Large areas of island set to be deprived of ICRT service

What yesterday’s China Post article says is pretty much that if you’re not in Taipei City, you won’t be getting ICRT.

No Hsinchu
No Taichung
No Kaohshsiung
Not even Taipei County’s 2 most important cities - Yong He and Zhong He (OK, important because I used to live there :smiley: ).

I have 2 questions, though.

  1. Should my topic even be in the “Arts and Entertainment” forum, as I’m not sure ICRT provides either of those anymore?

  2. Can someone explain why the China Post thinks these areas will be deprived? After all, the only decent thing on ICRT is the BBC (if you’re mad enough to get up at 6 am) and typhoon reports, and they’re easily accessible on the net anyway. OK, and maybe the AsiaNation programme on Sundays for the migrant workers. After all, we have long since been deprived of a radio station that serves the international community.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/detail.asp?ID=69728&GRP=B

Does ICRT create podcasts of its shows? That could be one solution.

Despite ICRT’s nosedive, I’ve been trying to stay faithful and listen, at least from time to time. I have the impression that there are still some poeple there who care (though unfortunately there are others with the power to block their good intentions).

Anyway, what I was going to say is that I already have a really hard time picking up ICRT in Taipei itself. I have tried 3 different radios on the bus and I just have to give up, the reception is so bad (other stations are fine). I can still pick it up on the car radio and the radio at home though.

[quote=“DSN”]What yesterday’s China Post article says is pretty much that if you’re not in Taipei City, you won’t be getting ICRT.

No Hsinchu (Xinzhu)
No Taichung
No Kaohshsiung
Not even Taipei County’s 2 most important cities - Yonghe and Zhonghe (OK, important because I used to live there :smiley: ).

[/quote]

“Deprived?” More like LIBERATED from it.

(polishing up my vocal chords for a celebratory “Na na na na - Na na na na - Hey Hey - Gooooood-byeeeeee,” as I sense ICRT is not long for this world!)

[quote=“Ric Flair”]“Deprived?” More like LIBERATED from it.

(polishing up my vocal chords for a celebratory “Na na na na - Na na na na - Hey Hey - Gooooood-byeeeeee,” as I sense ICRT is not long for this world!)[/quote]

Yep, I’d go along with this. According to the article, ad revenues are already poor. Cutting out 1/2 of the current listeners by excluding most of Taiwan is not giving to fix this problem, that’s for sure. No advertisng income = no income = no station.

Too bad.

Jim Jones had faithful who actually, volunteered to take the poisoned cool-aide, so it’s both disturbing and kind of inspiring that there are people loyal enough to submit themselves to the torture of ICRT, based on false nostalgia of supposed “good old days,” that never really were.

I hear that China uses the ICRT 80s pop format to non-violently coerce political prisoners into changing their pro-democracy stances.

According to the ICRT disc monkey Ron Monday, the China Central Government’s imported Brazilian research scientist, Dr. Mosef Jengele agrees, saying, “Zere’s nothing zat could riwal Billy Ocean inserted into ze subconscious every few hours or so, in getting ze prizoner to change zeir vay ov thinking…”

Yes. I’m sure their are. You might hear about them from blog entries they make on their PDAs while standing in the unemployment lines back in the United States, as they wait on calls from Clear Channel Comunications, who are looking for, “bland 7s broadcasting announcer needed for incredibly inept, poorly managed, uninspiring, non-threatening, useless, tax writeoff radio station on a small island where nobody wants to listen to the station anymore and all you need to do is ready copy, since eveything is on a hard drive anyway.”

Normally I’d give a damn about an English langauge radio station in a foreign country going down, givne how many are a public service. ICRT is little more than a public nusiance. They serve no purpose. if this island was in a very deadly, very serious emergency (China planning to attack), ICRT wouldn’t be doing jack about shit.

100% of that would be their own (non) doing.

It’s kind of like trusting a handful of low-rent used car salesmen to perform brain surgery.

Large portions of the island could never pick it up anyway, and most of us who could, not only were turned off by it, but have a very deep hatred towards ICRT.

I, for one, hope to be able to see it go down, at which point I’ll dance a Dick Van Dyke-in-Marry Poppins chimney sweep jig. Man, I’m excited just thinking about the death of ICRT.

It warms my heart.

ICRT is a English radio station?

Good remark, it’s a joke right and not a question … well it should be an English radio station that serves the foreign community at times … can’t even do that … it used to be an ok station if you had nothing else to listen to …

GREAT news. Now I won’t have to listen to it when riding in taxis / colleague’s cars etc. just because (yawn) I’m a foreigner and foreigners like to listen to ICRT.

People complain about all the Chinese-speaking DJs and Chinese music coming on… but then I don’t remember hearing any non-shite English music on it. Maybe it was better a while ago, I dunno. Anyway it’s most of the American DJs that do my head in… especially the one who bursts out with that incredibly idiotic and annoying guffaw every 5 seconds… qian bian is the phrase that pops to mind. Needs a slap!

Yeah, like when the garbage trucks weren’t blasting Fer Elise (sic) and you were stuck on a mountain with only a transistor radio and no companions…

Not. Crickets are better.

Simply put - ICRT was/is/will forever remain the bottom of the barrell.

Like 10-12 years ago when this island was still in the media stone-age, and we hadn’t internet or decent cable … and out here even no cable … ICRT was the only thing you had that was remotely familiar with back home …

what is this icrt?

Why do we have to suffer it in Taipei City?

Pain.

Slow, burning, lingering, traumatic pain.

Pain. Slow, burning, lingering, traumatic pain.[/quote]

Ah, the pain of it all.

I haven’t listened to IRCT since 1990. I got fed up with the gigling DJ’s who would croon to 15 year old girls calling in.

The best thing IRCT ever had going was Captian Tim’s morning traffic report.

Ha, I remember that. He had the oddest cadence in either language: “Hey, Taipeeeeeeeeei’s Jianguosouthroadisexperiencingalittlecongeeeeeeeeeeeeeestion thismorninganditseemsthatthefreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeway issufferingfromtheeffectsofawreckatkiloooooooooooooooooometer 24.”

Pain. Slow, burning, lingering, traumatic pain.[/quote]

The best thing IRCT ever had going was Captian Tim’s morning traffic report.[/quote][/quote]

Not to honk my own horn or anything, but, “honk honk.”

Ric is of the opinion the best thing that ICRT ever broadcast was when it covered the grand opening of a swank Taichung City nightclub in 2002. The ABC with the American braodcast voice was being broadcast via remote and talking up the event and playing on the crowd reaction. Ric barked out - for all of Taiwan to here, live - “Fuck ICRT!”
I can’t speak for all 5 of its listeners, but Ric did get applause in the nightclub for that (surprisingly Taiwanese-heavy support), and a justifiably nasty stare from the jockey.

That should be the greatest moment in ICRT history.