Today We're Half-Way to LPFM
It’s a day that thousands of low-power FM and community radio activists have been awaiting for just about nine years. This evening, at 7:06 pm the House of Representatives, with a minimum of drama, passed H.R. 1147, the Local Community Radio Act of 2009 by voice vote. Little drama for the House nevertheless meant nearly […]
NPR to FCC: We're "relatively secure"
NPR tells the FCC that its “revenue model, while not immune to the economic and technological challenges of the day, is diversified and relatively secure.” Glad to hear it.
Big staff cuts at America's first listener supported radio station
Alas, my favorite listener supported radio station is not immune to this awful economic slump. KPFA-FM in Berkeley, California has announced across-the-board staff cuts. Looks like everything’s getting sliced. Even the General Manager, Lemlem Rijio, has taken a pay hit. “These cuts to KPFA staff have been the most difficult thing I have had to […]
Top Holiday Gifts for Radio Lovers
The craziness of the holiday shopping season is now upon us and hopefully there’s someone on your list (maybe you) who deserves a little radio love. Whether you are shopping for a retro radio dude, a kid with a penchant for pop, someone with an eye for high design, or your favorite radio scholar, there […]
The wait for LPFM continues one more day…
The Local Community Radio Act of 2009 was scheduled for a floor vote in the House of Representatives today, a moment that LPFM activists have been awaiting for almost nine years. And wait they did. Anyone who has watched her share of C-SPAN knows that the House moves at its own pace, for its own […]
FCC's Mark Lloyd: "allow me to clear away some mud"
The Federal Communications Commission’s Diversity Officer defended himself this morning from the veritable avalanche of attacks he has sustained since he took his job. Speaking at a Washington, D.C. conference, Mark Lloyd asked to be allowed to “clear away some mud:” “I am not a Czar appointed by President Obama. I am not at the […]
Greed and Consolidation Trigger Another Bankruptcy in Radioland
On Friday the Wall Street Journal reported news that’s no surprise to radio industry watchers, that the third largest radio owners in the country, Citadel Communications, is about to declare bankruptcy in a deal pre-arranged with its creditors. The loudest critic of Citadel has been industry-insider Jerry Del Colliano who predicted last week that the […]
High School Radio's Star Stations
Last month I had the pleasure of visiting WGBK-FM, a high school radio station in suburban Chicago. This was my very first trip to see a station run by teens and I was thrilled to witness young people doing radio. Not only were they working as DJs on standard music shows, but they were also […]
Home Star Runner explains radio
I still think the last word on explaining radio genres goes to Strong Bad of the Home Star Runner series. Listen and loin:
Survey: A third of Brits listen to Internet radio
A British audience research firm says that one out of every three adults in the United Kingdom “now claims to have listened to the radio via the internet.” “Claims”? Reading UK audience research takes a little getting used to. There’s a skepticism for the subject cohort that you don’t find in the United States. In […]