Ever want to know how many licenses Clear Channel actually owns? How about AT&T or Verizon? For years the FCC has had searchable online databases for distinct services, like broadcast radio, but not all have been equally easy to use or find. At the same time many entities own many different types of licenses–for instance […]
Author Archive | Paul Riismandel
Conservative AM talk is the new home for aging shock jocks
Long-time Chicago radio host Mancow Muller lost his last hometown gig last February when he was canned from Citadel Broadcasting‘s AM talk powerhouse WLS. But the Mancow has many lives, it seems. While he won’t be back on the air in Chicago, Vocalo’s Robert Feder reports that Mancow will be the new Sunday evening host […]
Radio industry journal acknowledges problems with AM HD
Following on the heels of my unimpressive AM HD radio listening test last week, industry stalwart Radio World magazine published a report that comes to terms with the fact that “AM HD radio has stalled.” In fact, I’d say that characterizing AM HD as “stalled” is very optimistic. Instead, reading the same article I come […]
Music on AM: Rebel Radio
I’ve known about this station for well over a decade now. As a metalhead living in Central Illinois I’d occasionally travel north to the Chicago area or Milwaukee to see concerts and encounter banners and fliers for an all heavy metal station on the AM band called Rebel Radio. However, I can only recall hearing […]
HD Radio on AM – Not worth it
One of the supposed advantages of HD Radio is improved fidelity over analog. As I observed in my listening test of HD on FM, there’s almost no real improvement for HD over the analog signal. The advantage for HD on FM, then, is the addition of one or two more channels of audio. However, due […]
Lots of interesting non-comm and pirate radio in Western Washington State
Jose Fritz of the great Arcane Radio Trivia has been traveling around and writing about what he hears on different regional radio dials. He just posted from the Seattle-Tacoma area and it’s interesting that he picks up a very diverse set of noncommercial stations featuring indie rock, NPR news, jazz and even dance music. He […]
More car makers offer HD Radio, but can you actually buy it?
On Monday the trade publication Automotive News reported that the number of car makers offering HD Radio is up, mostly relying on stats provided by iBiquity, which owns the technology. According to the article pricey brands Volvo, BMW and Rolls-Royce now offer HD Radio as standard, while twelve other brands offer it as an option. […]
Dr. Laura lived by the market, died by the market
As most radio enthusiasts have probably already heard, veteran talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger appeared on the Larry King Live program Tuesday night and announced that she would leave her show at the end of the contract. Schlessinger made the decision in response to growing flack over her repeated use of the so-called “n-word” […]
Help Radio Survivor… survive
More than a year into writing for Radio Survivor it’s been a real blast. It’s been especially satisfying to find out that there’s plenty of truth to our fundamental premise: that there are still lots of people who listen to and care about radio. We’re grateful for readers like you who come here and read […]
First day with HD Radio – not impressed
I spent the better part of this afternoon listening to my new HD Radio receiver, the Sony XDRF1 HD, tuning through the Chicago FM dial. There are 33 FM stations broadcasting HD in Chicago according to iBiquity, which owns the technology. I was able to tune in the HD signal for 19 of them. After […]