College Radio Watch: Digging into College Radio History in Sacramento and More News
On this week’s radio show/podcast we had a fun discussion with one of the founders of Sacramento State University’s college radio station KSSU. We learned about the challenges and obstacles that students faced in the late 1980s when they embarked on a project to bring student radio back to campus. It’s not unusual; many students […]
Radio Station Visit #164: KMNO Mana’o Radio in Maui
On a dreamy Hawaiian vacation this August, I carved out some time to visit community radio station KMNO Mana’o Radio on the island of Maui. My colleagues Matthew Lasar and Paul Riismandel have both written about the station in the past and last year Paul did an impromptu visit, piquing my interest even more. (more…)
After the Death of iTunes Real Internet Radio Is Back on the macOS Music App
Back in June I openly worried about the future state of internet radio on the Mac with the arrival of macOS Catalina and the demise of iTunes. While iTunes has its faults, it still provided a simple way to tune in stations from around the world without using a web browser, whether you found the […]
Podcast #220 – The College Radio Station ‘That Shouldn’t Exist’
When Jim Bolt was in college at Sacramento State University in 1989 college radio was exerting unprecedented cultural influence in the U.S. But this campus no longer had a radio station. Though he had heard stories of an earlier student-run AM station – KERS – he couldn’t get to the bottom of why it no […]
Walter Benjamin diary: on earthquakes and radio time
“Benjamin was explaining his sense of the nature of radio, a medium that he felt did not have the time to narrate events like a history book. It had to get to the point. And the Lisbon Earthquake of 1771 had not one point, Benjamin thought, but four.”
College Radio Watch: Music Discovery, New Station and More News
There have been radical changes in music distribution and consumption in the past few decades, which has certainly altered the college radio experience. A piece in the Independent Florida Alligator at University of Florida, “From Mixtapes to Algorithms: How Listening to Music on Campus has Changed,” states: The way students discover music has evolved and […]
Podcast #219 – The Next Chance To Get an FM Station License; a College Station 60th; All-Digital AM
In April 2020 the FCC will open up the next auction for FM radio licenses. This is the next, and only currently scheduled opportunity to build a new radio station in the U.S. Jennifer, Eric and Paul discuss this news, along with celebrating the 60th birthday of KFJC-FM at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, […]
Radio Station Visit #163: Community Radio Station KGNU in Boulder
Summer began for me with a short trip to Colorado, which prompted a road trip to see the sights of Boulder, including famed community radio station KGNU 88.5 FM/1390AM. Founded in 1978, the station has staff of less than ten, but an active roster of around 400 volunteers and a broadcast that reaches from Boulder […]
College Radio Watch: Fall News Round-up
Welcome to a super-sized college radio news round-up, covering more than a month’s worth of college radio news. Before launching into this massive list of stories, I have to comment on a fascinating, hyperbolic quote about college radio history. An AP News story in the Washington Post recounts nominees for the Songwriters Hall of Fame, […]
Can We Save AM Radio by Killing It? Considering All-Digital AM Radio
Can you save AM Radio by killing it? The original broadcast band gets little love as it prepares to celebrate its 100th birthday. Plagued by electromagnetic interference from wi-fi routers, LED lights and all sorts of other modern electronics, and dominated by tired right-wing and sports talk programming targeting a shrinking demographic, there’s not much […]