Another email to TRadio

This letter is inspired by the comments that Ed McMann is making, assuring us that T-Radio will be back after some "tweaking":

Dear T-Radio,

Thank you for suspending the program. My compliments. Please keep it suspended permanently.

I'm pessimistic, however, when I read things like this in today's Metro:

Ed McMann, program director for T-Radio, said Pyramid expected they would need to tweak the product after hearing feedback.

"We invented a new format and, like any new product, it has got to go through a testing phase before it is finalized," said McMann, who believes many of the complaints came from supporters of the subway performers. "Whatever adjustments that need to be made, we will make them."
I have some suggestions for tweaks: No music. No ads. No T-Raio, period. T-Radio is a violation of the sanctity of public airspace, buskers notwithstanding. We the public are complaining because we don't want to hear lame music, obnoxious DJs and ads while we wait for the train.

Get it?

Thanks.

T-Radio shelved?

I got this email yesterday:

Dear MBTA Customer:

Thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts on T-Radio. As we stated at the launch of this pilot test, MBTA riders would determine the fate of T-Radio. We have heard from a number of riders on a wide range of issues including the content and style.

Consequently, as of Thursday, October 25th, T-Radio will be suspended. While it is suspended, personnel from the MBTA and Pyramid Radio (the operator of the pilot program) will review and discuss the hundreds of emails received. Following a sufficient period of consideration, MBTA staff will present a recommendation on how the comments and suggestions might be addressed and whether a resumption of the pilot program is advised.

As always, we will continue to try and make your commute better through various means, and always ask for your feedback.

Thank you again for taking the time to write and have your voice heard. Its appreciated.

----

"Following a sufficient period of consideration..."? Resumption? Let's hope not. Bob Oakes on WBUR announced that the T is shelving T-Radio due to the overwhelming amount of negative response it got. I don't trust Rich Balsbaugh to give up on this so easily, though.

Case in point: the Globe reports that the project is "shelved" but that it'll be back in one form or another:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/26/t_radio_hits_wrong_note_with_riders/

I don't think we're out of this yet.

My suspicion is that the T and Pyramid Radio will lean hard on the data gathered by Emerson students, and try to build a case to bring it back:

"Programmer Ed McMann said in an interview that the "quiet phase" is temporary. He said feedback gathered by Emerson College students who surveyed riders was mostly positive, though he declined to release the findings."

I argue that these findings are not a sufficient enough sample of public opinion, and probably necessarily biased, because it's Balsbaugh and Grabauskas who are conducting the analysis - and determining the rules for which data can be discounted or disregarded. We'll never know, for I doubt that they will be transparent about the findings. The fix is in, folks.

Bottom line: the T is a public space. It might even be a legal issue - the T and Pyramid Radio may not even have the right to inflict this on us. What's next? The Boston Common? The Public Garden? The BPL?

We'll see. I think we need to remain vigilant and ready to complain again, should this travesty re-emerge in some other form.

To the Governor:

Dear Governor Patrick,

I am writing to ask that your office intervene on behalf of the public. The MBTA has rolled out a "pilot" program for T-Radio, but from reading the press releases and the comments made by Dan Grabauskas, I fear that T Radio is a done deal, and we can all look forward to having our thoughts intruded upon by this awful use of the public airwaves.

Although subway stations are noisy places, filled with the sounds of trains, safety announcements, conversations and street musicians, one can still choose to enjoy one's thoughts. T Radio robs us of that ability to concentrate, think and read. Moreover, it is essentially radio: a medium used chiefly for the delivery of advertising messages. I'd rather pay more to ride the T than to have to suffer through the constant yammering of a disk jockey.

Let me ask you: if you were to be sitting on a bench in the Public Garden, admiring the Swan Boats on a beautiful day, would you appreciate it if Classic Hits from the 70s were piped in from the branches of every tree? I'm sure you would agree that it's an offensive idea.

The same holds true in the subway stations, where we are a captive audience, waiting for the next train. Once T Radio is rolled out, there will be no escaping its endless stream of mediocre musical choices and commercials.

I beg you, in the common interest, please don't let this happen to us.

Most sincerely,

[j. etc]

-----------------------

By the way, I found and posted to an interesting discussion over at Pink Slip...

One from My Pal Viv

Dear MBTA --

Please abandon forever the idea of T-Radio (aka Pyramid Radio, Inc). It is an invasion of every commuter's privacy and an insult to our intelligence. It is akin to blaring MUSAK and obnoxious advertisments into the Boston Public Library.

Curious about Pyramid Radio, Inc.,I went to their website and was horrified by what I found on their home page:

"Pyramid Radio creates customized audio enterntainment designed to entertain your customers and drive sales in your store. This gives you, the retailer, the opportunity to influence consumers inside your store, before they reach the cash register. As a Pyramid parnter, you will receive powerful and targeted messaging and branding delivered by the nation's top radio personalities and sent dailly via the latest in digital delivery. Music, commercials and customized jingles are seamlessly integrated. Most importantly, as a Pyramid partner you will share in the revenue generated by the advertisments which we sell."

The MBTA is not a shopping mall, it is a Public Transportation System. T-Radio strikes me as the MBTA's way of saying: "We've got you all in a pen and now we're going to pump in music you don't like accompanied by obnoxious ads and seamlessly integrated commentary by Ed McMahon!" Give me a break, Mr. Grabauskas! Will we buy more products? Will we stand docilely on the platform chewing our cud? No, many of us will stop riding the T.

Please don't continue with this ill-conceived idea. It is a disgrace.

Sincerely yours,

[viv etc]

Stop T Radio

A stretch perhaps, but I'm thinking that this blog can become a journal of things T-related. I have little to share with you about my bike accident or the progress of paving over the tracks in JP, but I have some observations I'll post soon.

Meanwhile, as the Sox go to the World Series, the T has hatched a nefarious scheme to replace buskers with Muzak. Here's an email I just wrote them:

Dear MBTA,

T Radio - possibly the worst idea that you've come up with yet.

I beg you, please do not roll this misconceived atrocity out to all the stations on the T. It's an invasion of public privacy. It will discourage and ultimately silence the rich tradition of street performers in the subway. It will be yet another uncontrollable source of advertising, targeting unwanted products to the young. And, in order to accommodate the tastes of many, the resulting programming is so bland and overplayed that it's an insult to the public ear. Do I really need to hear Bob Seeger sing "Against the Wind" once more in my lifetime? I think not. It's enough to make me consider driving to work.

You should be attracting riders, not shooing them away.

Respectfully,

[name and email etc...]


You too can write to the T about this at TRadio@mbta.com. Read their press release here. Sign a petition here on the buskers site.