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October 25th, 2022

10/25/2022

We've been getting an influx of people globally asking why GREAT BIG RADIO has been geo-blocked from their countries suddenly on TuneIn - mostly from Australia. TuneIn let us know that countries that are authorized to hear us on their platform are:

AS- American Samoa
CA- Canada
GU- Guam
GB- United Kingdom
IE- Ireland
MP- Northern Mariana Islands
PR-Puerto Rico
US-United States
VI- Virgin Islands
GG- Guernsey
IM-Isle of Man

So that's the word from TuneIn. Meanwhile, you can try the GBR app, the Live365 app, web browsers and other venues, and let everyone know what works in the comments. Thanks.

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CHECKING IN

5/10/2021

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We still can't believe our listenership is still growing. We keep playing music to chase people away and y'all want more.

Seriously, since we got on Live365, we have a really nice fan base and new folks have chimed in over at the Facebook thing.

So this is a humble THANKS for hanging with us, and as always, stay in touch. We're not the best at replying (our families are sick about it), but we do read and hear your feedback. Guys...you're weird, but we love ya.

Especially YOU. Yes. YOU. You're our favorite listener. Bravo. Stay well.

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WE GOT APPS. WE GOT SKILLS. GO GET 'EM.

12/1/2020

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Here's a real-time demo of the new GREAT BIG RADIO App. It's about 1/10th the size of our old app, and it does everything we want it to do.

Play GBR
Text us with the Contact button
Visit the website
Our Facebook and Twitter timelines

...and did we mention it's still FREE?

And now you can get the GBR Alexa Skill. All you need to say is:
"ALEXA - PLAY GREAT BIG RADIO!"
No muss. No fuss. No extra words to get in the way.

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GOOD LORD. IS THIS THING STILL ON?

5/6/2020

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Civilization goes into hiding, but GREAT BIG RADIO is still functioning. We're definitely the cockroach of the broadcasting industry.

Seriously, this has been going relentlessly (save for power outages and Windows updates) since we came back to New York. For the first time since 2006, we've let a year and a half pass without tinkering with this, either technically or for that matter, content-wise. We could mess with perfection, but who'd care? Certainly not us. And if you have half a mind, you neither.

We hope you're safe, well, healthy and isolating through this mess.

And we hope you're registered to vote. If you're not, do it now.

Thanks for hanging in with us.
GBR

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HI.

12/18/2018

8 Comments

How've ya been, guys?

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GOOD NIGHT - FOR NOW

8/6/2018

6 Comments

It was a tough decision, made just a touch easier by our software license expiring and rising royalty costs - so GBR has suspended operations until we can faithfully bring it back for keeps.

Man, we had a blast doing this. Our mission was to root out the songs that just plain sounded great. No treacle, no abject sadness, no playing songs strictly because they tested well or were million sellers. In fact, we shied away from most of those. We kept the ones that, as we said, just plain sounded great.

One of the criteria for the not-so-hits was generally songs we played on the radio over the years that SHOULD have been hits because they were perfectly pop, well produced, performed with passion and still couldn't find their way back to the airwaves until we came along. These weren't merely "turntable hits" or "Oh Wows" but many were hidden treasures that truly deserved their three or four minutes in the sun...and then kept in our massive playlist to be enjoyed as much as their million selling counterparts.

We're especially proud of our holiday week specials that took one year of pop history and played EVERYTHING we could get our hands on from that year. In fact, it was gathering those tracks that made us take notice and add them permanently to our regular rotation. It was a learning process for us as much as it was a labor of love.

For as random as GREAT BIG RADIO sounded, a lot of constant tweaking, adjusting, changing and upkeep was very much a part of our day-to-day care of our little streaming outpost.

It's all saved on many drives and clouds, and one day in the not too distant future, we'll unleash it again into the universe. Until then, THANK YOU for being part of it. As our barker channel where GBR was says, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and when that day comes, you'll be among the first to know.

Support music. Support its message. Keep its melody alive. And we'll see you again soon.

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ALL OUR NEW APPS ARE HERE!

4/26/2018

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The brand new feature-packed and quite possibly overwrought GREAT BIG RADIO Apps are now up and ready for your downloadage.

It plays GBR as always, but now you have your choice of our two streams:

- GBR 128k - Our hi-def stream when you're listening at home or via Wi-Fi.

- GBR 32k - Our bandwidth-stingy stream which uses 1/4 the data as our 128k, but thanks to AAC encoding, sounds just as great. Perfect for using wireless data on the road with practically zero sonic loss cruising between cell towers.

PLUS, Wake to GBR with the Alarm, share your listening inside the player with your pals, stay updated with our in-app Facebook and Twitter feeds, check out the last ten songs played and buy them from Amazon for keeping, and one-touch calling into the GBR request/comment line (one-touch email if you're too shy to speak).

All the features you asked for and then some. Please keep the suggestions coming in...we now have the power to implement good ones!

Go to the GREAT BIG RADIO App Page and get the one for your smartphone. It's free - and it is awesome.

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ONE BAD APP WON'T SPOIL OUR FUN

4/10/2018

1 Comment

Want to start an online radio station? It's really a lot of fun!!!

I say that to people I don't like. I want them to go through all the dopey crap I deal with as I navigate my now 12 year foray into the world of Great Big Radio.

Don't get me wrong. I still love this thing like it's my own 12 year old child. I listen in my car, and I'm still impressed with how many songs I forgot I threw into the playlist. And it's still better than 90% of what's out there, so we're pretty proud.

That said, this week, we got word that Wavestreaming, the people who published and maintained the GBR App for iOS and Android, decided they're going out of business in July and our apps will be rendered inoperable.

So I've officially become an app developer and started working on a brand new app that does what you need it to do...

• When launched, you'll have the choice of BOTH our streams - 32k for wireless and 128k for WiFi.
• Help support GBR by buying the music we play from Amazon or iTunes from our new "Last Ten Played" button.
• GBR's Facebook and Twitter feeds are now part of the menu.
• One-touch calling to our request/comment line 612-HOLYCOW
• One-touch email

We're ironing out the wrinkles and exterminating the bugs, but we're going to have a very cool, very versatile and very easy to use app experience. And isn't that what life is all about?

So. Want to start an online radio station?

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HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH ALEXA

11/16/2017

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We've been using the Amazon Echo since we were asked to be beta testers back in the early 1970s. Almost a half century and several dozen musical trends later, playing the planet on Alexa-enabled devices is now a part of the digital home landscape. We have several mutations of the Echo scattered all over the GBR complex - the original Echo, Echo Dots, and an Amazon Tap (which is now voice activated, so tapping's even gone the wayside), performing important tasks like lighting, getting local weather and traffic times, and occasionally accidentally shutting GBR off.

In Echo's early stages, getting GBR to play was as simple as saying "Alexa, play Great Big Radio." Sadly, with more and more content piling onto Alexa's delicate shoulders, saying that now brings up some goofy-ass FM station out of Milwaukee which, I swear to God, is doing a two minute infomercial about antique appraising as I write this.

Thankfully, we have a decade-long relationship with our pals at TuneIn. Now, just say:
"ALEXA, PLAY GREAT BIG RADIO ON TUNEIN."
...and we'll be blaring out of your Echo/Dot/Tap/Spot/Show/Look/Honk/Poot/Thbbft instantly.

We did feel slighted by this until we found out our friends at Sirius XM have the same problem. Even though they have proprietarily-named channels, you still need to tag the Alexa command with "...on Sirius XM." So at least we're in good company.

Now that you know how to get us, get an Amazon Alexa device by clicking the banner to the right. Every purchase supports the fine work we're still trying to accomplish. Thanks, Happy Alexaing.

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The new GBR app for iOS is here

3/15/2017

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Apple just released version 7.0.4 of the Great Big Radio App for iPhone and iPad. We squashed a bunch of bugs, reanimated the "Recently Played" feature and above all, made it much more data friendly with a stream that uses just 1/4 of the bandwidth without losing a scintilla of the audio spectrum.

If you have it, make sure it's been updated in the App Store.
If you don't have it...GET IT NOW!

Of course the new low-bandwidth stream is also now on the GBR Apps for Android and Amazon Fire. Enjoy!

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THE GBR BLOG

October 25th, 2022

CHECKING IN

WE GOT APPS. WE GOT SKILLS. GO GET 'EM.

GOOD LORD. IS THIS THING STILL ON?

HI.

GOOD NIGHT - FOR NOW

ALL OUR NEW APPS ARE HERE!

ONE BAD APP WON'T SPOIL OUR FUN

HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH ALEXA

The new GBR app for iOS is here

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