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Traffic Reports Vanishing From the Radio Airwaves

by Caleb Johnson on December 1, 2009 at 08:25 AM

In the battle to keep listeners from turning that dial, some radio stations are ditching traffic reports. The trend is largely a result of the struggling economy, which has forced stations to downsize, and of technological advancements that allow people to instantly access information with their GPS units or smartphones.

According to USA Today, the top-rated pop station in Los Angeles, KISS FM, recently stopped broadcasting its afternoon traffic reports because another Top 40 station recently received higher ratings after ditching its own reports. Don Bastida, vice president of operations for Airwatch, one of the nation's largest traffic-reporting services, says he expects traffic reports to continue declining until they're only broadcast as part of major news stories. "Now traffic reports on the music stations become just an interruption that gives the listener an opportunity to hit the button and move on to the next station," he told USA Today.

The remaining stations that do report on traffic have been forced to make major changes. The days of the "Eye in The Sky" helicopter-reporter seem to be long gone; Airwatch has grounded its Southern California reporters. Now, they sit in a control room, staring at computer monitors -- filing traffic reports from miles and miles away.

Honestly, we're not surprised by this trend. Nobody wants to wait until half past the hour to find out if there's a wreck on the highway, or where traffic is backed up. With the growth in mobile technology, people have all this information at their fingertips. That's bad news for radio traffic reporters, but it's good news for rush-hour commuters. [From: USA Today]

Tags: driving, gps, media, news, radio, smartphone, top, traffic, trends

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