Radio Survivor

It looks like Arbitron’s controversial Portable People Meter is still in hot water with the government. The  device, which measures user listening habits sans a written diary,  is scheduled to be the subject of a hearing by the House  Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday,  December 2. This is the committees’ second investigation of the controversial gadget.

“With an unprecedented decline in ratings among popular minority television and radio stations, we must explore the possibility of methodological flaws in the implementation of the PPM,” declared its Chair Edolphus Towns (D-NY, called “ET” by his staff, we’re told).  “As it stands now, the current system jeopardizes the future of minority broadcasting.”

The Portable People Meter is worn by the participant, sort of like a pager. It picks up radio signals around the user and keeps track of the stations to which he or she is listening. Critics of the PPM says its sampling methodology includes too few minority radio fans and that Arbitron recruits an insufficient number of cell phone only households for the device (which are often minority households). Arbitron responds that the  PPM is much more accurate than the old  diary system.

PPM opponents, among them many of the nation’s civil rights groups and minority broadcasting associations (and Stevie Wonder), asked the Federal Communications Commission for a formal investigation of the device, but  the agency offered only a notice of inquiry. Three states have required improvements in the PPM, among them New Jersey. New York, and Maryland. (more…)

It’s a good sign that people continue to write articles praising radio offerings from coast-to-coast; so I just wanted to take a moment to share a couple of stories about some interesting things happening in various radio markets.

A piece in the L.A. Times profiles AM station KAZN in Pasadena, California, which was the first 24-hour Chinese language station in the country. According to the article:

“…KAZN remains the dominant voice in the Chinese community in L.A. and serves as a clearinghouse for all sorts of general information. On the weekends, one can hear Bible stories, Buddhist sermons, family counseling, celebrity interviews and lectures on immigration law.”

All the way across the country in Ithaca, New York, a college student writes a love letter for FM radio, explaining how much the stations rule compared with similar offerings in other parts of New York. Justine Fields writes in the Cornell Daily Sun:

“Since these stations have filled my VW beetle with so much musical pleasantry, I thought I’d take this column to touch the surface in dissecting the magnificent state of Ithaca’s rock and pop music frequencies.”

Justine’s top choice? College radio station WICB (Ithaca College).

The Texas Association of Broadcasters opposes the FCC’s proposed localism rules. Why not? Everybody else does.

Two years ago this December the Federal Communications Commission proposed a quartet of new regulations to nudge radio stations to provide more local news, music, and public affairs programming.

These included rules requiring a certain amount of local programming from each station, requiring licensees to staff their stations with an actual human being 24/7, mandating that license owners set up local station advisory boards, and a requirement that a signals’ main studio be situated in its signal area.

Since then these proposals have received nothing but cat calls and boos. The public interest groups that clamored for them in the first half of this decade rarely come to their defense. Instead, just about every regional or national broadcast association writes to the FCC denouncing them on a semi-regular basis. The religious groups say the local board rule will drive their stations in the hands of heathens, atheists, and Family Guy fans. The Fox TV lovers say it’s all a plot to bring back the Fairness Doctrine. Even advocates for minorities question the proposals, among them Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), father of now FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.

So no surprise Texas wants them nixed too. Here’s the what the association told the FCC this month: (more…)

This past week I visited San Francisco. In addition to finally meeting my co-bloggers Matthew and Jennifer in person, I also made my pilgrimage to one of the best music stores in the country, Aquarius Records in the Mission.

The oldest music store in the city, Aquarius is not big, and it’s far from comprehensive in its selection. If you want the latest Black Eyed Peas or Bon Jovi albums you’re probably better off going to Ameoba. Instead, Aquarius specializes in arcane, experimental music, including obscure heavy metal. For most people the store would be inscrutable; to me, it’s heaven.

But it’s not just the inventory that makes Aquarius great. It’s that every CD and record in the place appears to be careful chosen, even curated. For a store its size quite a bit of space is given over to employee favorites and new releases. And every single one of those new or favorite albums has a paragraph-long write-up on the front describing the artist and album in loving detail.
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I think it’s clear that even if people don’t have access to traditional terrestrial radio stations, there is still a desire for radio-like content.

Dial up for Radio

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal, “Cellphone Entertainment Takes Off in Rural India,” discusses rural villages in India where there is limited access to FM radio, but there is cell phone reception. According to the piece:

“…in villages that don’t receive any FM radio stations, people have begun calling a number that has a recording of Bollywood tunes and listening to it on their headsets.

This primitive cellular ‘radio’ service was used by close to 20 million Indians last year, phone company executives estimate.”

I’m not sure how closely these transmissions (which also include separate services for sports broadcasts, weather reports, and religious services) mimic traditional radio broadcasts or if they are more like DJ-less services like iTunes or Pandora. Either way, they are creating a transistor radio-like experience for people without radios.

As I’ve written previously on Spinning Indie, there is actually a service called AudioNow that transforms any radio station’s webstream into something that can be dialed up on any phone. Hmmm. I smell another business opportunity.

KPOO

Just when people think that radio is dead, there are signs of it continuing to reinvent itself in interesting ways. The morning news today (on both KTVU’s “Mornings on Two” television broadcast and in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle) brought word of an innovative art installation taking place over the Thanksgiving holiday at Coit Tower in San Francisco.

To honor the 40th anniversary of a year and a half protest/occupation by American Indians at Alcatraz (taking place from November 1969 to June 1971), films will be projected onto the side of Coit Tower. An accompanying soundtrack will be broadcast on San Francisco community radio station KPOO. The collaboration makes sense, as the essence of KPOO’s mission is to serve communities typically under-represented by mainstream media. Additionally, KPOO airs a show twice a month called “Webworks: Voices of the Native Nation.”

Admittedly, listening to film soundtrack simulcasts on one’s radio isn’t an entirely new concept, as low-power radio transmissions were a staple of the drive-in movie scene. In this instance, though, one can listen in through a car radio or even by tuning into a webcast through one’s mp3 player or iPhone. It certainly sounds like an amazing way to experience public art and perhaps it will get a few folks to tune in to community radio.

Some of my Childhood 45s

I spend a lot of time thinking about how changes in technology are affecting radio.

I worry that the “kids” (college radio DJs as well as everyday folks) are getting lazier and lazier, bypassing physical music for digital, thinking that it’s easier to find and play.

I also worry that the pleasure of enjoying an entire album is being lost; even though there are still albums being created that beg for a complete listen.

In a piece in The Boston Globe, Steve Almond nicely captures some of these fears as he takes a look at his own feelings of nostalgia for physical music as he converts his record collection to digital files. He writes:

Radio Free Roscoe

Being both a television and a radio fanatic; I present to you my personal “top 5″ list for TV shows with some sort of radio theme. Some series focus more on radio than others; but in my mind they all showcase the medium and represent a range of radio stations. I was hoping to do a “top 10″ list, but poor radio is often quite absent from the world of television.

Here are my five favorites (in no particular order).

1. Beverly Hills, 90210 (Fox, 1990-2000)

Who can forget DJ David Silver and his lengthy radio career throughout the series? He began as a dorky high school freshman DJ at the West Beverly High radio station. The station’s window overlooked the hallway, so David was often a commentator on the campus scene and gossip. When he graduated and went off to California University he began his career as a college radio DJ, which was famously side-tracked by his descent into drug abuse in order to stay awake following graveyard shifts at the station. After graduation David was often seen doing live remotes from the Peach Pit After Dark; as he hosted a late night show on commercial station KBIB.

2. Radio Free Roscoe (2003-2005 in Canada on The Family Channel)

This series follows in the long-standing tradition of excellent teen TV coming out of Canada. With a diverse cast of characters and more realistic-looking kids, Radio Free Roscoe tells the story of students who run a pirate radio station. Their high school actually has an above-board station (Cougar Radio) that the Radio Free Roscoe kids created their station in response to (like people used to do with underground newspapers). Making things even more interesting is the fact that the DJs all have secret identities and are not known to their classmates. You can still catch re-runs of this classic teen show on Teen Nick. (more…)

Hmm. It seems like there’s a fair chance that a law opening up new possibilities for Low Power FM might actually get to prez Obama’s desk this or next year. I’ve been skeptical up until now, but Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington’s Local Community Radio Act S 592 is scheduled for markup and committee vote on Thursday at the Senate Committee on Commerce Science and Transportation. And a similar bill has gotten out of Committee in the House. So we’re seeing some serious movement on this front.

How nice it would be if this actually got passed, so at least some medium sized (if not big) cities could get some new community radio stations. The gist of these laws is that current interference restrictions would be relaxed, making it easier for community groups to get licenses.

Here’s the text of Cantwell’s bill and a press release from the Prometheus project: (more…)

Andrea Lewis

It was a hard thing for me to learn today that Andrea Lewis, long time public affairs programmer at KPFA-FM in Berkeley, is dead. The statement from KPFA’s Amelia Gonzalez (see below) says that it may have been a heart attack. Whatever did her in, it’s a huge tragedy. She was 52 years young.

Andrea was a vibrant, intelligent and credible voice at KPFA, a spirited interviewer interested in everything and anything related to human (and even non-human) affairs. I was privileged to be interviewed by her on many occasions, and enjoyed myself thoroughly every time.

My heart goes out to Andrea’s parents and to all her loved ones, friends, and colleagues everywhere as we come to terms with this awful loss.

“It is we deep sadness that we bring you the news of the death of our own Andrea Lewis this weekend of an apparent heart attack at her San Francisco home. She was just 52. Andrea’s parents are on their way from Florida. We are planning a memorial service and will let you know as soon as we have details. Andrea came to KPFA in 1999 as a co-host of the Morning Show. She later became host of Sunday Sedition and an Evening News Co-Anchor. Andrea was a true Renaissance woman with an interest in politics, world affairs, sports, science, music and the arts. She was dedicated to discussing on and off the air the issues of social justice, especially in regards to racial and gender equity. Her booming laugh filled the hallways of the station. Andrea occasionally hosted Pacifica National broadcasts; she was an early host for Free Speech Radio News. Andrea wrote for the Progressive Magazine, sang with the S.F. Community Chorus, was a former Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University — and was an avid golfer. We — and the listeners — will all miss her tremendously.”