In a few dozen markets around the country there is a rare species of FM station that is only heard on the far left end of the dial. Because of the unusual spot on the dial, and sometimes unusual programming, some listeners may think they’ve tuned in a pirate. But these stations are legal, if […]
As 2018 draws to a close the FCC is poised to throw another death blow at radio, proposing to allow complete ownership monopolies in hundreds of radio markets. At the same time the Commission has to defend its decimation of network neutrality in court, even after the DC Court of Appeals ruled the earlier open […]
The FCC has proposed to de-fund community media through an arcane rule that determines how contributions from cable companies to public-access, educational and government (PEG) stations are counted. Because it’s arcane, the effort is flying under the radar. But we have two community media advocates to help explain what’s at stake. Martin Jones is the […]
“Franken FM” is the name writer Ernie Smith of Tedium.co calls TV broadcasters who use analog Channel 6 to be heard at 87.7 on the FM dial. Paul talks with Ernie about their mutual fascination with these stations, which Paul has written about extensively on Radio Survivor. Also included in the interview, Ernie Smith explains […]
Why didn’t the internet just stop working the day after the FCC voted to end network neutrality? Prof. Christopher Terry from the University of Minnesota joins to answer that question, and explain what happens next. He also lays out where is the fight over internet freedom going next, and what the real threat is for […]
With the school year drawing to a close, college radio news is sparse, as students finish up school work and cram for final exams. Since it was a slow week, it provided the perfect opportunity for me to finally view an episode of the new Netflix series Dear White People. With a college radio DJ […]
This weekend the Alliance for Community Media’s Northwest Chapter will hold its conference on March 31 and April 1 in Portland, OR, hosted by Open Signal community media. Although ACM has historically represented public access, educational and government cable television channels (so-called PEG channels), this event also invites community radio folks to participate. This cross-medium […]
Over the weekend I stumbled across Resistance Radio and was immediately obsessed with the nostalgic music, rebellious DJs and the geeky radio details. The website reads, The year is 1962. America stands divided and controlled by the Greater Nazi Reich in the East and the Japanese Pacific States in the West. Seventeen years after the […]
A year ago I rhapsodized about my love of televised yule logs and gave my report on some of the examples that aired during the 2014 Christmas holiday. Well, Christmas 2015 also brought with it many opportunities to view yule logs on TV and I ended up catching a few that I’d never seen before. […]
Chicago may be the home of the highest rated channel 6 TV station dressed in a radio station’s clothes. I wrote about MeTV FM in February when it hit the airwaves. The station broadcasts on the audio channel of WRME-LP channel 6, which is receivable at 87.7 FM. I call these “back door” radio stations […]
