Is AM revitalization a cover to force an all-digital transition?
We received a couple of comments on my post about the revitalization of AM radio pointing to pieces that make convincing arguments that it was not a mere suggestion made at NAB last week to go all-digital with HD Radio on AM. Rather, there are forces at work to put this into policy, contrary to […]
KZSU’s Day of Noise Features 24 hours of Live Experimental Music
Stanford University’s college radio station KZSU 90.1 FM is a few hours away from the conclusion of its 11th Day of Noise. Despite the “noise” moniker, the music being played today isn’t necessarily noisy or discordant. According to the KZSU website, the Day of Noise is “Twenty-four hours straight of live experimentation and improvisation, featuring […]
Dictator blocking your Internet? Try a Radiogram
One of my favorite correspondents has brought the Voice of America’s Radiogram project to my attention. The venture experiments with transmitting digital text and images via shortwave broadcasting. Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott is running the show with some technical assistance from my aforementioned contact: Bennett Kobb. “These experiments are intended to establish the best mode […]
Is AM radio worth revitalizing?
This week is the annual National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas, which brings thousands of broadcasters, manufacturers, producers and journalists together to talk about and see what’s next for broadcasting. Radio tends to play a very quiet second fiddle to television and video at this show. But this year radio’s own second fiddle, […]
WRIR Curates Live Performances at Local Shops for Record Store Day
Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record stores, will take place all over the world on Saturday, April 20th. Non-commercial radio and independent record stores often have a synergistic relationship, so it makes sense that they would be natural partners for this event. Over the years I’ve heard about interesting collaborations between radio […]
UCRN Spring College Radio Conference Covers Radio’s Past and Future
Saturday was a fun day of radio immersion for me, as I attended the spring University of California Radio Network (UCRN) conference at KZSC at University of California, Santa Cruz. Around 115 people, including volunteers, students, DJs, staff, and advisers from numerous California college radio stations headed to the lovely station in the woods in […]
Simplify your desktop radio listening with m3u files
Here’s a simple tip for making it easier for you to tune into your favorite radio station as an online stream. That “m3u” file that you sometimes wind up downloading when you click the “listen” button on the station’s web site? Keep it on your desktop and click when you feel like tuning in. That […]
Reports: Pandora rules, AM/FM survives, where is it all going?
Two recent market surveys of Internet music services and AM/FM radio confirm my suspicion that nobody knows where the latter medium is going/staying in relation to the former. If you are an Internet streaming music booster, you will be buoyed by new data from the NDP consumer research group. The survey concludes that in the […]
Citing budget cuts BBC & Voice of America cut back shortwave broadcasts
State broadcasters around the world have been cutting back on their shortwave transmissions over the last few years, typically attributing the reductions to a combination of budget challenges and declining listenership. With the start of April and the beginning of the 2nd quarter the Voice of America and BBC just trimmed shortwave broadcasts. Citing budget […]
Decentralized Dance Party aims to Kickstart documentary & global radio parties
Last year we posted about the Decentralized Dance Party’s appearance at SXSW. The DDP uses a low-power unlicensed FM transmitter worn in a backpack, instead of a PA, to broadcast dance party music in public places to participants carrying boombox radios all tuned to the same frequency. Project founders Tom and Gary call it “The […]