has been a vibrant, successful format, which is why we’re so pleased with this agreement with Radio One. It benefits both companies, and it especially benefits the loyal listeners of RadioNow. We consider this the best-possible ending to this story.”

Radio One will own the intellectual property of the RadioNow brand, including the trademark, the WNOU call sign. No purchase price was disclosed.

“We are returning RadioNow to Indianapolis listeners, and we intend to preserve the music and spirit that has made it one of the most-listened-to stations in the market,” said Barry Mayo, radio president of Radio One.

Call Star reporter Erika D. Smith at (317) 444-6424 ¶