Radio Shack’s Super Bowl ad tickles and teases radio nerds
Even though fans attending the Super Bowl received a free radio from Westwood One so they could listen to the game at the stadium, I discovered that the Super Bowl broadcast was indeed blacked out from stations’ internet streams yesterday. So I settled down in front of the television to watch the Broncos get utterly […]
Remembering Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Pirate Radio”
Like many folks, I’m still shocked and saddened about the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman yesterday. He left us too soon. Writers across the web have been paying tribute by taking a look at some of his most iconic film roles. But as a long-time observer of the clandestine art of unlicensed radio, I […]
Last.fm and the YouTube commons
You don’t hear a great deal about Last.fm these days, in large part because it has been eclipsed by a myriad of new streaming music services. But on Wednesday the company announced that it had forged a deal with Spotify to bring the latter’s whole catalogue to Last.fm users. “Whether it be your own profile […]
Comedy Bang Bang, SModcast, and Pocketnow win Stitcher awards
I walked from my San Francisco house to the Second Annual Stitcher Awards last night, and there was Mr. Snap Judgment himself announcing winners. “If you and your friends didn’t know what podcasting was last year, that’s on you,” Glynn Washington told a Mission District audience of podcasters. “If you still don’t know this year, […]
College Radio Survivor: Student Radio in Slovenia, Awards, and More LPFMs
This week’s College Radio Survivor will cover some recent college radio news and new college radio LPFM application grants, but first I wanted to share a link to an incredible documentary about a long-time college radio station in Slovenia. Non-commercial, independent radio station Radio Student was founded in 1969 by the Association of Students of […]
Catch Super Bowl XLVIII on the radio this Sunday
Looking for info on how to listen to this 2021’s Super Bowl LV? Click here. Sports are nearly as popular on the radio as on television. As USA Today observes, there are 289 more all-sports radio stations on the air since 2006, and this weekend’s Super Bowl is their “summit.” All these stations will be […]
“I Am What I Play”: documenting the rock DJ
Roger King of the Toronto/Montreal based Performance Network Agency wrote to us a fortnight ago with some exciting news. He has a documentary film in the works on the glory days of the rock radio deejay. Title: “I am what I play.” Subtitle: “a feature film about the heyday of rock radio.” From the sixties […]
LPFM Watch: More than 400 LPFM Applications Granted this Month
It’s been a busy week at the FCC, with the tally of newly granted low power FM (LPFM) applications now inching towards 500 (up from just over 200 at this time last week). It’s incredible to see the wide variety of organizations that are now one step closer to getting on the air. Animal advocacy […]
Uppercase Magazine celebrates broadcasting, broadly considered
I was in a local independent book and magazine shop this weekend when a nicely designed magazine on a display table immediately drew my attention. I had never seen Uppercase Magazine before. But the sleek cover art mixing up a radio with knitting needles as the antenna and a stylized ball of yarn as the […]
Podcast Survivor: ‘Earbuds’ – Documenting the connection between fans and podcasters
One of the recurring topics of discussion around podcasts is the fact that it seems like a relatively small number of people actually listen to them, especially compared to the audience for videos of cats playing the theremin. Comedian and podcaster Graham Elwood told me, “I feel like podcasting (now) is kind of like Rock […]