In the past year, a number of high profile college radio stations have been moved off FM. Many claim that we are in the midst of a crisis, in which university officials are contemplating selling or leasing their valuable FM airwaves in exchange for monetary compensation. In order to address this trend, CMJ assembled a […]
Archive | Noncommercial Radio
Snapshot of College Broadcasters Inc. Conference
I’ve already shared a little bit about the College Broadcasters, Inc. conference that I attended in Orlando at the end of October. The event was full of practical sessions about college radio (and TV) and I was inspired by all of the students who expressed their enthusiasm for student media. Some folks from the radio […]
KPFA: scenes from Occupy Oakland
In its normative helter skelter way, Pacifica radio is providing ongoing coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Several weeks ago I posted a piece critical of New York station WBAI’s lack of live coverage of the activities in Zuccoti Park and elsewhere around the area. Since then ‘BAI has launched Occupy Wall Street Radio […]
College Radio in the Spotlight
I’m always immersed in the world of college radio, but the past few weeks have taken my college radio immersion to another level, with back-to-back college radio conferences consuming my schedule. First up was the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City, followed by the College Broadcasters, Inc. (CBI) conference in Orlando, Florida. Although both […]
Guess How Many Licensed Radio Stations there are in the U.S.?
Today the FCC released two lists containing the total number of licensed broadcast stations in the United States. Despite the crowded radio dial, the number of licensed radio stations increased between June and September, 2011. According to the FCC, as of September 30, 2011 (PDF), there were 14,865 radio stations in the U.S. That represents […]
Harold Camping Issues Vague Apology, Says World will End without Warning
October 21, 2011 came and went and Family Radio founder Harold Camping’s dire predictions about the end of the world occurring on that date never came to be. Although he’s been recuperating from a stroke and is rumored to be retiring from Family Radio, the 90-year-old Christian radio host was noticeably silent on his latest […]
Community Radio Comes to Borneo
Jim Ellinger of Austin Airwaves wrote with exciting news about a community radio station that he’s helping to launch along with RadioActive Radio in Borneo. Apparently the first community-run radio station in Malaysia, Radio Bario launched two weeks ago over the FM airwaves in the central highlands of Borneo. Yesterday Ellinger reported that the station […]
Shocker: public radio station asks listeners about format changes before making them
I could barely believe my eyes as I opened my Radio Survivor e-mail today and saw this notice from KALW-FM in San Francisco: “KALW is considering some significant changes for 2012, and before we move forward, we want to know what you think,” the announcement explains. The station is overseen by San Francisco’s Unified School […]
College Radio Still in the Spotlight at CMJ Music Marathon: Music Directors Talk Shop
Last week I was in New York City for the CMJ Music Marathon. As always, the city was packed with bands and college radio DJs who were either in town to discover the next big thing or in town to be discovered. My focus, as it has been the past few times that I’ve attended, […]
FCC Issues $10,000 Forfeiture Order to Pirate Cat Radio Founder
On Friday, the FCC posted a notice that a forfeiture order (PDF) for $10,000 was issued to Pirate Cat Radio founder Daniel “Monkey Man” Roberts for “willfully and repeatedly violating section 301 of the Communications Act of 1934…by operating an unlicensed radio broadcast station” in San Francisco. The letter is a follow-up to an earlier […]