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