Opinions, editorials and fun stuff.
I have been listening to computer-based digital music for nearly two decades now. This includes streaming internet radio as well as music files like MP3s. It’s amazing to recall my first efforts to play then-new MP2 and MP3 format files I downloaded, very slowly, over my 56kbps dial-up connection, around 1996 or ’97. In fact, […]
Late last year Scientific American posted a fascinating commentary on an “anomalous event” with an old radio receiver. What caught my eye was that it was penned by Skeptic magazine editor Michael Shermer. It recounted his wedding to Jennifer Graf, who had been raised in Köln, Germany—in part by her grandfather, who died when she […]
The Federal Communications Commission is proposing updated guidelines for broadcaster contests, allowing radio and television stations to post the rules for these events on websites as a substitute for completely explaining them over the air waves. At present “licensees are permitted to employ nonbroadcast methods for disclosing material contest terms,” but “they may not substitute […]
Talk radio veteran Darryl Parks is a harsh critic of how the format continues to lose touch with most of the radio audience who aren’t white male baby boomers. In a new post this week he takes aim at Rush Limbaugh, describing the leading conservative talk host’s “fall into oblivion.” Parks notes that Limbaugh’s program […]
Once again, we are very excited to present an interview with a leading media historian for Radio Survivor’s Academic Series. John Durham Peters is a media and cultural historian and social theorist who is currently the A. Craig Baird Professor in Communication Studies at the University of Iowa. He is also a consultant and participant […]
Montreal based CHOQ.CA of Montreal has launched the first round of its international 60 Second Radio contest. The challenge to producers: submit one minute audio clips to the station that grapple with the concept of liberty. “Liberty can be expressed in different ways and take on multiple meanings,” the CHOQ announcement notes. “Freedom comes from within […]
Happy 2015! As we start the year, it’s a good time to reflect on the biggest radio stories of 2014 and also to make our predictions for 2015. Over the past few weeks we’ve shared our thoughts on the state of college radio, low power FM (LPFM), radio in academia, and podcasting in 2014, as […]
Happy New Year! For your holiday weekend enjoyment I thought I’d share a couple of fun radio-related sites I’ve been made aware of. First, is the Retro Radio Farm, sent to me by Jenny. As described by MessyNessy Chic, it’s an Etsy store run by “a music box wizard of sorts, specialising in bringing some […]
This year I’m pleased once again to share the top podcasts of the year as chosen by my esteemed colleagues, friends and podcast fanatics, Jenny Benevento and Kyle Riismandel. Jenny is an information architect who lectures on branding, social media, musicians and pop culture. She is a taxonomy consultant to Etsy and also hosts a […]
A quick addendum to my post on ten essential radio themed movies for the holidays. We got a pertinent tweet from @ResearchDirectr: Best #radio movies and FM didn’t make the list? http://t.co/VmCcg9qQzi — Research Director (@ResearchDirectr) December 15, 2014 Ouchie! Indeed, FM should definitely be high up there on anyone’s list of movies about radio […]
