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. According to the report, Bus Radio doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of the FCC since it does not hold a broadcast license. However, the FCC still felt it was appropriate to take a look at the service in order to assess whether or not it was in “the public interest.”

The FCC found that BusRadio could improve its practices and pointed out a number of specific concerns, including:

“Our review of the record leads us to conclude that the amount of commercial matter distributed on BusRadio likely exceeds that claimed by the company.

In addition, the manner in which BusRadio presents content to its audience, i.e., without separating commercials from programming, complicates the process of quantifying accurately the amount of advertising actually distributed, and has the potential to confuse children.

BusRadio could conform its programming practices to standards established by the Commission for broadcast television licensees and independent regulatory bodies such as CARU [Children's Advertising Review Unit]. These standards are designed to address several of the concerns raised in this proceeding regarding BusRadio’s commercial content.”

Although the FCC pointed out various areas for improvement, it ultimately acknowledged that it was not able to determine if BusRadio was in the public interest, instead leaving that decision up to local communities to decide. In its report, the FCC encouraged BusRadio to provide more detailed information about its programming to parents and school districts:

“We encourage BusRadio to adopt more specific content guidelines, make them easily accessible on its website, and establish processes that allow parents and other parties to monitor its programming in a timely and effective manner. Such measures will empower these stakeholders to make educated decisions about BusRadio that advance the best interests of children.”

Who knows what ultimately led Bus Radio to come to a screeching halt; but the closer scrutiny into its practices must have played a role. Although the FCC didn’t find anything egregious, it’s clear that anything having to do with advertising to kids is going to be controversial. And, I for one, am happy that buses are now free of kid-targetting advertising messages. The kid-focused BusRadio website is still up today (complete with Barbie ads, celebrity photos, and community features), so it’s unclear when all of its services will get shut down completely.

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.

Beyond contending that the question of the appropriateness of BusRadio should handled locally, the FCC did suggest that the company make it easier for parents to monitor the service.

“BusRadio’s Content Guidelines may well be a useful tool in identifying age-appropriate
content, but the effectiveness of the guidelines is difficult to assess without meaningful monitoring of compliance. It is unclear whether, or to what extent, BusRadio conforms its practices to the Content Guidelines. In this regard, we find valid some commenters’ views that the posting of BusRadio’s daily programs – after they have been distributed – fails to enable parents to avoid exposure of their children to undesirable content.”

Indeed, when we logged into BusRadio’s parents section with our password, we could listen to yesterday’s stream. But most parents aren’t going to have the time to do that. They’ll want easier access to play lists and content, and the company should comply with this recommendation.

Beyond that, deciding whether to go with the service will always be a tough call. BusRadio’s website is pretty commercialized, but the stream itself is less ad driven than most FM or AM signals and a lot of these new mobile channels for teens. If you’re opposed to commercials on principle or don’t like how raunchy pop culture has gotten, you’re going to hate BusRadio no matter how many changes the company makes. But pragmatists may see the service as the lesser evil to what otherwise might wind up on school buses.

Say, why doesn’t National Public Radio come up with some kind of similar service? Of course, since it wouldn’t be commercial driven, it would require state, local, or federal funding—not a prospect in this economic environment. Still, down the line . . .

“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.