Longest Running Soap Opera Celebrates 60 Years on Radio
Although in the United States we are often hard-pressed to find examples of radio drama, over in the U.K. radio listeners have been tuning in to hear “The Archers” for 60 years. The soap opera, which began in January 1951 currently airs 15-minute episodes 6 days a week and is now presumed to be the […]
FCC promises “swift action” on Low Power FM law
Shortly after President Obama signed the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 into law on Tuesday, Federal Communications Commission Chair Julius Genachowski issued this statement in response to the move: The Local Community Radio Act signed by President Obama is a big win for radio listeners. Low power FM stations are small, but they make […]
LPFM expansion: it’s official!
Yes, the Local Community Radio Act of 2010finally passed both the House and Senate almost two weeks ago. But it’s not official until the president signs it. And that he did, today. Today is just the start of the process to bring more community radio stations to the air. There is a lot of work […]
What’s in store for radio at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show
The annual Consumer Electronics Show kicks off this Thursday in Las Vegas. While all the biggest buzz around the show is in anticipation of new tablet competitors for Apple’s iPad, we can still expect to hear announcements of new radio gadgets across the spectrum, from analog broadcast and HD Radio to satellite and internet radio. […]
NPR apologizes for incorrectly reporting WikiLeaks data
NPR has apologized for misreporting the number of State Department diplomatic cables actually released by WikiLeaks. Although WikiLeaks allegedly possesses 251,287, only 1,947 were available as of December 30, 20. Yet, prior to this date, NPR (on multiple occasions) reported that WikiLeaks had released “thousands” of documents, a mistake that San Francisco listener Henry Norr […]
Should NBC finally apologize to Mae West?
Everybody’s waiting for the United States government to decide whether to approve the merger of Comcast and NBC Universal. The Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice have to bless the marriage, and it appears that the FCC is going to do so with some conditions. These include requirements that the new entity make […]
“‘Happy Holidays’… is what terrorists say.”
I’d like to thank 30 Rock for the title of this article. Their brief mention of the differences between “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” through a Christmas card being sent by an ultra-conservative couple stating “‘Happy Holidays’… is what terrorists say. Merry Christmas!” is really quite perfect. Nina Totenberg, a legal correspondent for NPR, has […]
Is a public radio station a community center?
A producer at Pacifica radio outlet KPFA in Berkeley sent me this amusing Xtranormal skit, which works out his feelings about a proposal to hold a big “community party” at the station. I’m not sure what the status of that idea is, and obviously the discussion is referential to the recent troubles at the station. […]
NPR Gets Nod on List of Top PR Blunders of 2010
Although the list came out a few weeks back, yesterday Current.org reported that NPR was awarded a spot on the Top 10 PR Blunders List for 2010. Just add this distinction to the litany of challenges NPR is facing this year, which were so eloquently discussed by Gavin Dahl in his Radio Survivor post yesterday […]
Radio’s Fall – Part Two: NPR’s ‘Liberal’ Identity Crisis
Editor’s Note: Radioactive Gavin has collected more than 300 articles on radio and digital music over the past 3 months for Common Frequency. This is the second in a series of seven posts he is contributing, looking back at the end of a rough year in radio. When Stephen Colbert gave a ‘medal of fear’ to a seven-year old […]