College Radio DJs from California Convene at KCSB for UCRN Conference
Over the weekend I road-tripped to Santa Barbara for the University of California Radio Network’s (UCRN) spring conference. Held at University of California, Santa Barbara’s college radio station KCSB, the event brought together radio station advisors, staff members, and DJs from (for the most part) University of California-affiliated college radio stations. Held twice a year, […]
FCC probe of Arbitron Portable People Meter is over
The Federal Communications Commission has called off its investigation of Arbitron’s controversial Portable People Meter. The PPM gadget replaced Arbitron’s old diary system, in which users jotted down their radio preferences. Instead they wear PPM’s like pagers, which listen to the signals in the consumer’s immediate vicinity. A group of minority media advocates, the PPM […]
Mellon Foundation kicking in a grant to buy Duquense University’s WDUQ
Luckily this is not another story about a student-run station being sold by its college. Instead, it’s about a public station being sold to another public radio group. WDUQ is Duquesne University’s public station in Pittsburgh, PA, airing much of the typical NPR news programming along with about 100 hours of jazz a week. Duquesne […]
The five things I do when I hear weird music on the radio
Not long ago I was driving down the San Francisco Bay Area’s Highway 280 and listening to Foothills Junior College’s KFJC-FM, and some really weird music came on. I tried to get what it was from the deejay’s back-announce commentary, but got distracted by traffic. Anyway, it sounded like Karlheinz Stockhausen’s piece for String Quartet […]
Pandora: 10 billion happy thumbs served
It ain’t 245 billion hamburgers, but Pandora’s Tim Westergren says that the ten billionth person to click the “happy thumb” on a Pandora tune has done so. “Just over a week ago, on Sunday, April 24th at 4:46pm, ‘Ridin’ Solo’ by Jason DeRulo received Pandora’s 10 billionth thumb. 10 BILLION…wow!,” Westergren notes in his latest […]
The mediageek’s advice for college stations, part 2: No more elitism — Recruit, recruit, recruit
The theme of part 1 of this series, posted last week, was ensuring that your college station works to be valuable to your school, and is also recognized by the campus for this value. Part 2 follows in this theme by focusing on the most important aspect of this: keeping students involved in college radio. […]
NPR statistical snapshot: a moderate/liberal news service
Over the last three weeks NPR has released some interesting statistical data about itself through its Ombudsman’s office. The data bolsters common knowledge, that NPR’s politics are moderate-to-liberal. Here is a summary of the revelations. Listeners First, the plurality of NPR listeners identify themselves as liberal, but a considerable percentage see themselves as either “conservative” […]
Public FCC Files on the Chopping Block
Just in time for the start of the latest radio station license-renewal cycle, the FCC opens up for question the notion of abolishing the public file requirement for broadcasters. This is not a self-imposed initiative: it is a consideration the agency is mandated to make, courtesy of the Paperwork Reduction Act. It requires regulatory agencies […]
Common Frequency Event Brings Together Community and College Stations for Education and Discussions on Future of Radio
On Saturday I headed out to Davis, California for a full day of radio immersion thanks to Common Frequency. I’ve been a fan of Common Frequency for awhile, so it was great to be able to not only learn more about their organization, but also meet some of the radio groups who they are helping. […]
Public station rewards donors with pledge-free web stream
I am a monthly donor to my local public radio station so that I don’t even have call in during its pledge drives — they’ve already got my donation. So despite their attempts to make the morning drive pledge pitches compelling, by the second or third day I turn the station off in the morning […]