Radio has generally declined in audio quality.  I noticed last year
that Connecticut Public Radio had started to sound really nasty; I even
contacted them and talked to one of the engineers, who told me that they
weren't doing anything different and the transmitter most local to me
seemed in fine order.

A guy I know who installs home theater stuff told me that a lot of
his customers around here had been complaining; he blamed a cellular
antenna farm a couple of miles down the road.  That may not be a
problem everywhere, but in a lot of urban and suburban areas, there
are more stations, hence more adjacent-channel interference and a
grunky lo-fi sound that can really wear you out in a hurry.

In my case, moving the receiver across the room and getting a new FM
antenna helped, but even before I consciously noticed how bad the audio
fidelity was, I'd pretty much dealt radio out of my routine.  It's been
a long time since I tuned into any of the live concerts I used to enjoy.

Could be why listeners are more inclined to support Diane Rheem with their
pledge money.  It doesn't really matter *what* Diane Rheem sounds like.

Eddie