Radio Survivor

BusRadio's logo remains eternally optimistic

We just got word that BusRadio is no more. As we reported back in July, BusRadio was the source of controversy and parental ire for its radio service which was piped in to school buses around the country.

Congress even asked the FCC to take a look at BusRadio, to make sure that its practices were on the up and up. Critics of the service expressed concern about the airing of commercials and inappropriate music on school buses to a captive audience of children and teens.

According to an article on School Transportation News today,

“Customers were being informed that the current economy did in BusRadio, just weeks after the FCC issued a report to Congress on the legitimacy of claims made by the company that it produced age-appropriate content for students across the nation who ride school buses as well as at home via the Internet.”

BusRadio touted itself as a better alternative to AM/FM radio on school buses, stating on their website:

“Dear Parents,
We started BusRadio to provide a kid-friendly alternative to the AM/FM programming played on most school buses. You won’t hear shock jocks, songs with bleeped out words or beer ads on BusRadio. We create original radio shows each day packed with clean songs that kids love, age-appropriate DJ talk and carefully selected sponsorships designed for a young audience.”

Despite these claims, ever since their debut (they were founded in 2004), groups like Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood have been working to shut the service down. According to reports, Bus Radio cited the economy as the reason for closing their business and it stands to reason that they lost subscribers amid all of the protests and FCC investigation.

The FCC investigation resulted in a report dated September 8th. (more…)

Bus Radio

BusRadio should make it easier for parents to monitor what the company is piping into school buses, the Federal Communications Commission recommends. Beyond that, the question of whether the service is in the public interest should be left up to local school districts.

“We are mindful of concerns expressed by some parties that the harms resulting from BusRadio’s programs and practices far outweigh any countervailing benefits,” the FCC’s report concludes. “At the same time, we recognize that BusRadio is currently providing service to a number of school districts nationwide that, for various reasons, have arrived at a contrary conclusion.”

It makes sense that the FCC would suggest this, of course. The agency has no statutory authority over Internet radio.

Compliance unclear

As we’ve reported, Congress asked the Commission to review BusRadio following a slew of complaints by parents that the free Internet stream for school buses forces kids to listen to commercials and includes inappropriate content and songs. Massachusetts based BusRadio offers a streaming system for about a million bus riding students between the ages of 6 and 18. It also provides an emergency GPS tracking system for the 8,500 buses in 170 school districts in 24 states that subscribe to the service. (more…)

Every day I learn something new about radio and today I was really surprised to discover that there’s an entire radio service called BusRadio that is piped in to school buses and reaches a million kids. They tout themselves as “a superior, age-appropriate alternative to AM/FM radio programming.” According to an article in the Denver Post:

“BusRadio is free to the school districts and is heard each day on more than 9,000 school buses in 24 states. The districts receive a small amount of money for allowing the music on their buses. There is different programming for elementary, middle and high school students.”

US News and World Report picked up the story this week and goes into more detail about the service:

“…BusRadio sends music, contests, public service announcements, and commercials over the Internet to school district servers, which then forward the programming to buses using wireless transmitters.”

What’s controversial is the fact that BusRadio airs commercials and may not be playing age-appropriate music, according to detractors.  The Post article explains that Congress has initiated an FCC review:

“Supporters say the radio content calms the kids on what can at times be a hectic bus ride.

But some parents say forcing their children to listen to commercials on the bus is akin to having their kids held hostage by corporate America. They also say the music is sometimes age-inappropriate.”

This definitely reminds me of some of the anti-Channel One (ad-supported TV news in schools) rhetoric from back in the day. BusRadio is fighting this backlash and has an extensive Q&A section called “Myth vs. Reality” on its website where it refutes many of these claims. Additionally, they allow parents to register on their website in order to listen to actual BusRadio programs that their kids may have heard.

Regardless, I’m never that thrilled about forcing kids to listen to commercial radio. But the whole brouhaha does bring back memories of my junior high school bus rides. We would plead with our driver to play the hot rock station and would feel so victorious if he complied. That was our bus radio.