I always thought it so odd that in such a diverse metropolis like New York, the radio sucked so badly.

A  piece in the Telegraph the other day discussed a study that found listening to radio makes British people 100% happier than watching TV. They covered various points as to why—imagination, being able to multi task, and so forth.  But they missed something:  what can make good radio so fun is the element of surprise.

It’s just too rare to find good radio nowadays.  For a brief moment here in New York there was hope with WRXP but that just got shut down, though you can still here it on line.  The Brits have the BBC Radio and that usually doesn’t suck. And lot of our standout stations have apps now to stream but, for me, part of the radio experience is the sense of local.

As a former suburban kid, radio to me equals driving in a car.  And when a station is good, which is way too rare, it is fun.  When it is bad, it is annoying.  Change the channel. Switch the station.  And if you are driving in say, Arizona or Utah, that might leave no option except AM talk radio of a certain persuasion.

But there is something to the element of surprise, the anticipation of what is next that is fun and satisfying that is different than hearing a song from one’s own collection or even hearing something new for the first time from a Pandora or online discovery service.

For years I didn’t have a car but when we started spending time in the country, I discovered an awesome station out of Woodstock, New York—WDST—and found a new love for what made radio so great.  (WPDH also has its moments, including the broadcast of Dee Snyder’s House of Hair on Saturday.) It recalled my moments as a kid with my boombox in my bedroom waiting for that one magical song to come on.

That was before hyper oversaturation and music biz implosion.  When hit songs narrowed formats to stupidity on Top 40 and radio choices became few and far between.

But 100% happier is quite a statistic.

Turn the radio up.