“Radio Silence” is a ten-part radio event from Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz that will launch on July 29 with a live performance on Independence Mall in Philadelphia. The series returns famed Iraqi broadcast journalist Bahjat Adulawahed to the airwaves, along with the talents of Iraqi refugees, Iraq War veterans, musicians and performers, to frame the […]
Archive | LPFM
Radio Survivor has the most comprehensive weekly coverage of low-power FM. Read our About LPFM page to learn the fundamentals of this unique class of community radio.
What’s the Deal with LPFM and HD Radio?
Our latest podcast is all about the first, and—to the best of our knowledge—only low-power FM station broadcasting digitally with HD Radio. The episode has stimulated quite a bit of conversation on social media and raised some questions about the relationship between LPFM and HD Radio. Here I’ll try to answer the most common questions […]
Podcast #94 – The High School Station that Went HD
If you’ve heard of HD Radio it was probably in a spot on a major commercial station, not a high school station. KVCB-LP is the exception to that rule, a high school radio station that is likely the first and only low-power FM station to start broadcasting in digital HD Radio. Ralph Martin is the […]
Radio Station Visit #138 – Philadelphia’s Community Radio Station WPPM-LP
In a serendipitous coincidence, new low power FM (LPFM) community radio station WPPM-LP had its launch party while I was in Philadelphia for the College Broadcasters Inc. convention last October. Not one to miss a historic radio event, I sneaked away from the conference in order to attend the festivities on October 20, 2016. Excitement […]
Remembering Nick Leggett, LPFM Pioneer
Community radio lost an important man last month. Nick Leggett was an engineer, writer, amateur radio operator and inventor with many patents to his name. He also was one of the original proponents of low-power FM, who petitioned the FCC to create the service in the late 1990s as part of the Amherst Alliance, alongside […]
Freeform Music, House Shows, and Art: Touring College Radio Station WXTJ-LP at University of Virginia
There’s a lot of radio going on at University of Virginia and the newest station is WXTJ-LP, a student-run low power FM (LPFM) college radio station. Although its studio is in the same facility as WTJU (see my tour #129 here), WXTJ-LP has its own identity and air sound. Frustrated by the lack of student […]
Prometheus to FCC: Protect LPFMs from AM Translators
In January FCC moved to allow AM stations to acquire and geographically locate FM translator repeater stations a little further away from their main AM transmitter than previously permitted—within either 25 miles of their station, or within their daytime broadcast area, whichever is larger. Before this ruling those translators were limited to being located within […]
Podcast #88 – From Color Bar Radio to WRIR
WRIR is a community radio station born from the first wave of low-power FM in the early 2000s. Yet the station has roots in the rich history of independent media in Richmond, VA. Intrepid radio tourist Jennifer Waits shares her tour of the station, uncovering obscure cable radio history along with some unexpected facts about […]
Radio Station Visit #130 – WNUW-LP at Neumann University
Back in October, 2016, I had a flurry of radio station visits in the Philadelphia-area, including a night-time trek to new low power FM (LPFM) college radio station WNUW-LP at Neumann University. WNUW’s General Manager Sean McDonald graciously picked me up from WYBF at Cabrini University (see my tour report #122) and drove me to […]
Video: Radio Is the Best Way to Reach Farmworkers
Low-power community radio station KPCN in Woodburn, OR serves the unionized farmworkers of the Willamette Valley, with news, information and entertainment in Spanish and indigenous languages. The station recently celebrated its 10th anniversary on the air, which we recognized on episode #72 of the podcast. At this past weekend’s Alliance for Community Media Northwest Summit […]