The Chicago Independent Radio Project launched as an internet radio station nearly a decade ago, with a mission of bringing a truly independent music- and arts-focused community radio station to Chicago. Thanks to the Local Community Radio Act, which allowed the growth of low-power FM stations in the nation’s biggest cities—and a lot of hard […]
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.
Radio Station Visit #140 – Community Radio Station KLLG-LP in Willits, California
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 […]
Local Radio’s Value Demonstrated During Emergencies
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, […]
College Radio Watch: Zombie Apocalypse, War of the Worlds and More News
Although college radio is my true love, community radio comes a close second. Local, independent radio stations in the United States are enjoying an unprecedented moment right now, as so many brand new stations are hitting the airwaves thanks to the Local Community Radio Act and the subsequent low power FM application window in 2013. […]
Podcast #110 – Grassroots Radio Conference Preview
The Grassroots Radio Conference is an annual meeting of community, college and other non-commercial radio stations for the purpose of skill-sharing, training and strengthening ties. We talk with Caitlin Reading, a LPFM station startup specialist who is helping to organize this year’s GRC, happening Oct. 6 – 9 at WCAA-LP in Albany, NY, to learn […]
What about Low-Power AM (LPAM)?
With the last group of low-power FM stations approved in the 2013 licensing window now going on the air—and no new LPFM windows scheduled—many folks are wondering what other licensed low-powered broadcasting opportunities might exist. So far this year we at Radio Survivor have fielded quite a few inquiries from people who would like to […]
Still time to sign up for DIY FM radio summer camp
If you’ve been telling yourself since forever that you want to learn the deets on building a low power FM broadcast system, here’s your chance. Free Radio Berkeley is running a four day DIY workshop on the subject, to be run out of Rodeo, California on September 1-4. “With an emphasis on direct, hands-on learning, […]
Interference Conflict Between Unlicensed Stations in New Zealand
From Wellington, New Zealand comes news that a commercial radio group is planning a new station that threatens one run by an elementary school, MaranuiFM. The commercial radio group Mediaworks plans to run its popular “Polly and Grant” morning show on a 24-hour loop at 106.7 FM, the same frequency as the school station. Typically […]
Podcast #97: PhillyCAM’s LPFM in the City of Brotherly Love
Intrepid radio tourist Jennifer Waits reports back from her journey to PhillyCAM radio in the City of Brotherly Love, adding a low-power FM station, WPPM-LP, to an established public access TV operation. Following up on episode #96 we catch up on the latest smart speaker research and Jennifer shares news about two college stations sold […]
LPFM Stations Get a Boost
For the first time, the FCC just granted booster stations to two LPFMs in California. Like the name implies, a booster helps a station to fill in parts of its broadcast area where geographic impediments–like hills or mountains–prevent the signal from being received well where it otherwise should be heard. Unlike a translator repeater station, […]