Hey radio deejays, I want more back announcing!
Man, of all the things that commercial radio has dropped over the last decade or so, I miss back announcing the most. Yes, that lost courtesy of actually telling you the name of the song you just heard, and maybe even the one before that too. Apparently in this time-is-money-to-the-nanosecond age of broadcast radio, back […]
SXSW: we're digging those nerdcore bands
As some of you probably already know, more than a thousand bands from around the world have recently been gathering in Austin, TX for South by Southwest (SXSW), a collection of interactive, film, and music festivals. If you find yourself in the area or are simply interested in learning more about the musical offerings provided […]
Voice of America says its signal to Ethiopia being jammed
Voice of America, the official radio outlet of the United States, says that its Amharic language signal to Ethiopia has been blocked “by an unknown source” since February 22. But obviously it’s the corrupt and repressive government of Meles Zenawi that is behind the jamming. “We have added another frequency, 9700 in the 31-meter band, […]
RIP Alex Chilton, Bring on the Radio Tributes
Amazon.com Widgets The sad news that seminal musician and producer Alex Chilton died started spilling out over the Internet on St. Patrick’s Day evening, just as SXSW was getting started in Austin. Chilton’s band Big Star was scheduled to play at the festival on Saturday, at a much-anticipated show (which will now be a tribute/memorial […]
Sirius says it received notice from NASDAQ about $1 minimum rule
Sirius XM has just put out a press release acknowledging that it has received a letter from NASDAQ “stating that the Company has not regained compliance with the $1.00 minimum closing bid price requirement for continued listing on The NASDAQ Global Select Market.” The satellite radio company says it will ask for a hearing with […]
Hey FCC: What about "audio.gov?"
I’ve now had my eyes glued to the Federal Communications Commission’s 370+ page National Broadband Plan for 24 hours, and the message is clear: video rules; audio drools. The document goes so far as to propose the creation of video.gov: “a federated national archive for digital content. Creating such an archive will require tackling digital […]
Tribune CEO Randy Michaels Boosts Morale at WGN-AM
Last week I told you how former-Clear Channel Charm School president and current Tribune CEO Radio Randy Michaels identified 119 words and phrases that are no good for his company’s flagship station WGN-AM. Well, this week Radio Randy’s follow-up was to double-down and confront the station’s staff about how the list got leaked outside the […]
Indie Radio Guide to SXSW 2010
Well, the geeks are getting ready to flee Austin to make way for all of the radio folks streaming in for the music portion of this massive festival of technology, music and film that is South by Southwest (SXSW). As in years past, radio stations have both a visible and audible presence; hosting shows, doing […]
FCC National Broadband Plan: give wireless band next to Sirius 20 MHz
The Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Plan is up, and, as expected, it recommends that a wireless band close by the Sirius XM band get 20MHz of spectrum for use to deploy wireless broadband services, probably WiMAX style. “Recommendation 5.8.1: The FCC should make 20 megahertz available for mobile broadband use in the 2.3 GHz […]
Songs about radio: Part Trois
Paul and Matthew each wrote a piece (click here and here) on songs about radio. Here are a few more suggestions: 1) Alkaline Trio “Radio“: Not really a song about radio, but it does discuss “radio” as an object in an interesting break-up song. 2) American Hi-Fi “Hi-Fi Killer” I gotta disappear Don’t wanna hear […]