Franken FMs are the radio service that refuses to die, even after the FCC ostensibly pulled the plug this past summer. Recall that these are former analog low-power TV stations on channel 6 whose audio could be heard at about 87.7 FM. Analog LPTV shut down on July 13, 2021, but then Venture Technologies Group was granted “Special Temporary Authority” to keep a couple of its stations broadcasting an analog FM audio signal alongside their digital video signals.

Now the number stations has grown to about a “half-dozen,” according to Radio World, in an piece that taps some of the architects of the new generation 3.0 digital television standard to get their take on this experiment. One says to make space for the analog FM signal, “is to actually lower spectral efficiency.” Another is skeptical, as well, saying, “[t]he system may work and be useful, but the information is not available yet to prove it.” A third was more optimistic, noting, “[w]ith the limitations of FM spectrum, they are making use of the FCC rules and channel segmentation philosophy. They’re putting it to good use.”

That said, the experiment still is temporary, and it would seem the initial six month lease is coming due soon. The stations may still petition for an extension, which the FCC would likely grant at least once. But an actual rulemaking will be required if Franken FMs are to become permanent fixtures on the dial.

Radio futurologist James Cridland observes that the BBC has announced plans to make some radio shows available as podcasts exclusive to the BBC Sounds app for 28 days, which also means they’ll be unavailable outside the UK during that period. It also means these programs will not be playable on other podcast apps, like Apple Podcasts, even for UK listeners. Cridland deems it, “another disappointing move from a broadcaster that should be widening its potential audience, not limiting it.”

He also notes additional broadcasters doing the same, while others, like Norway’s NRK, are pulling older archives off open, third-party apps. “In an age where radio consumption is in slow decline in many parts of the world, I’d suggest that anything that removes opportunities for listeners to discover new stuff is regrettable,” he concludes.

If CDs were recently declared dead, they’re sure enjoying the afterlife in 2022, as the format approaches the ripe age of 40. This past week erstwhile online music publication Pitchfork tossed its hat in the ring, but taking the additional step of talking to actual young people who’ve acquired the compact disc habit. A New York University sophomore and WNYU DJ says that she and her friends are, “on the CD wave.” Another college radio DJ at the University of Texas at Arlington reveals, “I have three big cases full of CDs that I play all the time,” while a student who writes for the Lawrence University newspaper reports, CDs are desirable because, “[w]hen all your life is virtual, even looking on Spotify can seem like draining work.”

As I’ve noted before, at least some of the Gen Z interest in CDs is driven by the current price advantage. The co-owner of California chain Amoeba Music says many classic albums can be had for just $4 to $5. I saw that for myself when I visited the Hollywood outlet back in 2019.

Meanwhile, across the pond, NME columnist Mark Beaumont admits,

“When the coroners come to collect my body, with ghoulish press photographers trailing behind to document the horror and depravity, local press will no doubt dub me The Disc Man. Entering my office space will feel like unearthing Spotify’s underground database – thousands upon thousands of CDs, stacked high to the ceiling and piled in mounds across doorways.”

Yet, despite his own passion, he had doubts about a full-fledged revival in 5-inch silver discs. Comparing the physical operation of playback to operating a household appliance, lacking in the romanticism of vinyl and turntables.

Back in April 2020 we talked with author, filmmaker and former DJ Bill Lichtenstein about groundbreaking Boston freeform radio station WBCN, the subject of his documentary “WBCN and the American Revolution.” Lichtenstein has authored a new companion book about the station, and recently guested on Monocle Radio’s “The Stack” to discuss it.

The post Rough Notes: Franken FMs Live On, BBC Geofences, More CD Revival, WBCN Book appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The documentary “WBCN and the American Revolution” chronicles the founding of Boston’s groundbreaking rock station that combined late-1960s countercultural politics and music in way that influenced freeform radio to come. Directed by journalist and former WBCN employee Bill Lichtenstein, the film will premiere on GBH 2 in the Boston area. It will air nationally on PBS stations this coming fall.

We talked with Bill Lichtenstein about the documentary a year ago on episode #241 of our podcast. We discussed how even though it was a commercial station, WBCN operated more like a community station, such New York’s WBAI, which was also blazing a freeform trail of music and politics.

Ahead of the film’s broadcast debut a group of station alumni will participate in a free online panel this coming Monday, April 26: Celebrate WBCN and the American Revolution. Panelists include:

• Tommy Hadges, WBCN program director and announcer
• Charles Laquidara, WBCN announcer
• Bill Lichtenstein, producer and director of WBCN and The American Revolution
• Eric Jackson, host of GBH’s Eric in the Evening and former WBCN host
• Debbie Ullman, WBCN’s first female announcer
• Moderator: GBH midday host Henry Santoro

The post WBCN Documentary Broadcast Premiere on May 6 – Special Online Panel April 26 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

“The radio industry… is an example of an industry that was doing pretty well, and they gutted it.”

The “they” is the private equity industry, which provided the financing to companies like Clear Channel (iHeartRadio) and Cumulus to go on the epic buying sprees that resulted in today’s enormously consolidated commercial radio landscape. Investigative reporter Josh Korman explains how this happened in the documentary “Corporate.FM.”

The film debuted six years ago at the Kansas City Film Festival, when Jennifer Waits also interviewed director Kevin McKinney for Radio Survivor. The film had been in the back of my mind when I noticed that it was available for streaming on Amazon Prime. So, of course, I sat down to watch it.

Kinney told Jennifer that, “The film is about the downfall of commercial FM. I believe that community radio, college radio and even NPR do not fill the void that was left when we lost commercial radio as a medium to support the community, because these stations do not have the same audience.”

It the opening sequence, “Commercial.FM” lays out its raison d’être: “The power of radio is that our neighbors are listening to it at the same time, and together we create a critical mass of support at the local level.”

The film vividly illustrates this point, and how its promise has been mortgaged, through the voices and experience of people who work, or have worked, in the industry. Kinney spotlights talent from Kansas City, Lawrence, Kansas, and San Diego, all of whom have been affected by industry consolidation. Their stories are further illuminated by experts like journalist Eric Boehlert and Prof. Robert McChesney, who have researched and documented media consolidation.

Though I think it’s a perspective that deserves airing, I have to admit that going in I was expecting “Corporate.FM” to focus primarily on the cultural aspects of commercial radio’s decline, of how local DJs who would play local bands got replaced by nationalized playlists and voice tracking. It’s important to recognize this effect, but it’s also very well tread ground.

Instead, I was impressed at how effectively the film tells the political economic story that’s at the root of these changes. In very clear terms it lays out how ownership deregulation – in the form of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 – legalized and incentivized massive corporate buyouts leveraged with debt. These deals generated windfall profits in the short term, and enriched bankers and executives in the long term, at the expense of hundreds of jobs, the death of localism and the 20-year blood-letting of an entire industry. It does this without getting lost in jargon, or just boring the viewer to death.

As one commentator says in the first three minutes of the documentary, “The internet didn’t kill radio. The commercial radio industry is killing itself.”

“Corporate.FM” makes that case solidly.

If you have Amazon Prime it’s a must-see. If you don’t, it’s also available for rent or purchase, and I’d say it’s well worth the $1.99 rental, even if you think you know the story. Seriously, it’s a story I’ve been following for 22 years (and I’m kind of a cynical old bastard, too), and I found a lot to like and learn in “Corporate.FM.”

Watch the trailer:

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Musician, DJ and radio artist Don Joyce passed away nearly three years ago, leaving behind a voluminous archive of his unparalelled collage radio program “Over the Edge.” The documentary “How Radio Isn’t Done” sheds light on this member of Negativland, his life and his work in recontextualizing the never-ending flow of media messages that flood everyday life.

Director Ryan Worsley joins to talk about Joyce, his hyper-focused artistic process and what she learned creating this affectionate and honest portrait of an iconoclastic figure and broadcasting legend.

Show Notes:

• “How Radio Isn’t Done” on Vimeo
• “How Radio Isn’t Done” on Amazon
• Paul’s review of the film, “An Affectionate & Honest Filmic Portrait of Negativland’s Don Joyce“
• Negativland – “The Chopping Channel”
• RIP Don Joyce: Negativland Member, Artist, KPFA DJ
• Negativland’s ‘Over The Edge’ Catalog Now Available at Internet Archive
• Radio Survivor Podcast #9: Remembering Negativland’s Don Joyce
• ABC (Australia) documentary about a long-running cassette radio show: “Cassette famous“
• Radio on Tape: from ‘Second Side Up’ to ‘The Hour of Slack’
• The Grassroots Radio Conference is happening Oct. 5 – 7 in Portland, OR. The call for proposals is now open.

The post Podcast #141 – How Radio Isn’t Done, According To Negativland’s Don Joyce appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Musician, DJ and radio artist Don Joyce passed away nearly three years ago, on July 22, 2015. He left behind a voluminous archive of his KPFA radio program “Over the Edge,” which took off in new, chaotic and creative directions when he welcomed the participation of the experimental band Negativland in 1981, then joining the group.

The documentary “How Radio Isn’t Done” sheds light on Joyce and his life, work and his process for recontextualizing the never-ending flow of media messages that flood everyday life. Director Ryan Worsley paints an affectionate, but honest portrait of a man who poured tremendous quantities of inspiration, energy and effort into his community radio program, leaving the impression that it was something he just had to do.

How Radio Isn't Done from Ryan Worsley on Vimeo.

In the film Joyce walks through his workflow of recording audio, from sources like broadcast television, onto audiocassettes, then isolating segments and dubbing those onto a second cassette. To make these snippets ready for on-air manipulation, he then dubs them onto broadcast carts, tape loop cartridges, similar to 8-track tapes, that were used in radio broadcasting from the 1960s through to the 1990s. Of course, Joyce continued to employ this analog technology to the very end, because: why mess with success?

Yet, we also see that towards the end of his life, Joyce began retreating inward, no longer wanting to tour or perform live with Negativland, to the obvious concern of his bandmates, who could see his decline. They reflect on Joyce’s quirks, brilliance and fallible humanity like the old, loving friends that they are.

After Joyce’s passing his bandmates take on the responsibility of digitizing his massive store of sound fragments, as well as the thirty-four year archives of “Over the Edge.” We look on as they package baggies of his ashes in with copies of the last album he worked on, “The Chopping Channel,” all to be shipped to fans.

Radio broadcasting can be a paradoxically lonely pursuit. While DJs transmit their voice and other sounds to hundreds, thousands or millions of listeners, they’re often alone in the studio, or surrounded by just a few colleagues and collaborators. While the phone may ring–and Joyce eagerly mixed callers into the broadcast feed–the communication with the audience is rarely a true conversation.

That an esoteric artist like Joyce could find a small community of collaborators and an audience for his work is a testimony to the power of radio, especially non-commercial college and community radio where boundaries may be pushed and heterodoxy disposed. The price is that your art may go barely noticed.

Though far from famous, Joyce’s work was noticed by people who could appreciate it. And while at times he does come across as a slightly tragic figure, watching “How Radio Isn’t Done,” I wonder what else he would have done that would have made him happier or more satisfied.

Having spent thousands of hours in community and college radio stations, this is a familiar archetype: the person whose radio show provides the necessary meaning for their life, whether one or a million people are tuned in.

I believe that most human beings have a desire to create, to be productive. I place no qualification on what that means, whether it’s building models, cooking meals, perfecting a golf swing or coloring pictures. “How Radio Isn’t Done” is a portrait of someone who had to create a radical form of radio, and in so doing left behind an artistic legacy of collage, recontextualization and culture jamming (the latter a term he coined as his on-air character “Crosley Bendix”) that has had inestimable impact on our media culture at large.

“How Radio Isn’t Done” is available on for viewing on demand on Amazon and Vimeo.

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I’m delighted to keep stumbling upon video artifacts of pirate radio, like the 1970s Portland public access footage and 1990 shortwave pirate documentary I recently shared. Next up I’ve found a more contemporary documentary from 2014 looking at London’s pirate radio scene.

The city has long been a hotbed of unlicensed radio activity, such that the scene birthed and nurtured new music genres like jungle and grime in the 1990s and early 2000s. The film “Drowned City” (available for free on Vimeo) takes a survey of current and former pirate broadcasters in East London, featuring a remarkable degree of access that’s facilitated by hiding the identities of many players.

Towards the start of the film, a former pirate named Jay drives director Faith Millin and her crew around East London pointing out broadcast aerials mounted on top of residential tower blocks (similar to public housing complexes in the U.S.). He notes that many of them are affixed to legitimate antenna masts used for purposes like two-way taxi radio. Even with the density of unlicensed broadcasters in places like Brooklyn and South Florida, I doubt there’s anywhere in the States where such an “aerial tour” would be so easy.

We also follow current broadcasters who have metal parts fabricated for their own home-brew security devices to stop both the authorities and competing stations from tampering with or seizing their equipment. Due to the size of the scene, as well as the heated cat-and-mouse game with Ofcom, the UK radio regulator, and police, pirates keep their transmitters cited away from studios, linking them via internet streams. This helps protect DJs, though it also means transmission gear is left unattended and vulnerable.

Though more sophisticated and mature than in many other cities, the pirate radio scene in London is born from the same seeds as elsewhere: people and communities without access to their own media taking the means to broadcast into their own hands. The success of pirate stations playing hip-hop, R&B, soul and reggae music unheard elsewhere on the radio prompted the BBC to launch 1Xtra, which focuses on urban music and has DJs who are former pirates.

While this may have taken some wind out of the pirate sails, a broadcaster in “Drowned City” notes that stations serving immigrant diasporas from Turkey and Africa have filled in some of the gaps. Again, this is similar to unlicensed broadcasters in the U.S. serving cultural and language minorities otherwise unheard on the dial.

Some of the DJs in the film have been caught and fined, and others are less sanguine about the future of pirate radio in the face of the internet. Yet, others press on, despite the risks and competition for listeners’ ears. “Drowned City” is a fascinating hour-long journey into one of the most iconic broadcast communities in the world.

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