Is college radio too small for its own good? Or is its smallness a hidden asset? Those are the questions we take up this week with guest Ken Mills. He’s a radio consultant who works with non-commercial, commercial and college stations. Ken explains why he thinks college radio is hampered by its smallness in a […]
Licensed radio stations of all types–including LPFMs–are required to stay on the air, unless granted specific and limited exemptions by the FCC. The logic is clear and sound: licenses are for broadcasting, not collecting and monopolizing like so many empty parcels of land. A church-owned station in Buffalo, WY recently fell afoul of this rule. […]
The annual Infinite Dial survey of American listening habits is out. Paul and Eric analyze the results and what they indicate for community and college radio and podcasting. In particular, Paul argues that declining radio ownership and young people’s affinity for YouTube mean stations absolutely must broadcast online and should use video. He asks: Are […]
On this week’s show we hear about efforts to preserve radio’s past, and the FCC’s letter writing campaign intended to undermine pirate operators. Jennifer Waits joins to talk about the Library of Congress’ recent Radio Preservation Task Force conference. She explains why preservation efforts provide not just an important record of radio’s past, but also […]
As the first round of AM stations get a shot at having translator repeaters on the FM dial, the FCC’s AM revitalization proceeding is still not completely resolved. There are still several questions that the Commission is accepting comments on, until March 21. Broadcast attorney David Oxenford presents a very thorough rundown of these issues […]
Another major threat to small and medium sized internet radio stations has surfaced. As Torrent Freak first reported Tuesday, on February 26 four major recording labels filed suit in federal court against internet radio platform Radionomy, charging that the company engaged in copyright infringement. The plaintiffs–Arista Records, LaFace Records, Sony Music and Zomba Records–allege that […]
This might surprise you, but I spend quite a bit of time thinking about how community-focused broadcasters (and podcasters, for that matter) can create healthy organizations that result in amazing programming. Part of this requires shaking off decades-old assumptions about community radio, as well as embracing the challenges of today’s media environment. Many of my […]
We have some follow-up on our coverage of the 20th anniversary of Telecommunications Act of 1996. We share a listener email that challenges our FCC history by pointing out how radio deregulation got its foothold at the commission before Ronald Reagan even took office. We discuss how radio went from serving audiences to becoming more […]
Friday was the one-year anniversary of the FCC’s Open Internet Order, which established strong network neutrality rules in the U.S., in part by reclassifying internet service as a public utility. As Public Knowledge’s Meredith Whipple observes, “despite the clamoring of the ISPs that Title II would be the end of times, the Internet ecosystem is […]
Back in April of last year news headlines across tech and news sites screamed that Norway was about to turn off all FM transmitters. The reality, of course, is a bit more complex–only 23 stations in the three biggest cities will turn off their analog signals in 2017, while some 200 FM stations outside this […]
