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When MTV was born, a whole new category of DJ was launched. Although most of us DJs are accustomed to being invisible to listeners, VJs became stars as they chatted about music and music videos on-screen. As part of a new feature on MTV’s college-themed media property mtvU, college radio stations will have a chance […]
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 […]
As I was researching a specific tidbit of radio history a few weeks back, I happened upon some intriguing stories about the early days of student radio at Georgia Tech. Today Georgia Tech is home to the 100,000 watt college radio station WREK at 91.1 FM; but back in the 1940s, plans were underway for […]
Adam Yauch, also known as MCA, of the Beastie Boys passed away from cancer today at the age of 47. Although I knew Yauch had been battling cancer for the last few years, the news still hit me as a shock. I started to think about how my relationship to Yauch and his bandmates’ music […]
On my Spinning Indie blog I have an ambitious project in which I’m trying to profile a college radio station from each of the 50 states in the U.S. I started the series in October, 2008, when I took my first virtual trip to KXUA in Arkansas. I managed to get to 15 states total […]
Not many college radio stations can lay claim to 70 years of broadcasting, so it’s exciting to hear that student radio has been a part of campus life at Wellesley College since 1942. The first station, WBS 730 AM, launched in 1942 and was apparently the first all-woman college radio station. Eventually that station evolved […]
I’ve spent the past through days digging through college radio history artifacts and it’s been inspiring to read about the passion and energy that has gone into building radio stations on campuses across the country since the 1920s. University of Idaho’s free form college radio station, KUOI, started up in 1945 and was a descendent […]
Wednesday the FCC announced that it’s dropping from Friday’s open meeting an item addressing non-commercial radio stations’ ability to fundraise on-air for other non-profit organizations. The item appears to deal with stations raising money for efforts like disaster relief. But, as I wrote earlier this month, this rulemaking might also address non-commercial stations being operated […]
This week students at Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia took over the campus radio station, VillageNow.net, in order to protest cuts to the radio program. According to an article in the Vancouver Sun, “College president Kathryn Laurin announced the suspension of the applied communication program last week in a round of deep cuts to […]
To commemorate the 147th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, a crew of DJs at Stanford University’s college radio station KZSU will be performing a special radio drama tonight. KZSU’s adaptation of “Our American Cousin,” the play that Lincoln was watching when he was shot, will air on 90.1 FM (and stream on their website) tonight […]
