“Why can’t I listen to news, talk, or sports radio on Pandora?” the streaming site’s Tim Westergren says Pandora’s fans often ask. “That’s actually something we’ve talking quite a bit about as a company and something we intend to deliver to listeners eventually,” Westergren responded in a video blog he posted this week. But for […]
Author Archive | Matthew Lasar
Texas radio station owner says he'll meet pro-performance rights movement half way
A Texas radio station manager has told the Federal Communications Commission that even though he’s boycotting musicians who support the Performance Rights Act, he’ll play PRA advocate MusicFIRST’s public service announcements over his station. “I have removed all songs of artists that are part of musicFirst and will not play their songs for now,” KXIT […]
Fairness Doctrine phobes target FCC
Federal Communications Commission Chair Julius Genachowski is in hot water with the right wing talk radio crowd. They’ve discovered that his Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer, Mark Lloyd, is a co-author of that noted and/or notorious study, The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio. So Senator Charles Grassley, Republican of Iowa, has written […]
I love Onion Radio News
Whenever I’m feeling down, I do one of three things to get out of my slump: exercise, talk with friends, or listen to the Onion Radio News. “An airport security pig finds concealed truffles!” announces ORN’s ace reporter, Doyle Redland. “Airport Swine Unit Specialist Kevin Hannah couldn’t be prouder of his partner, Mr. Snout,” the […]
Sirius XM keeps hanging on
I splurged and took a taxi to JFK airport in New York City today, and waddayaknow, my driver was a dedicated Sirius XM fan. We listened to the Love Channel for a while (I would not have taken him for a Lionel Richie type of guy). I asked him how much he likes Sirius XM. […]
Corporate radio's future: dim or dimmer?
Cautious optimism abounds for the economic outlook, with the Federal Reserve predicting that the Great Recession is “leveling out.” Financial markets are improving, the Fed says. Household spending is “stabilizing.” Businesses are realigning inventory with sales. Thus “market forces will contribute to a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth in a context of price stability.” […]
Gotcha! Tuning into the FBI
Ok. I admit it. I listen to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s “gotcha” radio service. The sounds files come in windows media player format. It’s basically a real version of Dragnet. Part of the reason why I tune in is because the cases are so weird that, well, I just like weird stuff, that’s all. […]
Is Future Perfect Radio the Future of Radio?
I spend a lot of time exploring Internet radio stations. And while most of it is for fun, I’m definitely on a Diogenes/Morpheus-looking-for-Neo sort of mission. I’m searching for Internet radio that feels like real radio. What is “real radio?” you ask. It’s radio that feels like it is situated in some actual place and […]
Congress, FCC launch campaigns for net neutrality, device openness
In moves that could have an impact on every voice and streaming radio service on the Internet, Congress and the Federal Communications Commission proposed laws and launched inquiries today that show that the Obama administration and its allies on Capitol Hill weren’t kidding when they promised to promote net neutrality and device openness. First, representatives […]
Remembering Save KPFA Day
Ten years ago this Friday, one of the most remarkable events in the annals of United States broadcasting took place. Looking back on it now, I can hardly believe that it happened, even though I was there and saw it myself. On a very sunny Saturday July 31, 1999, about ten thousand people gathered in […]