FCC upholds fine for Pirate Cat founder as station re-emerges in Berlin
Today the FCC released an order upholding a $10,000 fine against Dan Roberts, former manager of Pirate Cat Radio, for unlicensed broadcasting. The fine was originally issued in 2011. Pirate Cat Radio began as an audacious and prominent unlicensed station operating out of a San Francisco cafe, headed up by charismatic leader Dan Roberts who […]
Welcome to Night Vale: the 8tracks playlists
I assume that I am not the only Radio Survivorist who follows the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. The show is so beloved that 8tracks.com playlists of all kinds have proliferated in honor of the series. A short guide to them follows. But first, a description of the program for the uninitiated. Welcome to Night […]
Country music rules (even more) in new Nielsen radio report
Nielsen released the news that around 242 million Americans listen to radio each week in December. Now its State of the Media Audio Report is out, with formats ranked by share of total listening. Not only is Country Music the top format, but it is the #1 choice for Nielsen’s “Generation X” (35 to 49) […]
College Radio Survivor: WZRD Fined for Public File Violation
This week the FCC issued a Notice of Apparent Liability (PDF) for Forfeiture to Northeastern Illinois University for $1000 for a public file violation. According to the notice, college radio station WZRD’s public file was missing 12 issues/programs lists from 2007-2010. In the course of renewing its license, WZRD admitted to the missing lists, stating […]
CHRS Seeks Funds to Purchase Home for Bay Area Radio Museum
Last month we wrote about the California Historical Radio Society (CHRS)’s plans to move from its current home at the KRE building in Berkeley to a new space in Alameda. Due to some ownership changes at the Berkeley location (which is also a transmitter site for KVTO-AM, the descendent of historic radio station KRE), the […]
NPR experiments with viral audio
On the heels of radio journalist Stan Alcorn’s inquiry into why web audio does or does not go viral, the Nieman Journalism Lab lets us in on a little experiment that NPR has been running to see if public radio stations can create viral audio segments. Though the report says there’s too little data to […]
Free Speech Radio News returns on Feb. 11 with daily online updates
A little more than four months after ending production, the independent and non-profit daily Free Speech Radio News program is launching the first phase of its reboot with a new website and fresh updates on February 11. Administrative Coordinator Nell Abram said that the new site will feature daily updates, including audio segments ranging from […]
LPFM Watch: First LPFM granted in a Top 20 urban market
The FCC’s Media Bureau continues its breakneck pace approving low-power FM license applications. More than 200 additional construction permits have been issued since our report last week, bringing the grand total to 708 new LPFM stations authorized. Yesterday the first LPFM in the urban core of a major top 20 market was issued. That went […]
Thank you Spotify’s Forgotify for songs I don’t think I knew in the first place
The endlessly creative Spotify applications keep coming. The latest: Forgotify, which randomly streams long forgotten tracks, or, in my case, songs I don’t think I ever knew from the getgo. Here’s what I got in 20 minutes or so of listening: Mani Demon Chants, by Men of the Wilkili Village from the album “The Living, Dead […]
Podcast Survivor: This week’s podcasting news
In this week’s podcasting news: PRX launches podcast network focused on sustaining the medium Podcasts continue to dominate Stitcher Awards Podcasting veteran Rob Greenlee joins PodcastOne Patent troll demands “Save Podcasting” campaign donor info. PRX Launches Podcast Network I’ve been writing quite a bit about how podcasting and independent radio can become sustainable. This week […]