Should Rush Limbaugh’s supporters be allowed to vote? Given the amazingly mean spirited and stupid things Limbaugh says, should the dittoheads who mindlessly applaud him receive the franchise? Could you imagine the elevated difference in the political makeup of this country if they didn’t? For example, on December 3, Limbaugh noted that hundreds of unemployed […]
Archive | Commercial Radio
Congressman: Rush Limbaugh wants to extend tax breaks for himself
As Capitol Hill debates whether to extend the Bush era tax cut for millionaires, Representative Alan Grayson (D-FL) pushed back on prominent talk radio hosts in favor of the provision, especially Rush Limbaugh. “They tell us that extending the tax cuts for the rich will somehow create jobs,” declared Grayson on the floor of the […]
Thanksgiving Radio: Alice’s Restaurant, the Beatles, and Radio Drama
Catch Alice’s Restaurant on the 2023 radio dial. See our latest listening guide. Every year on Thanksgiving a number of stations all over the United States air the 18 minute plus song “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie. Here in San Francisco, KFOG (104.5FM San Francisco/97.7FM San Jose) has been honoring that tradition for many years […]
U.S. government admits it sort of blew it around radio
The Federal Communications Commission has released an overview of its decision-making history that concedes that the government could have done a better job regulating radio in the 1920s and 1930s. “Although commercial radio produced a Golden Age of programming in the late 1930s, the question remains whether the [government’s] decision to favor corporate-sponsored networks—rather than […]
Chicago White Sox to get their own HD Radio channel
The Chicago White Sox just signed a new multiyear agreement with CBS Radio station WSCR-AM to broadcast the home team’s games. Normally this isn’t the sort of news we cover here at Radio Survivor, but the unique twist to this contract is that it comes with a all-White-Sox HD channel on WSCR’s sister station, WJMK-FM. […]
Big radio vows no Performance Rights Act in lame duck Congress
Last month’s attempted rapprochement with the music labels and performers seems to be behind the National Association of Broadcasters. The trade association warns that any attempt to revive the Performance Rights Act in the impending lame duck Congressional session (Nov. 15 through mid-December) will not be tolerated. “NAB is unalterably opposed to this legislation, and […]
![By Universal Studios (Frankenstein promotional photo) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Frankenstein%27s_monster_%28Boris_Karloff%29.jpg "Fear the mobile device mandate monster, now with HD Radio too!")
Fear the mobile device mandate monster, now with HD Radio too!
I stand in awe at the sheer number of features the National Association of Broadcasters and its members want mandated on cell phones. First they’re proposing that Congress pass a law hotwiring an FM radio chip into every mobile. Broadcasters are also talking about a TV tuner requirement. And now they also want HD! Here’s […]
No massive severance for Randy Michaels
Once again I have to hand it to NY Times‘ media reporters David Carr and Tim Arano who–along with Vocalo.org’s Rober Feder–have consistently dug up important details and original reporting on Randy Michaels and Tribune. Thanks to Carr and Arano I learned that Michaels will not be walking away with an enormous severance as I […]
Randy Michaels may have left Tribune Tower, but something still stinks in there
Buried in the more sensational news that Randy Michaels resigned as Tribune CEO yesterday is the fact that a Delaware Judge is letting a group of creditors move forward with a lawsuit against chairman Sam Zell. This group of unsecured creditors contends that Zell’s Tribune buyout was a “fraudulent transfer” that primarily lined the pockets […]
It’s official, Randy’s gone
As anticipated, today Randy Michaels, CEO of Tribune Company, formerly of Clear Channel, one of the grand architects behind the current state of commercial radio, resigned from his post at Tribune. This is how his former company’s flagship paper put it: Having lost the support of many employees, his board and the creditors who will […]