Radio Era Baru has been broadcasting from the Indonesian city island of Batam since 2005. The station has been consistently denied a license from the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission but has a case in front of the country’s Supreme Court contesting the denial. Despite this the station was raided by Indonesian authorities on Sept. 13, who […]
Yesterday 28 members of the House of Representatives, led by Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA), sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski [PDF] urging the Commission to ensure there is space reserved in urban areas for new low-power FM station licenses. They observe that the nation’s largest urban markets “have lacked access to new noncommercial […]
Beer advertising is certainly a staple of any radio station aiming at a mostly male demographic, and beer companies sponsor many concerts and radio events. But how many stations actually have their own beer? I was sitting in a nice Chicago tavern that features vintage beer cans displayed on a shelf circling the room. I […]
Thanks to the quick work of LPFM advocate Michi Eyre at REC Networks, the FCC granted a one week extension on the comment window for the Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on low-power FM. In asking for the extension REC told the FCC that Hurricane Irene would interfere with commenters’ ability to submit on […]
FCC Chairman Julius Genchowski held a press briefing this afternoon to give an update on communications infrastructure after Hurricane Irene battered much of the East Coast. The good news is that while some cable systems, wireless and wireline providers are out of service, Genachowski says, “there hasn’t been major damage to our communications infrastructure.” He […]
The Federal Communications Commission activated the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) yesterday. Currently the system is focused on coastal North Caroline where Hurricane Irene has recently made landfall. DIRS provides communication providers a way to inform the Commission of their operational status during emergencies. Broadcasters, wireless providers, cable companies and other communications providers may voluntarily […]
I was listening to NPR this morning as I got ready for work and during the headlines at the top of the hour heard a short story about communities preparing for Hurricane Irene. It featured a quick actuality from a sheriff in South Carolina saying that a battery operated radio will be a vital tool […]
The Netherlands has been a hotbed of unlicensed radio activity for decades. Dutch stations like the storied Radio Veronica, which broadcast off-shore from 1960 to 1974, inspired the UK pirate radio scene during the same time period. The country still has many stations on the air, many of them explicitly political and anarchist in outlook […]
When last we heard from Randy Michaels he was exiting the Tribune Tower in Chicago, resigning after news broke that he turned the company’s broadcast division into Animal House. While the architect of Clear Channel’s buy, consolidate and gut approach to broadcasting was busy allegedly throwing poker parties, he shuffled beloved hosts and drove down […]
I’ve written about Chicago “progressive” rock station WXRT-FM before. It’s truly the only commercial music station in the city that I can tolerate listening to for any extended period of time. Sure, its commercial stop sets can be as long and annoying as any other stations, but everything else about the station stands pretty far […]
