I was driving to work today, listening to the radio, and it occurred to me this might be an interesting topic. Not only do I think it will be interesting to see what other people listen to, I also think this might be a fun way to be exposed to interesting radio stations around the country (or world, hopefully). These days, a lot of radio stations have live webstreams. I may not be able to listen to these other stations in the car (where I do the vast majority of my radio listening), but it'd be cool to check out radio from other regions while at home. Try to provide a link to each station's website so we can listen in
Oh, and I realize some cars have like 30 presets these days, but let's try to limit it to no more than 10 stations.
1) 91.5 FM - WBEZ Chicago Public Radio
This is the station I'm listening to 90% of the time when I'm in the car. It has news, music, theatre, human interest, comedy, documentaries... there's almost
always something interesting to listen to.
2) 98.7 FM - WFMT Chicago's Classical and Folk Music Radio Station
Thankfully, this station is 90% classical; I don't listen when they play folk. This station has gotten me into trouble in the past - lulled me to sleep while I drove home from my junior prom in HS - but it's great that it has managed to remain successful as radio becomes more homogenized. Like Chicago Public Radio, there are no commercials. Instead, there are pledge drives and occasional announcements about a sponsor. Even better, the people who run the station are truly passionate and knowledgeable about the music.
3) 780 AM - WBBM Newsradio
I used to listen to this station a lot more, until I found Chicago Public Radio. They deliver the news almost 24/7 with timely precision. For example, traffic and weather together on the 8's. The problem is it's all headlines, little substance, and often feels rushed. Sometimes that's what you want though, and it's nice to have a place you can go every 10 minutes for a traffic update on the road.
4) 92.7 FM - Dance Factory Radio, or WCPT Chicago's Progressive Talk
Most of the time I put this station on late at night when it's Dance Factory Radio. If it's late and I'm driving, especially if I'm alone, sometimes it's nice to have some upbeat dance music playing. I only occasionally listen to it during the daytime, when it's the progressive talk station. If I'm going to listen to the news, I'm going to listen to public radio.
5) 101.1 FM - WKQX Q101 Chicago's Alternative
As with most corporate radio stations, it used to be decent but now the majority of music played here sucks. Occasionally they come to their senses though.
6) 97.1 FM - WDRV The Drive
This is Chicago's classic rock station. Not much more to say than that.
7) 88.3 FM - WZRD The Wizard
This one is a college radio station. I've stumbled upon a lot of gems while listening. I'll let them describe it though: "We play whatever, whenever, and it is not unheard of to hear trip hop directly following some African chant. Many shows will follow a theme or mood, but genre reflects neither of these. The Wizard does what it wants."
So what do your radio presets look like?