WBAI-FM becoming a “home shopping network”?
WBAI-FM’s Local Station Board has passed a sweeping resolution calling on the New York City based listener sponsored station to cut down on its fund drives and build up its audience. The resolution, passed on Wednesday, asks WBAI management to produce “concrete plans” to drop on-air fundraising days by 40 percent over the next three […]
College Radio Day Draws 365 Stations and Goes International in 2012
This Tuesday, October 11th marked the first annual College Radio Day all over North America and in the wake of that event, more attention has been fixated on the future of college radio (at least by the mainstream press). Understandably, stories about the celebration of the medium of college radio have been overshadowed a bit […]
Even Randy Michaels admits his Chicago FM news experiment is not quite a success
Here’s some news that should be absolutely no surprise to Radio Survivor listeners: Randy Michaels’ new FM news station in Chicago WWWN-FM is tanking in the ratings. In fact, the former Tribune chief‘s station sits at number 48, a mere 45 spots below its main competitor, the news-talk stalwart WBBM, which not coincidentally has added […]
NPR: He’s “Mr. Obama” to us
It seems that NPR listeners are grumbling again about the network’s practice of calling President Obama “Mr. Obama,” rather than using “President” on a consistent basis. “A number of listeners have written in recent weeks complaining that NPR reporters refer to President Obama as ‘Mr. Obama’,” notes NPR ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos. But “since the mid-1970s […]
What do Paris Hilton, Rob Lowe and Ira Glass have in common?
The answer: a leaked sex tape. It’s been making the rounds of the blogosphere this week. And if you keep your NPR affiliate on all day long, or load your iPhone up with This American Life and Planet Money podcasts, then this is the sex tape you’ve been waiting for. Or not. OK, it’s not […]
WFMU to salute “radio superheroes”
WFMU has announced the details of its Radiovision festival, scheduled for October 28, 29, and 30. The event includes a Saturday “origin stories” panel featuring Ira Glass, Marc Maron, and Tom Scharpling. “The best comic book superheroes all have great origin stories,” WFMU’s blog explains. “We are kicking things off with a discussion about Origin […]
Peculiar Russian shortwave numbers station is an unlikely internet star
Anyone who has spent some quality time scanning the shortwave radio bands has likely come upon what are known as numbers stations. To the uninitiated the stations air what the name describes, someone reading of a sequence of numbers. They can be in any language, but most commonly are in English, Spanish or Russian. They […]
eMusic’s semi-curated approach to internet radio – a review of eMusic Radio
eMmusic is an online music store that pretty much pioneered the sale of unprotected MP3 music tracks in the early 2000s. The site has gone through ownership and business model changes over the years, shifting from its original monthly all-you-can-download plan to a number-of-tracks a month, and finally to the current X dollars a month […]
The college radio “guerillas” who made NPR possible
College Radio Day has come and gone, but I’d like to add a historic footnote to the festivities. College radio broadcasters in the 1960s convinced Congress to fund radio as well as television in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. Without that campaign, it is unlikely that NPR would exist. The story is beautifully told […]
6 Things You Should do to Support College Radio on College Radio Day
Today marks the first annual College Radio Day. More than 350 stations all over the United States and Canada have signed up to participate. The concept’s fairly simple, it’s a day when people are encouraged to tune in to college radio and the goal is increasing awareness of the amazing range of stations based at […]