I first heard about the Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP) when I moved to Chicago in the spring of 2008. For all intents and purposes the project grew out of the former incarnation of Loyola University’s WLUW-FM which operated as a community radio station from 1997 to June 2008. In 2001 Loyola announced that it […]
As I said in my introduction to our subjective and opinionated review of radio in the 2000s, I still think it was darn near impossible to predict how the medium of radio would end up at the beginning of 2010. Sure, the seeds for satellite radio, HD radio, low-power FM, internet radio and MP3s were […]
Today there are close to 1000 more noncommercial, locally-programmed community radio stations on the air in the US than a decade ago. The reason for this is the low-power FM radio service created by the Federal Communications Commission in 2000. While Congressional intervention cut the new service off at the knees at the end of […]
#14 in our series on crucial radio trends of the decade.
It’s a day that thousands of low-power FM and community radio activists have been awaiting for just about nine years. This evening, at 7:06 pm the House of Representatives, with a minimum of drama, passed H.R. 1147, the Local Community Radio Act of 2009 by voice vote. Little drama for the House nevertheless meant nearly […]
The Local Community Radio Act of 2009 was scheduled for a floor vote in the House of Representatives today, a moment that LPFM activists have been awaiting for almost nine years. And wait they did. Anyone who has watched her share of C-SPAN knows that the House moves at its own pace, for its own […]
This past week I visited San Francisco. In addition to finally meeting my co-bloggers Matthew and Jennifer in person, I also made my pilgrimage to one of the best music stores in the country, Aquarius Records in the Mission. The oldest music store in the city, Aquarius is not big, and it’s far from comprehensive […]
Just when people think that radio is dead, there are signs of it continuing to reinvent itself in interesting ways. The morning news today (on both KTVU’s “Mornings on Two” television broadcast and in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle) brought word of an innovative art installation taking place over the Thanksgiving holiday at […]
Hmm. It seems like there’s a fair chance that a law opening up new possibilities for Low Power FM might actually get to prez Obama’s desk this or next year. I’ve been skeptical up until now, but Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington’s Local Community Radio Act S 592 is scheduled for markup and committee vote […]
Today the House Commerce Committee unanimously passed the Local Radio Act by voice vote, opening up the gates to send the bill for a vote by the full House. This bipartisan action is the best hope the restoration of low-power FM has seen since its wings were clipped back in 2000. When the FCC created […]
