I’m very sad to report that Mike Schweizer, an important figure in San Francisco Bay Area broadcasting, died on Tuesday, June 14 at the age of 58. Schweizer was the assistant chief engineer for University of San Francisco’s college radio station KUSF and had been with the station for more than 33 years. We met […]
Author Archive | Jennifer Waits
College Radio Day Hits the Airwaves on October 11, 2011
I make it a habit to evangelize the importance and relevance of college radio and that passion led me to create my Spinning Indie blog back in 2008. One of my main goals was to spread the word about college radio and also to remind people about the interesting stations in every pocket of the […]
NFCB Sessions’ Fundraising Tips for Radio: Celebrity Smackdowns, 1-Day Drives and the Philanthropist Next Door
The National Federation of Community Broadcasters‘ 36th annual community radio conference was an incredible few days full of radio education and community radio bonding. Held in San Francisco from June 1st to June 4th, it featured an action-packed schedule of sessions, keynotes, and workshops. I’ve already recounted the Saving College Stations panel and Matthew has […]
Sad Final Moments of WRVU’s Terrestrial Broadcast Recounted as Supporters Fight Proposed College Radio Station Sale
As I read through the accounts of WRVU’s final terrestrial moments last week, I get a horrible feeling of deja vu as I recall how I felt when learning about the sudden shut-downs of KTXT and KUSF. Although Vanderbilt Student Communications had alerted WRVU to the possibility that the station could be sold back in […]
Saving College Radio Stations Panel at NFCB Offered Tips for Stations in Peril
Of the many fine panels at the recent National Federation of Community Broadcasters’ conference (you can find our complete coverage here), the one that was closest to my heart was the “Saving College Stations” session (mp3) on Saturday, June 4. As was the case at a similar panel at SXSW this year, the participants included […]
Maritime Radio Historian to Offer Rare Tour of Coastal Station on June 11
Back in January I took an amazing tour through the radio collection of the San Francisco Maritime Museum. Led by Bill Ruck, a maritime radio historian and chief engineer of college radio station KUSF, the tour took the 20 or so visitors through the normally off-limits radio artifacts housed at Aquatic Park. Tomorrow, Ruck will […]
KUSF Studio Dismantled Prematurely While Sale of College Radio Station Awaits FCC Approval
Just four months after University of San Francisco (USF) pulled the plug on KUSF’s terrestrial broadcast, the former KUSF studio in Phelan Hall has been dismantled. When I stopped by the station on May 17, DJs were still broadcasting from the now online-only KUSF.org. I was told that May 18th would be the final day […]
Nashville Public Radio to Buy Vanderbilt College Radio Station WRVU for Use as Classical 91.1
Today is the day that supporters of college radio at Vanderbilt University have been dreading. After yesterday’s news leak that the call letters to beloved college radio station WRVU had been changed to WFCL, official word came today that the station is in the process of being sold to Nashville Public Radio for $3.35 million […]
86-year-old WDOD Shuts Down and Turns AM License Back to FCC
I know a lot of people who would love to have a terrestrial broadcasting license, so it seemed odd to me when I read about a Chattanooga radio station turning its license back to the FCC. Why on earth would a station opt to dispense with their license when there are so many entities out […]
Bad Few Weeks for College Radio at WXLV, WJMF and WRVU
It’s shaping up to be a really weird and sad couple of weeks for college radio news. Two weeks ago I wrote about the possibility that college radio station WXLV at Lehigh Carbon Community College is up for sale. On Friday I reported that Bryant University’s college radio station WJMF was moving off the FM […]