What the heck is "Totally Random Radio"?

[bcla]

I don't listen to music stations much any more, but in a previous time I listened to San Francisco's KITS 105.3-FM station when they branded itself as a top 40 "Hot Hits" station and then as "Live 105" playing what they then called "modern rock", which was everything from new wave to other forms of "alternative rock", similar to KROQ in LA. Back in their heyday, their staples were Depeche Mode and The Cure. They've rebranded to "Alt 105.3" but were still more or less the same.

However, they've seemingly gone off the deep end by calling themselves "Dave FM".\

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/why-is-105-3-fm-suddenly-playing-guns-n-roses-and-prince​

The change marked the end of 35 years of the frequency, known to a generation of listeners as “Live 105,” serving as the Bay Area’s leading alternative rock station, championing bands like Green Day, Nirvana, New Order, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Strokes and Oasis. The station was also behind several long-running Bay Area events, including the summertime BFD festival and the December concert series Not So Silent Night.​

​

The introduction to the new radio format — with a logo in Dodger blue — is brief on Audacy’s page: “Hi. I’m Dave FM. I live in the Bay Area. Totally Random Radio is what I do.” But according to a company announcement, the new 105.3-FM playlist is built around a core of ’80s hitmakers such as Prince, Pat Benatar, the Cure, Journey and Huey Lewis, played in shuffle mode.​

 

[LuvOrlando]

Interesting they are doing this with radio too, Pandora keeps shoving what they call a Station shuffle style in my ears instead of what I want. Should have known they'd make free annoying to make premium comparatively appealing. All I know is I'm glad we still have our CD's

 

[starvenger]

In theory "Totally Random Radio" would mean you get a lot of deep cuts and lesser hits.

In reality it's usually just the same music you always hear on radio but programmed at some remote office in the US.

 

[bcla]

In theory "Totally Random Radio" would mean you get a lot of deep cuts and lesser hits.

In reality it's usually just the same music you always hear on radio but programmed at some remote office in the US.

Well - it apparently is a random mix from a central location that's not even periodically monitored. This past weekend there was some programming glitch that wasn't caught because it was automated, where it was 4 hours of straight commercials, followed by selections from an archived playlist from last year.

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/mu...ead-at-least-temporarily-after-dave-fm-glitch​

Starting at around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, the new “Dave FM” started running four hours of straight commercials because of a “corrupted music database,” according to the industry journal Radio Insight. At midnight, the station began airing an archived day of “Alt 105.3” programming from the spring of 2020.​

And they've got a logo.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1449867343631319043

 

[starvenger]

Well - it apparently is a random mix from a central location that's not even periodically monitored. This past weekend there was some programming glitch that wasn't caught because it was automated, where it was 4 hours of straight commercials, followed by selections from an archived playlist from last year.

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/mu...ead-at-least-temporarily-after-dave-fm-glitch​

Starting at around 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, the new “Dave FM” started running four hours of straight commercials because of a “corrupted music database,” according to the industry journal Radio Insight. At midnight, the station began airing an archived day of “Alt 105.3” programming from the spring of 2020.​

Impressive. I don't think that even ClearChannel iHeartRadio has ever screwed up that badly.

 

[bcla]

Impressive. I don't think that even ClearChannel iHeartRadio has ever screwed up that badly.

We don't get too many Cumulus music stations around here. They're ownership in our area is still mostly sports and news talk, which requires a certain level of human beings actually monitoring phones and paying attention to what's going on air.

But Audacity/Radio.com/Entercom does seem to have gone off the deep end. I don't listen to their music stations much, but the sports station still has live people and board operators, even if some people now work from home.

 

[bcla]

So this station is now back to their former "Live 105" moniker.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/enterta...rnative-radio-returns-to-sf-kits-18132169.php

 

[barkley]

i'll have to see if my internet radio will pick it up-i still listen to some bay area stations.

'dave radio' sounds like what up here is named 'bob fm'-their tag line is 'the 80's, 90's and whatever'.

 

[bcla]

i'll have to see if my internet radio will pick it up-i still listen to some bay area stations.

'dave radio' sounds like what up here is named 'bob fm'-their tag line is 'the 80's, 90's and whatever'.

Looked it up and it's some weird trademark that started in Canada, although it's no longer used there. Not sure if they license it, but theoretically it should be.

Word Mark ​	BOB FM
Goods and Services​	IC 038. US 100 101 104. G & S: Radio Broadcasting Services. FIRST USE: 20030916. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20030916
Standard Characters Claimed​
Mark Drawing Code​	(4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number​	77454473
Filing Date​	April 22, 2008
Current Basis​	1A
Original Filing Basis​	1A
Published for Opposition​	February 12, 2019
Registration Number​	5735903
Registration Date​	April 30, 2019
Owner​	(REGISTRANT) Kroeger Media Inc CORPORATION CANADA 38 Kingscrest Drive La Salle CANADA R0G0A1
Attorney of Record​	RUTH RIVARD
Disclaimer​	NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE "FM" APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Type of Mark​	SERVICE MARK
Register​	PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator​	LIVE

https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/opic-c...sessionid=0001yvtl8Y7ROBUk9S5TLHFebdO:-G5IVIU

 

[barkley]

i miss kfrc and was devastated when kgo changed their programming.

 

[disneychrista]

Totally Random Radio sounds like my work playlist. Which has everything from 80’s pop/rock to current country from Motley Crue to Luke Bryan to Chicago to Pink.