Yesterday the FCC granted the request by Principle Broadcasting Network to assign the license for San Jose-area radio station KCNL 104.9 FM to University of Southern California (USC) for use as an outlet for classical radio station KDFC. Along with granting the license assignment (part of a $7.5 million deal), the FCC also granted the […]
Yesterday it was announced that long-time alternative rock station WFNX is selling its Boston-area 101.7 FM frequency to Clear Channel. One of the few independently-owned commercial radio stations, WFNX is currently owned by MCC Broadcasting Company (which is affiliated with the Boston Phoenix aka Phoenix Media/Communications Group). Stephen Mindich, President of MCC announced in a […]
Editors’ note: Since the publication of this article the smooth jazz format has returned to the Chicago airwaves. Read this December 31, 2014 update for more details. My post about the demise of Chicago smooth jazz station Smooth 87.7 two weeks ago continues to gather comments lamenting the station’s passing. Many of the commenters express […]
Editors’ note: Since the publication of this article the smooth jazz format has returned to the Chicago airwaves. Read this December 31, 2014 update for more details. In a move whose logic I honestly don’t understand, Randy Michael’s Merlin Media has entered into a local marketing agreement with Venture Technologies Group, which owns the low-power […]
American Bandstand‘s Dick Clark has died, and the season of online commemorations for him has more or less receded. As a television watching toddler in the early 1960s, I never glommed onto the program. I was just a little too young, and so its huge significance as the first TV rock-and-roll show went past me. […]
Yesterday, Camden, New Jersey radio station WKDN made a radical change in programming, switching from Family Radio to Hannity@106.9 FM Radio following the the station’s sale to Merlin Media for $22.5 million. Listeners to WKDN in the Philadelphia-area could hear Family Radio’s religious programming transitioning to a loop of the R.E.M. song “It’s the End […]
The National Association of Broadcasters annual show and convention just started in Las Vegas, bringing together nearly every sector of the broadcast industry to show off new products, discuss trends and hob nob. Unfortunately, the Radio Survivor travel budget doesn’t yet cover more than cab fare across town, so we don’t have a correspondent on […]
KTUF-FM‘s Helen Adams is retiring after 45 years of service. She began her stint at the Kirksville, Missouri FM country music radio station in 1967. “When I started here I was fresh out of high school: secretary, receptionist, traffic controller who schedules the commercials on the programs,” Adams recalled. “I did that for eighteen years.” […]
At Radio Survivor we obsess about radio consolidation every day of the year, but this topic isn’t pervasive across mainstream popular culture. Because of that, I was excited to hear about a new film, Corporate FM, which delves into the “downfall of commercial FM.” The movie premieres tonight at 8:30pm at the Kansas City Film […]
The FCC just released its quarterly list of the total number of licensed broadcast stations in the United States. Based on their statistics through March 31, 2012, the number of licensed broadcast radio stations is still on the rise, continuing the trend that we saw in last quarter’s update. Based on this list, there are […]
