New Music Hour from 94.7 and a locals-only HD channel

I was chatting with 94.7FM Program Director, Mark Hamilton, the other day about FM radio and how it used to be the place for everyone to discover new music. It’s no exaggeration to say that today music fans have many ways to hear the latest and greatest and not necessarily via radio. The internet and satellite radio are just two new mediums that have carved out slices of the traditional radio listening audience, and Hamilton is one of many station PD’s who have learned that in recent polls the numbers of young people who say they listen to terrestrial radio stations to discover new music has dropped to about 50%.

Hamilton is passionate about music and radio and it’s not in his nature to sit back and watch things slide. He recently had the station begin broadcasting in HD, a radio technology that enables AM and FM radio stations to broadcast their programs digitally. 94/7 Too is KNRK’s digital HD channel that plays music from Northwest bands only which is a pretty bold move and given how many indie bands there are in the NW there should be plenty of choice for any indie music lover.

And now, as of Monday this week, Hamilton has set aside a whole hour each evening that is hosted by 94.7 DJ, Squid, and has given him the freedom to play any new music that comes across his desk or drops in his email box. It’s simply called The New Music Hour. A quick look at one evening’s playlist shows tracks from Santogold, M83, Tokyo Police Club, MGMT, Shiny Toy Guns, Ulrich Schnauss, Ra Ra Riot and Brazilian Girls to name a few which is not a bad start.

Tags: 94.7FM, Local, Music, Portland, Radio

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 4:04 pm and is filed under MP3, Music, Portland, Portland Bands, Radio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.