My Observations About the Top 20 Radio Stations in Germany

My observations about radio stations in Germany are that they are very similar to the American radio stations most of us listen to. They have news pieces in the morning, where they outline the top news pieces of the day or the day before. They also have weather, sports, and in the larger cities, traffic. The music is all over the map, from dance club techno to American-style hip hop, to flat out American music.

                Many of the radio stations seemed to be very heavy on American music, especially the Bavarian ones.  The more northern the city, the more they played “easy listening” German songs, or had more talking in their shows than music. The exception was Aachen’s “#Music.Main,” which was a lot like the Bavarian stations. Due to the fact that most of the English words were pronounced correctly, I can assume that the DJs speak English pretty well, even though none of the stations had broadcasts in English.

                German radio stations aren’t too different from American stations, though they are of course broadcast exclusively in German. They play a lot of American music, and they also follow the same format as American stations do.

Are mass media more globalized than the people that consume them?

                I think the mass media make the people who consume them more globalized than they would be without it. Because they are listening to the media, they may know what is going on in other parts of the world, or learn bits of other languages.

What does it mean when patterns across the Western globe are so similar?

                When patterns across the Western globe are so similar, I think it means that they all try to emulate each other. They seem to follow a preset pattern of how to do things.

Where do cultural differences “survive” if media do not carry them? – or do they?

                Cultural differences “survive” though both the people of a culture, and the media of a culture. The media preserves the essence of the people.

What can you say about radio in Germany?

                Radio in Germany isn’t much different than radio anywhere else. The DJs still make jokes on air, the music is introduced and then played, and they have the occasional morning talk show with lame elevator music in the background.