T-Radio nowhere

Station’s 16-day trial ends after riders air complaints

BOSTON. After receiving overwhelming feedback from more than 1,800 riders, the MBTA suspended T-Radio yesterday after only 16 days on the air.

T-Radio, a mixture of entertainment news, music and safety announcements produced by Pyramid Radio, Inc., has been playing at North, South and Airport stations since Oct. 9 as part of a pilot program. When it launched, T General Manager Daniel Grabauskas indicated they would gather feedback from riders about whether to expand it until Thanksgiving. However, yesterday, Grabauskas abruptly pulled the plug on the programming following a flood of complaints.

“Customers commented on a range of issues, including T Radio’s content, style and even volume,” Grabauskas said.

While T officials did not break down how many of the 1,800 comments were complaints, T spokesman Joe Pesaturo confirmed, “Most expressed displeasure with the concept.”

From the beginning, T-Radio became a hot button issue, prompting strong opinions from riders and subway performers who felt they were being pushed out of the stations. Metro received several e-mails over the last week from commuters sick of the constant radio buzz on the platform.

“Anyone who wants to listen to music has an iPod.  Everyone else enjoys the peace and quiet that is generally found on the platform,” said commuter Kristen Carson. “It makes me want to drive in every day.”

Grabauskas said the T will analyze the hundreds of e-mails with Pyramid Radio and present a recommendation on whether T-Radio should continue in some format in the future.

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.”

Stephen Baird, who heads an association representing the subway artists, said he wasn’t surprised there was an outcry against T-Radio because, overall, Bostonians don’t have much tolerance for repeated ads playing over a speaker. 

“I found it abusive. I knew the impact was not just going to be on buskers,” Baird said. “This is a city that loves to read.”