This is what consolidation looks like. Industry veteran Jerry DelColliano called it: hundreds of Clear Channel employees, including management like program directors and on-air talent, received pink slips Thursday. DelColliano also thinks that this move is anticipation of a possible merger. News of firings has come in from Clear Channel stations in Tampa, Denver, Detroit, […]
Looking to start a new commercial FM station? How about in a small market like Presidio, TX, Prairie City, OR or West Salem, IL? Then start gathering your pennies, because the FCC will be auctioning off 112 licenses this coming April. You’ll need to make up your mind about participating by February 6, 2013, which […]
The US Office of Inspector General has put out a report that I’ll bet has the Department of Homeland Security cringing. It chronicles the epic fail of a scheme to build an interoperable radio communications system for the DHS and its network of 22 sub-federal agencies. The target was a common channel usable by the […]
On Friday the FCC announced that it will take up the final implementation of the Local Community Radio Act at its November 30 open meeting. The commissioners will also consider final procedures to deal with more than 6000 pending applications for FM translator repeater stations. These issues overlap because translators compete for the same spots […]
Back in August, SoundExchange, the non-profit that distributes performance royalties to artists who have received digital airplay, issued a remarkable announcement. Over 50,000 artists and bands had yet to claim their royalty checks, the outfit noted. To clear the books, SoundExchange created a searchable database of groups that it thinks still haven’t registered to get […]
Chicago’s public radio station WBEZ quietly dropped the syndicated Smiley and West program from its Sunday line-up at the end of September. This stands in contrast to the station’s decision to drop Car Talk reruns from its Saturday line-up, which management communicated in an email to donor members explaining the decision and soliciting feedback (full […]
Once more into the breach for the Prometheus Radio Project, visiting the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday and again urging the agency to allow for second adjacent frequency waivers for Low Power FM stations, similar to the Commission’s rules for FM translators. The big victory in 2011 was that Congress legalized licensing LPFMs on the […]
How many new LPFM stations will there be? That is one of the biggest questions on the mind of community radio supporters, especially since the FCC’s March ruling resolving the tension between processing the backlog of translator applications and saving room for new low-power stations. Radio World recently published a short survey of best guesses […]
It’s an increasingly rare thing to find a station that has maintained its format (and call letters) for more than a decade, nevermind 40 years. This week Chicago commercial rock station WXRT begins celebrating its fortieth year on air with something called “40 years in 40 days.” Starting Monday, each day the station is highlighting […]
On August 9, Vanderbilt Student Communications (VSC) filed paperwork with the FCC indicating their desire to assign the license for former college radio station WRVU 91.1 FM (now known as WFCL) to Nashville Public Radio. Ever since June, 2011, Nashville Public Radio has been operating the station after VSC entered into an agreement with the […]
