In message , Smokey
writes

For years I have left a radio on an unused frequency, just the ambient noise
and static crashes. I started doing this as a kid. I didn't know why it
helped me sleep so well but it did.

Then I walked into a Sharper Image one day and find they called them "white
noise sleep enhancers."

Why didn't I think of that?

Smokey

I am a bad sleeper, and can't go to sleep unless I have an earpiece in
my ear, and I'm listening to the radio. I then 'go out like a light'.

The programme content is very important. For most of the time (at
least), it must be speech. It must not to too interesting (otherwise I
try to stay awake to listen to it), but neither must it be boring (as
this annoys me, and also keeps me awake). And no music - at least during
the falling-asleep phase. Also, the audio volume must be just right -
not too loud (which keeps me awake, or wakens me up), and not too quiet
(so I have to concentrate in order to hear what is being said).

I'm in the UK, and BBC Radio 4 is what I use. This is mainly a talk /
news / current events programme. At 1am, it closes and, as a fill-in,
the programme content changes to that of the BBC World Service. At
5.25am, it reverts to Radio 4. The only problem is that the World
Service gives time checks in GMT, and in the summer, we are 1 hour
ahead. So when I wake up to hear it's 4 o'clock, it's really 5.

[PS: No apologies for the spelling of 'programme'. For computery things,
I give in and use the American spelling. Otherwise, I spell it
correctly.
--
Ian