A slow week here in August for low-power FM, with no new construction permits approved in the last week. There was no other LPFM action from the FCC, with no applications canceled or denied, either. Here are some recent stories of note: Radio World published a thorough overview of REC Networks’ proposal to the FCC […]
Summer break is rapidly drawing to a close and college campuses will soon be a buzz of activity as students return for the fall semester. I’ve been on my own break, traveling to the Pacific Northwest (which also allowed me to record last week’s Radio Survivor Podcast live in the studio in Portland, Oregon!), so […]
Here is some backstory on how a community radio station will soon be broadcasting from a guitar store. In the beginning there was the Meteor Theater of Bentonville, Arkansas. One Mr. Harry Kelly, a lover of movies, built it for around $30,000. The Meteor, as it came to be called, opened in 1927, premiering Venus […]
From community radio station Radio Lillooet off the Fraser River of British Columbia comes a work-in-progress titled “Old Planet, Young People.” The final product will be eight pre-recorded documentaries on environmental research in and around Lillooet. But a lot of the program seems like it will be about critters. There is, in fact, quite a bit […]
Some interesting back story on how KUAV 105.1 Kwatsan Radio in Winterhaven, California got its inspiration. Members of the Fort Yuma Quechan tribe started an Internet radio station in 2010 to foster a “modern approach to increasing knowledge around the culture and traditions of the Quechan people,” according to the operation’s website. But the stream’s […]
Just one LPFM construction permit was issued by the FCC in the past week, to the Community Advocacy Coalition of Ventura County, in Oxnard, California. As construction permits issued 18 months ago are expiring some of the other low-power radio action pertains to extensions for stations that are not yet on the air. For instance, […]
A brief notice on WFMU in New Jersey’s Beware of the Blog blog indicates that the feature is going into what could be called a deep hiatus. “After ten fun-filled years, we’re packing up shop here at WFMU’s Beware of the Blog,” the post says. “Many thanks to the dozens of volunteer authors who put […]
Class D FM radio licenses are a dying breed. Low power and subject to getting shuffled around the dial in order to make way for bigger broadcasters, it can be tough for many non-commercial educational FM class D stations (mostly college and high school stations) to be heard. In recent years we’ve seen a number […]
Related: Matthew Lasar takes a look under the hood of Audience Engine. Does America’s maverick freeform music station have what it takes to shake up non-profit journalism? It’s no secret non-commercial news online is facing hardships. Funding and engagement remain persistent needs, with no guaranteed formulas for staying afloat in a competitive journalism field. The […]
It’s fascinating to learn more about the roots of low power FM and earlier this week, Brian Fauteux published his interview with author Christina Dunbar-Hester, whose book, Low Power to the People: Pirates, Protest, and Politics in FM Radio Activism, looks into the history of low power radio. Dunbar-Hester recounts the important role that activists […]
