Will it be 1978 all over again? That was the year the Supreme Court decided the seminal FCC v Pacifica case which legally established the constitutionality of the FCC’s ability to regulate indecent content in broadcast. But the media landscape of 2011 is very different than 1978. Today, network sitcoms airing as early as 8 […]
Author Archive | Paul Riismandel
FCC taking up LPFM and translator stations at July 12 open meeting
Ever since the passage of the Local Community Radio Act, the big question has been how the FCC will deal with its backlog of applications for translator repeater stations. Translators are low-power stations that may only rebroadcast the signal of an existing full-power station, and can be fit in many of the spaces on the […]
Libyan rebels broadcast free radio to the cities of Misurata and Benghazi
It has been a while since I’ve written about radio in Libya. The popular revolt in that country started back in February, and there were reports that opposition protestors were taking over radio stations in regions where the central government was losing control. Some four months later the uprisings and struggle against Muammar Qaddafi are […]
New Jersey getting out of the “Soviet” public radio business
Sandwiched between the large media markets of Philadelphia and New York City, New Jersey has always had a tough time staking out a unique media identity. Of particular concern has been the ability to have good news state news coverage not dominated by the two adjacent metroplexes. The state of New Jersey has had a […]
DAR.fm is TiVo for your radio, about a decade too late
New York Times personal technology columnist David Pogue recently covered a new web site called DAR.fm that allows any user to record any radio station that’s available on the internet. The site has a schedule database for many, but not all stations, which permits you to look up and schedule a recording of most major […]
Boston pirate bust is a lesson in the slow grind of bureaucracy
It’s been quite some time since I can recall the FCC imploring a U.S. Attorney to issue a warrant to shut down an unlicensed FM station. In fact, it’s quite a rare action, usually reserved for long-running stations that either have been utterly unresponsive to administrative notices or have operated for a long time out […]
In case of Rapture, Family Radio will be unmanned
You’ve seen the bumper stickers, and today at least it’s true for Family Radio. Their website has been unreachable all day, likely due to being overloaded with traffic. So that’s also made it difficult to get their online radio stream. So I tuned in to Family Radio’s shortwave station WYFR this afternoon (at 13615 Khz) […]
Chicago’s Latino community radio station Radio Arte up for sale
In a scenario that’s becoming too familiar to Radio Survivor readers, the Chicago-based Latino community radio station Radio Arte is now up for sale by its parent organization, the National Museum of Mexican Art. In fiscal year 2009 the museum reported a deficit of $677,121, and according to President Carlos Tortolero the museum has been […]
WTF? Marc Maron’s podcast coming to public radio
You know public radio is truly keeping with the times when a podcast named What the F*ck gets repurposed for a 10-episode run syndicated by the Public Radio Exchange. I wrote about WTF, as it is more commonly known, back in March because it’s become my favorite podcasts, in part because host/creator Marc Maron is […]
Citadel and Cumulus want to merge into Son-of-Clear-Channel
I’m not sure how I missed this bit of news, but I just learned that Cumulus, which boasts being the second largest owner of radio stations in the US, is bidding to buy the third largest, Citadel Broadcasting. Such a merger would create a conglomeration of 572 stations nationwide. This would still be about 300 […]