As the first round of AM stations get a shot at having translator repeaters on the FM dial, the FCC’s AM revitalization proceeding is still not completely resolved. There are still several questions that the Commission is accepting comments on, until March 21. Broadcast attorney David Oxenford presents a very thorough rundown of these issues […]
Archive | Policy
Major Labels Sue Internet Radio Platform Radionomy for Copyright Infringement
Another major threat to small and medium sized internet radio stations has surfaced. As Torrent Freak first reported Tuesday, on February 26 four major recording labels filed suit in federal court against internet radio platform Radionomy, charging that the company engaged in copyright infringement. The plaintiffs–Arista Records, LaFace Records, Sony Music and Zomba Records–allege that […]
Marking Network Neutrality’s First Anniversary
Friday was the one-year anniversary of the FCC’s Open Internet Order, which established strong network neutrality rules in the U.S., in part by reclassifying internet service as a public utility. As Public Knowledge’s Meredith Whipple observes, “despite the clamoring of the ISPs that Title II would be the end of times, the Internet ecosystem is […]
LPFM Watch: Another Radio Pirate Denied an LPFM
The first new low-power FM construction permit since January has been issued, to Wimberly Texan Radio, in Wimberly, TX. Also, in the last two weeks 18 new LPFMs have received their licenses. There was one interesting dismissal from an applicant that the FCC determined was associated with an unlicensed station. As discovered and reported to […]
Can your local radio announcer pronounce your city’s name? Chris Terry on the Telecommunications Act of 1996
Once upon a time no company could own more than 20 AM and 20 FM stations nationwide. Then came the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which removed any national restrictions on radio station ownership. In a recent edition of our podcast, Paul Riismandel and Eric Klein sat down with Dr. Christopher Terry at the University of […]
Will Performance Royalties Create a New Class of Radio Pirate?
Thousands of internet radio stations have gone silent in 2016, while thousands more may yet shut down, primarily because of new performance royalty fees that have skyrocketed for small and mid-sized internet radio stations. In this piece I explore how this challenge might encourage some webcasters to give up complying with the law and simply […]
Independent Internet Radio Still Imperiled
Internet radio expert Kurt Hanson declared January 31 to be Sunday Bloody Sunday for the medium. Most significantly, that was the day that Live365 turned off 5000-some internet radio streams it hosted for broadcasters large and small. The shutdown comes after several other internet stations announced their closure, and countless more quietly went away. The […]
Live365 to Broadcasters: We’re Shutting Down Jan. 31
Live365 is one of the oldest streaming radio service providers, having provided online broadcast tools to countless webcasters, small and large, since July 1999. Early on the service made it comparatively easy for just about anyone to start her own internet radio station, and remained a popular option. It’s sad to learn, then, that Live365 […]
LPFM Watch: 19 New Low-Power FM Stations Licensed
No new low-power FM construction permits have been issues yet so far in 2016. No applications have been dismissed, either. As I mentioned last week, there are only about 100 applications left to be processed by the FCC, so it’s likely we will see most, if not all, of these dealt with by year’s end. […]
2015 in Review: LPFM Made it Community Radio’s Biggest Leap Forward
With regard to new stations going on the air, 2015 represented the biggest single-year leap forward for non-commercial and community radio in U.S. history. At the end of the year 524 new low-power FM stations had been fully licensed during the year. This represents a 68% increase in the overall number of LPFM stations compared […]