My Top Five (plus one) local radio stations

By the way, I should add to my Daniel Schorr diatribe that I love NPR. If I could only listen to one radio station, that would be my choice. That doesn’t mean I have to be crazy about everything I hear on it…

Which reminds me that I was talking radio with a friend today about favorite radio stations. The radio spectrum is so broad that I hesitate to try to create a Top Five list, since there could be a station I haven’t ever heard that would be my favorite if I did hear it. But what I can to is provide a list of the six buttons pre-programmed on FM1 in my truck. I’d be interested to hear what y’all like as well — maybe I’ll do some reprogramming:

  1. S.C. ETV Radio, 88.1 — Or sometimes, 91.3, but the one out of Sumter has more news, which is mainly what I listen for. I like classical music, but NPR is just so well done. The material is better organized and presented than any almost print medium in this country, which is saying something for radio.
  2. WUSC, 90.5 — One of my kids was once a DJ at the station, and I keep it programmed for when I want to hear something really unique.
  3. Steve FM, 96.7 — Yeah, the station ID messages can be really grating — that tedious “we’re deliberately sounding unprofessional” tone — but the song selections are pretty good about 50 percent of the time.
  4. WXRY, the Independent Alternative, 99.3 — The best of the largely contemporary formats locally, near as I can make out.
  5. WWNQ, Flashback 94.3 — Oldies, pure and simple. (This station used to have a format that played Country classics, and for a C/W format was pretty listenable, but a year or so ago they went to mainstream oldies.)
  6. WTCB 106.7 — Occasionally, when there’s no music on the other commercial stations, I switch to this one — and will sometimes stay for a song or two, if they’re playing 80s stuff. (Not my era, but I turn to different stations for different things.)

By the way, those are not actually in order of preference — those are the assigned buttons. You’ll note that No. 5 is out of order. That’s because it replaced a station that replaced another station that DID fit between 99.3 and 106.7.

Of course, about half the time I’m listening to a CD instead — often something I’ve burned from one of my old vinyl albums.

And while blogging, I often listen to Pandora. Two current favorite “stations:” My Erik Satie and Solomon Burke stations. (I threw that in so that the Barrys out there could not sneer at my mundane radio tastes.)

4 thoughts on “My Top Five (plus one) local radio stations”

  1. Anne

    Excellent choices. But have you ever listened to Kiss 103.1 – “The Best Variety of R & B Hits & Classic Soul” – they are awesome.

    A

  2. Kathryn Fenner

    ETV Radio: both the Talk stations and the music stations, unless there’s a pledge drive (I do send in my $) or a particularly annoying Your Day. The Jazz Station from Rock Hill, if I’m far enough north on I-77. Peach State Public Radio if I’m far enough west on I-20 and SC-ETV Radio is being annoying.

    Or my iPod through the speakers, or I sing to myself….

    Steve FM isn’t toooooo bad—it’s like Chicago weather–if you don’t like this kind, stick around, it’ll change to something else soon enough. They play it at Blatt PE Center. They ought to play USC radio, but…..

  4. Kathryn Fenner

    I can’t concentrate on most books on CD–my mind wanders–I read faster than they do–yet I can listen to NPR talk radio. Wonder why?

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