A year-and-a-half ago high school, college and community radio stations shut their studio doors in response to safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID. They quickly scrambled to find ways to stay on air, broadcasting archived programming, allowing DJs to pre-record or even broadcast live from home. We’ve dedicated several episodes to learning how […]
Mendocino County has a bounty of new community radio stations thanks to the recent low power FM (LPFM) application window and I was excited to get to visit one of those stations: KLLG-LP in Willits, California earlier this year. After spending the night near the coast, I headed inland, driving on a windy country road […]
The local service of radio grows enormously in value when disaster strikes a community. This is what we’ve seen with the wildfires that have swept through the Northern California counties of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake and Solano beginning last week. Fast moving and unpredictable, these deadly fires also took out communications infrastructure like cell towers, […]
Ajit Pai was just renominated and confirmed as the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and there are a number of pivotal policy items ahead on his agenda. Our resident FCC watcher, Prof. Christopher Terry from the University of Minnesota, joins to help us understand what’s in store and what the stakes are. First, he […]
There continues to be a slow trickle of newly granted low power FM (LPFM) construction permits this month, with 5 more granted this week. Additionally, a few applications were dismissed, including Greater Broadcasting Network, Inc. (Duncanville, Texas) and Iglesia Pentecostes del Principe de Paz (Grand Prairie, Texas). Also, a LPFM that is still fundraising in […]
It’s hard to believe that some radio stations still haven’t gotten the message that the Emergency Alert System (EAS) is no joking matter. Today the FCC announced that it has fined iHeartCommunications $1,000,000 (see the order and consent decree here) after an investigation into an October, 2014 broadcast of the syndicated “The Bobby Bones Show.” […]
In the days since the disastrous earthquake in Nepal amateur radio operators have been lending critical communications assistance, especially in places where power, telephone, wireless and internet service has been interrupted. Nepal has only 99 licensed amateur radio operators, which is why hams from other countries have traveled to the country to help. The country’s […]
The total number of approved lower-power FM applications inches towards 2000, with a total of 1190 issued to date. We’re still waiting for the FCC to address most of the MX groups of applicants competing for frequencies, especially in the nation’s largest urban markets. One new construction permit issued this week goes to the Hancock […]
Yet again, the FCC is making a firm stance about the sanctity of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and is proposing major fines against Viacom, ESPN and NBCUniversal for recent infractions. In a Notice of Apparent Liability (PDF) sent to all three organizations, the FCC is asking for a voluntary forfeiture amount of $1,120,000 from […]
It’s hard to fathom the extent of the devastation in the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan (also known as Yolanda) last week. More than 10,000 people are presumed dead, towns are demolished, and communications systems have been disrupted due to power outages. In light of this, I’ve been trying to get a sense of how radio […]
