Disgruntled employees can be a big problem for many organizations. I remember hearing rumors that a pissed-off worker at an advertising agency where I worked set a credenza on fire. Thankfully nobody was hurt. In the world of radio, irked insiders have filed complaints with the FCC and messed with station public files. An extreme […]
Archive | Commercial Radio
Virtual Radio Station Tour of KJWL in Fresno
In the midst of a Twitter conversation about radio station tours (yes, I tour stations for fun), Edison Research‘s Sean Ross directed me to a fun virtual tour of KJWL 99.3 FM (aka K-Jewel) in Fresno, California. From the KJWL website, one can click through a slideshow of pictures of the radio station in all […]
An alternative rock radio comeback? We need a renaissance
As a solid Generation Xer from the college radio cohort I remember quite clearly the alternative rock craze of the 1990s. In the wake of Nirvana’s breakthrough on the top 40, followed by fellow Seattle bands like Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, major labels went on a signing spree looking for any band with a smidge […]
Clear Channel: $1.17 million spent on lobbying in first quarter 2013
It has been a while since I checked in with Clear Channel’s federal Lobby report, which you can look up via the House of Representatives Office of the Clerk database. The radio giant’s latest disclosure form indicates that the company spent $1,170,000.00 on lobbying in the first quarter of 2013. Here’s which legislative and Federal […]
YMF Files Paperwork to Assign KVTO-AM and KVVN-AM to Pham Radio Communication
YMF Media has submitted paperwork with the FCC in the hopes of assigning the licenses for KVTO 1400 AM (Berkeley, CA) and KVVN 1430 AM (Santa Clara, CA) to Pham Radio Communication. According to the asset purchase agreement, YMF Media will be paid $6 million for the station sales. Currently the California Historical Radio Society […]
Festival of ideas looks outside radio for strategy and inspiration
Radio strategy consultant Mark Ramsey is hosting a one-day “ideas festival” for radio called Hivio in San Diego today. While I wish I could have flown out to sunny Southern California to attend in person, I’m glad to watch a live feed of the show from my back deck in sunny Chicago today. Ramsey introduced […]
Hey Pandora: good luck with Rapid City “Hits 102.7” FM
Why, you may be wondering, did Pandora buy “Hits 102.7 FM” in Rapid City, South Dakota? Just out of curiosity, I checked the station’s website. Here’s the bio for Hits 102.7 deejay Christy Russell: “Hey it’s Mike talking about Christy Afternoons on HITS 102.7! I have waited for about a year for Christy to put in […]
“Rats!” Canadian listeners debate commercials on Radio 2 and Espace Musique
As requested by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada’s broadcast regulator has approved the placement of advertising spots on Radio 2 and Espace Musique radio. The latter service describes itself “the largest directory of French music internet radio in Canada.” Judging by the comments on the CBC news website notice, many listeners are anything but happy […]
Radio storytelling: property of the upper middle class?
Jennifer Waits and I are at the What is Radio conference in Portland, which opened with an interesting lecture by veteran radio/TV journalist Charles Jaco. It focused on the importance of narrative and storytelling in radio, and its decline on the commercial radio dial. Jaco noted that it is in the public radio sector that one […]
Is AM radio worth revitalizing?
This week is the annual National Association of Broadcasters show in Las Vegas, which brings thousands of broadcasters, manufacturers, producers and journalists together to talk about and see what’s next for broadcasting. Radio tends to play a very quiet second fiddle to television and video at this show. But this year radio’s own second fiddle, […]