Randy Michaels pulls the plug on FM News in Chicago and New York
After less than a year on the air, former Tribune and Clear Channel honcho Randy Michaels has thrown in the towel on his FM news experiments in Chicago and New York City. His Merlin Media company aimed the stations to appeal to young women, but instead ended up with watered-down, amateurish broadcasts that quickly sank […]
Object to reruns of Car Talk? Then what about Firesign Theater and Alan Watts?
We briefly return to the Great Car Talk Debate in this post. I lean towards the argument that public radio stations shouldn’t recycle old editions of the popular show, now that it has ceased new broadcasts. Radio Survivor’s Paul Riismandel put it very well in his commentary supporting Ira Glass’s objection to the idea. “I […]
Radio World spotlights college radio
This week’s edition of Radio World shines a light on college radio, featuring a commentary written by Radio Survivor’s own Jennifer Waits. She writes about vital cultural, community and learning role that college stations play: “Although the college stations that I’ve encountered have a variety of guises, they all serve an important purpose for their […]
California Historical Radio Society’s Radio Day by the Bay Attracts Radio Fans to KRE
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the California Historical Radio Society‘s annual Radio Day by the Bay at historic radio station KRE in Berkeley. Having never been to KRE, I was excited to explore not only the station, but also the exhibits curated by the CHRS and the Bay Area Radio Museum and […]
NPR, religious broadcasters split on FCC third party fundraising proposal
Opinions are coming in on the Federal Communications Commission’s proposal to let public broadcasters spend a little more on air time running fundraising campaigns for charities and related nonprofits. One divide is obvious. Religious broadcasters love this idea. NPR hates it. “Removing the prohibition on third-party fundraising would create the potential for stations to be […]
Some John Cage on FM in the garden
Despite the east coast heat, I wish I’d been at the Suffolk Street Community Garden on the Lower East Side of New York on Sunday. There free103point9 revved up a couple of FM transmitters and treated the locals to a performance titled “Habits of Imagination,” an “outdoor public installation/performance using live broadcast radio and audience interaction […]
College Radio News Round-Up – WBZC’s Electronic Music, West Virginia’s thriving stations, and KBGA’s Freeform Mantra
Summer is a slow time for college radio news, but a few recent stories caught my interest: College Radio Thriving in West Virginia According to an article in the Charleston Gazette, several West Virginia-based college radio stations are thriving, despite national buzz about recent station shut-downs and sales. Western Virginia University station WWVU 91.7 FM […]
UK revises short term radio license procedures for Ramadan
One of the more interesting permits that Britain’s radio/telecom regulator offers radio broadcasters is short term restricted service licenses (SRSLs for you acronym lovers). They’re reserved for community events, festivals, non-profit offerings, those kind of things. Some noted restricted license holders of the past have included Radio Caroline, Radio Avalon (the Glastonbury Festival), and Takeover […]
Alexander Cockburn, community radio provocateur, 1941-2012
Alexander Cockburn, long associated with a variety of leftist publications, is dead at the age of 71. He died after a “fierce two year battle with cancer,” his friend and associate at Counterpunch, Jeffrey St. Clair, reports: Alex kept his illness a tightly guarded secret. Only a handful of us knew how terribly sick he […]
FCC’s Quarterly Station Count Indicates that Radio is Still Growing in U.S.
The FCC just released its quarterly list of the total number of licensed broadcast stations in the United States. Based on their statistics through June 30, 2012, the number of licensed broadcast radio stations is still on the rise, continuing the trend that we saw last quarter as well as in the quarter ending in […]