Last month the Federal Communications Commission announced new rules that will give Native Americans “tribal priority” when it comes to applying for radio licenses. Now the agency may extend that principle to wireless licenses as well. Here’s what FCC Chair Julius Genachowski told the National Congress of Native Americans today: “The Commission recently adopted rules […]
Archive | Policy
The Radio Survivor Guide to escaping mainstream radio
Radio Survivor’s Helen Yamamoto offers her comprehensive guide to every band genre that she (and we) can think of on the ‘Net.
Hopeful week for radio/media stocks?
Given the state of the economy, last week wasn’t so bad for radio/media company investors. And this week might improve depending on what Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke says, and what Sirius XM reports in its fourth quarter and full 2009 earnings press conference on Thursday. Saga Communications, Cumulus Media, Entercom, and Citadel all reported […]
College Radio Barely Present Amid New "Educational Radio" Licenses
It was some pretty exciting news from the FCC on Tuesday, when they announced the list of 59 organizations who won the non-commercial educational radio license lottery. Although I was thrilled for some of the winners, as a college radio observer, I was saddened and surprised to see that very few colleges or educational institutions […]
Sirius Stock Back on the Dollar Menu
After languishing in near-penny-stock territory for the last year, Sirius XM Radio stock hit the dollar menu on Wednesday, topping out at $1.05 a share. Investors who bought their stock a year ago when it sold for less than 20 cents are probably cheering. Sirius hasn’t seen the plus size of one buck since September […]
FCC Awards Full-Power Licenses to 5 LPFMs, Plus 52 More Orgs
The FCC opened up an important licensing window for new noncommercial FM stations in 2007, announcing the first round of license winners in 2008. However another 59 licenses remained up in the air due to the Commission needing to pick a winner amongst competing applications. The FCC announced those winners on Tuesday [PDF]. The Commission […]
Parents TV Council: Stop Howard Stern from joining American Idol!
The Parents Television Council has a message for Sirius radio shock jock Howard Stern’s reported plans to join American Idol: No pasará—he shall not pass. “WHEREAS Howard Stern is one of the most profane, sexually-explicit and anti-family performers in the history of the broadcast medium;” declares the PTC’s latest resolution and petition (which the group […]
FCC proposes fine for New York FM station after bogus death notice
A radio station that staged a prank call to a New York woman claiming that her husband had been badly hurt in a motorcycle accident, then died in a hospital, has received a proposed fine of $16,000 from the Federal Communications Commission. Here’s an excerpt from the August 2007 exchange: “Mr. Ithier: Juliana, oh, oh […]
Community Radio’s Challenges After the Haitian Quake
As we wrote last week, radio has played a vital communications role in Haiti in the weeks following its devastating earthquake last month. But what we didn’t cover in that story is the sad state of some Haitian community radio stations which have suffered major damage to buildings and equipment. According to a series of […]
Gaston College Radio Station Fined $8K for Public File Violation
One of the things that every radio DJ learns during training is the importance of a station’s “public file.” Every FCC-licensed broadcast station in the United States is required to maintain a public inspection file, containing a number of items including documents pertaining to a station’s license and ownership. The file should also house FCC […]