Tuning In With TuneIn: A Listener’s Question
“WBHM is more than just a radio station.”
You’ve probably heard this phrase so much you may be numb to it.
But it’s never been more true than now. In addition to a radio station, WBHM is also: a website, an app for your phone, a streaming service, a podcast, a smart speaker, a connected car, social media, outreach, partnerships, and community events. In fact, WBHM is probably something else we don’t even know yet!
Maybe you don’t interact with WBHM on all these platforms, but as Program Director, it’s important for me to think about the listener experience and how WBHM meets listeners on whatever platform they use to hear us.
This idea was reinforced to me last week when we received an e-mail from a listener who listens to WBHM via TuneIn. They asked why the schedule listed on TuneIn’s website didn’t line up with what’s on the air. It was frustrating, they said. You may already know, they said.
Turns out we didn’t know. So thank you! And even though we replied directly to our concerned listener, we wanted to share the answer with you too.
TuneIn is an aggregator of radio station streams, including WBHM. If you think about it, anyone can grab the link of our live stream and offer it up to stations via their own website or app, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it exposes more listeners to WBHM. Unfortunately, it appears TuneIn pulled a schedule from many years ago and hasn’t updated it as our programs and schedules have changed over the years. I’ve reached out to TuneIn and hopefully this will be corrected soon.
Meeting WBHM listeners where they are certainly makes sense. But as you can see, because technology allows us to be in so many places at once, sometimes we don’t even realize there’s an issue.
Are you experiencing WBHM someplace and the situation is less than ideal? Let me know!
In the meantime, WBHM’s current schedule is always available at our website and you can download a pdf from the Programs dropdown menu.
And If you listen at wbhm.org you’ll see what’s on the air right next to the LISTEN LIVE button on the top of the page. On our app, it’s right at the bottom.
(Through “Programming Notes,” we hope to keep you connected to what is happening at WBHM both internally and on-air. Have feedback you’d like to share? Or a programming question? Let me know!)
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