One of terrestrial radio’s many benefits is that is has the capacity to be a resource for the local listening community. Since in recent years there has been less and less local content on commercial stations, there’s a great opportunity for college and community radio stations to put even more emphasis on the needs of […]
Archive | Policy
The Death of Air America: It's the Ownership, Stupid!
Conservative commentators may be cackling about the failure of Air America radio, trying to make it into an indicator for both the inherent weakness of liberal-leaning radio and liberal politics. But any reasoned analysis of the radio industry demonstrates that neither is the case. Rush Limbaugh, in particular, and the rest of the nation’s most […]
FCC will let public radio raise money for Haitian relief
The Federal Communications Commission normally bars Noncommercial Educational Radio (NCE) stations from using the airwaves to raise money for any cause besides their own operation. But the FCC granted waivers from this rule following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina, and now it’s doing the same for stations that want to raise relief cash […]
The Latest in Pirate Radio: FCC Enforcement, Austin Free-Staters and Canadian Strip Club Pirate
On my recently ended radioshow I tried to reguarly to give updates on unlicensed radio. To me it’s one of the still lively modes of civil disobedience in electronic communications, especially in the internet age. Although there is low-power FM in the US, and a growing community radio movement world-wide, the urge to broadcast without […]
Crossover bands hit FCC with net neutrality letters
The Future of Music Coalition has a small boatload of classy crossover music groups sending letters to the Federal Communications Commission in support of tougher net neutrality rules. They include R.E.M., the woodwind quintet Imani Winds, and the Kronos Quartet. Here’s an excerpt from Kronos Artistic Administrator Sidney Chen’s letter to the FCC: “From the […]
Notable Comments on the RadioSurvivor Decade in Review
One of the most satisfying aspects of putting together our review of the decade’s most important radio trends was the number of comments we received. It appears we touched a nerve or two. And while not everyone agreed with our arguments or conclusions, we did get some thought provoking responses. Seeing as how we like […]
Wrapping up the decade in radio and looking forward to the decade ahead
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 […]
The decade’s most important radio trends #1: The birth and troubled childhood of satellite Radio
At end of the first decade of the 21st century there are more audio entertainment options available than any time before. Even if traditional broadcast radio has a case of the doldrums, the viability of radio-like media has never been stronger. Satellite radio is one medium that entered the scene, although its long-term prognosis is […]
Twitterers call and pray for Rush Limbaugh to die, live, not die, or all of the above
As everybody in the radio world knows, conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh is in a Honolulu hospital, recovering from chest pains. Meanwhile, something of a referendum on his fate is being conducted on Twitter. “Please, Rush Limbaugh, DIE NOW!” tweeted Chuck69dotcom not too long ago. “oh pleez oh pleez oh pleez let Rush Limbaugh […]
NPR calls for Congress to create "common public media waiver"
As we’ve reported, National Public Radio has been filing comments with the Federal Communications Commission a lot these days, talking up its localism initiative, Android app, and new mobile site. NPR’s latest commentary to the FCC on its National Broadband Plan reiterates all these points. But here’s the paragraph in the filing that got our […]