Radio Channels

[dinesh75]

All right. I was not sure where to post this.

During my drives across the country, sometimes I would listen to the local stations, which was fun. But I wanted to tune into news (international) and NPR. NPR's website has a trip planner and lists out all the NPR stations along the planned route. I would love to listen to BBC radio. Is it available here? How do I tune into it? Is there any other news channel that I can listen to?

Thanks.

[UKCraig]

I know that BBC radio is available on Sirius satellite radio if that helps.

[AZBuck]

As Craig pointed out, the BBC is available via Sirius/XM satellite, as well as on a few local stations. I did a quick look through some of the states and cities and found local coverage to be quite spotty, and even then I suspect that such stations may only carry an hour or two of the BBC News service each day. Still, if you know where and when to listen, you just might have some luck.

AZBuck

[Midwest Michael]

Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen a regular radio station carry the BBC, at least not on a regular basis (maybe a few hours at a time), however it is available on Satelite Radio.

I think XM-Sirius is available from some rental car companies these days, although I don't know the cost. Since the hardware is pretty cheap for a basic model, you might even be better off just buying a little plug an play, and getting a subscription for the length of your trip.

As an added note, XM and Sirius have now merged, so the programming is basically identical. The channels are now the same on each, but there are a couple different pricing/subscription options so that might be able to get things even cheaper.

[dinesh75]

Thanks guys. I don't have subscription to sat radio, so NPR would have to do I guess.

Is anyone aware of any other new/current events radio channel other than NPR or BBC in the US?

[Midwest Michael]

Other than NPR, there really isn't one national news radio source. Generally every market will have at least one news/talk station, and many of them will have news updates at the top of each hour. However, in generally, there is very little international news from most american media outlets

[Mass Tim]

You'll most likely hear the same news on all of the radio stations, but as others have said, the international news will be limited to just the major events of the day.

I think the only time I've heard the BBC on the radio it was on NPR...

[PNW Judy]

Most talk radio seems to be....well, let's just say talk programs that complain ad nauseum from their particular political bias, in eye-raising style. In other words, they don't have much hard news. Just a lot of bluster. The benefit of this is that you can learn quite a bit about certain segments of the American public by listening to these. Just, please, don't paint us all with those broad brushes. They're sensationalizing and don't really represent the views of most Americans, imho. So try to think of them as entertainment rather than a news source.

Unfortunately, here in America, we have to work hard to find out what's going on in the rest of the world. The internet seems to be the best place for that information.

While there are radio stations all across the country, most of them get their programming from a limited number of syndication services. So they will usually have a local news reporter and then switch to one of the bigger services for their national news. Some will have local talk but usually for limited hours as the programming will be predominately syndicated talk shows.

[Lifemagician]

However, in generally, there is very little international news from most american media outlets

I certainly found out that the hard way.

For me to get any news from home and things like the BBC (to which I listen at home) the internet seems to be the only way to go. I only stay overnight in places where I am able to log on with my laptop.

Lifey who gets homesick without news from the rest of the world