Today the Telecommunications Act of 1996 turns 21. As some have remarked, the law is now old enough to drink, even while others note that it’s driven many to drink in the last two decades. Happy Birthday 1996 Telecom Act. You’re old enough to drink now, which is fair since that’s what you’ve made the […]
Author Archive | Paul Riismandel
Podcast #80 – Radio & Resistance in the Time of Trump
Radio stations hacked to play “F— Donald Trump” over and over. Concerns that Trump declaring himself a candidate for 2020 already might limit non-comms’ ability to criticize him. And with an Entercom / CBS Radio merger on the horizon, what does this all mean for community radio and podcasting? John Anderson, Assistant Professor of Television […]
How To Listen to Super Bowl LI on the Radio this Sunday
Looking for info on how to listen to this 2021’s Super Bowl LV? Click here. This year fans who want or need to hear Super Bowl LI on the radio can listen in to the usual suspects, at least in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. There are all sorts of good reasons to listen […]
Podcast #79 – Community Radio & Podcasting: Are They Worth It?
Eric and Paul have been thinking a lot about the value of community radio and podcasting, especially wondering if these media we love make a difference and are worth doing, even when audiences seem small by comparison. Ahead of Eric leading a roundtable on community podcasting and Paul giving a guest lecture to a class […]
Podcast #78 – Pai is Trump’s FCC Guy
On Monday the Trump administration announced the appointment of Ajit Pai as the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Last week when we talked to Prof. Christopher Terry from the University of Minnesota he predicted that Pai would be the pick, and now that it’s happened we call him back to help us understand […]
PodcastRE Podcast Search Engine Aims to Help Researchers
Podcasting, as a form, is now more than a decade old. However, owing to its origin as a grassroots online medium with no centralizing agency or organization, finding and researching shows that are even just a few years old can be lesson in frustration. There are no physical assets for libraries and repositories to collect, […]
Live365 to Return with Service for ‘Microcasters’
Just after the new year, the news hit that steaming radio service Live365 is preparing to come back from dead. The company is under completely new ownership. In fact, the new boss is a young entrepreneur and recent University of Pittsburgh graduate who already runs another streaming media company by himself, along with the help […]
Podcast #76 – UMass Station Sale, Unlicensed LPFM in NZ & Archive Nuggets
All hands are on deck for our first show of 2017. First up, Jennifer Waits reports on the planned sale of U Mass-Dartmouth’s WUMD to Rhode Island Public Radio. Then Paul Riismandel shares radio discoveries from his trip to New Zealand, including legal but unlicensed low-power FM stations. Matthew Lasar wraps things up by sharing […]
Norway to Shutter Nat’l FM Broadcasts, 200 Local Stations to Remain
Norway will turn off national FM broadcasts on January 11. However, about 200 local FM stations will continue to broadcast for at least another five years, as we reported last year when the story first hit the international press. That crucial detail was missing from international coverage then, and it continues to be overlooked now. […]
New Zealand Has Legal Unlicensed Low-Power FM
I was in New Zealand over the recent holidays, and while waiting in line at a beachside food stand near Christchurch I noticed a t-shirt the teenager behind the counter was wearing, advertising “Rotten Radio 107.7 fm, Lyttelton.” I asked him about the station, and he only said that it’s “cool” and I should listen […]