The annual Princeton Review “Best College Radio Station” list has me in full-on analysis mode this week, as I scrutinize the list of 20 schools with “popular” radio stations. Based on surveys conducted at around 380 institutions, it reflects a microcosm (less than 10%) of the universe of more than 4,000 U.S. colleges and universities […]
Today, it’s not uncommon for mobile phone-wielding college radio participants to document every bit of minutiae from their stations and shows, leading to countless photos and videos across social media channels, from Instagram to YouTube. But back in the 1980s and 1990s, photos and videos was taken more sparingly because most people didn’t carry cameras […]
While planning my East Coast summer vacation, I fantasized about visiting numerous college radio stations in New York and Massachusetts, as I dreamed off ticking off more stops on my 140 station+ tour series. It’s always a balancing act, as my family members aren’t nearly as obsessed with sticker-covered cabinets, vinyl collections, and vintage audio […]
The Economist features a piece about college radio this week, with the headline How is College Radio Faring in the Streaming Era? – Not Signing Off Yet. It takes a cursory look at the state of college radio, unfortunately recycling stereotypical themes about the decline of college radio and its imagined heyday in the 1980s […]
It’s transition time at many college radio stations, as volunteers and staff members from the academic year graduate and pass the torch to new leadership. With these shifts, summer can be a good time for station projects and for making plans for the fall. A couple of fall radio conferences in the Pacific Northwest should […]
Broadcasting to a minuscule potential audience of around 130 people during the dark days of winter, Ice Radio has much in common with my own college radio show that beamed into my school’s cafeteria at mealtimes. Similar to a college radio station in the pre-internet days, the community radio station at McMurdo Station in Antarctica […]
On this week’s podcast, we dig into the Hip Hop Radio Archive, which owes its very existence to some pioneering college radio shows. Founder Ryan MacMichael was in large part inspired by early hip hop programming that he heard over stations like Princeton University station WPRB. A work in progress, the Hip Hop Radio Archive […]
Like many college radio participants, I’m dreaming about my summer vacation; although in my case that also means cross-checking vacation plans with intriguing radio stations. In order to plan these tours in good conscience, I need to complete my tour reports from recent visits. College radio fans should definitely take a look at my latest […]
In 2011, I wrote about the heroic efforts in 2006 that resulted in college radio station WUEV being saved from a potential sale by University of Evansville. It was a shining example of how an open-minded university president involved students, alumni and fans of college radio station WUEV in the discussion about its future. The […]
My tour of college radio station WHPK at University of Chicago is one of the main topics on this week’s Radio Survivor podcast/radio show, so take a listen to hear more about this historic station in a Gothic bell tower. Also this week, Radio Survivor has started a new “Around the Web” feature, highlighting interesting […]
