Are there any ways to increase the reception that a 'line cord' antenna has?

I've two products with these, one an alarm clock and the other a radio that attaches to the bottom of a cabinet in the kitchen. I've tried a lot of different things to get better reception; taping it real far away in different directions, the same but closer, wrapping it around things, wrapping it around itself, nothing has worked. Any suggestions? These things suck, I've never had a decent antenna of this kind.
 
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