The often brilliant xkcd takes on talk radio (I’m the one suggesting it’s conservative talk radio):
Author Archive | Paul Riismandel
Holiday gift guide for radio listeners and budding podcasters
Jennifer does such a great job at rounding up an eclectic list of fun and useful radio items of all types, so I like to complement her list with a focus on radios and listening accessories (though Jennifer also helped me this year). This year I’m adding some items for the current or aspiring podcaster […]
Clear Channel says Happy Holidays with mass firings nationwide
This is what consolidation looks like. Industry veteran Jerry DelColliano called it: hundreds of Clear Channel employees, including management like program directors and on-air talent, received pink slips Thursday. DelColliano also thinks that this move is anticipation of a possible merger. News of firings has come in from Clear Channel stations in Tampa, Denver, Detroit, […]
Free radio pioneer Stephen Dunifer warns of “LPFM deception”
Stephen Dunifer has been called the “Johnny Appleseed” of free radio for his work with Free Radio Berkeley which has been making and distributing FM transmitter kits for more than 17 years. FRB inspired many unlicensed broadcasters to take to the airwaves in the mid to late 90s, in part due to the publicity the […]
Podcasts dominate 1st annual Stitcher awards
Popular podcaster and comedian Marc Maron hosted the 2012 Stitcher Awards Tuesday night in San Francisco. 160,000 Stitcher users voted for radio shows and podcasts across 20 categories for this first installment of the awards. When I first wrote about the awards in October I wondered if they would be dominated by familiar and popular […]
FCC’s LPFM order will make 2013 a good year for community radio
Next October future community broadcasters will be able to apply for more new low-power stations than ever before. On Tuesday the FCC released the text of its 6th report and order on the implementation of the Local Community Radio Act (LCRA) that was passed last Friday. As Matthew noted last Friday, the decision contains mostly […]
Want a new FM station? Auction set for April, 2013
Looking to start a new commercial FM station? How about in a small market like Presidio, TX, Prairie City, OR or West Salem, IL? Then start gathering your pennies, because the FCC will be auctioning off 112 licenses this coming April. You’ll need to make up your mind about participating by February 6, 2013, which […]
The oral history of Chicago’s Q101 hits stores
Chicago’s Q101 was one of the first commercial alternative rock stations, and the first one to bring that format to the Chicago radio starting in 1992. The format and Q101 branding went away on July 15, 2011, when Randy Michaels’ Merlin Media took over the station, flipping it to his FM News format, that was […]
Chicago Public Radio CEO defends Smiley & West cancellation, prescribes more civic discourse
Last week Chicago Public Media CEO Torey Malatia published an Op-Ed piece in the public media journal Current, defending his station’s decision to cancel the syndicated Smiley & West program. Malatia’s piece appeared just days after Smiley & West returned to the Chicago airwaves on commercial station WCPT. In his op-ed Malatia lays out his […]
FCC to make final decisions on low-power FM expansion at November meeting
On Friday the FCC announced that it will take up the final implementation of the Local Community Radio Act at its November 30 open meeting. The commissioners will also consider final procedures to deal with more than 6000 pending applications for FM translator repeater stations. These issues overlap because translators compete for the same spots […]