Julian Sanchez has an interesting economic speculation about why New York radio is so lame:

My guess - pure speculation - is that because current technology and spectrum policy limit the number of FM stations to well below what the New York Market could bear, what ends up happening is that the market is actually able to sustain at a profitable level enough Clear Channel-style top-40 schlock stations that the more interesting independent sorts that pop up in less dense urban areas get crowded out. Imagine every town in America got exactly five movie theatres, regardless of size. Ironically, in the smaller towns, three or four theatres would probably satisfy the total demand for the mainstream Hollywood movies coming out, and one or two would be left catering to the minority that was interested in art-house or foreign flicks. In Manhattan, though, those five theatres could easily sell out every showing of The Punisher or Scooby Doo 2 and still have lines at the door, so with a limit on the number of theatres in place, they stick with plucking that low-hanging mass-market fruit.

Interesting thoughts, but why is Memphis radio so bad? Answer: it wasn't, until George Flinn killed the Pig. We still have WEVL, I suppose, but it seems like every time I turn on WEVL they're playing Celtic music. Shudder.