Actor Howard Hesseman passed away on Saturday, Jan. 29, perhaps most well-known – at least to radio nerds – as the burned-out former hippy morning radio DJ Dr. Johnny Fever on sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” for four seasons beginning in 1978. Hesseman was actually once a real radio DJ, for a short stint in 1967 on San Francisco freeform station KMPX.

I can only imagine how many viewers his Johnny Fever character inspired to become DJs, including this guy, who watched the first-run weekly as an elementary school kid, then in reruns whenever I could. The contrast between the on-air persona and the much more beleaguered real-life person was entertaining and believable (for a sitcom), but also offered up an example for how being on the radio lets you reinvent yourself – possibly many multiple times, as Johnny rattles off the air names and markets he’d been through in the series’ pilot episode.

Of course, Hesseman’s career was longer and more multitudinous than the four years on WKRP. But Dr. Johnny Fever, and WKRP, have become a part of the national radio mythos. The cast reunited in 2014 for an entertaining and enlightening event at the Paley Center in Los Angeles, which you can stream online.

Following years of declarations that the compact disc is dying or dead, we’re all-of-a-sudden seeing an about face in the zeitgeist, summarized most recently by Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield, who declares “the CD Revival Is Finally Here.” This cultural reckoning comes on the heels of data showing CD sales actually increased in 2021, driven by popular releases from Adele, BTS and Taylor Swift. These chart-topping artists also released vinyl versions, which, tend to be more expensive and often harder to get than digital discs. At Amazon Adele’s “30” is $35 on LP and just under ten bucks on shiny silver.

Of course, I’ve been an unabashed CD partisan for years, three years ago logging “10 Reasons Why CDs Are Still Awesome (Especially for Radio).” For me it’s not about CD vs. vinyl – I’m listening to a record right now – or even CD vs. streaming – I listen to streaming more than CDs. It’s always been about utility; CDs provide great sound in a durable medium for a great price. Sure the same $9.99 that buys you the new Adele CD also gives you a month of unlimited, ad-free access to millions of albums on several streaming services. But once you quit paying that bill you lose your music. Put the same money on a CD and you have it forever.

That said, I’ve streamed countless dozens of albums just once, or maybe not even the whole way through. Streaming is a great way to try new music without the commitment of a purchase. That sure is an improvement over the pre-streaming days where often you just had a to take a chance, especially on less popular artists and albums that you didn’t hear on the radio. Now I can preview with a stream and seal the deal with a CD (or record). The two media can be very complementary, not mutually exclusive.

I still buy CDs, though I certainly amassed the largest majority of my collection in the 90s and early 2000s. I’ve thinned the herd over the years, but still own several hundred. I recently moved and have more space in our new house, allowing us to get a cabinet to properly store the discs more accessibly than in our previous place. I’ve enjoyed browsing through and rediscovering albums I haven’t thought of or heard for years. A not-inconsiderable percentage I discover aren’t available to stream at all.

In the last few years I’ve bought a fair number of used CDs at what I consider to be bargain prices. Now I’m wondering if this renewed interest will trigger price increases, as young people want to check out what they’ve been missing, and older folks refresh their collections. I wonder if we’ll see any hint of the rebuying phenomenon I’ve observed with the vinyl resurgence: folks who had vinyl in their youth, which they ditched for CDs, which they ditched for iTunes downloads, which they ditched for streaming, then rebuying those albums on vinyl. Will they now be springing for their third or fourth copy of “Sgt. Pepper’s,” “Hotel California” or “Led Zeppelin IV,” on CD?

Perfect sound forever, again!

The post Rough Notes: RIP Howard Hesseman, WKRP’s Dr. Johnny Fever; Perfect Sound Forever, Again appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Last Tuesday, July 13, was the last day for analog low-power TV in the US, also marking the last broadcasts of most Franken FMs – legacy channel 6 stations’ whose audio is heard at the low end of the FM dial at 87.7 FM. As I noted then, two stations have retained their FM signals even as their video signals switched to digital (digital TV audio signals cannot be heard on FM radios) under Special Temporary Authority (STA) from the FCC.

Now that number has increased to five, as Radio Insight reports Streetz 87.7 WMTO-LP in Norfolk, Virginia, La Invasora 87.7 KXDP-LP Denver, Colorado and “La Que Buena 101.9/87.7” in Cleveland, Georgia have all received STAs as well. This permits the stations to retain their analog radio signal for six months, but they must also broadcast a fully independent digital TV signal and the station may not be sold in that period. That still leaves about two dozen Franken FMs (depending on who does the counting – there is no official list) that are no longer heard at 87.7 FM.

Living in Portland, Oregon, without any Franken FMs nearby, I’ve only heard a couple of them ever. The first was the one that set me on the journey of discovering these stations, back in June 2009, just after the DTV transition. Chicago’s WLFM-LP was then airing a smooth jazz format, later flipping to alternative rock, and finally to MeTV FM under the new call letters WRME-LP. I’ve heard the station on the FM dial both with the smooth jazz and MeTV formats.

In October, 2019 I tuned in NY Radio Korea while visiting Northern New Jersey. Radio Insight says that station has applied for an STA to stay on FM – we’ll see if it’s granted.

If I happened to live near a Franken FM that was set to leave the radio dial, I definitely would have tuned in last Tuesday to hear what those final moments sound like. Though I wasn’t able to do it personally, lucky for me The Antenna Man on YouTube compiled some recordings of analog LPTV stations signing off. He even traveled to Syracuse, New York just to observe and record the last transmissions of WVOA-LP. This is a particularly fascinating Franken FM because its video signal was just an 8-bit motion graphic synchronized to the audio program, which Antenna Man compares to the Atari Music Video System from the 1970s.

This station actually aired a notice about its imminent sign-off, which he also captured in his video.

In the video’s description he’s posted links to other YouTubers’ unedited captures of other analog LPTV end-transmissions, several of which are quite unceremonious and abrupt. As minor a chapter it seems, it’s still real broadcast history.

The post A Few More Franken FMs Stay on the Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

July 13, 2021 was the last day on-air for 95% of the Franken FMs still around. That’s because 11:59 PM marked the final deadline for low-power TV stations to turn off their analog signals, 12 years and 31 days after full-power stations went all-digital.

These vestigial analog broadcasts were primarily of use to a few dozen stations assigned TV channel 6, which meant their audio could be heard at the far left end of the FM dial, at 87.75 MHz. Once just considered a quirky phenomenon in the days of all-analog TV, this capability spawned a new life for these outlets as radio stations which came to be known as Franken FMs.

Their forced digital transition was forestalled so many times in the last decade that none could claim they didn’t see it coming. One might consider their quest Quixotic, lobbying the FCC to retain their back-door to the radio dial, even though they have no legal claim to be heard on the radio.

While the Commission has not acted on a proposal to let LPTVs on channel 6 retain their analog audio broadcasts alongside their digital video transmissions, two stations have received special temporary authority (STA) from the agency to do just that for six months. I first reported on this experiment in June when KBKF in San Jose, CA got an STA. Chicago’s WRME recently also got the same extension. That station is perhaps the most well-known Franken FM, as the flagship station of MeTV FM. Not coincidentally, both stations are owned by the same company, Venture Technologies Group.

Aside from these two, all other Frankens must now be off the FM radio dial, as the stations either go digital or go dark. It’s tough to say precisely how many are affected. In March I counted 23 LPTV channel 6s that appeared to still operate as radio stations, and it’s likely many of them have ceased operations or figured out a different broadcast option in the meantime. Here are four reolocations I was able to find:

• The Bridge WJMF-LP in Jackson, Mississippi > WZQK-AM & 94.3 FM
• Drake FM WPGF in Memphis, Tennessee > 96.1 FM
• Fiesta! WGHD in Las Vegas > 98.1 FM
• Streetz 877 WMTO in Norfolk, Virginia > 102.1 FM

I also looked up a couple of other Franken FMs I’ve followed over the years to see their status. The website for Kickin’ Country 87.7 in Inyokern, California is offline, and their stream is no longer available on TuneIn. The stream for Sacramento’s Hella Radio 87.7 is still going, though there’s no messaging about the TV signal, the website doesn’t seem to have been updated since April 2020 and their last Twitter post was September 2020.

While the ultimate fate of TV on the radio is forestalled another six months until Venture’s STAs expire, it’s hard to say if many other stations will back to 87.7 FM if the FCC gives some kind of approval to the hybrid digital video and analog analog scheme. Even if that happens, I think we can consider the era of true Franken FMs to be over. Chicago’s MeTV FM is no longer actually broadcasting on TV – the station is now required to have a completely separate digital video signal. Its audio transmission is actually just radio – that happens to be paired with a digital LPTV station.

Just like its namesake monster, it seems Franken FM was never meant to live for long.

The post Just 2 Franken FMs Remain (but the Era Is Over) appeared first on Radio Survivor.

What are the odds that a popular television series would feature your college radio station as a backdrop for two episodes? That’s exactly what Jennifer found, when HBO’s “Mare of Easttown” employed a set that accurately recreates Haverford College’s station as a location for the limited-run drama. Jennifer talked with the show’s production designer to get the behind-the-scenes scoop.

Paul recently experienced his own radio coincidence when he by chance discovered a storefront radio museum in the small Oregon city of Sutherlin. Although it was closed, the proprietor of the Radio Days Museum saw him outside and invited him in for a quick tour of the radio memorabilia collection. Paul also shares an orchestrated soundwalk he enjoyed down the road in Jacksonville, Oregon.

Show Notes:

• Creating Haverford College Radio on Mare of Easttown
• Podcast #298 – College Radio at the End of the Academic Covid Year
• HBO series “Mare of Easttown”
• Jennifer’s Radio Station Tours
• Radio Days Museum in Sutherlin, Oregon
• Britt Fest’s Ellen Reid Soundwalk
• Podcast #246 – Radio in the Movies
• An Even Bigger Songs about Radio Spotify Playlist
• Podcast #297 – Radio Studies and Sound Work
• California Historical Radio Society
• “On the Radio” Exhibit at San Francisco Airport Celebrates Radio History
• Podcast #138 – Radio History on Display at the San Francisco Airport
• Radio History Imprisoned at Cork’s Radio Museum Experience

The post Podcast #306 – Radio Coincidences, from Easttown to Sutherlin appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Student DJ Anne Harris is on the microphone in the booth at WWXU Haverford College Radio. While back announcing a track by Mannequin Pussy, she looks through a sticker-covered window into the record library, where local band Androgynous is preparing to play live. Posters, stickers and flyers are plastered on the walls and there are shelves and shelves of vinyl records. Audio equipment surrounds her, including turntables and even a vintage reel-to-reel machine. Musicians Siobhan and Nathan set up their gear while their drowsy bandmate Becca reclines on a musty old couch and drummer Geoff opens a tin of edibles. The sleepy musician suddenly vomits, quickly ending any plans to perform in the cozy basement radio station. 

Although the location and scenario likely rings true for so many college radio participants, this scene was filmed on a sound stage for the HBO Max limited television series Mare of Easttown. Set in Pennsylvania, the show puts a fictionalized version of the the Philadelphia Main Line-located Haverford College radio station circa 2019 in the spotlight during a few brief segments in a couple of episodes. 

The production team chose the call letters WWXU and upgraded it to an FM station, much to the delight of this former Haverford College radio DJ and Music Director. During my era in the 1980s, the station’s call letters were WHRC and we broadcast over AM carrier current from a dining center basement studio to students during mealtime as well as to select dorms. 

I’m always excited to see college radio in television and film and it appears infrequently these days. So I was completely shocked to see my own college station showing up on a buzzed-about TV show. There were familiar details, like the wooden shelves of LPs that looked nearly identical to the record library in my days at the station. Fellow WHRC and Haverford alumni were equally amazed. At least one person was sure that the station scenes were filmed at Haverford.

Not content to merely speculate, I reached out to HBO to get the back story. Many thanks to Mare of Easttown production designer Keith Cunningham for taking the time to fill me in on how this very convincing replica of a college radio station came to be. Filming began in fall 2019 and was paused during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, before resuming in the last few months of 2020. Some concepts had to be reworked and these moments where we are introduced to both Anne and the band Androgynous (AV Club has a great piece about the making of this fictional band) at the Haverford College radio station actually “turned out to be a better idea” and safer to film than the original imaginings of Androgynous playing at a rave-like crowded party, according to Cunningham. Although filming wasn’t originally planned at Haverford College, a shoot on the nearby Bryn Mawr College campus (part of a Bi-College community with Haverford and coincidentally where DJ Anne Harris mentions seeing Androgynous play for the first time) was slated to happen and was cancelled just as the COVID-19 shutdowns were beginning.

Much care was put into the design of the fictional WWXU 101.9 FM at Haverford College, including research about the school’s actual college radio station. I was dying to know if Mare of Easttown‘s production team had looked at my WHRC photos, especially since the record library resembles the one depicted in a 1980s photograph that my dad took of me at Haverford. Additionally, the orange-colored framing of the show’s radio booth and the wooden couch are reminiscent of the 2009-era WHRC in photos that I shot during an Alumni Weekend visit. When I asked about those similarities, Cunningham confirmed my speculation, revealing that, “A lot of our show is about having this sort of generational history…and just feeling the bones of the past…so we used the Haverford pictures.” 

“We wanted it to be hip…like Anne and the Androgynous band. So obviously they use modern technology…with CDs and all the equipment you’d need, but we wanted it to…have a little history, just like everything in the show. So they had this pretty epic collection of music that you can see in the background in the studio, which was super fun. And I remember when we were looking at the research. A few of us [thought] it would be great to have all these albums,” Cunningham recounted. The set decorator, Sarah McMillan was able to make that happen and Cunningham recalled that  “boxes and boxes and boxes of these amazing albums” appeared. The approximately 5,000 rented vinyl LPs ran the gamut from big band music to Nancy Sinatra to Van Halen. 

While elements clearly drawn from the real WHRC are seen on-screen, inspiration also came from NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts space (see my tour pix), from Cunningham’s memories of visiting the basement campus radio station WPGU when he was in college at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (see my 2012 visit to the station’s newer digs), as well as college radio recollections from the show’s director Craig Zobel. Cunningham described the station as “an amalgam.”

Something that I really enjoy about visiting long-time college radio stations is that they are dripping with history, from the equipment to yellowing newspaper clippings on the walls to cupboards and file cabinets full of vintage meeting notes and playlists. It’s incredible that the creators of WWXU kept that in mind as something not only integral to the radio station, but also to the ethos of the whole show. Cunningham said that they wanted to blend history and the present and so features like the vinyl library helped to achieve that. I’d noticed that the booth had a mix of old and new equipment, including a modern mixer, a computer that looked to be running an automation program, a turntable, and a reel-to-reel player in the background. Cunningham pointed out that even the CDs in the studio were placed there for a specific reason, telling me that the fictional student DJs couldn’t bear to dispose of them or digitize them. He added to the story, saying, “Maybe they were interested in the cover art.”

Couches have become one of those things that I always look for at college radio stations, as there’s always a story behind them. Often they are cast-offs and the source of much lore. The retro WWXU couch likely looks familiar to many college students of the past. Cunningham told me that this was intentional and the idea was for it to look like “dorm-issued furniture” or something that was dragged out of a “study room.” To lend further authenticity, scenic painters and dressers worked to “rough up the fabric and ding up the wood” to make the couch feel like it came from decades ago. “There’s definitely stains from food that’s been spilled over the years,” Cunningham added.

One of the more time-consuming aspects of the set design was the flyer and sticker-covered walls and windows. Cunningham shared that graphic designer Stephanie Charbonneau spent many weeks creating imagery, including the radio station logo (look closely and you can see the WWXU sticker to the right of the couch), stickers, posters, and T-shirts depicting local bands and shows that peppered the station. After all the graphics were created, the scenic department took over. “They just went to town and just layered the place with the history,” Cunningham pointed out, adding that that they even tried to imagine the station layout, piling on more and more flyers and posters in what they presumed to be the older parts of the radio space.  

It delights me to imagine how much fun it was to create a college radio station from scratch and I was glad to hear that production designer Keith Cunningham felt that way as well. He noted that this particular set was nice to do, as it was the location for some of the more “uplifting” moments of the series, telling me, “Our show is pretty heavy for a lot of it” and “we never wanted the show to be just bleak on bleak on bleak.” 

To compare the fictional Haverford College radio station from Mare of Easttown with the real Haverford College radio station in the 2000s, take a look at my field trip posts from 2009 and 2014. I also share photos dating back to the 1920s as well as the 1940s and beyond in various pieces that I’ve written about the history of student radio at Haverford College. An even more in-depth exploration of Haverford College radio history can be found in articles that I wrote for the Haverford Magazine and for Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture.

The post Creating Haverford College Radio on Mare of Easttown appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Just when we thought the Franken FM era might be over for good, the FCC grants “Special Temporary Authority” to a LPTV channel 6 in San Jose, California to keep its analog signal – heard on the FM dial – on the air while transitioning its video signal to digital. We review this news, along with a proposal in front of the FCC to boost low-power FM stations to 250 watts.

We also take a look at the most recent issue of The Wire magazine, dedicated to radio in both broadcast and internet forms. Dedicated to “Adventures in Sound and Music,” the journal looks at stations that share experimental and forward-looking sounds, highlighting Radio Survivor favorites like Wave Farm and the Pirate Radio Sound Map, alongside community-oriented stations in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, South Africa and Palestine.

Then Jennifer shares her experience taking the cassette-hacking course that Eric discussed in episode #299, as we analyze the intermixing of radio, physical and digital media in the 21st century.

Show Notes:

• It’s Alive! FCC Authorizes Last-Minute Franken FM Experiment
• Time Is Running Out for FrankenFMs – Just 4 Months Left
• St. Francis High School Files Paperwork to Sell KSFH to Group Focused on South Asian Community
• REC LPFM Advisory Letter #11 – LP250 Upgrade: Technical Planning Considerations for LPFM Stations
• See if your LPFM station might be eligible for a power upgrade at check.LP250.com
• The Wire #449: Radio Activity / On Air
• Dogbotic: Cassette Hacking: A Modern Musician’s Guide to Mangling Magnetic Tape
• Podcast #293: Exploring Radio Art and Transmission Art with Anna Friz
• Podcast #292: The History of Sound Art with Judy Dunaway
• Radio Survivor Podcast #190: Radio Spectrum and Transmission Art with Amanda Dawn Christie
• Radio Survivor Podcast #193: Wavefarm, Reveil and Transmission Arts
• Radio Survivor Podcast #289: Celebrating Women in Sound with Jennifer Hyland Wang and Jenny Stoever
• Radio Survivor Podcast #151: The Wave Farm Grows Transmission Arts
• Sisters with Transistors
• Podcast #163 – The Post Radio is Dead Era

The post Podcast #303 – Radio on TV, Magazines and Tape appeared first on Radio Survivor.

“Special Temporary Authority” kind of sounds like “Double Secret Probation,” but it’s actually a foot in a closing door for Franken FMs. The FCC has granted this “temporary authority,” known as an STA, for channel 6 TV station KBKF-LD to continue broadcasting an analog FM radio signal while its main television signal broadcasts in digital. 

As we’ve noted before, July 13 is the final, long-delayed deadline for analog low-power TV stations to shut off their analog signals in favor of digital, 13 years after full-power stations made the switch. LPTVs were permitted to remain broadcasting in analog, and since the 2009 digital conversion about two dozen stations broadcasting on channel 6, which is adjacent to the FM dial and can be heard at 87.7 FM, have decided to effectively become radio stations. These so-called “Franken FMs” transmit images or a bulletin board on the video signal to accompany an audio signal that is like any other radio station. 

With July 13 set to put these stations off the air permanently, Venture Technologies Group, which owns a number of Franken FMs, petitioned the FCC to allow their San Jose, CA station to experiment with keeping both an analog audio and digital video signal on the air. That means they are complying with the spirit of the DTV transition, while also keeping their FM signal operational. They argue all these signals can fit within the bandwidth already allocated for their station.

The Commission granted this request on a temporary–six month–and provisional basis. One important provision is that KBKF must maintain a real television broadcast on its digital signal, with “at least one stream of synchronized video and audio programming… on a full time (24×7) basis.” That means no slideshow or bulletin board. The company must submit reports to the FCC on any interference between its analog and digital signals or with any other station, and also may not sell the license during this period. 

Venture also owns the license for WRME in Chicago, home to what is likely the most popular Franken FM, MeTV Radio, programmed by Weigel Communications, and syndicated to several real FM radio stations around the country. According to Inside Radio the company is also asking the FCC for an STA for Chicago’s MeTV Radio to broadcast in hybrid digital TV / analog audio after July 13.

While this is an interesting development, it’s still the case that the dozens of other analog LPTV stations – including about 21 other channel 6 Franken FMs – are required to go all digital or leave the airwaves altogether in less than one month. Those Franken FMs may also petition the FCC for an STA, but it’s unclear how many are prepared and how many the Commission would authorize in such short time.

At the same time there is a petition in front of the FCC to make the hybrid digital TV / analog radio system permanent. If I were a betting man, I’d say the Commission will wait six months to see how the STAs work out before making a ruling. Often the FCC is popularly thought of as an airwaves cop on the lookout for violations, it’s more accurate to say that the Commission is in the business of keeping stations on the air, but within the rules, many of which are there to maintain some semblance of a usable service. Granting this first Franken FM STA indicates the FCC is at least open to the possibility of letting these stations retain their analog FM signals while complying with the digital transition. 

NPR and other FM broadcasters oppose such a development. The argument I find most compelling has to do with access and fairness: why should these few lucky channel 6 LPTVs be the only ones permitted to use what is, in effect, a new FM frequency at 87.7 FM that no other entity or organization can apply for. On the one hand, it’s reasonable that the FCC doesn’t want to kick these signals off the air, depriving listeners of a service they’ve become accustomed to. But with so few open FM radio signals left, especially in major markets, it seems like more broadcasters ought to get a chance. 

We’ll be listening for developments in this story. Also check out the Antenna Man on YouTube, who’s been using our “Final Countdown” graphic (with our permission), and is more of a Franken FM advocate than we. 

The post It’s Alive! FCC Authorizes Last-Minute Franken FM Experiment appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Colleges and high schools are finishing up their first – and, with hope, last – full academic COVID year, and all indicators are that student radio remained on the air, as students adjusted to online classes and socially distant campuses. Jennifer Waits reports back from the Intercollegiate Broadcast System annual conference, held virtually this year, where she gauged the temperature of student broadcasters and the radio professionals who shared their advice with conference attendees. She and Paul Riismandel discuss what the long-term implications of virtual and hybrid broadcasting may have for college and community radio, taking into account that the accessibility that remote technology offers is weighed against the benefits of face-to-face interaction.

Paul shares some highlights from the 2021 Infinite Dial survey from Edison Research, delivering stats on what audio Americans are using in the car, and the growth of podcast listening. He also reminds us about the upcoming non-commercial radio license opportunity, which now has a firm date in November. Jennifer and Paul then finish things out with a look at Franken FMs, which are scheduled to leave the airwaves in July, when the FCC will require all remaining analog low-power TV stations to convert to digital.

Show Notes:

• Intercollegiate Broadcast System
• Podcast #295 – High School Podcasting with the Hosts of Rice and Shine
• High School Radio Station KMIH “The Bridge”
• HBO series “Mare of Easttown”
• Haverford on the Radio
• Haverford College’s Radio Heyday in the 1920s
• The Infinite Dial 2021
• Podcast #269 – How To Get an FM Radio License in 2021
• Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS)
• Netflix series “Daredevil“
• Leah Steuer
• Time Is Running Out for FrankenFMs – Just 4 Months Left
• The Antenna Man on YouTube: 87.7 Franken FM Radio Stations May Go Dark in July

The post Podcast #298 – College Radio at the end of the Academic COVID Year appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It’s the final countdown for Franken FMs. On July 13 the FCC’s Media Bureau issued a public notice to remind low-power TV operators that July 13, 2021 is the date when they must terminate analog broadcasts and go digital, “regardless of whether their digital facilities are operational.”

Among those LPTV stations still transmitting analog signals are approximately 31 assigned channel 6 which principally operate as radio stations, due to the fact that their audio signal can be received on the far left end of the FM band, at 87.7 FM. Dubbed Franken FMs, it looks like they have a little under a year to figure out their exit strategy.

Of course, these TV stations were never intended to be radio stations, and mostly did not function as radio prior to the digital television transition in 2009. But after the U.S. made the move to DTV, low-power stations were given a longer leash to make the conversion. An initial lease of six years has since turned into 12, but now it seems eviction is likely.

Now, the FCC has acknowledged that this set of TV stations are acting like radio, and even taken up questions about possibly giving them an exception to carry on. The Commission updated the record on that proceeding in December 2019, taking in a round of public comments, but nothing else had been heard of the issue until the recent public notice. However, there is no mention of Franken FMs in this latest notice.

As I noted in December, it seems that few existing Franken FMs broadcast anything particularly unique – most air syndicated programming that can be heard on other legitimate radio stations. One exception is Chicago’s MeTV FM, which also appears to be the only Franken FM to appear in Nielsen radio ratings. In fact, it’s so successful that the format has now been syndicated to four true FM stations around the country. 

Recently Chicago media reporter Robert Feder asked the owner of the Chicago LPTV station that airs MeTV FM what the future looks like. Venture Technologies Group CEO Paul Koplin told him that his company has submitted technical studies to the FCC for a hybrid system that would maintain the analog audio signal along side the digital LPTV signal. Venture owns additional channel 6 LPTVs in markets like Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose.

This dual digital-analog scheme was submitted in comments from the LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition to the Commission’s updated record proceeding, which Radio World detailed back in March. Most radio groups, including NPR, oppose the idea, noting that letting channel 6 LPTVs carry on as radio stations past the digital deadline amounts to an unfair advantage because the opportunity to have a new radio station at 87.7 FM has not been opened to all possible qualified applicants, as is the case with all other radio licensing windows.

The hybrid digital-analog LPTV idea sure looks like a Hail Mary pass, though not surprising. Putting aside the arguments over fairness and formally authorizing a backdoor practice, hassling over saving fewer than three dozen outlier stations may be more trouble than it’s worth for the FCC. That said, the book is not closed yet.

The post The Final Countdown for Franken FMs appeared first on Radio Survivor.

We begin part one of our review of the last decade in radio with the observation that it saw the greatest expansion of community radio in history. Though the second US LPFM licensing window that happened in 2013 is a significant driver, the growth happened all over the world.

The 2010s were also a growth period for a lesser-known type of radio station, that isn’t officially even radio. We’re talking about FrankenFM TV stations that can be heard on the FM dial. Not remotely as numerous as low-power FMs, they nevertheless increased in number.

We also note the cataclysmic shifts in independent internet radio that went largely unnoticed outside specialist press (and Radio Survivor). Though indie stations, and platforms supporting those stations, still exist, an unknown number were effectively forced to shut down.

Still, at the end of the decade, there are substantially more radio stations on the air than ten years ago. Not bad for a dying medium, eh? Next week, in part two, we dig into the decade in college radio, and dig deeper into the convergence of radio and video.

Show Notes:

• The Greatest Flowering of Community Radio in History Happened in the 2010s
• Podcast #67 – New Community Radio in Borneo
• Podcast #103 – The Popular Community Radio Movement in Argentina
• Podcast #198 – Defending Human Rights with Radio in Honduras
• Podcast #170 – Community Radio in Brazil
• The Near-Death of Independent Internet Radio Is One of the Most Important Radio Trends of the Decade
• The Rise and Possible Fall of FrankenFMs Is One of the Most Important Radio Trends of the Decade
• Understanding Radio in the Popular Zeitgeist – An Analysis of Radio Survivor’s Most Popular Posts of the Decade 2010 – 2019

The post Podcast #227 – A Banner Decade for Community Radio and FrankenFMs appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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 not quite something the FCC intends to exist.

When I first found these stations more than ten years ago, I called them “Back Door FMs.” Later some commentators would call them “FrankenFMs.” The first instance of this moniker I can find is from Radio World in November 2014. The term became more popular when writer Ernie Smith covered the phenomenon for Tedium in 2016.

I think FrankenFMs are one of the most important radio trends of the last decade because only a handful of them were around when the decade started, and their number has nearly tripled in the intervening years. Yet, the 2010s might be remembered as their heyday, since they’re scheduled to go away in June of 2020, unless the Federal Communications Commission decides to intervene.

How Digital TV Inadvertently Turned a Curiosity into a Service

When I was a kid growing up at the Jersey Shore, I was fascinated by the fact that I could hear channel 6 WPVI-TV, Philadelphia’s ABC affiliate, on the left end of my radio. And disappointed that I couldn’t listen to other TV stations.

The existence of that phenomenon is owed to the fact that the first six channels of analog TV are just below the FM dial, with channel 6’s audio portion – which is also frequency modulated – situated at 87.76 MHz, receivable on most radios. For the roughly 44 years that analog television and FM radio were neighbors this was mostly a curiosity, since only some television shows make sense without the picture.

This changed on June 12, 2009, when all full-power television stations turned off their analog signals, becoming fully digital. The ones on channel 6 disappeared from the FM dial. But not every channel 6 station went away.

Because they were designed to serve local communities at a lower cost – similar to low-power FM – low power television stations were given a longer lease to hold onto their analog signals. That also meant that channel 6 LPTVs could still be heard on the radio.

As television viewers made their adjustment to digital receivers, the value of these low-powered analog signals began to fall. Those on channel 6 found a new lease on life: embrace their existence on the radio dial.

A Decade of FrankenFMs

I discovered my first such station on the Chicago radio dial just days after the analog TV shutoff, in June 2009. Back then WLFM briefly returned smooth jazz to the area’s airwaves – the station is now MeTV FM, which will I’ll return to in a bit. I soon learned there were a number of these stations around the country, from Anchorage, Alaska to New York City.

When the digital TV transition happened there were 77 analog channel 6s remaining on the air in the U.S. Two years later the FCC decided they would all be required to transition to digital by September 1, 2015. Then they received a reprieve in 2014, getting to stay analog while the Commission conducted what is known as the “incentive auction and repack.” This process allowed digital TV stations to trade in spectrum to be auctioned off for advanced digital services. Stations in affected markets then “repacked” in bunched up spectrum. It concluded in June of this year, and analog LPTVs were given an addition twelve months past this point to make the digital transition.

Today there are just 41 analog channel 6 stations left, just a bit more than half as there were a decade earlier. But now most – 31 – appear to operate as radio stations, with a majority broadcasting either a Spanish-language or religious format, usually syndicated and non-local. The last time I counted them was in 2014, when I came up with about 18. This increase certainly indicates that there’s little value left in analog television broadcasting as a visual service. The audio signal is clearly what’s most valuable.

A Stay of Execution?

Once more an analog sunset is upon us in just over six months when the post-repack grace period is finished. This time around the FCC isn’t asking the question if analog LPTVs should stick around – their digital transition appears imminent. Instead the Commission is directly addressing the existence of channel 6 FrankenFMs.

The Media Bureau is asking for the public to weigh in (MB Docket No. 03–185) on whether or not these stations should get an exception to continue broadcasting an analog audio signal as a “supplementary service” even while their video signals go digital. Moreover, should the FCC only consider stations that are actually operating as radio, or should all be considered?

If this supplemental audio service were to be allowed, should only existing channel 6s be eligible, or would someone be able to apply for a new station and also get permission to broadcast an analog radio signal? The FCC also asks if a channel 6 license is sold or transferred, should that right to the analog audio transmission also be transferred.

It’s significant that the FCC is in effect proposing to officially recognize channel 6 LPTV stations as radio stations, rather than just sort of tolerate the loophole. Of course that’s because the loophole is about to go away.

Should FrankenFMs Be Saved?

As I noted above, the majority of the FrankenFMs seem to broadcast syndicated programming. Only a handful broadcast anything I’d call interesting or unique, which is unfortunate to me.

On the one hand I have to tip my hat to clever broadcasters exploiting a loophole to get onto the radio legally, especially in tight markets with few or no opportunities to squeeze another station onto the dial. But I really want these stations to be run by passionate folks, eager to do something innovative or different, not just rebroadcast some satellite or internet signal, or another iteration of a tired format already heard everywhere.

Even though it’s formally an oldies station, I think the aforementioned MeTV FM is the clearest example of a unique Franken-FM. Deviating from the usual canon of 60s, 70s and 80s music, the station mixes in a healthy dose of what I’d call “forgotten oldies.” These are one-hit-wonders or even hit songs by established artists that were popular in their day, but somehow never endured heavy rotation in the years after.

MeTV FM’s eclectic oldies format stands out so much that it now has an audience big enough audience to show up in the Nielsen ratings beginning four years ago, even beating out the nine-decade-old news/talk station WLS-AM.

Previously only available to terrestrial listeners in the Chicago area, MeTV FM now streams online, so you can check out its distinctive oldies format for yourself no matter where you are. It even has picked up four FM affiliates: KXXP 104.5 FM serving the Portland, Oregon metro out of White Salmon, Washington; WXZO 96.7 FM serving the Burlington, Vermont and Plattsburgh, New York area; KQEG 102.7 FMserving the LaCrosse, Wisconsin metro from La Crescent, Minnesota; and WJMK 1250 AM in Saginaw, Michigan, which has a translator at 99.3 FM. HD Radio listeners in Milwaukee, Wisconsin can tune it in on WMYK-HD2.

As far as I can tell, MeTV FM may be the only FrankenFM that serves as the flagship station for burgeoning network of true FM stations.

A couple of other interesting and notable FrankenFMs include indie/alternative Hella 87.7 FM in Redding, California, and Kickin’ Country 87.7 FM in Ridgecrest, California.

Though channel 6 TV stations have been tucked into the bottom of the FM dial for more than four decades, it’s only in the last one that this has been systematically exploited, turning into a small shadow service. Yet every broadcaster taking this advantage has known the lease would eventually expire, and now they’re definitely making a last-minute Hail Mary. I’d be more inclined to rise up in their defense if the majority were idiosyncratic, eclectic or at least locally programmed.

Instead, I’d rather see that little bit of spectrum freed up for actual FM broadcasters, and non-commercial ones at that, since the space from 87.7 to 88.1 is in the non-commercial band. Because there are many more markets without a TV channel 6 than there are with FrankenFMs, such a change could open up the possibility for dozens, if not hundreds, of new local radio stations. I’d even go so far as to reserve the space just for LPFMs, which would allow for even more stations, and more diversity. This is the sort of innovation that engineering firm REC Networks has been advocating since at least 2008.

At the same time, I empathize with the broadcasters who have built compelling and creative services on channel 6s, but who now see their stations on the chopping block. I think it would be a true loss to their local radio dials if MeTV FM or Hella 87.7 were to go away. But it’s also true that radio stations and formats go away all the time, often for more mysterious or wrongheaded reasons. In this case the broadcasters can’t say they weren’t warned – in fact, they’ve had an effective five year extension.

It will be fascinating to see how the FCC decides to resolve this issue, and how the rest of the broadcast industry reacts.

The post The Rise and Possible Fall of FrankenFMs Is One of the Most Important Radio Trends of the Decade appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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 internet rules are utterly constitutional (twice). And while Sinclair lost its bid to steamroll what’s left of TV ownership caps and acquire Tribune’s stations, another company is getting ready to vacuum them up.

The state and status of our media and communications freedom hangs in the balance. That’s why we ask Prof. Christopher Terry to help us make sense of it all. He’s professor of media law at the University of Minnesota, and he’ll explain what it all means, and what we can do about the Commission’s plan to let even the four major TV networks merge into mega-networks.

Radio Survivor is a listener-supported podcast. You can support us two ways:

Make a monthly contribution through our Patreon campaign.

Make a one-time or recurring donation with any major credit card via PayPal.

Show Notes:

• Podcast #139 – Sinclair and the FCC: Opening the Door to Local Media Oligopoly
• The FCC’s Legacy of Failure: Failure Then Gives Us More Failure Now
• Podcast #50 – Prometheus v FCC and a Generation of Gridlock
• Podcast #33 – 20 Years Ago Local Radio Was Crushed
• Mozilla files arguments against the FCC – latest step in fight to save net neutrality
• Podcast #157 – Restoring Net Neutrality, One State at a Time
• Nexstar Expected to Buy Tribune Media for $4B
• FCC Kicks Off Quadrennial Regulatory Review

The post Podcast #172 – The FCC at the End of 2018, with Prof. Christopher Terry appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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 CEO of MetroEast Community Media in Gresham, Oregon, just one of hundreds of PEG stations that would be affected. Sabrina Roach serves on the board for the Alliance for Community Media Foundation, the charitable arm of the group that represents and organizes PEG stations across the U.S. They tell us how proposed changes to the “franchise fee” structure would deprive PEG stations, as well as internet access at libraries and schools, from direct funding. If passed, this would decimate both community media and digital equity in most communities that have it. They also explain what steps we can take to oppose this change.

Radio Survivor is a listener-supported podcast. You can support us two ways:

Make a monthly contribution through our Patreon campaign.

Make a one-time or recurring donation with any major credit card via PayPal.

Show Notes:

• MetroEast Community Media
  • MetroEast’s #SaveCommunityMedia page
• The Foundation of the Alliance for Community Media
• Portland Open Signal’s #SaveCommunityMedia page
• How and Why Public Comments to the FCC Make a Difference
• Wikipedia: 5G wireless internet
  

The post Podcast #166 – The FCC’s Effort To Decimate Community Media appeared first on Radio Survivor.

“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 how he approaches writing about things for the internet. Tedium.co covers topics as diverse (and uniquely inconsequential) as FrankenFM and the inventor of the mouse pad.

This interview is an encore presentation from episode #58.

Show Notes:

• A Brief History of Backdoor ‘FrankenFM’ Radio Stations
• Ernie Smith on FrankenFMs: “Waaaaay Left of the Dial”

The post Podcast #127 – Franken-FMs Are Low-Power TV Stations Masquerading as Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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 independent and community media.

Then we learn more about public access TV and how one station in Portland, OR is evolving and innovating to keep up with the times. We talk with two staffers from Open Signal Portland Community Media: Chris Lawn, Media Services Technical Lead and Rebecca Burrell, Director of Strategy and Development. We hear about the fundamentals of the medium and how Open Signal is rethinking how “access” can be more than just giving people equipment and airtime.

Show Notes:

• Open Signal Portland Community Media
• New York attorney general announces a multi-state lawsuit challenging the net neutrality vote
• The FCC just killed net neutrality

The post Podcast #121 – What Happens After Net Neutrality; Open Signal Public Access TV appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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 protagonist, the show attracted my attention, as I am always interested in seeing how college radio is portrayed on TV.

Set at Winchester University, a fictional Ivy League school, the show tackles the complexities of racism from multiple perspectives, most notably from the point of view of media studies major/college radio DJ Samantha White. She hosts a show at her college radio station called “Dear White People,” in which she delves into racism and racial politics on campus. Those themes have already been covered by other reviews of the series, so I’ll turn my attention to the college radio aspects of the show. As a fan of college radio culture, I was very curious to see how the Winchester College radio station compared with the reality of college radio, so of course I was looking forward to scrutinizing the college radio scenes.

About two minutes in to the first episode, a shot zooms in on Samantha at her college radio station and a narrator proclaims, “Sam had enough and took to Winchester’s syndicated student radio station.” That line was my first clue that not every college radio detail would be right, as the term “syndicated” college radio station is one that I’ve never heard of and can’t begin to define. On first glance the station depicted on the show looks like many college radio stations that I’ve been a part of or have visited. We see Sam seated in the on-air studio and past her, there’s a view of shelves full of LPs in another room. Turntables and reel-to-reel players are on the periphery and an on-air sign glows red above a window. The walls are covered with posters, stickers, flyers and graffiti. I had to laugh when I saw the old song lyric digits “8675309” scrawled near fairly tame messages like “Yay Summer” and “Party Loud,” as I’ve seen more scandalous graffiti at real Ivy League college radio stations.

As is often the case in movies and TV shows featuring talk radio DJs, the on-air studio at Winchester University is darkly lit, with a moody-late night vibe. Throughout the episode, we see shelves of CDs, a hint of daylight from a window above (suggesting that the station is in a basement) and the ubiquitous college radio station couch perched in front of a wall covered with soundproofing material.

DJ Samantha White uses headphones (although not always over both ears) and talks into the microphone during her show, which warmed my heart, as many programs with radio themes fail to show headphones or decent microphone technique.

A few things were off, however. Students are shown listening to the radio show on not only their laptops (a clue that the station streams online), but in one scene a group of students tune in while crowded around a portable radio. While that seems unusual to me in 2017 (clusters of people congregating around a real radio to listen to college radio), it’s also an indicator that the station is a terrestrial radio station in addition to streaming online. A few seconds prior, White is shown doing her radio show, while peppering her commentary with expletives. Most college radio stations don’t allow DJs to swear on the air and that’s absolutely the case if the station holds an FCC license to broadcast over AM or FM. It’s possible that the Winchester station broadcasts terrestrially to just the campus, under the FCC’s Part 15 rules. In that instance, it wouldn’t need a license and wouldn’t be bound by rules against obscenity and indecency. So perhaps that’s what the writers meant by “syndicated” college radio: unlicensed, campus-only low power AM or FM?

As far as the content of her show, when Sam takes her mic breaks, we aren’t privy to what’s being broadcast on-air, as the studio’s monitor speakers seem to be off or on very low volume. In one clip she appears to cut into a sound effect and presumably she’s transitioning to music between her talk show bits on her program. A DJ/producer in another studio may be adding a soundtrack or sound bed to her show, as he’s shown laughing while Sam delivers her on-air banter.

While I’m not a total engineering nerd, I have definitely seen a wide range of sound boards at college radio stations. Regardless, the one that Samantha uses on Dear White People seems a bit unusual to me, with sound effects options on its right side and what appear to be editing options on some of the channels. I’m accustomed to seeing board channels labeled with different types of audio sources (for example, CD players, computers, turntables, auxiliary, etc.), but this board is different, with labels such as “high pass,” “big out,” “compressor” and “limit.” It resembles a board more likely used for sound editing and is probably not your standard college radio station fare.

Since college radio is so rarely depicted on TV, it was fun to dissect the first episode of Dear White People to see if it got things right. I’m looking forward to seeing more episodes, particularly when I’m not distracted by own personal college radio scavenger hunt.

More College Radio News

Deadline Tonight for CBI Student Production Award Submissions (College Broadcasters Inc.)

Predictable Hostility Greets “Dear White People”‘s Launch (The Sydney Morning Herald)

“Dear White People” Demands a Conversation (Sonoma State Star)

Point Radio Launches New App (Loma Beat)

Behind the Mic: Matt Hoffman & Anthony Reclusado (KCR College Radio)

Goshen College Radio Station Honored (South Bend Tribune)

Summer on WVCW (WVCW Student Radio)

The post College Radio Watch: Dear White People’s TV Portrayal of College Radio and More News appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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 collaboration is spurred on to some extent by the fact that many PEG channels were granted low-power FM licenses in the 2013 application window.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Stories for Change,” featuring a keynote by Ramón Ramirez from the union-operated Latino station KPCN Radio Movimiento (highlighted on podcast #72), along with sessions focused on digital equity, inclusion and civic engagement.

I will moderate a conversation on cross-platform collaborations between community radio, PEGs and other media on Friday at 12:30 PM. Joining me will be Becky Meiers from community radio KBOO-FM (guest on podcast #61) and Devin Febbroriello from XRAY community radio. We plan to record this conversation for next week’s podcast.

Registration is open now. Anyone in the greater Portland or Northwest area with an interest in community media should consider attending.

The post Northwest Community Media Gathers in Portland this Weekend appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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 Allied Powers lost World War II, people in this America are living in fear and oppression. But between these opposing political parties lies a lawless “neutral zone,” where a fledgling “Resistance” movement struggles to fight back.

Hijacking the airwaves, a secret network of DJs broadcast messages of hope to keep the memory of a former America alive. Using music to hearten the spirits of the hopeless, they play bootleg songs that are performed and played in makeshift studios with obsolete equipment.

Being on-air is dangerous, yet the desire to reach the resigned is somethings these DJs can’t resist.”

When I tuned in on my laptop, I heard a loop of staticky broadcasts, featuring DJs and music. However, it’s even more fun when accessing the site on mobile, as you can spin the dial of a transistor radio in order to tune in to DJs on four different stations. Between the stations, listen carefully for creepy numbers stations (perhaps with secret codes for the resistance) and for a station transmitting a message in Morse Code.

Ostensibly it’s part of a much larger advertising campaign for the Amazon television show The Man in the High Castle, but it lives on its own as a collection of fictional pirate radio broadcasts.

DJs speak from their secret bunkers, describing a warn-torn dystopian America, ruled by Japan in the west and by the Nazis in the east. In this alternate depiction of 1962, religious assembly has been outlawed by the Nazis and a swastika is draped on the Statue of Liberty. One DJ opines, “always subversive, rarely lucrative, Resistance Radio” and another describes, “this rotting carcass of what used to be the United States.”

Between the banter there’s 1960s-style music done by contemporary artists, some of whom performed at SXSW in Austin this week as part of the promotional blitz for the series and for the accompanying album. I was super jealous of those who were able to pop by Resistance Radio HQ at SXSW, as there was a faux radio station on site, complete with on-air sign and vintage equipment and ephemera (see some pix on Instagram). Trolling around some more, I was doubly jealous of the lucky folks who were sent Resistance Radio promotional items, including a vinyl record and a DIY record player.

Okaaaay @AmazonVideo. Pretty cool record player & narrative extension (record) for @HighCastleTV #ResistanceRadio! I love it! Thanks! pic.twitter.com/YhTlbqj4gA

— Candice Patton (@candicekp) March 8, 2017

In an odd twist, some folks who have come upon the #ResistanceRadio hashtag on social media, erroneously thought that it was a real radio station. Even more bizarre, some people perceive it to be a direct attack on Donald Trump, even though the site and broadcasts are clearly fictional, set in another era (1962) and are protesting a Nazi regime. A message on the website’s audio loop also describes it as being part of the Amazon series.

I’m not sure if radio nerds were specifically targeted for this campaign, but I’m all in and it definitely makes me more intrigued about Man in the High Castle, particularly if they have some pirate radio stations as part of the story line.

The post Resistance Radio: Mesmerizing Dystopian Pirate Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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. Now that I finally have better access to on-demand viewing, I also could have sampled many more yule logs (there are even on-demand yule logs with no music soundtrack so that you can enjoy the simplicity of the crackling fire sounds). Instead, I stuck with the ones that aired over live television or could be recorded on my DVR. Here’s a quick look at what 2015 had to offer:

Outlander Yule Log

I recorded this 16 minute yule log on Christmas morning on Starz HD. The show description promised, “The Fraser family home in Lallybroch is the scene of a roaring Scottish hearth and traditional holiday music.” The unusual thing about this yule log showing is that it depicts a wider view of a fire, with two dogs sleeping on a large rug in front of it. Occasionally the dogs wake up and adjust positions, while Scottish-sounding music plays. At one point the large dog walks off, leaving the little one alone in front of the fire. A longer version of the video can be seen here. The yule log was used as promotion for the Outlander series marathon that aired on Christmas.

Outlander Yule Log 2015. Photo: J. Waits

SEC Yule Log

This 4-hour yule log presentation aired on the SEC ESPN Network (the “official” network of the Southeastern Conference, which airs a multitude of college sports) beginning at 3am Christmas morning. A tight close up of a burning log was accompanied by crackling fire sounds in addition to a cheesy soundtrack made up of Christmas music and fight songs. If this were a radio station, listeners would point out that the transitions between the Christmas music and the fight songs were often quite clunky, making for sort of a chaotic listen. Many of the Christmas pieces were hokey country-ish versions of classic songs. Adding to the mood, sports scores scrolled across the bottom of the screen throughout the presentation. Visually, it’s a boring scene without much change in the logs of the fire. It doesn’t look like anything is actually burning.

SEC Yule Log 2015. Photo: J. Waits

A Very Happy Yule Log

Recorded on Christmas Eve beginning at 2pm, this 3-hour yule log was presented by the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel. Like the Outlander yule log, this one also depicts a larger scene in front of a roaring fireplace. A cat and a dog lounge about on cushions and a Christmas tree, presents, and a heavily decorated fireplace mantle are shown (complete with stockings). From time to time we see different shots, including a close up of presents and another of poinsettias. There are several jumps between scenes and there are even dog and cat-free portions. The dog and cat wander off and watching their antics is more interesting than the fire, which was probably edited in. Atop the screen, the message “Merry Christams from Happy the Cat and Happy the Dog. HappyisHappy.com” appears occasionally. Familiar Christmas songs make up the soundtrack, including Christmas carols as well as rock and pop oldies like “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” The Hallmark Channel actually has several versions of the yule log, including a Thanksgiving one with different decor and a cat-only version. Here’s a link to the Christmas yule log that I watched.

Hallmark Channel’s Yule Log 2015. Photo: J. Waits

Plus Some Old Favorites

I also viewed several yule log presentations that I had seen previously, including Disney XD’s animated yule log and two yule logs on San Francisco Bay Area stations KRON and KOFY. Once again, my favorite is the one aired by KOFY. The logs in the fire actually burn, the music is tolerable, making for a very enjoyable experience as a viewer. How about you, did you run across any good yule logs over the Christmas holidays?

The post Reviewing the 2015 Yule Logs: They’ve Gone to the Dogs appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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 because they’re not actually licensed as such, and are heard on the FM dial because of a technological fluke, rather than by design.

MeTV FM is operated by Weigel Broadcasting, the company behind the nationwide nostalgia formatted television MeTV network seen primarily on HDTV sub-channels, playing a comparatively wide-ranging and eclectic selection of oldies targeted at a baby boomer audience. It’s been clear to me that the station hit a nerve because my post about it has received more than 40 comments, mostly from satisfied listeners.

According to media blogger Robert Feder the station has crept up to number 25 in the most recent Chicago ratings book. This gives the station a weekly cumulative listenership of 507,700 people, more than three times what the station had a year ago when Tribune Media operated it with a sports talk format.

Astonishingly, MeTV FM beats more established and well-known stations like ESPN Radio affiliate WMVP 1000 AM and conservative news-talk station WLS 890 AM. Keep in mind that this is a station that broadcasts with a fraction of the power of its competition, at a frequency that isn’t even an official part of the FM dial, and therefore isn’t receivable on all radios.

MeTV’s growing popularity only begs the question of how long the station will remain on its frequency, although its lease on life right now is up in the air. At some point in the future LPTV stations will be required to convert to digital transmissions, just like full-power stations did in 2009. This would mean channel 6 audio would no longer be received on FM radios.

September 1 of this year had been the mandatory digital transition deadline, but in April the FCC suspended it. The digital transition is probably inevitable, but not likely to occur until the upcoming television spectrum incentive auction is completed. LPTV stations have asked the FCC to permit them to stay analog, or even move into the actual FM dial, though these ideas aren’t popular with radio broadcasters.

Continued ratings success likely would give Weigel reason to pursue an actual FM signal, both to increase coverage area and keep it on the air longer. Although purchasing an existing FM license might be a bit expensive, there is probably a poorly performing station that could be leased.

Beyond it being a back-door FM station, MeTV FM is an interesting experiment, because by all accounts it’s a fresh take on an old format. It will be all the more fascinating if it can make the jump to a legitimate FM station.

The post Chicago’s MeTV FM Takes the Back Door to Radio Ratings Success appeared first on Radio Survivor.

After putting up with painfully slow DSL Internet service for the past few years, my family just switched to cable and in the process moved to cable TV. I have always been a huge television consumer and was the master of my video cassette recorder (VCR) back in the day. Digital video recorders (DVRs) came on the scene just in time for me, as I had a frustrating period in the 1990s when my cable TV/VCR situation couldn’t handle heavy nights of taping multiple shows on different channels. I remember being addicted to “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and having class at the same time and being frustrated by the limitations of VCRs at the time.

I got my first TiVo in 2002 and fell in love. Finally I could record multiple shows at the same time, search for shows by genre or channel, and so much more. After a few blissful years and an upgrade to HD TV, I had to abandon my TiVo for a few different (and inferior) DVRs. It was never quite the same.

This week I rekindled my relationship with TiVo. After setting up our new cable service, we installed the TiVo Roamio. When I perused our cable channel guide last night, I initially thought that we no longer had music channels like we did with our former satellite service. Curious about that, I started searching around and found a “music/photos” section on the TiVo menu.

It turns out that my TiVo Roamio is an Internet Radio! On the music menu, I have the option of tuning in to Live365, Pandora, and Spotify. I can also check out podcasts from the Podcaster menu.

So, today, my 9-year-old daughter and I took our new TiVo Internet Radio for a spin. Although I have been an early adopter as far as television, I’ve fallen behind when it comes to Internet music, being more of an old-school radio gal. Ironically, TiVo may change all that.

TiVo was my Gateway to Pandora Radio

It’s weird to admit that TiVo was my gateway to Pandora, as I set up my  first Pandora station today. Although I’ve always eschewed these computer-generated music playlists (how can they possibly compete with human-curated content?), my daughter and I had a lot of fun creating various Pandora stations.

The Pandora set up was super easy, as we were prompted with an on-screen sign up option. After retrieving a code listed on our TV screen, I was able to set up a free Pandora account on my computer. Moments later we got going through the TiVo interface. I started things off by building a station based on one of my favorite artists, Smog. The playlist launched with a Smog track and then transitioned into familiar (and expected) favorites by Neutral Milk Hotel, Cat Power, and Bonnie Prince Billy, before transitioning back to another Smog song (one of my favorites, “Bathysphere”). Although I didn’t discover any new music through this short stint with “Smog Radio,” it was a satisfying listen, taking me through music that I already like.

Growing impatient (because she wanted to take control of the TiVo), my daughter asked for a turn. Instead of letting her try out Pandora, I asked her to take a look at Live 365 for me.

Perusing Live 365’s Radio Options on TiVo

I’d taken a cursory look at TiVo’s Live 365 offerings last night and was pleased to see that I could tune in to a wide variety of stations, including some college radio stations (in the “alternative” and “freeform” sections). My daughter checked out the main menu and initially chose “classical.” After an unsatisfying listen to “All Relaxing Classics” (she said, “This looks weird” after seeing the album cover artwork), she changed her mind and said, “I want to listen to blues. Wait? Is there more? I want to listen to jazz.”

So then she did a survey of various jazz station options on Live 365. I had to laugh when she asked, “What’s the difference between soft and smooth jazz?” as I don’t see much of a distinction myself. After trying out “Soft Jazz FM,” “Smooth Jazz 247,” “Soft Jazz Mellow Blend,” “The Jazz Mix,” and “Jazz all the Time,” she came up with her answer, saying, “Clearly soft and smooth jazz are not good at all, they should be called bad jazz.” She liked “The Jazz Mix” a lot more and said, “Overall this is really awesome.” We both enjoyed “Jazz all the Time” the most, but by this point my daughter said, “I need to listen to something else besides jazz.”

We then switched over to the menu of Pop stations on Live 365 and my daughter selected “the Rhythm of the City” station. As we launched it we heard an ad for the Live 365 Android app and then a Geico ad, followed by yet another ad. My daughter grew frustrated with the whole endeavor, exiting the station before we even heard a track.

I asked her if we could try some college radio and she relented. We went to the Freeform category and chose SFCR/KUSF-in-Exile, our local San Francisco community radio station (which is made up of many former college radio DJs from KUSF-FM). I recognized the DJ’s name that popped up on our screen (Fari), but the interface was a bit confusing as it wouldn’t have been clear to most that we were looking at a show name as opposed to a track name. After listening to a track that “sounds very Spanish,” according to my daughter, she was ready to move on, saying, “Now, I want to make my own music one.”

Before steering her back to Pandora, I made my daughter take one more detour to Podcaster.

Podcaster – It’s Like Radio on TV!

On my initial look at TiVo’s Podcaster last night, I was amazed and amused that I could listen to radio podcasts through my TV. There’s popular stuff in the Featured section including “The Adam Carolla Show,” “the Moth Podcast,” “the Nerdist,” and “Radiolab.” You can also listen to sports, comedy, entertainment, and music podcasts, as well as to a bunch of NPR podcasts (I’m listening to a NPR “Pop Culture Happy Hour” podcast about Stan Freberg as I write this). There’s also an option to type in RSS feeds for other podcasts, so in theory you can listen to whatever you’d like through TiVo (is this what Paul dreamed of last year, when he wrote that podcasting needed to enter every room of the home?).

But what’s really surreal, is that from the Entertainment menu you can tune in to “Old Time Radio Suspense” and “Old Time Radio Thrillers.” Sadly, I got an error message for both podcasts (“Sorry, there was a problem accessing this podcast. Please try again later.”), but I can’t wait to check again to see if I can really listen to old time radio on my TV.

My daughter was pretty confused by Podcaster, saying, “I thought you were able to do podcasts on the TV. When you can do a video and put it online and it will be live.” She plowed through anyway and selected “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” She noticed an episode about a plane crash and asked if she could watch it. After listening for a bit she said, “It needs to have pictures.” I then broke the news to her that podcasts are just audio. After hearing that, my daughter told me, “I don’t want to do this anymore,” so I let her go back to Pandora.

My Daughter Learns that Pandora isn’t really On-Demand – Where’s “Skyfall” on “Skyfall Radio”?

After our brief tour of Podcaster, we returned to Pandora. My daughter was desperate to create her own station and decided to do one based on the Adele song “Skyfall.” The station launched with a James Newton Howard track (“The Hanging Tree”), which my daughter recognized, telling me, “It’s from the Hunger Games. I like it.” We then heard tracks by One Republic, Garbage, as well as some by Adele. Overall it was a mix of songs that my daughter knew and songs that she didn’t know. Ultimately, though, she was a bit frustrated because she really wanted to hear “Skyfall.” After skipping through a few tracks and still not hearing the song, she retreated to her room so that she could hear “Skyfall” on her own devices.

I Learn that Pandora Really Can Be a Discovery Tool

After my daughter left the room, the addictive nature of Pandora became apparent to me. I kept thinking about other stations that I wanted to create and was curious to hear what other tracks Pandora would come up with. For my next station, I picked another old favorite, the 1990s band Tiger Trap. Although the station started out with some familiar bands, including the Crabs, Heavenly, and Chin-Chin, I was also happy to hear some bands that I was less familiar with, including Veronica Falls and Cloud Nothings. I’m guessing that since I chose a more underground artist for my station, I was presented with some more adventurous options than my daughter’s more mainstream Pandora channel.

When in Doubt, There’s Always YouTube, even on TiVo

As I was finishing up this story, I was listening to a New York Times music review podcast through TiVo. My daughter wasn’t all that interested in listening to music critics chatting about Sleater-Kinney’s new album, so she grabbed the remote control and scrolled to the main TiVo menu in order to select “Find TV, music, and videos.” From that screen she had the option of searching on YouTube. Of course that’s now the ultimate music library for the 2000s, so she searched for “Skyfall” and finally had her moment of satisfaction, getting the chance to listen to the exact song that she wanted to hear when she wanted to hear it.

And Don’t Forget MusicChoice, Digital FM, and even Spotify….

After spending much of the day investigating our music/radio/podcasting options on TiVo, we still haven’t explored it all. In order to make use of Spotify we need to sign up for a Spotify Premium account. I think we’ll have to leave that for another day…

And, by the way, after checking out all of these newfangled online music options, I found out that our TV does actually have standard TV radio fare, including “Music Choice” stations across a range of genres, as well as some digital FM stations, where I can tune in to local San Francisco Bay Area stations like KQED, KSJO, KPFA, KOIT, KUFX, KFRC, KDFC, KFOG, KITS, KSAN, and more.

Who knew that there was so much radio on my TV.

The post My TiVo Roamio is an Internet Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Channel surfing on cable or over-the-air TV you may have come across Bewitched, Columbo or other “classic” re-runs on a station that calls itself MeTV. This successful Chicago-based upstart network that airs its nostalgic programming on digital television subchannels across the country is dipping its toes into the radio pool.

Today MeTV parent company Weigel Broadcasting is taking over Chicago’s LPTV channel 6, which is better known for its audio frequency that bumps into the far left of the FM dial at 87.7 FM. The station has been on a wildly shifting ride for the last six years, going from smooth jazz to alternative rock to a failed experiment as a Tribune-run sports talk station. A whole lot of time, energy and money has been invested in a station that isn’t even properly licensed for the FM dial–existing in a spectral loophole–and whose continued existence is now subject to an ongoing FCC rulemaking proceeding.

Using the new WRME-LP call letters, 87.7 MeTV FM plans to bring a nostalgia-heavy “Me Music” format to the Chicago airwaves, targeted at Baby Boomers. Weigel’s Neal Sabin, who is responsible for the new radio format, said, “87.7 MeTV FM will differ from the current ‘classic hits’ format by playing a much broader range of music skewing on the pop/softer side including singer/songwriters, album tracks and hits deemed ‘oldies’ by some programmers but considered gold by our target audience.” These artists include Carly Simon, James Taylor, Neil Diamond and ”Motown superstars."

According to media reporter Robert Feder, the station has no air talent or full-time programming staff, relying on a part-time freelancer to get things started.

Given the tenuous future of analog LPTV stations, it’s unclear what the strategy is for MeTV FM. Although the FCC is considering options for allowing channel 6 LPTV owners to continue as radio broadcasters in some fashion, it’s an option that incumbents, like NPR, take pains to oppose. The more likely scenario is that analog LPTV stations will have one or two years to transition to digital, turning off their analog signals that enter the FM dial through the back door. When the deadline for that transition looms, what happens to MeTV FM?

I’d have to guess that Weigel is leasing the signal for a song–so to speak–making the endeavor a relatively low-cost experiment. If MeTV FM finds an audience on this relatively weak signal, that could be fuel for growing the format onto legitimate FM stations.

Otherwise, going with old-fashioned analog FM for this experiment is a smart move. Although internet radio might at first seem like the quickest and most obvious route, the performance royalty and bandwidth costs could actually outpace that for leasing channel 6. Plus, Weigel is targeting an aging demographic that is less likely to use internet radio, and which it has already engaged though its pioneering use of underutilized digital TV sub channels. And, on top of that, the company can advertise its radio station on TV pretty much for free.

I will be curious to see if MeTV FM forges a lasting place on the Chicago FM dial or becomes just another passenger though the revolving back door of 87.7 FM. Since I’m no longer in Chicago I would appreciate if any readers in the station’s listening area would tune in and leave a comment with your impressions.

The post MeTV enters Chicago’s FM Back Door at 87.7 FM appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The Federal Communications Commission’s proceeding on whether to permit Low Power TV stations to broadcast FM on channel 6 (87.7 FM) has reached its formal deadline: January 12 (backgrounder here). The FCC rolled the question into a whole suite of issues facing LPTV. Of interest to us is a defense of the channel 6 FM practice from Murray Hill Broadcasting and WLFM-LLC filed late last week. Murray Hill runs the Spanish language FM station “La Mega” in Cleveland, Ohio. WLFM runs WGWG-LP in Chicago. Both operate as channel 6 powered 87.7 FM signals. Both are owned by the Venture Technologies Group.

“The Spanish-language programming on 87.7 ‘La Mega’ in Cleveland exemplifies the innovative, niche broadcasts enabled by channel 6 stations,” Murray Hill and WLFM write:

“La Mega provides one of the only audio outlets for Northeast Ohio Hispanic audiences. The response has been overwhelming. According to the Hispanic Alliance, a nonprofit organization that addresses Hispanic and Latino community needs in the Cleveland Metropolitan area, ‘La Mega has immersed itself in the Cleveland market… and has become an asset that feels as though it has always been part of our environment. It has become the great equalizer among the many Latino groups living in this area.’ The Ohio Latino Affairs Commission expressed a similar sentiment: ‘Through La Mega’s air waves, you have been able to educate, inform and preserve the language and cultural values that bind together generations of Hispanics in the region and the state. The impact of La Mega is felt throughout Ohio and we consider you a valuable partner in supporting andinforming Latinos.’ The Ohio Hispanic Bar Association was similarly enthusiastic: ‘It is very exciting that after so many years we have a radio station that can call our own. Your services have provided a forum and media source not only to entertain but help educate and bring awareness to the Hispanic Community.’ In addition to news and entertainment, La Mega offers a Spanish-language radio outlet for Cleveland Cavaliers games.”

As for WGWG: “In Chicago, when the Smooth Jazz format was abandoned by a major radio group, the niche was filled by WLFM-LP. The channel 6 station aired FM programming on 87.7 that attracted underserved, urban, niche audiences. At one point, the station was the second-most listened-to station in Chicago among African Americans age 35-64.” The station seems to have morphed through a variety of identities since then.

In conclusion, without this arrangement, “these diverse ethnic audiences would not have access to an important news and entertainment resource,” the filing observes. “We urge the FCC to respect the public interest benefits of these stations and to provide a flexible framework to allow LPTV stations on digital TV channel 6 to operate analog FM radio services on an ancillary or supplementary basis.”

The post Cleveland’s “La Mega” and the case for channel 6 FM radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I love televised yule logs. I’m drawn to them not only out of nostalgia (the original aired on WPIX in New York beginning in 1966), but also for the minimalist delight. As I stare at the image of a burning log for hours on end, the smallest details and changes in the scene are emphasized. In our fast-paced world, there’s inherent charm in the blandness of it all. And, reminiscent of an early Warhol film like Empire (where we fixate on a shot of the Empire State Building for hours), close examination of the yule log allows us find great pleasure in unexpected moments like someone in a Santa Suit adding wood to the fire or a piece of wood burning to embers before our eyes.

Every year I set my DVR to record all of the different iterations of yule logs being broadcast on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It’s become a family tradition to open presents while the yule log crackles on the television, accompanied by holiday music. I also save the recordings to view again on New Year’s Eve. This year I watched the five different yule logs that aired over local and satellite TV in San Francisco. In some cases stations piped in music from local and national radio stations (KOIT and K-LOVE) and in other instances, the source of the music playlist was uncredited.

I was bummed that the My Little Pony Yule Log was a one-time thing on the Hub Network in 2013, as that was an entirely new take on the tradition. In all its animated glory, the program featured flying My Little Ponies and other Hub Network characters coming in and out of the scene. It was probably the most surreal yule log that I’ve ever seen, although this year’s “Disney XD’s Yule Log” comes close.

Disney XD’s Yule Log (photo: J. Waits)

Disney XD aired a 15-minute animated yule log this year on December 22nd (you can view an hour-long version online). Punctuated by fast-paced electronic holiday music in the style of video game music, the frenetic program zoomed in and out of a close up of an animated fireplace to show snippets of the surrounding scene. A slot machine motif featured dreidels (when all three line up, a stream of gold-covered chocolate coins spew out), a dinosaur and other characters. At one point the logs walk out of the fireplace to form a robot. We also see a hand reach out with a remote control, changing the channel, which turns the fireplace surrounding the yule log into a spaceship, igloo, cake, sphinx, pumpkin, and fish bowl. A turkey on a spit is also added to the fireplace. A latke gets thrown into the fire and someone yells “Happy Hanukkah!” Covering all the bases, we also see an animated Santa climbing up the chimney, with the burning yule log below.

Up’s 2014 Yule Log (photo: J. Waits)

On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Up Network (which bills itself as airing “Uplifting Entertainment”) devoted 24 hours to its yule log. Music was provided by the Christian music network K-LOVE, with song titles and artists posted on the screen. This was the only yule log that invited viewers to tweet, as one corner of the screen included the hashtag #YuleLog. In keeping with its K-LOVE affiliation, this log had the most religious vibe, with its holiday tunes by contemporary Christian artists like Chris August, Sidewalk Prophets, Mandisa, and Big Daddy Weave. The 8-hour broadcast that I recorded began with “Jingle Bell Rock” performed by the Newsboys. Although I didn’t watch the entire 8 hours that I recorded, as I scanned through it seemed that many of the artists were repeated, so the complete playlist may have been pretty short. Up’s online yule log has a different soundtrack than the one that aired on TV.

KICU’s 2014  Holiday Log (photo: J. Waits)

San Jose television station KICU on channel 36 also used a radio station soundtrack for its Holiday Log. The one-hour episode that I recorded on Christmas morning (it ran for 6 hours total, in one-hour increments) started at 6am with the sounds of a fire crackling and then launched into “Here Comes Santa Claus.” The close-up footage of logs burning in a fireplace featured music from local radio station KOIT and included classic Christmas songs as well as more modern takes on them by artists like Paul McCartney. The sounds of the crackling fire could be heard throughout and I also spotted Santa stoking the fire. This footage is most likely the same that’s been airing for years on KICU and was reportedly shot at a home in San Jose.

KRON’s 2014 Yule Log (photo: J. Waits)

KRON channel 4 (San Francisco) presented its yule log early Christmas morning, starting at 4am. The vintage yule log footage (I’m pretty sure it’s the old WPIX yule log as it shows a fireplace with a doll hanging in the center, surrounded by stockings in the opening shot) ran for about 30 minutes and was repeated several times during the 2 hour broadcast. While a range of Christmas songs play (from Frank Sinatra to Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, to music from the Nutcracker), ads for a furniture store, appliance store, motorcycle dealer, personal injury lawyer, and bail bonds outfit were included on a graphic on the bottom of the screen.

KOFY’s 2014 Yule Log (photo: J. Waits)

Of all the classic yule logs that I viewed in 2014, my favorite has to be KOFY channel 20’s (also in San Francisco) version. I recorded an episode that aired for two hours beginning at midnight on Christmas Eve. The program began with a wide shot of a living room fireplace with two poinsettias on the hearth (if it’s the same TV20 footage from years gone by, then it was filmed at the home of Paul from the Diamond Center) and started with the rousing “Joy to the World.” Featuring a wide range of music, from rockabilly to country-tinged, to the Beach Boys, to boy bands, to jazzier tracks, to old favorites from decades ago, the soundtrack had something for everyone. Probably even more interesting, though, was the visual treatment of this log. The natural-looking fire included cut pieces of wood that were clearly burning in the fireplace over an elapsed period of time. Occasionally we’d see Santa stoking the fire or view a flannel shirt-attired man adding logs. Towards the end an object was thrown into the fire, followed by another object. Upon close inspection, it appeared to be wadded up balls of newspaper. The program ended with the Hawaiian-themed Christmas song Mele Kalikimaka. With many of the other yule logs airing pretty short loops of footage (the original log looped a 17 second snippet), the TV 20 log had much more variety to it and kept my attention until the bitter end.

In addition to the yule logs that appeared on my television (I get programming via DirecTV satellite), I know that there were many more all over the country, including some that could be found on-demand. Did you have a favorite this year?

The post Reviewing the 2014 Yule Logs: It’s Like Radio with Pictures appeared first on Radio Survivor.

There are approximately 18 low-power TV stations posing as radio in the US. They are stations that broadcast on channel 6. And because low-power stations are still permitted to transmit in analog, that means their audio can be received at the very low end of the FM dial, around 87.7 MHz.

For all intents and purposes these stations are scheduled to leave the radio dial on September 1, 2015 when they must convert to digital transmissions. However, the FCC is considering an extension, as proposed in a Third Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

Surprisingly, the Commission is also considering a proposal to permit these back-door radio stations to continue their services, providing “an analog FM radio-type service as an ancillary or supplementary service consistent with the Communications Act and our rules.” At the same time, the FCC acknowledges that these stations should probably not interfere with non-commercial and educational stations licensed at 87.9 FM and above. The Commission also asks if these stations should be required to apply for a proper FM license, perhaps on a regular FM frequency, or maintain a studio and public inspection file like all other radio stations.

One pertinent issue is the fact that FM stations below 92.1 FM are noncommercial by statute. Yet, many, if not all, of the back-door stations operating on LPTV channel 6 are commercial, such as WGWG-LP in Chicago. The FCC does not specifically address the commercial vs. noncommercial question, although it does ask more broadly,
“which of the Part 73 rules should apply to the offering of an analog FM radio-type service.” Subpart D, part 73.501, specifies exactly the frequencies reserved for noncommercial operation, which do not include 87.7 FM, primarily because this frequency was never officially part of the FM band. It isn’t too hard to argue that the channel 6 analog audio frequency should be noncommercial, by the same principle.

It’s pretty certain that public radio stations will have something to say about this proposal. In a 2009 petition for rule making, NPR urged the FCC to abandon interference protection for channel 6 TV stations, arguing that it is rendered unnecessary after the digital transition. In comments filed in support of this proposal, Chicago Public Radio complained, “Like squatters moving into recently-vacated homes, these LPTV stations are, in effect, intentionally broadcasting commercial radio which spills over onto the reserved portion of the FM band, trespassing on the limited territory of their noncommercial neighbors.”

LPFM stations, in particular, also should take note of this channel 6 proposal because these stations don’t enjoy interference protection from full-powered stations. Now, LPFMs do have to provide interference protection to existing channel 6 LPTV stations, which means new or existing low-power FM stations shouldn’t be under immediate threat from a channel 6 being permitted to remain on the air as-is. But concerns are raised if channel 6s are permitted to alter their operations at all, by increasing power or moving to a proper FM frequency. Such a change could threaten a station that otherwise is well established under current rules.

Aside from the last ditch requests of the channel 6 stations, the ostensible reason for the delay is the forthcoming digital TV incentive auction. During that auction, spectrum allocated to digital TV will be sold off for new wireless services. Some of that spectrum is currently unused, and some of it will be voluntarily given up by television broadcasters in exchange for incentive payments. After the auction it’s expected that the TV bands will be “repacked” to make more efficient use of spectrum.

That auction is now scheduled for mid 2015, which could potentially leave some LPTV operators with little time to figure out their digital transition plans before the September 1 deadline. As the FCC says in its proposal, “at this time it appears that the current LPTV and TV translator digital transition deadline may occur in close conjunction with the incentive auction, leaving LPTV and TV translator stations little or no time to consider its impact before having to complete their digital conversion.”

Like all FCC rule makings, this one is open for public comment (MB Docket 03–185).

The post Possible Reprieve for Back-Door FM Stations on TV Ch. 6 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Funnily enough, just last night I was channel surfing and settled in to a WKRP in Cincinnati rerun (the program is one of Jennifer’s top 5 TV shows depicting radio). This one tackled the very serious issue of payola, wherein a new morning DJ is gifted some cocaine from a record promoter, and has to pass it off as foot powder to Mr. Carlson, who then rubs it all over his dogs. Hilarious!

Anyway, imagine my delight to read this morning that there’s a WKRP reunion happening this Wednesday at the Paley Center for Media in Beverley Hills. Howard Hesseman, “Johnny ‘Dr. Fever’ Caravella,” Loni Anderson, “Jennifer Marlowe,” and Tim Reid, “Venus Flytrap” are all scheduled to appear. Unfortunately, the aforementioned Mr. Carlson will not, since iconic actor–and Maytag Man–Gordon Jump passed away in 2003.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the show’s debut season, a fact that is making me feel very, very old. Like many radio nerds who grew up in the intervening years, watching WKRP shaped my notion of what working in radio could, or maybe, should be like, from quirky local news on the hour from Les Nessman, to the passionate belief in the power of radio and rock n roll.

For years I remember trying to figure out what band did the catchy 70s hard rock tune that played over the show’s closing credits. I’m already not good at deciphering lyrics, but I could never figure out the words, not even the chorus. Googling around last night I learned the fun fact that the song was cut by a bunch of studio musicians, and that the version in the show actually has nonsense “scratch” vocals that were there just for the demo, before any lyrics were written, just to give a sense for what the vocal melody would be. In the end, the producers liked that version best, and that’s what made it into the show. Sort of like the 70s TV version of “Louie Louie.”

From the Paley Center announcement:

Though it possessed all of the traditional elements necessary for sitcom success, WKRP had a rock ‘n’ roll heart. As the New York Times noted, “The show reveled in black humor (“Turkeys Away,” about a Thanksgiving giveaway gone horribly, hysterically wrong) and had its share of somber moments (the pimp-dressing nighttime DJ Venus Flytrap is discovered to be a Vietnam deserter).” The influential series also seamlessly integrated rock music into its story lines with songs often tied to the plot of an episode, so much so that the producers were presented with a gold record award for the Blondie album Parallel Lines because their use of the song “Heart of Glass” was credited with helping the record become a major hit.

Tickets are available to the public, and the whole event will be streamed live beginning at 7:30 PM Pacific Time.

The post Maybe Think Of Me Once in a While… WKRP Reunion This Wednesday appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Yet again, the FCC is making a firm stance about the sanctity of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and is proposing major fines against Viacom, ESPN and NBCUniversal for recent infractions. In a Notice of Apparent Liability (PDF) sent to all three organizations, the FCC is asking for a voluntary forfeiture amount of $1,120,000 from Viacom, $530,000 from NBCUniversal and $280,000 from ESPN. In the notice the FCC states that each organization is guilty of “…transmitting or causing the transmission of EAS codes or the Attention Signal, or recordings or simulations thereof (EAS Tones), in the absence of an actual emergency or authorized test of the EAS.” Further, the FCC argues that, “Misuse of EAS Tones raises serious public safety concerns. Frivolous, casual, or other uses of EAS Tones for reasons other than their defined purpose can desensitize viewers to the tones and thereby undermine the effectiveness of the system in the event of an actual emergency.”

The infractions took place in March, 2013, when various television networks aired a commercial (specifically the “No Surrender” trailer) for the movie Olympus Has Fallen over numerous partner stations. Viewers complained that the ad contained simulated EAS tones, which were realistic enough to trick them into believing that there was an actual emergency. The FCC notice states,

The record established in these investigations demonstrates that the No Surrender Trailer included recordings of actual EAS codes and the Attention Signal, and not simulations thereof. In addition, the Commission’s review of the No Surrender Trailer provided by the Companies confirms repeated uses of the EAS codes and Attention Signal throughout the trailer, accompanied by visual text stating “THIS IS NOT A TEST” and “THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” Also accompanying the EAS codes and Attention Signal in the trailer were multiple visual images of “terrorists” surrounding the White House, scenes of the White House and other Washington, D.C. landmarks engulfed in flames, and military aircraft and combat vehicles in convoys patrolling the city.

This decision by the FCC comes on the heels of its enforcement advisory (and fines levied at Turner Broadcasting and a local television station) last fall and a second Notice of Apparent Liability (with a forfeiture amount of $200,000) against Turner Broadcasting in January for similar violations related to EAS tones.

Hopefully the nearly $2 million in proposed fines will help broadcasters (including cable and satellite outlets) realize that EAS tones are never allowed in commercials and promotional announcements, even if those ads have been prepared by outside agencies. Although ultimate responsibility for content rests with broadcasters, the advertising community should also get a refresher course about the verboten status of EAS tones.

The post FCC Proposes $1.9 million+ Fines for Viacom, ESPN and NBCUniversal for Misused EAS Tones appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Even though fans attending the Super Bowl received a free radio from Westwood One so they could listen to the game at the stadium, I discovered that the Super Bowl broadcast was indeed blacked out from stations’ internet streams yesterday. So I settled down in front of the television to watch the Broncos get utterly pounded by the Seahawks.

Of course, one big advantage tuning in the TV broadcast has over listening on the radio is watching the hyped-up commercials. Without a doubt, for radio nerds, last night Radio Shack’s self-effacing spot delivered some of the strongest nostalgia pangs wrapped in knowing chuckles.

The ad begins at the front counter in a Radio Shack that looks straight out of my 80s youth, with boom boxes prominently displayed in the background. One clerk, adorned in a bright red Radio Shack polo shirt, takes a call from which he reports, “The 80s called, they want their store back.”

That’s the first, slightly painful pang of nostalgia for me. Because that’s the version of Radio Shack I remember as the place where I would stare longingly at shelf after shelf of actual radios–AM, FM, portable, stereo, shortwave, police scanners. Even if I had to settle for just buying batteries and RCA cables most of the time, for this nerdy kid a trip to “Rat Shack” was like a mini vacation to Disneyland.

Cue four beats of the cowbell, and the unmistakeable opening riff of Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend” brings in a crowd of 1980s pop culture icons, from Cheers’ Cliff Clavin to Olympian gymnast Mary Lou Retton, who clear out the store’s dated merchandise. Even the California Raisins knock over a shelf of radios with their grapevine dance. Yikes!

It’s too bad that Radio Shack–despite its bumbling attempt to rebrand itself “The Shack”–is inexorably tied to time that has passed, when a radio was still something a kid would hope to find under the tree. Nevertheless, the commercial is a riot to watch, seizing pop culture’s 80s retro revivalism as seen in shows like The Goldbergs.

At least the store is keeping “Radio” in its name. And, the last time I checked, you can still buy a radio there… tucked away behind smartphones and bluetooth speakers.

Here’s the ad:

The post Radio Shack’s Super Bowl ad tickles and teases radio nerds appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I reviewed the last year in podcasting and concluded that it was one in which the medium had a growth spurt in production, attention and investment. Looking forward to 2014 this is the year that podcast listening needs to become easy and ubiquitous.

I mentioned how I’ve come to think that the supposed discovery problem–that it’s hard to find podcasts to match your interests–is overstated. Rather I think that podcasting’s most significant hurdle is that there is still just a little too much friction in the system. While it is easier than ever to play your smartphone or tablet audio in the car, through a bluetooth speaker or your home stereo, podcasts are not as front and center, nor as obvious, as other online media.

Because the car is the site of so much radio listening, much has been said about making podcasts more accessible in the smart dashboard. I think this is an important step forward for podcasting, but it’s not what I want to focus on here.

I think podcasts have to be more accessible at home. Sure, they’re easy to find on a computer or smartphone, but they need to make the big leap onto the device that most Americans turn on for some 34 hours a week. This is not instead of better connectivity in the car or improved mobile device listening, but in tandem. Or, more precisely, synchronized, so that one can go from listening in the office, to the car and back into any room at home, pausing and restarting as necessary.

A Moment of Reflection

Thinking about the trajectory of podcasting in the coming year it’s important to reflect on the sheer wonder of being able to enjoy to Marc Maron on your morning commute, catch up with Welcome to Nightvale’s cutting edge radio drama on the stationary bike at the gym and learn about the latest in practical economic research while doing dishes listening to Freakonomics Radio. For those who love radio and audio programming, podcasting is truly phenomenal.

But it’s not just about finding cutting edge comedians, or the most talked about new shows. I believe podcasting truly has democratized radio production and distribution in the tradition of community and college radio, but going further. A producer can now reach the world, not just a city, without the restrictions of a schedule or broadcast license, using just a laptop (or tablet) and a microphone. It’s not perfect nor perfectly accessible, but this opportunity must not be underestimated.

That’s why podcast producers and fans are glad to see the influx of attention and investment in the medium, especially this past year. Quite simply, we think more people would enjoy and benefit from podcasts if they only knew about them and how to listen. Yet, it’s kind of vexing that even with 241 million weekly radio listeners in the US, it seems like more people watch online video with Hulu or Netflix than listen to podcasts.

This is the gap I would like to see podcasting bridge in 2014. The good news is that we’re closer than ever before, but that doesn’t mean that reaching the other side is guaranteed nor imminent.

The Hulu and Netflix of Podcasting

I use Hulu and Netflix as examples quite purposely. The simple fact is that we do not yet have the Hulu or Netflix of podcasting. We don’t have that nearly ubiquitous portal that lets us enjoy podcasts across nearly all our digital devices.

Now I can already hear the veteran podcast enthusiasts warming up their typing fingers to tell me how I must be ignorantly ignoring apps like Stitcher, Swell and BeyondPod, portals like TuneIn Radio and DAR.fm, or dedicated apps from podcast networks. Please, believe me, I’m not ignoring these and many other great tools, nor am I trying to understate their value.

But just go talk to a couple dozen people who own smartphones, tablets or laptops and ask them how you watch movies and TV shows online and nearly every one of them will say Netflix, Hulu or both. Then ask them how one might access podcasts. Unless they are already podcast listeners, my bet is that some iOS users will mention Apple’s own Podcast app, and maybe Stitcher will come up. Given a bit more time to think a few more folks will dip into the recesses of their mind to fathom a pretty good guess. However I seriously doubt that the majority will instantaneously tick off podcast apps or platforms the same way that Netflix will roll off their tongues.

The beauty of Netflix and Hulu is that you can watch them on a smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop, Roku, Chromecast, AppleTV, TiVo or smart TV and get pretty much the same experience and content. Same thing with YouTube for cat videos. When it comes to online music I think Pandora has also accomplished this same level of ubiquity, with apps or channels on seemingly every internet connected device known to humans.

This doesn’t mean you can’t listen to podcasts on all of these devices. Any podcast fan can figure out how to pull up a ’cast one way or another. For instance, while doing research for this post I discovered that there are several ways to access podcasts on a Roku set-top box. The TuneIn Radio channel lets you search and hear podcasts in addition to live radio streams. DAR.fm is also available on Roku, as are plenty of network channels, like CNBC, which include podcasts amongst their program lineups.

Chromecast users with Android devices can access podcasts using the BeyondPod app, and Apple TV owners can use the iTunes Store or send audio directly from their MacOS or iOS devices using AirPlay. These examples are just a drop in the bucket of the many ways one might listen to podcasts on a device other than a smartphone or computer. Clearly, listening to podcasts at home, at work, in the car or on the go is not a problem for the podcast fan. Yet, it still seems like there is one step too many for potential podcast fan.

We need the Netflix, Hulu, YouTube or Pandora of podcasting. There are many candidates for this role, but none of them is yet prominent or ubiquitous enough to qualify.

Enter the Living Room (and Bedroom, and Kitchen…) TV

I emphasize these platforms because the television is the entertainment center for the majority of people, and these platforms are so widely available as to be nearly ubiquitous. Whether it’s part of a full-blown home theater, or just connected to a cable box and wi-fi, the TV has replaced the home stereo, and in many cases, the home radio. Most decent new TVs have Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and Pandora built right in, so you don’t even need to buy another device.

In most homes there isn’t just one TV. It’s common to find sets in every bedroom, the kitchen and the garage (if not the bathroom). Therefore I think it’s critical to make podcasts easy to access on this most central of home media devices.

These platforms are also particularly good about remembering what you were watching or listening to, and where you paused or left off. You can start streaming a Netflix movie on your iPhone while riding the bus, then pause it and resume watching hours later at home on your TV. That kind of frictionless ubiquity needs to come to podcasting.

Bring on the Apps and Channels

There are a lot of ways that this might happen. An app like Stitcher–which has started being integrated in smart car dashboards–or Swell could make more inroads into smart TVs and set-top boxes, following the trail blazed by Pandora. Apps like these already do a good job of tracking your listening and keeping your place.

Or, perhaps podcasts could become available in an already familiar app like Hulu or Pandora, minimizing the number of different platforms a user has to manage. At least on Hulu, you already can find podcasts that have video versions, like Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show, as well as short-form series content that is awfully podcast-like. On a platform like Hulu someone might search for a comedian or celebrity and find their podcast appearances listed beside their talk show guest spots.

Podcasters and podcast networks could take matters into their own hands by establishing their own channels and apps for TV-connected devices. Imagine if someone could easily find a TWiT.tv, Earwolf or even NPR podcast right on their Roku or smart TV menu.

Of course, steps like these require investment of both time and money. The likes of Pandora or Hulu are much better funded than any independent podcast network in existence. These companies have the resources to make deals with manufacturers and develop the necessary applications. And, who knows if there is an incentive for one of these existing platforms to take on all these other producers.

Still, there are new opportunities on the horizon. This week’s Consumer Electronics Show has brought announcements of open platforms for TVs and set-top boxes from Panasonic, LG and AT&T, based on Firefox, WebOS and Android, respectively. In theory this should make it easier to bring independent content into the living room.

Expanding Opportunities to Communicate

At this point I don’t think that downloaded internet audio programs are going to disappear, whether we call them “podcasts” or not. Podcasting can continue to survive as a niche medium, and I’m sure that there are producers and listeners would be just as happy for this to happen. Kind of like punk rock, sometimes you don’t want to share your media with the mainstream. And, sometimes an influx of attention and money threatens what you love about it.

I’m sympathetic to such a “punk rock” point of view. But it’s podcasting’s potential to put broadcasting tools into more hands to distribute programs to more people that makes me care about the future of the medium. This is why I think it’s important for podcasting to grow and thrive, not remain a niche for comedy nerds, tech geeks and hip NPR listeners.

When it becomes even easier for a Netflix, Hulu or Pandora fan to become a podcast listener, then I believe this increases the chances that a marginalized voice speaking through a podcast might be heard by someone new. Even with podcasting’s current popularity it’s not too hard for a single independent episode to reach more listeners than a show on a broadcast college or community station.

I only want to see this opportunity grow, and I think that more innovation, increased accessibility and more public attention the medium will bring more people to the party. Yes, there is also the threat that attention and money could spoil the game, too. But not if independent-minded podcasters work together and support each other. In that way podcasting isn’t so different from community radio or indie rock.

Closing the accessibility gap is not the only challenge podcasting faces, but it is one of the most important ones. I’ll continue to address and report on other challenges, ideas and opportunities throughout the year.

We cover podcasting news and analysis every Wednesday in our Podcast Survivor feature.

The post Podcast Survivor: In 2014 podcasting must enter every room in the house appeared first on Radio Survivor.

I was saddened to hear the news that celebrity psychic Sylvia Browne died yesterday in a San Jose hospital at the age of 77. A mainstay of numerous television shows and the host of her own Internet radio show, Browne was a master of broadcast media.

I remember seeing her regularly on the San Francisco-based television talk show People Are Talking (which aired on KPIX-TV from 1978-1991) when I was a kid. Browne has reported that she was a guest on the show for over a decade. One particular appearance is etched in my memory because of the passionate way that Browne warned the viewers at home and the live studio audience about the dangers of playing with Ouija boards.

I was probably 12 years old at the time and her pronouncements about the Ouija’s power to “let the devil in” terrified me. Despite that, I ended up playing with a Ouija board with a close friend and our sisters soon after. When we asked the board who we were talking to, our hands mysteriously moved to spell out G-O-D. At that point I was officially freaked out, thinking that it was the devil in disguise.

Although I wasn’t entirely sure that I believed Browne’s theories, it was hard to ignore her when she touched upon local ghost lore when she was our hometown psychic in the late 1970s (she actually lived in my hometown). Around this same time, pop culture was filled with examples of unexplained phenomena. The creepy TV show In Search Of was quite popular (hosted by Leonard Nimoy and featuring segments about the Loch Ness Monster and spontaneous combustion) and re-runs of the Twilight Zone aired on local TV stations.

Being a preteen, I was at the perfect age for investigations into all of this strangeness.  I started reading scary Stephen King stories and occult-themed books from the junior high section of the public library. Sylvia Browne hit the cultural zeitgeist at the right time and publicly investigated the supposedly haunted Toys ‘R Us store right in her backyard in Sunnyvale, California. It still amazes me that she held a seance in the same Toys ‘R Us where my parents bought my Christmas presents.

Sylvia Browne re-creates her Toys ‘R Us Seance on “That’s Incredible”

Nearly a decade ago, after I had a brush with death while driving on the Pacheco Pass, I searched online and found some of Browne’s writings about ghostly encounters on that gnarly road south of San Jose. Suddenly the unexplainable near miss with a truck heading towards me in the wrong lane seemed to make sense when I imagined that it was being navigated by a phantom driver.

As years went on, Sylvia Browne became known far beyond the San Francisco Bay Area. She was a prolific writer and a frequent guest on shows ranging from Montel Williams (where she was on the show weekly for more than 17 years) to Larry King Live to Loveline. She hosted her own talk radio show on HayHouse Radio (“Radio For Your Soul”) and was a guest and contributor to the show New Spirit Radio on BlogTalkRadio. Additionally, she offered podcasts and commercial-free audio archives as premiums for paid subscribers to her website. A sampling of podcasts are also available on iTunes.

While I found her to be entertaining (and terrifying), Browne also had detractors who claimed that Browne was a charlatan who duped people into believing she had psychic powers. In any event, she leaves a lasting legacy and will remain in the memories of the many viewers and listeners who she touched over the years.

The post Farewell to Psychic, Radio and Television Personality Sylvia Browne appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In an enforcement advisory this week, the Federal Communications Commission reminds broadcasters about the guidelines for using Emergency Alert System codes and attention signals. Prompted by complaints over the use of emergency alert tones in commercials or promotional spots on television, the FCC not only released details about recent policy violations (TBS and a Kentucky television station were cited), but also spelled out the current rules. According to the advisory:

“Any transmission, including broadcast, of the EAS Attention Signal or codes, or a simulation of them, under any circumstances other than a genuine alert or an authorized test of the EAS system violates federal law and undermines the important public safety protections the EAS provides.

There is growing concern about the misuse of the EAS tones and Attention Signal to capture audience attention during advertisements and at other times when there is no emergency or test. The FCC may issue sanctions for such violations, including monetary forfeitures.”

Within this advisory, the FCC also includes details about recent violations to the EAS policy. A Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) for Forfeiture was issued (PDF) to Turner Broadcasting in the amount of $25,000. This notice is in response to complaints that Turner utilized a “simulation of the EAS Attention Signal” as part of a promotion for the Conan O’Brien show. According to the NAL, a complaint was received about a promotional spot on TBS in 2012 that utilized “the emergency weather tones to gain attention for a commercial regarding Jack Black being on the show.”

The FCC argued in its NAL, “…it is imperative that the public not be desensitized to the serious implications of the EAS codes and Attention Signal or a simulation thereof. By including in its network programming the EAS codes and Attention Signal or simulations thereof, in non-emergency situations that are promotional or commercial in nature, Turner created a ‘cry wolf’ scenario…”

A second entity, MMK License LLC, was also found to have violated FCC policy by airing “a commercial that included an auditory signal that simulated the EAS Attention Signal” over television station WNKY in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Through a consent decree (PDF) with the FCC, MMK has agreed to pay $39,000 to “settle apparent violations” related to the airing of the ad for the Fan Wear & More Store. According to the consent decree, the FCC received a complaint alleging “that ‘The Fan Wear & More Store is running an advertisement that stops in the middle of the commercial and sounds the exact tone used for the Emergency Alert warnings.'”

These rules are in place so that listeners will take notice when an actual emergency occurs. In a statement on Tuesday, the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau Acting Chief Robert H. Ratcliffe warns, “Today’s enforcement action sends a strong message: the FCC will not tolerate misuse or abuse of the Emergency Alert System…It is inexcusable to trivialize the sounds specifically used to notify viewers of the dangers of an incoming tornado or to alert them to be on the lookout for a kidnapped child, merely to advertise a talk show or a clothing store. This activity not only undermines the very purpose of a unique set of emergency alert signals, but is a clear violation of the law.”

In order to spread the word about the importance of not misusing Emergency Alert signals and tones, the FCC not only issued an advisory and press release, but also included stipulations in the MMK consent decree that the station will install new compliance procedures in order to avoid future violations. Additionally, the station will launch a public service campaign in order to inform the public about the role and proper use of the Emergency Alert System.

The post FCC Warns Broadcasters Against Misuse of Emergency Alert Tones appeared first on Radio Survivor.

An interesting filing from NPR to the Federal Communications Commission concerning the impending wave of incentive auctions planned to “reassign” television broadcaster spectrum, ultimately for wireless broadband use. NPR reminds the Commission that a lot of the television towers that broadcast video signals stream radio as well, and public broadcasters could be affected by this transition.

To wit:

“Many communications towers are used to mount both radio station and television station transmitting antennas and related equipment. The mere substitution of one television transmitting antenna for another television station transmitting antenna as a result of a channel reassignment might not seem to affect other tower users, but the matter is not so simple. . . . [T]he modification to attain compliance with current technical standards may temporarily or permanently dislocate radio station transmitting antennas operating from the tower, resulting in costs for both equipment and related engineering, legal, and other services.”

Some background: In February of last year Congress passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which does about 50 or so different things from extending the payroll tax a bit longer to expanding drug testing for some federal employees. Of relevance here is the creation (from that law) of a TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund designed to finance “reverse auctions” that will coax television spectrum owners to relinquish some of their licenses—they presumably then auctioned to the wireless broadband companies facing a “looming spectrum crisis.”

This is going to be a very complicated process. Some TV stations will adopt new transmitter systems after selling off some of their licenses. The FCC has launched a comment proceeding to create a Catalog of Eligible Expenses related to spectrum reassignment costs.

But NPR notes that the Catalog doesn’t say much about broadcast radio, specifically the “dislocation of radio station transmitting antennas and related hardware as a result of the television station reassignment”:

“The most common impact of the impending television channel reassignment on NCE-FM [non-commercial educational FM] licensees will concern FM antennas and transmission lines. These may need to be moved to accommodate a new television transmitting antenna, a new transmission line or waveguide for the television transmitting antenna, or to allow removal of the original television lines. Additional costs for temporary relocation of the FM station antenna are likely to be incurred while the television and tower work proceeds, which could require many months. Engineering and relocation costs will accompany these capital and equipment costs in virtually every instance of dislocation.”

“These and similar costs should be reimbursed . . . in a variety of circumstances,” the NPR filing concludes.

The post NPR to FCC: TV spectrum auctions affect radio too appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Emily Morse on Miss Advised

I’m always a sucker for television shows featuring radio DJs, so when I heard that radio host Emily Morse was going to be on a Bravo reality show, I had to tune in.

One of the three relationships experts starring in Miss Advised, Emily Morse is the host of the San Francisco-based podcast Sex With Emily.

Since I live in San Francisco, Miss Advised offers multiple layers of enjoyment. Not only can I scrutinize Emily Morse’s DJ story line, but I also get to scan each San Francisco scene in order to spot familiar locations (this week it included a local dog park that I’m still trying to identify, the Bubble Lounge champagne bar, the New Century strip club, and the Stitcher radio studio).

It was also exciting to hear some San Francisco gossip on this week’s episode. In one scene Morse revealed that she and her friend Ruby Rippey had dated the same man at the same time (back in 2005 they both dated California’s Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom when he was mayor of San Francisco). For those of us long-time San Franciscans, this tidbit was fascinating news since many of us remember Newsom’s scandalous affair with Rippey when she was one of his staffers.

I’d never heard of DJ Emily Morse before, so I was also curious to learn more about her radio background. After moving to San Francisco, Morse worked in politics, produced a documentary, and started a podcast about sex. The Sex with Emily podcast began in August, 2005 and it quickly garnered listeners. By January, 2006 it was appearing over commercial radio station Free FM in San Francisco (KIFR 106.9 FM). By fall 2006, Morse was hosting a 3-hour show over Free FM on Saturday nights at 11pm. It’s unclear how long that show aired for, but Free FM’s format changed in May, 2007.

Today, Morse’s podcast is recorded in the Stitcher Radio studios in San Francisco and is co-hosted by Menace (who DJs under the name The White Menace at commercial radio station Live 105). The Sex with Emily podcast can be heard online and on satellite radio on XM Sirius’s Extreme Talk channel on Friday nights.

During the June 22 Sex with Emily podcast, Emily’s co-host Menace said that listenership “almost tripled” after the first episode of Miss Advised aired on Bravo. During the 60-minute podcast, Morse and Menace had a wide-ranging conversation covering a number of topics. They recapped a bit of the buzz surrounding the Bravo show’s premiere, had a short phone call with Morse’s brother, talked about anecdotes from their own lives (dating and otherwise), and gave some sex tips.

It will be interesting to see the impact of the Bravo show on Morse’s career. She’s already built a following from her podcast alone, which she parlayed into writing gigs and a book deal (She co-authored the illustrated paperback book: Hot Sex: Over 200 Things You Can Try Tonight! ). Her stint on the star-making Bravo should be quite a boost. Many of Bravo’s reality show stars have used the network as a launching pad for even bigger careers, especially since their on-air antics are augmented by blog posts (read Morse’s blog here) and Twitter updates. Miss Advised airs on Monday nights on Bravo TV.

The post Sex with Emily – From Podcaster to Reality TV Star appeared first on Radio Survivor.

mtvU Dean's List Seeks College Radio Station Hosts

When MTV was born, a whole new category of DJ was launched. Although most of us DJs are accustomed to being invisible to listeners, VJs became stars as they chatted about music and music videos on-screen. As part of a new feature on MTV’s college-themed media property mtvU, college radio stations will have a chance to host an episode of the music video countdown show, the Dean’s List. In a video intro, college radio DJs will announce the top 10 videos on campus.

In order to get this on-air gig, college radio stations will need to submit a list of their favorite 10 videos (all must be among the 20,000 videos available on MTV.com) along with a paragraph about why these videos were selected. Winners will then send a video to MTV which will air as an introduction to a weekly countdown on mtvU and mtvU.com.

The post mtvU Solicits College Radio Stations to Host Weekly Video Countdown appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Lured in by the debut appearance of Howard Stern as a judge, I watched both hours of tonight’s season premiere of America’s Got Talent. I’ve never watched the show before, nor any of its stablemates, like American Idol. So let’s not bury the lede: I will not be watching again.

You see, I’m a lapsed Howard fan going back more than twenty years, to when I first heard his afternoon drive-time show on New York’s WNBC. I believe now, as I did then, that Stern was a radio innovator, bringing a brutally honest conversational style to a medium that was overrun with fast-talking put-on DJs. Often his contributions to radio are overshadowed by his sophomoric obsessions with lesbians, porn stars and the sexual habits of his celebrity guests. Even if he only shows it occasionally these days, also he can be genuinely funny and truly irreverent, calling bullshit when he smells it.

Very unfortunately, that is not the Howard Stern I saw during tonight’s AGT. In fact I barely recognized the AGT Stern. In the opening sequence Stern remarked that NBC executives must “be out of their minds,” for putting him on the show. His performance proves them right, but for the opposite reason. Instead of bringing the “Banned by the FCC” King of All Media, he delivered almost none of the caustic wit and critical eye that he’s otherwise known for. Instead, we got schmaltz, and way too much “this is why America is great,” pandering.

Early on in the first hour he got of a couple of Howardesque one-liners, such as when he told a stripper magician that the guy had a “small package,” but that Howard could empathize because he’s “in the same boat.” He told the same guy that a stripper like him shouldn’t have “man boobs,” but again took the edge off by admitting that Stern is similarly endowed, himself.

At the start of the second hour, which took place in Saint Louis, we get a glimpse of the neurotic Howard when the judges and Howie Mandel’s mother get stuck in one of the theater’s elevators on their way to the stage. When the elevator shudders Stern looks genuinely worried, observing that elevator accidents are “epidemic” in New York. But, alas, that was the last remotely honest moment in that hour.

On the whole the show struck me as a short attention span version of the Gong Show. Only a few acts were shown in their entirety, interspersed by montages of several acts thrown together with fast editing, and lots of shots of the judges enthusiastically jumping out of the seats and clapping. A few clinkers were also shown being buzzed out of the running before finishing, but not really enough to be satisfying, nor to let any of the judges lay into them. On the whole the winning acts weren’t nearly as impressive as any of the judges made them out to be. Where are Chuck Barris, Artie Johnson, Jamie Farr and Jaye P. Morgan when you need them?

Having never watched America’s Got Talent before, I don’t know first hand if former judge Piers Morgan was more critical than Howard. Watching twitter traffic during the show I got the impression that Morgan was indeed considered a more discerning judge than Stern. Then again, Stuttering John would have been more trenchant.

One of the things I most enjoyed about Stern’s radio and television shows in the late 80s and early 90s is how he attracted a merry band of misfit fans who appeared on air to show off lame-brained tricks and stunts. Howard could be both welcoming while also maintaining a snarky standpoint of near disbelief. Stern limply attempted such a jibe when he first dismissed the player of something called the “Earth Harp” as an unemployed hippy, only to come back with gushing praise after the performance.

The last twenty minutes of the two hours were almost insufferable as just about every act turned on the water works. Oh, the crying! And, the hugging! I have a hard time not imagining that the 1990 Howard Stern would have vomited in his mouth watching the 2012 Stern and the whole AGT production.

It may be true that America’s got talent. That premise remains unproven tonight.

The post America’s Got Schmaltz – Howard Stern’s disappointing America’s Got Talent debut appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Chicago's Smooth 87.7 says goodbye

Editors’ note: Since the publication of this article the smooth jazz format has returned to the Chicago airwaves. Read this December 31, 2014 update for more details.

In a move whose logic I honestly don’t understand, Randy Michael’s Merlin Media has entered into a local marketing agreement with Venture Technologies Group, which owns the low-power TV channel 6 WLFM-LP in Chicago. Venture has operated the station as Smooth 87.7 with a smooth jazz format, taking advantage of what I call the “back door” to the FM dial enjoyed by the last few analog channel 6 stations whose audio can be heard at the far left end of it.

The agreement becomes effective today, April 29, and as of 6 PM Central Time the station is still playing smooth jazz, airing the last edition of the local Chicago music program, but with top of the hour news headlines provided by Merlin Media’s FM news station 101.1. Ironically, Merlin Media plans to bring alternative rock to WLFM, the very format that Merlin killed on 101.1 FM when it started News 101.1 last year. Previously the station was known as Q101, and was the pioneering commercial alt rock station in Chicago for almost 20 years.

All the more ironically Merlin Media plans to brand the station as Q87.7 using the old Q101 call letters WKQX, obviously trying to capitalize on the old station’s caché, if somewhat belatedly.

The reason why I’m puzzled by the deal is that the analog audio signal of channel 6 TV stations is going away by September 1, 2015, when the FCC requires all remaining low-power TV stations to convert to digital. Now, I can understand why Venture would want to find someone to lease the signal for its last three years, bringing in some rent with minimal investment. I have a harder time understanding why Merlin Media would want to lease a signal that has only three years left to live.

As Time Out Chicago’s Robert Feder points out, Smooth 87.7 was doing pretty well in the ratings for a fringe quasi-FM signal, beating out plenty of true-blooded commercial FM stations–including News 101.1–to rank 24th in the market. I’m guessing that Merlin must be getting a pretty good deal on the LMA compared to a real FM station with comparable ratings. But what good will that be when the signal goes silent on Aug. 31, 2015? Perhaps Merlin will treat 87.7 as a test signal to see if it might be worth bringing commercial alternative to more expensive real FM signal, or even bring it back to its old home at 101.1.

On the Smooth 87.7 website, GM Pat Kelley has posted a farewell message in which he acknowledges that the decision to lease out the station and end the smooth jazz format

is due primarily because the current FCC has refused to provide assurance that WLFM can continue to broadcast on 87.7 FM in September 2015. In a strange twist, the FCC of the current Administration has killed Smooth Jazz in Chicago by failing to act on our requests to secure the audio future of 87.7 FM.

He promises that they “are still fighting” and calls on listeners to contact Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn to help the fight.

Blaming the FCC for killing smooth jazz in Chicago is kind of stretch, given that Clear Channel did the job first when it flipped the former smooth jazz stalwart WNUA to Spanish-language in 2009. On top of that, TV channel 6 was never intended to be an FM radio service, and analog low-power TV was intended to provide video service, not only audio. Finally, once the digital TV transition had been set in motion only a fool would have bet that low-power TV stations would not eventually be required to make the transition. In fact, I consider WLFM to be lucky for being able to hang on as long as it has.

It’s reasonable and obvious to say that if you want to operate a radio station, then you’re best off buying an actual radio station. I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect the FCC hold open a loophole that was never designed to exist in the first place.

UPDATE: After reading all the comments to this post, I’ve written a follow-up guide to finding jazz on the Chicago radio dial. Yes, there is still jazz on Chicago radio!

The post Merlin Media killing smooth jazz 87.7 to bring alt rock to TV Ch. 6 in Chicago appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The FCC is also proposing to reduce redundancy by not requiring broadcasters to resubmit items to their online public files that already have been submitted to the Commission. For instance, stations are required to keep a copy of their biannual ownership reports in their public files, which is something also submitted to the FCC. Other documents, like quarterly Issues and Programming lists are only kept in the public file.

The Commission is also seeking comment on suggestions to require postings on sponsorship identification information, now disclosed only on-air, and shared services agreements.

The FCC also indicated that it is not yet ready to take up revisions to public file requirements for radio. Instead the Commission is going to wait to see how changes work for TV, while also acknowledging that radio is a different case, due at least in part to the fact that radio stations are typically smaller organizations. I do think that it’s highly unlikely that public file requirements for radio will go away.

Andrew Jay Schwartzman of the public interest organization the Media Access Project said of the proposal,

For twenty-five years, it has been FCC policy to place primary reliance on listeners to identify broadcasters who do not deserve license renewal. The absence of useful information about broadcasters’ performance has made the license renewal process a meaningless charade.

Today’s action makes useful information available, and makes it much more accessible to the public.

The Broadcast Law Blog has a very thorough rundown of the many aspects of the FCC’s proposal.

The post Public file is still alive as FCC considers online docs appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Fun at Flirt FM in Irleand (Photo: J. Waits)

Being both a radio and a popular culture nut, I always get a thrill when I see a radio station worked into the storyline of a film or television show.

As part of their 50th anniversary celebration (which also includes a design contest with a deadline on Friday, September 9 and an upcoming art exhibit), college radio station KCSB at University of California, Santa Barbara is working on a radio-themed film festival. Right now they are in the process of brainstorming a list of movies with radio themes and they are seeking suggestions. Some of the films on their list so far include: 8 Mile, American Graffiti, Pirate Radio, Pump Up the Volume, and Radio Days.

I’ve compiled my personal list of my top 5 radio-themed television shows and also pulled together a list of films featuring DJs in peril. What other essential radio films and TV shows are out there? And which are your favorites?

The post KCSB Looking for Suggestions of Radio in the Movies appeared first on Radio Survivor.

TV will be leaving the radio in 2015

As I’ve reported before, TV channel 6 sits just below the left end of the FM dial which allows its analog audio signal to be heard at 87.7 FM. This is not an officially licensed FM frequency, but most FM radios will tune it in. This fact has allowed a few savvy LPTV operators on channel 6 to operate like radio stations, with minimal video content to keep the FCC happy.

However, the audio portion of a digital TV broadcast cannot be received on an analog radio. This means that channel 6 stations like Chicago’s WLFM-LP, calling itself Smooth 87.7, will lose their back door into the FM dial once they go digital in 2015.

WLFM and several other LPTV broadcasters submitted comments to the Commission urging it to permit LPTV stations to convert to digital on their own timelines, letting audience and market forces dictate the move rather than the FCC. The FCC concluded that the “the Communications Act compelled low power television stations ultimately to convert to digital operation,” and that more than four extra years after the 2009 full-power transition was plenty of time.

Otherwise, in this order the Commission did not take up or make any reference to channel 6 broadcasters exploiting their back door access to the FM dial. It would appear that the FCC would rather let this relatively constrained hack fade away rather than address it directly.

Smooth 87.7 now on cable TV

Chicago’s WLFM seems to have seen the writing on the wall and has made some plans to continue reaching an audience. The station recently started airing on Chicago Comcast cable TV channel 877 (third item on the page), with traffic and weather updates on the screen. This seems a lot like the digital music channels available on many cable systems, which often run static images and artist trivia on the screen while the music plays. Given that many people treat television like radio, leaving it on in the background while they go about their business, it’s not an absurd move for WLFM. At the same time I’m surprised that I cannot find WLFM doesn’t offer an online stream, which one would think would be the other easy way to retain their audience.

Nevertheless, car listeners are still an important audience for any broadcast radio station, and the channel 6 stations will lose them in 2015. Perhaps by then in-car internet radio will be a more mature and easy to use technology.

The FCC’s decision on the LPTV digital transition is pretty final. But there’s always a chance for reconsideration. I won’t be surprised if LPTV broadcasters, like WLFM, make some additional filings. I’ll certainly keep my eye out for them.

The post Back door “radio” stations on TV channel 6 to go silent in 2015 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Currently the FCC is accepting comments on a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the low-power television service [PDF]. Unlike full-power TV, LPTV is still analog. Now the FCC is considering a timeline for closing that gap.

The fact that LPTV is still analog is why some stations on channel 6 have been able effectively to operate like radio stations, due to the fact that their audio program sits just left of the FM broadcast dial, receivable at 87.7 FM. It’s a little corner of radio broadcasting I’ve been covering for over a year now.

As I predicted back in March, the FCC is now set to close this loophole by requiring LPTV stations to go digital, which would make their audio channels inaccessible to FM radios. The only question is when this will happen. The Commission has suggested that the transition might be completed sometime in 2012–so, in less than 2 years. However, it is also seeking comment on how realistic it will be for stations to meet that timeframe. At the same time the Commission notes that a 2012 deadline would be three years after the full-power transition. The Commission argues that LPTV stations should be well aware that a digital transition was imminent, and also points out that Congress created a special fund to assist low-power stations convert to digital.

However, the Commission does leave open an option for LPTV stations to remain analog all the way through 2015 if they are broadcasting on or move to the VHF band. The reasoning here is that the FCC would like to reallocate UHF spectrum for wireless broadband, and that the VHF TV band now sits underutilized. On the surface this might give a little more time to the channel 6 “radio” stations, even if it’s really just delaying the inevitable.

Nowhere does the FCC acknowledge these channel 6 stations operating as FM radio outlets. However, comments filed by NPR [PDF] are intended to make sure the FCC doesn’t miss them. These comments report that NPR officials met with FCC officials in the Media and Enforcement Bureaus wherein,

NPR urged Commission action clarifying that LPTV channel 6 stations operating as ersatz radio stations are not operating in compliance with the Commission’s Rules.

The Commission is accepting reply comments on this proceeding until Dec. 17. We’ll keep watching to see if any of the channel 6 “ersatz radio stations” submit responses to NPR. And, of course, we’ll report whatever decision the FCC ends up making regarding the future of analog LPTV, and therefore TV on FM. Stay tuned.

The post Channel 6 “radio” stations could be silent by 2012 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Randy Michaels becomes the master of the big media mash-up.

With ace-consolidator Randy Michaels at the helm of Tribune Company it looks like he’s having a jolly good time installing his old Clear Channel pals into top positions at the bankrupt newspaper and broadcast company. On Monday Tribune announced that ex-Clear Channel CFO Jerry Kersting is now president of Tribune’s broadcasting division. This was followed today by the news that Clear Channel’s old VP of programming Sean Compton would be Tribune Broadcasting’s new president of programming.

Kersting replaces Ed Wilson, who Robert Feder notes,

was one of the few Tribune Co. execs without Clear Channel on his resume, having previously run Fox Television Network, NBC Enterprises and CBS Enterprises. By several accounts, he didn’t kowtow to Michaels, who moved up to CEO of Tribune Co. last December. “Ed was probably too strong for Randy,” one insider surmised. “Randy runs the show.”

Tribune has much bigger investments in TV than radio. In fact, it owns only one station, the news/talk station WGN-AM in Chicago, where back in March Michaels banned 112 words and phrases from being uttered on the station. Nevertheless it already looks like the plan is to perform some of the old Cheap Channel radio tricks on TV. The company is getting ready to give conservative talk radio host Bill Cunningham his own syndicated program on Tribune stations. And who do you think syndicates Cunningham’s radio program? Why, yes, that would be Clear Channel-owned Premiere Radio Networks. (Way to keep it in the family, Randy!)

As the Clear Channel mafia readies to work its magic on Tribune Broadcasting they have a head start since the company’s already in bankruptcy. It got there the same way Clear Channel drove itself into debt — buying up stations–and newspapers–left and right using borrowed money. Only a private equity sale payday would complete the circle.

The post Randy Michaels Solidifies the Clear Channelization of Tribune appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Often music is thrust upon us in public places, from elevators, to telephone hold music, to restaurants. Sometimes it’s amazing and notable, but when it’s bad, it can be torturous.

I can never just ignore these background sounds that are meant to calm elevator passengers, amp up teen mall shoppers, or increase worker productivity. Memories of the light rock station that blared in my childhood dentist’s office and the loud Muzak that tormented me when I was a college student at my temp job stick with me decades after the initial sounds were heard.

Airplane music could easily suffer this same fate, but with the emergence of Virgin America as the hip airline for the “creative class,” more adventurous sound curation has come to the forefront.

I always scan the playlists of airplane radio stations when I fly, but was never truly excited about the music choices until I flew on Virgin America. They have a pretty sophisticated in-flight entertainment system called RED, which allows passengers to listen to both MP3s (they have a library of more than 3,500 choices across every genre imaginable) and radio (as well as watch TV, view movies, play games, order food, chat with passengers, etc.).

They offer 20 different “radio” stations, each providing about 2 hours of music across a more diverse range of genres than I’ve ever seen in the air. Most notable to me is their underground station (“Deep”), which plays music that you might expect to hear on an adventurous college radio show. Some of the artists on this station this month include Robert Rich & Ian Boddy, Zeitkratzer, Daedelus, and Dot Tape Dot.

Virgin's In-Flight Entertainment System - RED

They also have multiple stations focused on Asian pop (“J-Pop” and “M-Pop”), a reggae channel (“Rebel,” which they added based on listener response), and a more standard indie/alternative channel (“Edge”). Some of the artists on “Edge” this month include Chromeo, MGMT, Arctic Monkeys, Yo La Tengo and MC5.

One of their most popular stations, “Sounds of San Francisco,” offers up a range of artists local to the Burlingame-based airline, including hard rock from Metallica, folk beauty by Jolie Holland, poppy punk from Scissors for Lefty and driving gal rock from Von Iva.

Music programming is handled by both Virgin America staff members and their in-flight entertainment partner Spafax.

When I’ve flown Virgin I have often heard music that is new to me, so it’s frustrating that the playlists for their radio stations aren’t available. When I spoke with Patricia Condon, Virgin’s Public Relations and Events Manager about this, she told me that passengers often ask for details about the music played. When asked, Virgin will pass along information about the music and Patricia added that, “We are looking for ways to identify the artist and songs in our radio channels – and exploring doing it via our web-site.” She also told me that in terms of the MP3s available in-flight, they are “exploring the ability to save your playlist so it can be accessed for your next flight with us.”

This techy angle to Virgin America is also reinforced by the fact that they have power outlets at every seat and also offer Wi-Fi (I’ve even been on a few flights with free Wi-Fi).

Patricia also told me that the music on Virgin America is part of their broader mission to “create a cool and unique environment onboard.” She explained that, “when you step onto a Virgin America flight, you’ll first notice our mood-lit cabins and our boarding music – which currently includes music by Carmen Rizzo and Solimano.”

Kudos to Virgin America for taking a more adventurous approach to their in-flight music selections, allowing travelers to choose from creatively programmed radio stations or from thousands of MP3s. I’ve had a blast crafting my own lists in-flight selecting MP3s from the likes of !!!, Nina Simone, Kraftwerk, Sun Ra and Arvo Part; but was equally delighted to just listen in to artists unknown to me on their underground radio station DEEP.

By the way, Virgin America has a starring role in the new reality show “Fly Girls,” which premiered on the CW network last night. Virgin America flight crew members are the stars of the show (whose soundtrack, by the way, is more like the pop-infused “Hills” than anything you’d hear on indie or college radio).

The post Virgin America's Innovative In-Flight Radio Options appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Over the past year I’ve been tracking the mini-phenomenon of a few low-power TV stations on channel 6 using their signal as a back-door to the FM dial rather than real TV stations. This situation occurs because the audio portion of analog TV channel 6 bumps up against the far left end of the FM dial. Full-power TV stations on channel 6 have gone digital, and some have moved to other spectrum space. In either case their audio is no longer heard on the FM dial. But LPTV stations were not required to go digital last year, and so are still heard.

While this loophole remains open for existing stations, new LPTV stations will not be able to take advantage. Today the FCC released a notice [PDF] saying that applicants for new LPTV stations must amend their applications to be digital before May 24 of this year.

It looks like there are seven channel 6 applications pending. Who knows if any of the applicants were planning on taking advantage of proximity to the FM dial. But if any were, that option is now off the table.

At this point I think it’s safe to say the countdown timer is ticking closer to zero on channel 6 on FM. Last October the FCC ended protection of channel 6 signals from interference coming from FM stations. As the commission whittles away at analog LPTV it’s just a matter of time until the Media Bureau gets around to setting a mandatory digital transition date for LPTV stations. I think this is especially true given the fact that the FCC is seriously looking at reallocating broadcast spectrum for wireless broadband.

The post The End of Channel 6 on FM Is Imminent appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In advance of its upcoming biannual review of media ownership rules, the Federal Communications Commission is holding a series of workshops on the issue. These workshops are less formal and expansive than hearings, and tend to be focused on a smaller array of topics.

On April 20 the Commission’s Media Bureau will host a panel on “benefits and harms of newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership and the impact these combinations have on competition and diversity in the media marketplace” [PDF announcement]. The primary concern is with TV-newspaper cross-ownership because it’s more restricted by the FCC than radio cross-ownership, and because TV and newspapers are significant sources of local news. However, radio is still a source of news and public affairs programming, and so newspaper-radio combinations will also be discussed in the panel.

Currently bankrupt Tribune company–headed by former Clear Channel CEO Randy Michaels–has been one of the most prominent supporters of loosening or eliminating restrictions on television-newspaper cross-ownership. In fact, the company was so confident that the Bush-era FCC would undo cross-ownership rules that it went on a massive debt-leveraged buying spree, snatching up newspapers and broadcast stations. Only the changes didn’t quite pan out, and so the heavily indebted company was bought out and saddled with even more debt by real estate tycoon Sam Zell. Now companies like Tribune are crying that eliminating the few remaining ownership regulations are the only way to save the broadcast and newspaper businesses.

I predict we’ll hear that argument raised at the Tampa workshop, along with the media reform argument that maybe the newspaper and broadcast businesses wouldn’t be in such rotten shape if the largest companies hadn’t gone on a credit-fueled shopping spree.

With the national broadband plan taking center stage right now, I don’t expect we’ll see much major action on media ownership from the Commission too soon. But since Tribune, Clear Channel and their indebted brethren will be pushing hard to eliminate even the few remaining constraints on radio ownership, we’ll be sure to cover it here at RadioSurvivor.

The post FCC To Host Media Cross-ownership Workshop in Tampa appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Portland DJ Cate of K-100

Last night I checked out the premiere of a new television series on the CW called Life Unexpected, largely because one of the main characters is a radio DJ. Additionally, it’s a teen-centric drama, so right off the bat the show is hitting at my pop cultural sweet spots.

[If you’re planning to watch the show and haven’t caught the first episode yet, then you may want to read this post later, as I reveal plot details below.]

The show opens with a shot of VU meters ticking away as we hear the sounds of a morning talk radio show in Portland, Oregon.

We eventually see the innards of the studio and get to spy on DJs Cate (played by Shiri Appleby of the long-departed teen show Roswell) and Ryan (Dawson Creek‘s Kerr Smith), as they entertain listeners with their banter about relationships and marriage. Interspersed with scenes of the studio are shots of teenage Lux listening to the show on her radio (see…teenagers really do still listen to terrestrial radio!) as she gets ready for her day.

We soon learn that nearly 16-year-old Lux is in foster care, and we watch her as she tracks down her birth father. In hopes of becoming an emancipated minor, she asks her newly-found dad Nate for details on her mother. She’s surprised to find out that it’s Cate, the host of her favorite radio show.

In an effort to get in touch with Cate, Nate calls in to the morning show and his call works to reveal the sordid details of his Zima-fueled hookup with DJ Cate back in high school. Embarrassed by the on-air revelations, Cate leaves the studio to meet Nate in the station parking lot where she ends up becoming reunited with her daughter Lux.

The family reunion is not without its drama and after some not-so-unexpected twists, we witness a touching scene that actually reveals the power of radio. Lux tells Cate,

“You don’t realize you were there. On the radio. When everything else in my life kept changing. I could count on you every day. People are just…so scared…to tell the truth…You…you just put it all out there. You say the truth.”

In the opening episode, Cate’s radio shtick is that she’s a commitment-phobic, cynical thirtysomething. She and her co-host relentlessly tease each other on-air while never revealing to listeners that they’ve been in a romantic relationship for 2 years. Yet by the end of the hour we see Cate taking Lux in to her home and accepting a marriage proposal from her radio show co-host Ryan. As clips from the upcoming episodes hint at; the morning talk show may end up being the place where Cate begins to reveal more and more personal truths.

It’s not surprising that often TV depictions of DJs are in the form of talk show hosts (vs. music DJs) since this can become an easy way for writers to reveal the feelings and motivations of their characters. We’ll have to wait and see if this particular glimpse of the radio world on Life Unexpected catches on with viewers. I’ll also be curious to see if radio retains its starring role as the series progresses.

The post Radio's Starring Role on New TV Series "Life Unexpected" appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Here are some options. To see images of these gifts, just click the triangular up and down buttons at the bottom of the carousels:

For the Techy Teen: Build Your Own AM/FM Radio Kit

Kids just aren’t making their own radios like they used to. Buck that trend by getting your kid, niece, nephew or favorite teen one of these.

For the Kids: Hello Kitty Clock Radio

I say, get the kids listening to radio at the youngest age possible.

For Lovers of Retro Design, but with All the Modern Features: Crosley Turntable with CD Player and AM/FM Tuner

I’m always drooling over the beautifully designed Crosley turntables with all of the modern acoutrements. This particular model reminds me of an antique radio that we had in my house when I was a kid.

For Those of Us in Earthquake Country: Solar Powered Portable Radio

Everyone needs to have one of these in their emergency kit. You can recharge the radio by using the hand-crank as well.

For Mom and Dad: Shower Radio

Oh my god…I had no idea they still made shower radios. For that reason alone, this made the list. Just think, you can catch the news, weather and traffic in the comfort of your own shower.

For Time-Shifting Radio Lovers: Digital Recorder with mp3 player and AM/FM tuner

With this cool device, you can record radio much like you would use TiVo to record television.

For Radio Nostalgia Buffs: Antique Radio

I grew up in a house full of usable antiques, including old radios and phonographs. They don’t make things like they used to, so it’s always fun to seek out vintage pieces. Your local antique store and eBay are full of gems, including this crazy vintage space age-style Sputnik radio from the 1960s.

For Radio Historians: Empire of the Air DVD

This lauded Ken Burns documentary recounts the early days of radio.

For Bookish Alterna-Radio Types: Rebels on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America

This is a great book for those who are interested in reading about some of the creative characters behind various non-commercial radio stations.

For High Design Lovers: Antique Style Radio

This would just look so cool on the shelf.

For Non-Commercial Radio Supporters: CDs, LPs, Tshirts, etc. from their Favorite Radio Station

College, community, and public radio stations are always in need of your cash….and they often have really cool promotional items that you can pick up as gifts. Might I shamelessly plug KFJC’s 50th Anniversary LP to you? Or perhaps a cute girlie T-shirt?

For Terrestrial Radio Fans with Bad Reception: Internet Radio Receiver

I Love this idea. Instead of listening to your favorite radio stations through your computer, you can use this dedicated Internet radio. It’s perfect for places like San Francisco where FM radio reception is often dodgy, especially for the college radio stations that I listen to. It’s also got Pandora built in to in if you end up bypassing the bounty of streaming terrestrial stations.

The post Top Holiday Gifts for Radio Lovers appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Far outside the view of the general public, the virtual cratediggers of the FCC’s electronic recesses like Matthew and myself are sometimes privy to the little slap-fights that go on between broadcasters. In this case things are getting a little heated over the far left end of the FM dial, with a prominent public radio station calling out LPTV broadcasters exploiting the channel 6 backdoor to the FM dial.

As I’ve been already reported, the FCC recently ended restrictions on the use of FM frequencies adjacent to TV channel 6– 87.9 to 88.5 FM–in markets where former analog channel 6 stations went digital and changed channels.  Now, National Public Radio has petitioned the FCC to open up these frequencies everywhere, even in markets where digital TV stations decided to stay on channel 6 or where there are grandfathered analog low-power TV stations.

NPR’s argument rests on a technical analysis concluding that digital TV signals are far more interference-resistant than analog, and that modern TV tuners are selective enough to make interference from FM negligible for even analog LPTV signals.

Predictably, fellow noncommercial FM broadcasters are lining up in support of NPR’s proposal, while the ABC network and the National Association of Broadcasters have filed comments in opposition, calling into question NPR’s engineering data. There’s a few sparks coming from these opposing comments, but the real fun is buried in comments from Chicago Public Radio.

Without naming names, CPR  pointedly complains,

LPTV stations have begun to invade FM radio, broadcasting audio signals that were licensed for TV broadcast as if they were commercial radio stations on 87. 7 MHz. Not only are these signals inappropriately being broadcast as radio, they are also bleeding 24·hour dance music, with commercial advertising, over into the noncommercial stations that are on the lower NCE FM channels. Like squatters moving into recently-vacated homes, these LPTV stations are, in effect, intentionally broadcasting commercial radio which spills over onto the reserved portion of the FM band, trespassing on the limited territory of their noncommercial neighbors. Before this phenomenon becomes entrenched, the Commission owes the public, as well as public radio stations, a reasoned consideration of this problem.

Not surprisingly Chicago Public Radio has one of these channel 6 LPTV’s broadcasting in its own backyard, though it plays a commercial smooth jazz format. I’m not sure why CPR doesn’t refer directly to Chicago’s WLFM-LP. Instead CPR apparently calls out recently departed “24-hour music format” Pulse FM in New York City.

Nevertheless, it looks like WLFM’s owners already feel the heat. In comments filed the same day as CPR’s, WLFM owner Venture Technologies Group actually writes in support of NPR’s proposal:

VTG believes that these regulations are no longer needed. As NPR rightly points out modern digital television receivers are far less susceptible to adjacent FM-band interference than the analog television receivers that were in use when Section 73.515 was enacted in 1985.

Likewise, without directly naming its local opposition, VTG acknowledges the low-level animosity going on:

For too long NCE FM broadcasters have been at odds with Channel 6 television stations. VTG sees no reason why everybody can’t get along.

But supporting NPR’s proposal doesn’t mean VTG intends to cut its own throat, asking for “flexibility” from the FCC, and strongly urging “the Commission to adopt a formal policy allowing LPTV and Class A television stations broadcasting on Channel 6 the option to… continue broadcasting in analog if they choose to serve their audiences with a portion of their spectrum as an FM audio service at 87.7 FM.”

I’m certain VTG’s qualified support for NPR’s proposal is offered as an olive branch to noncommercial stations, like CPR, with the hope of a little quid pro quo to get them to back off on their decidedly “off-label” use of TV spectrum to become radio broadcasters. I think there’s little chance of the Commission taking seriously VTG’s request to stay analog in order to remain as unofficial radio broadcasters, nor of noncommercial broadcasters extending a little more tolerance. The best VTG can hope for is that the FCC will continue to put off dealing with their use of the channel 6 backdoor until the transition to digital is mandated for LPTV.

The post Chicago Public Radio Calls Out LPTV Stations Exploiting Backdoor to FM Dial appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Radio Free Roscoe

Being both a television and a radio fanatic; I present to you my personal “top 5” list for TV shows with some sort of radio theme. Some series focus more on radio than others; but in my mind they all showcase the medium and represent a range of radio stations. I was hoping to do a “top 10” list, but poor radio is often quite absent from the world of television.

Here are my five favorites (in no particular order).

1. Beverly Hills, 90210 (Fox, 1990-2000)

Who can forget DJ David Silver and his lengthy radio career throughout the series? He began as a dorky high school freshman DJ at the West Beverly High radio station. The station’s window overlooked the hallway, so David was often a commentator on the campus scene and gossip. When he graduated and went off to California University he began his career as a college radio DJ, which was famously side-tracked by his descent into drug abuse in order to stay awake following graveyard shifts at the station. After graduation David was often seen doing live remotes from the Peach Pit After Dark; as he hosted a late night show on commercial station KBIB.

2. Radio Free Roscoe (2003-2005 in Canada on The Family Channel)

This series follows in the long-standing tradition of excellent teen TV coming out of Canada. With a diverse cast of characters and more realistic-looking kids, Radio Free Roscoe tells the story of students who run a pirate radio station. Their high school actually has an above-board station (Cougar Radio) that the Radio Free Roscoe kids created their station in response to (like people used to do with underground newspapers). Making things even more interesting is the fact that the DJs all have secret identities and are not known to their classmates. You can still catch re-runs of this classic teen show on Teen Nick.

3. Ellery Queen (1975-1976, NBC)

Ellery Queen

Ellery Queen is the first television show that I remember calling “my favorite show” when I was a kid.

Set in the 1940s, this detective show followed mystery writer Ellery Queen (played by Jim Hutton) as he investigated real-life crime cases.

Starting in 1939 Ellery Queen was actually a radio drama and some of that radio past was incorporated into the TV show with some of the series focused around radio personality Simon Brimmer. Played by John Hillerman, Brimmer had his own radio show in which he purported to solve crimes and attempted to outwit Ellery Queen.

I remember scenes taking place at a 1940s radio station, with actors performing radio drama and creating sound effects using props; which really brought old-style radio drama to life for me.

4. Northern Exposure (1990-1995, CBS)

Set in the small town of Cicely, Alaska, Northern Exposure depicted a cast of quirky characters living in an isolated community on the northern reaches of the United States. Chris Stevens (played by John Corbett) philosophized and captured the town’s ethos while DJing at AM radio station KBHR (K-Bear). Over the mic he would often read from a wide range of literary sources. The studios were located in a building right in the middle of town, with windows facing out; so one could watch DJ Chris while he was on the air.

WKRP in Cincinnati

5. WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-1982, CBS; syndicated 1991-1993)

On this show from the late 1970s/early 1980s, a commercial radio station is the backdrop for a workplace situation comedy. Cincinatti commercial radio station WKRP makes a drastic change in their programming philosophy, switching to a rock station; and we get to view the ensuing drama. We also got the chance to see the inner workings of a radio station, with wacky DJs, questionable management, engineers, salespeople, and of course the pin-up ready receptionist played by Loni Anderson.

Honorable mention goes to Frasier (a series about a radio psychiatrist) and to Felicity for including a college radio station in some of its storylines.

What are some of your favorite TV shows about radio?

The post Top 5 Television Shows Depicting Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The Pulse Flatlines

Perhaps it was too good to be true. The overcrowded FM dial of the New York City metroplex offered no easy opportunity to bring a new cutting edge dance music station to the radio. But an opportunity was found at the far left end of the dial in the space occupied by TV channel 6 audio. So in February, 2008 87.7 FM the Pulse went on the air using the analog audio of low-power TV channel 6. Then, just 20 months later, the station pulled the plug yesterday at 5 PM, only four hours and forty-five minutes after announcing its imminent demise on air.

The death of the Pulse was not unexpected, given that the station’s owner Mega Media Group filed for bankruptcy in August. No doubt, commercial radio is a tough business in the 21st century, especially following nearly thirteen years of rampant industry consolidation which triggered ruthless cutting of ad rates in order to drive independent operators out of business and into the arms of megabroadcasters like Clear Channel and Cumulus. It’s fair to say that the Pulse had an uphill battle to begin with. Even with a unique format and a potentially very loyal audience, there’s fewer and fewer ad dollars to go around.

WNYZ's signal coverage area

But exploiting the channel 6 backdoor arguably made the climb all the steeper, putting the station at a spot on the dial that made it difficult to stumble upon. On top of that, being a low-power station limited it’s coverage area more than if it were a real FM station. With a transmitter located in Long Island City, Queens, according to the FCC its coverage area misses lower Manhattan and most of Brooklyn, which strike me as areas that the station would want to cover.

Mega Media leased the station from its owner Island Broadcasting Co., which acquired a minority stake in Mega Media back in May. However, Mega Media still owed Island $500,000 when its lease for the station ran out yesterday at 5 pm.

A post to the Radio-Info dance music board reports that WNYZ is now stunting with dance music in anticipation of new programming. (“Stunting” is radio jargon for when a station plays constrained and often unidentified programming for a short period before it changes format.) According to the Wikipedia page for the Long Island dance music station WPTY, that station’s programming will take over 87.7 FM this coming Monday, Nov. 2. If that turns out to be true then it may be too soon to write the obituary for dance music on LPTV channel 6 in New York, even if the Pulse is now dead.

The post NYC's the Pulse Flatlines appeared first on Radio Survivor.

In my second missive on the channel 6 radio phenomenon back in June I took note of Schenectady New York’s WRGB-TV. That station’s director of engineering made clear his intention to keep WRGB’s analog audio signal going even after the digital transition.

Now some ten weeks after the June 12 analog shutoff WRGB’s little experiment has come to an end. According to a brief statement posted to the station’s website dated August 24, general manager Robert Furlong acknowledges that this digital TV station has no authorization from the FCC to continue an analog broadcast on the FM dial, and announces the FM broadcast has been turned off, “effective immediately.”

I’ve not turned up any additional explanation for killing it so suddenly. My guess is that the station got a pretty firm message from the FCC reminding them that the license to broadcast an analog signal of any kind expired on June 12. I can’t see how WRGB continuing its 87.7 FM broadcast can be seen as anything but unlicensed operation, which would earn any other unlicensed broadcaster an FCC nastygram, at the very least.

Furlong also says that the station management “reviewing our options,” though I can’t really imagine what those options might be. They could petition the FCC to let them resume the analog broadcast, but that’s a very long longshot. Or perhaps they could reach an arrangement for simulcast with a desperate local radio station. Yet that option quickly gets complex, since I’m certain all of WRGB’s network affiliation and syndication agreements are for TV broadcast only. Adding a real radio simulcast would likely require renegotiating all of those contracts.

The appearance of analog TV’s channel 6 on the far left end of the FM dial was not designed in. Rather it was a happy accident which provided some listeners with an extra channel of programming and some other broadcasters an opportunity to sneak onto the FM dial. Like many such accidents, it might have been good while it lasted, but the sun seems to be setting for channel 6 on FM.

The post Schenectady DTV Abruptly Closes Its Backdoor to FM Dial appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It takes a lot of listener donations to take on $3.5 million of debt and liabilities. That’s how far in the hole the owner of New York City’s 87.7 FM The Pulse found itself when the company, Mega Media Group, filed for bankruptcy last week. Loyal RadioSurvivor readers might recall that The Pulse is actually a low-power TV station operating on channel 6, which butts up against the left end of the FM dial, making its audio channel heard on most radios at 87.7 FM.

Last month I wrote about the quasi pledge drive that The Pulse held to try and stave off financial disaster. I found irony in the station begging for donations given that it’s commercial station run by a for-profit corporation. As it turns out, it’s for-profit in name only, since Mega Media Group only lists assets worth $180,000, less than half of the $414,000 it owes the IRS.

There’s been no report of how much The Pulse listeners donated. The station held a “87.7 is Alive Celebration” on July 24, with all proceeds from the event going to “keeping the radio station alive.” But the New York Daily News reports that the station announced that it didn’t need the donations after all. Maybe the company’s management figured out that taking listener’s money might mess up their bankruptcy plans?

It’s difficult to draw any generalizations from The Pulse’s bankruptcy. While finding a backdoor into the country’s largest radio market via a low-power TV station might be cheaper than buying an existing station, that doesn’t mean it comes without cost or risk. And, as I noted before, we don’t know to what extent management fumbled the ball, either. There were apparently plans to launch a record label in concert with the station. At this point it’s hard to know which is the worse business to get into right now, commercial radio or records.

Mega Media Group filed for chapter 11 protection, which means it’s hoping to reorganize. Presumably, the station will remain on air in the meantime.

The post The Pulse's Backdoor into FM Not Paved with Gold appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Last month I wrote about a few legacy analog channel 6 low-power TV stations operating as radio stations, taking advantage of their audio program butting up against the low end of the FM dial. One of the pioneers is New York City’s Pulse 87. However it seems as though the backdoor to the FM dial may not be so easy to keep open.

Arcane Radio Trivia alerted me to Pulse 87’s call to listeners to donate to the station in order to keep it in good stead with creditors. Nevermind that Pulse 87 is a commercial station (ostensibly operating in the noncommercial part of the dial at that).

As of July 21 it looks like loyal listeners came through with the much needed cash, gaining the station “a reprieve from some of our creditors” and the opportunity “to attempt to raise money through more conventional means.” The station also promises to return the donations, presumably once replacement capital is raised.

I’m not really sure what to make of this situation. Commercial media is having a hard time, whether broadcast, internet or print, so I’m hesitant to place blame on the weakness of radio or the channel 6 LPTV method. We have no idea what the books at Pulse 87 look like, so it’s hard to say whether the culprit is insufficient revenue, poor management, or some mixture of both.

However, I do think it’s safe to say that the particular dance music format of Pulse 87 has tapped into some kind of loyal niche audience otherwise insufficiently served by other stations. The real test will be whether or not Pulse 87 can keep up the quality of the programming that keeps a loyal listenership in the face of cashflow problems. The temptation to cost-cut by automating and embracing other Clear Channel tactics may be too strong, even if that’s the surest route to undercut the qualities that make the station unique.

Perhaps the station would be better off going non-profit and relying on its listeners who’ve apparently already demonstrated a willingness to cough up bucks to keep Pulse 87 on air.

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