On a rainy New York City day this spring, I headed to Morningside Heights in upper Manhattan for a visit to Columbia University’s college radio station WKCR 89.9 FM. The 76-year-old station has a deep respect for its history and I was delighted to see numerous reel-to-reel players, an entire room full of vintage audio […]
A mysterious situation is brewing at St. Clair County Community College’s college radio station WSGR-FM, where word has it that the station has been shut down after 43 years on the air. According to the Port Huron Times Herald, The radio station was originally intended for students in the broadcasting degree program, which was discontinued […]
The Chicago Independent Radio Project launched as an internet radio station nearly a decade ago, with a mission of bringing a truly independent music- and arts-focused community radio station to Chicago. Thanks to the Local Community Radio Act, which allowed the growth of low-power FM stations in the nation’s biggest cities—and a lot of hard […]
Are TV shows the new college radio? An article on Interlochen, The Rewiring of Our Relationship to Music, dissects music discovery and invokes college radio in a few places. The author first references student radio DJs as understanding the importance of both old and new music, writing, “College-radio DJs, a guild whose influence is disappearing, knew […]
We’ve seen some press coverage in the last week or so highlighting radios survival and revival. Though this is not news to the Radio Survivor faithful—it’s also not fake news—and we think it’s still a good thing to track and take note of. Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger highlights eight (!) new low-power FM community stations […]
Typically when I’m interviewed by the media about the state of college radio, there’s an underlying assumption by the writer or publication that college radio is in a state of decline. Frequently, I feel like I’m taking a defensive stance, pointing out that radio listenership is still high, that hundreds of college radio stations still […]
Mendocino County has a bounty of new community radio stations thanks to the recent low power FM (LPFM) application window and I was excited to get to visit one of those stations: KLLG-LP in Willits, California earlier this year. After spending the night near the coast, I headed inland, driving on a windy country road […]
We’ve talked about community podcasting on the show, now we want to connect the dots to community radio. The apparent ubiquity of public radio podcasts makes it seem like a podcast of a radio show is just automatic. But, in fact, turning terrestrial shows into consistent podcasts requires work and thoughtful planning behind the scenes. […]
After an enjoyable trip to Washington, D.C. for the Radio Preservation Task Force Conference, I’m back with my college radio news round-up. In addition to station profiles, college radio awards, and news of expansions (in studios and radio programs); it’s also radio drama season, with several schools doing new radio theater productions. Read on for […]
Decades before the invention of the MP3, the audiocassette, along with the home dubbing deck and four-track tape recorders, put the power to create and distribute recordings into the hands of anyone with the will to record. No longer reliant on record labels or the capital investment needed to rent studio time and press records, […]
