The Radio Survivor team returns for a new episode, during which Jennifer, Eric and Paul recap some of the latest radio news. Topics this week including LPFM, college radio history, radio documentaries, expanding and returning radio stations, and a slow radio broadcast for Earth Day.

Jennifer talks about her new gig working on a college radio history collection that is part of the Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC) on the Internet Archive.

Additionally, we cover some updates to the radio landscape, including details about the most recent low-power FM licensing window, during which 388 groups (and counting) have been awarded construction permits for new LPFM stations. In San Francisco, streaming radio station BFF.fm is the recipient of one of these coveted spots on the dial.

Also coming to the San Francisco airwaves is Seattle-based non-commercial radio station KEXP, which acquired the former KREV full-power FM commercial frequency in a bankruptcy auction. Across the country in New York City, streaming community radio station East Village Radio is returning after it ceased operations nearly a decade ago.

A few radio stories are coming to the big screen. 35,000 Watts, a documentary about college radio, has made its debut and is initially hitting the college radio circuit. Jennifer will be in attendance at a 35,000 Watts screening and panel discussion at Pomona College on March 28th as part of a fundraising event for college radio station KSPC. Another radio film in the works, 40 Watts to Nowhere, recounts the story of pirate radio station KBLT, which ran out of founder Sue Carpenter’s home in Silver Lake near Los Angeles in the late 1990s.

Finally, we alert stations to an opportunity to participate in the annual Earth Day radio event: Wetland Project Slow Radio Broadcast on April 22, 2024. Stations can air all or part of the 24-hour broadcast featuring the sounds of nature, including birds, frogs, insects, and airplanes.

Show Notes:

• Podcast #335 – Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications (DLARC)
• DLARC on the Internet Archive
• College Radio Collection on DLARC
• Website for the college radio documentary 35,000 Watts
• 35,000 Watts screening dates
• Pomona College radio station KSPC-FM website (and see Jennifer’s tour of KSPC)
• BFF.fm on LPFM (Bff.fm)
• Jennifer’s tour of BFF.fm
• KEXP Coming Soon to the Bay Area (KEXP)
• Jennifer’s tour of KEXP in Seattle
• East Village Radio website
• Here is Why NYC’s Iconic East Village Radio is Coming Back from the Dead after a Decade (NY Post)
• Jennifer’s 2008 tour of East Village Radio
• Granted LPFM Applications for 2023 Filing Window (REC Networks)
• 40 Watts from Nowhere Documentary Kickstarter
• 40 Watts from Nowhere: A Journey into Pirate Radio book by Sue Carpenter (Amazon)
• Podcast #330 – Wetland Project and Slow Radio
• Wetland Project website

Show Credits:

• This episode was produced by Jennifer Waits
• Hosted by Jennifer Waits, Eric Klein and Paul Riismandel
• Edited by Eric Klein

The post Podcast #337 – Catching up on Radio News including LPFM, a College Radio Archive, Documentaries, and More appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The first in-person Grassroots Radio Conference since 2019 is happening in Charleston, West Virginia October 19 – 22, 2023. Hosted by community radio station WTSQ, the conference is an opportunity for staff, volunteers and supporters from community, college and LPFM stations to come together to learn, exchange ideas and inspiration to keep grassroots radio thriving in North America and beyond.

Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman is a featured keynote speaker, along with Alex Sanjenis, an Assistant Chief in the Audio Division of the FCC Media Bureau. Having a representative of the FCC is a real boon to groups planning to apply for a new low-power FM license in the upcoming November application window. However, in general, potential applicants can expect to find plenty of advice among the conference attendees, who collectively have decades of experience building and running community and college radio stations.

Other featured speakers include: Dr. Rob Quicke, founder of the annual Vinylthon event, College Radio Day, and co-founder of World College Radio Day; Dr. MarkAlain Dery, an infectious disease physician and public health practitioner in New Orleans, who with his wife, co-founded 102.3FM WHIV-LP; Joseph Orozco, Board member to the Pacifica Association of Affiliates; Maria Martin, an award-winning multi-media journalist who currently directs the GraciasVida Center for Media, a nonprofit organization based in Texas and La Antigua, Guatemala devoted to the practice of independent journalism in the public interest; and LaGanzie Kale, the founder and General Manager of KLEK 102.5 F.M., the first and only minority operated radio station in Jonesboro, Arkansas.

If you need financial assistance to attend, Amy Goodman has donated her speaking fee to fund partial scholarships to the GRC. Apply here. 

I’ve attended only a few GRCs since they first started happening two decades ago, when LPFM was first established, and each has been a very positive and energizing experience. Networking and solidarity are keys to the strength of community and college radio, so I strongly recommend it to anyone invested in grassroots radio.

The post Community and College Radio Folks to Gather at 2023 Grassroots Radio Conference, Oct. 19 – 22 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

10/17/23 Update! The new low power FM filing window has been delayed and is now opening on December 6, 2023. See the FCC’s announcement here.

On our latest episode of Radio Survivor, it’s a very special treat, with all four Radio Survivor hosts at the mic discussing an exciting low power FM opportunity. Another low power FM licensing window for non-commercial radio stations in the United States opens on November 1, 2023 December 6, 2023. Who is eligible to apply for these licenses? And why should they? And what help is available? Our guest, Sharon Scott, joins us to talk us through all things LPFM. Scott is the co-founder and general manager of a low power FM radio station, WXOX-LP in Louisville, Kentucky. She is also the author of Low Power FM for Dummies, which is set to be released in October, 2023.

Show Notes

• FCC Public Notice on Revised Dates for LPFM Filing Window (10/17/23)
• Low Power FM for Dummies (affiliate link on Amazon)
• Sharon Scott’s LPFM Resources website
• Radio station WXOX-LP (ARTxFM)
• Jennifer’s “SpinningIndie” radio station tours
• Podcast #331: New Low-Power FM Opportunity Coming This November
• Sex and Broadcasting, book by Lorenzo Milam (affiliate link on Amazon)
• R.I.P. Radio Trailblazer Lorenzo Milam
• Vanderbilt University’s college radio station WRVU
• 2023 Grassroots Radio Conference is October 19-22 in Charleston, WV, hosted by WTSQ-FM
• Prometheus Radio Project
• WORT-FM, Madison, Wisconsin
• Common Frequency
• Broadcast Tool and Die
• Meow! Get Ready for Low Power FM Radio for Cats and Dogs (Matthew’s piece on Flash Cats Radio)
• Michelle Bradley’s REC Networks
• Free Radio Berkeley
• Mbanna Kantako and the Human Rights Information Network (DIYmedia.net)
• The Inspiration for US Micropower Radio, and the Mediageek Radio Show – Mbanna Kantako from the Archives (Mediageek)
• Pete Tridish at International Media Action
• San Francisco Liberation Radio story on FoundSF
• Seizing the Airwaves – A Free Radio Handbook
• Low Power FM Radio – including details on Class D (10 watt) stations (FCC)
• XRAY.fm in Portland, Oregon
• Solving the Mystery of the Ubiquitous Radio Station Call Letter Signs: The Leo Blais Interview

Show Credits:

• This episode was produced by Jennifer Waits
• Hosted by Jennifer Waits, Eric Klein, Matthew Lasar and Paul Riismandel
• Edited by Eric Klein

The post Podcast #333 – Low Power FM for Dummies appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It’s been nearly three years since the FCC first announced that a new low-power FM (LPFM) application window would be forthcoming. Now we know that November 1 – 8, 2023 will be the third-ever opportunity for qualified non-profits to apply for a license. Jennifer, Eric and Paul review all the pertinent details, explaining why there is excitement around LPFM and this next chance for new community and college radio stations to go on the air.

We also take another look at Franken FMs – vestigial low-power TV (LPTV) stations on channel 6 that can be heard at the far left end of the FM radio dial. They were supposed to go off the air a year ago when the last LPTV stations converted to digital broadcasts. But the FCC eventually granted 13 of them “Special Temporary Authority” to continue broadcasting an analog radio signal experimentally even while their video signals went digital. At its July meeting the Commission plans to vote on rules that would allow these Franken FMs to live on, and we discuss what’s at stake.

Show Notes:

• Podcast #269 – How To Get an FM Radio License in 2021
• New Opportunity for Low-Power FM Community Radio Stations Opens November 1, 2023
• Why There Will Be Fewer Opportunities for New LPFMs in the November Application Window
• The Greatest Flowering of Community Radio in History Happened in the 2010s
• Resources on applying for an LPFM license:
  • Rec Network’s LPFM.app
  • Common Frequency
  • Prometheus Radio Project
• KOMF-LP tour in Denver
• San Francisco Community Radio is a LPFM in a time-sharing agreement
• FrankenFMs Up for Final Vote at FCC
• Chicago’s MeTV FM Takes the Back Door to Radio Ratings Success

Show Credits

• This episode was produced by Paul Riismandel
• Hosted by Jennifer Waits, Eric Klein and Paul Riismandel
• Edited by Eric Klein

The post Podcast #331 – New Low-Power FM Opportunity Coming this November appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Going into the 2023 application window for new low-power FM stations we are unlikely to see the kind of massive expansion of the sort we had after the 2013 window. That’s because there are many fewer open frequencies, stemming from the fact that there are simply more FM radio stations on the dial in 2023 than in September, 2013, right before that last application window opened.

But just how big is the change? The FCC reports on the number of broadcast stations every quarter, so getting an exact number is trivial.

As of September 30, 2013 there were 17,356 FM licensed broadcast stations in the US. As of March 31, 2023 that number was 21,838. That means there are 4482 more – a 25% increase. However, the aggregate growth in FM doesn’t tell the whole story.

LPFMs can be squeezed into the dial on frequencies where full-power stations aren’t permitted. The same is true for translator repeater stations. And the growth in both these kinds of stations has been even greater: 60%!

There were 788 licensed LPFMs in September, 2013, and now there are 1,999 in March, 2023 – 154% more. Translators grew from 6,055 in 2013 to 8,939 in 2023, making for a 48% increase. In fact, combined, LPFMs and translators constitute a full half of all FM radio station licenses today. In 2013 they made up a little less than a quarter.

The LPFM growth is directly attributed to that 2013 application window, which resulted in the vast majority of new stations going on the air between 2014 and 2016. In 2016 and 2017 the FCC conducted application windows for translators, which drove the growth in those licenses. Two of those windows were specifically for AM stations which were newly permitted to obtain repeaters on FM, further fueling demand for valuable space on that dial.

So, that’s the state of things as we head into this next (and possibly final) opportunity for new LPFM community radio stations. Even though there will be fewer opportunities, this is no cause for despair. In the last decade so many more communities got their first – or second, third or fourth – community radio station. For example, my home of Portland, OR – which had two community stations and no true LPFMs in 2013 – added five more. Putting more on the air is kind of frosting on the cake, and at least some will likely be claiming frequencies from some of the LPFMs that weren’t able to survive, especially through the challenges of the pandemic.

The post Why There Will Be Fewer Opportunities for New LPFMs in the November Application Window appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Though we’ve been waiting some three years, the Federal Communications Commission has finally announced the third-ever application window for low-power FM (LPFM) stations, running November 1 – 8, 2023. An application window is a set period of time during which qualified organizations and entities may submit their applications to get a broadcast license. The FCC otherwise does not issue broadcast licenses outside these windows.

The last LPFM application window was in November, 2013, which resulted in the greatest growth of community radio in history. Limited to 100 watts of power and inexpensive to build and operate, LPFMs are designed for community groups to get on their air with hyper-local programming. Consistent with this mission, only state registered non-profit corporations, non-profit schools, government entities and tribal entities may apply.

While not all stations that went on the air from the 2013 window have survived – there were 182 fewer LPFMs in March, 2023 compared to March, 2019 – there are nearly three times as many LPFMs today than in September, 2013, the quarter before that year’s licensing window.

Although today’s communication landscape is ever-evolving, radio is still a popular medium, especially in cars. But a licensed radio station often serves as more than just a broadcast, providing a locus for community organizing. Even though an internet-only station can provide similar public service, having an actual broadcast license confers a sense of permanency that online enterprises often lack. That same license also confers responsibility, and is a community asset.

The 2023 LPFM licensing window is unlikely to ignite the same sort of explosion in community radio we saw in 2013. That’s because the FM dial is much fuller in nearly every community. In the last decade the FCC conducted a licensing window for translator repeater stations, which broadcast with similar technical specifications and can occupy many of the same frequencies suitable for LPFM. Moreover, the FCC now permits AM stations to apply for translators on the FCC dial, increasing the demand for these valuable slices of broadcast real estate.

There was also a licensing window for full-power non-commercial and educational stations (NCE) in 2021. Though these stations don’t necessarily compete directly with LPFMs, adding any new station to an area’s dial can squeeze out the opportunities for new ones.

Most opportunities will be in rural areas, or on the edges of urban areas. Very few available frequencies are left in cities, though the spots vacated by some stations that have left the air may be up for grabs.

If you’re part of an organization that would like to get on the air with a LPFM radio station, now is the time to begin organizing. We maintain an About LPFM info page, and the broadcast services firm Rec Networks maintains a very comprehensive site where you can search your area to see if a frequency might be available. Common Frequency is a non-profit that assists qualified community groups in applying for licenses (full disclosure: I serve on their board of directors), as is the Prometheus Radio Project. All these organizations played critical roles in the establishment of LPFM in the US, and have continued to advocate for and support the service.

The post New Opportunity for Low-Power FM Community Radio Stations Opens November 1, 2023 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Tucked away on the 3rd floor of the Campus Center at Brown University is a college radio station with a fascinating history. BSR (Brown Student and Community Radio) currently broadcasts online and over 101.1 FM in Providence, Rhode Island, with call letters WBRU-LP, but it is the descendant of likely the first AM carrier current college radio station in the United States: The Brown Network. Because of this rich history, I was eager to visit and sleuth out snippets from BSR’s past.

Walking into BSR on a Friday afternoon at the start of spring break in March 2023, I found myself in a large open room with CD-filled shelving, a bright orange couch, upholstered chairs with an abstract pattern in lemon yellow and white, and tables stacked with music-filled mail bins. A window looks into the broadcast studio and across the hall from that is a jam-packed office containing files and ephemera. Vintage black and white photos hang on the wall above the entry way and a decades old LPB broadcast console is prominently displayed in front of the studio window.

Josie Bleakley, one of three BSR Station Managers, was excited to show me various artifacts, including boxes of early photos and bins full of cassettes and mix tapes from local bands. Last year she started working on a project to archive and digitize some of this material. With about 20,000 pieces of music in the library, the project is “daunting,” but she explained that some of the music from local artists is not online, making the very DIY cassettes at BSR an important piece of Providence music history. A couple that she pulled out of a bin were especially charming. One had a handmade sleeve crafted from furry fabric and another, by the band Thieves, featured a screen printed design on a cloth bag.

Recent History at BSR

Bleakley became even more “fascinated” with radio history, especially BSR’s history, during a radio history class with Professor of American Studies Susan Smulyan at Brown. During the week focusing on college radio, the class met at BSR, learning about the history of radio on campus. For a class project, Bleakley created an update about the more recent years of the radio station, interviewing people who had been involved with BSR through COVID. “It feels like watching the history of radio unfolding,” she added, as we talked about the ups and downs of the station, including recent challenges.

Arriving at Brown in fall 2019, Bleakley learned about BSR during the fall Activities Fair the first week of freshman year and joined the station right away. Having just moved across the country for college, she found herself drawn to the promise of a community of liked-minded music fans. By March 2020 she had started her radio training and was gearing up to go on the air. But everything changed when the school and the station was shut down at the start of COVID-19. Unfortunately, the station closure also put a halt on some planned studio repairs, which were delayed even further with supply-chain issues. So, for a time, the BSR studio was both inaccessible and unusable.

Returning to In-person Radio after COVID

By fall, 2020 Bleakley returned to campus along with maybe 1000 students. BSR had been running automated programming, playing a mix of music without DJs. By the 2021-2022 school year, DJs could do remotes shows. BSR was operating with a smaller group of DJs and leaders and with the studio still not functioning, it was difficult to recruit participants.

Finally, in fall 2022, with the BSR studio operational again (repairs were completed in September, 2022), the station saw a “big uptick” in interest. Bleakley added that a lot of first and second year students are involved now and training is ongoing for many open shifts, noting that a “silver lining” to the shutdown was that now BSR is even more accessible. Additionally, non-student community members are now allowed to come back to BSR, bringing with them their “historical knowledge” of the station. “Anyone who wants to be involved can be,” she said, contrasting that with her experience as a first year student, when there was more competition and more hurdles to getting on the air. At that time, in 2019, one had to start out with an internet-only show the first semester, before being given an opportunity to broadcast over FM.

The changes in the station culture in just a few years are remarkable. Looking back on when she started at BSR in 2019, Bleakley recalled that it was “lively” and “active,” but that she also felt out of her depth as far as music, radio, and programming. Less exclusive of a place now, since they are rebuilding their community, the current BSR is reflective of what she thinks college radio should be all about: a station for “all of the students.”

History of BSR and College Radio at Brown University

Brown University has a storied relationship with wireless communication (read more about that on the Rhode Island Radio website) and college radio, with student-led campus radio efforts beginning in 1936. This early carrier current radio station helped to spawn countless campus-only AM stations all over the United States, leading to the growth of college radio. Eventually splitting into two separate radio stations; Brown’s student broadcasting work continues today with WBRU and BSR.

First launched in 1936 from a dorm room, the Brown Network broadcast to residence halls and other campus buildings using wires and building infrastructure to facilitate transmission. A 1941 Providence Journal article explained that the Brown Network “uses the electric light system of the university for distributing its programs. Wires from a four-watt transmitter are strung through steam tunnels and connected to the lighting system by condensers.” The AM station broadcast from the top floor of Faunce House by this time.

Beginnings of Carrier Current College Radio

The Brown Network’s student founders enthusiastically spread the word about campus radio, inspiring others to build carrier current stations at colleges all over the country. In 1940, they helped to launch the college radio organization, Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) in order to build a broader college radio community. IBS still exists today and continues to hold annual conventions in New York City.

I’m always interested to hear details about women’s roles in college radio in the early 20th century and was pleased to learn that women were active participants in radio at Brown. According to a history of the station, “Pembroke women had first joined the Brown Network as announcers and administrators in 1939, when broadcasting on the Pembroke College campus began. Determined to stay afloat during World War II, the Brown Network allowed Pembrokers to join in full force as programmers, news announcers, engineers, and business managers.” Louis Bloch writes in Gas Pipe Networks: A History of College Radio 1936-1946, that “Jean Bruce ’40 was in charge of the thirty Pembroke women working on the Brown Network.”

WBRU-FM Launches; WBRU-AM Remains on Carrier Current

The Brown Network referred to itself as BUBC (Brown University Broadcasting Company) until 1945, when it changed its call letters to WBRU. In 1966, an FM signal was secured and WBRU-FM was born as a commercial station. WBRU-AM continued as a carrier current campus radio station, but seemed to have an increasingly lower profile. “By the 1970s, WBRU-AM was known for original music and entertainment programming. The 1980s Brain Bowl quiz show stood out for its free-form style. But as the FM market grew competitive, WBRU-AM became a low priority for staffers. Buildings renovated with steel and concrete made the weak AM signal virtually inaudible,” according to a history of the station.

WBRU-AM Rebrands as Brown Student Radio; Heads to FM and Online

WBRU-AM apparently struggled in the 1980s and was revitalized by the mid 1990s, with a station history explaining that in 1994 “…outgoing managers at WBRU-AM handed leadership to a group of freshmen determined to revive the defunct station,” which students viewed “as an outlet for less commercial music.” By the following year, WBRU-AM had signed an agreement to broadcast sports over Wheeler School station WELH 88.1 FM and rebranded itself as Brown Student Radio (BSR). Within a few years it had acquired more airtime and was broadcasting on 88.1 FM on weeknights beginning in November, 1997.

In 2011, BSR lost its lease of airtime on 88.1 FM, but continued as an internet-only station. Then, a few years later, BSR took advantage of the low power FM opportunity and applied for a license of its own. Meanwhile, WBRU-FM ended up selling its 95.5 FM license to a Christian broadcasting group in 2017. By 2018, BSR had returned to the FM airwaves with its new LPFM license for WBRU-LP at 101.1 FM. In an interesting twist, some of the old WBRU-FM’s programming (notably 360 Degrees Experience in Sound, focusing on R&B, hip hop, Afrobeats, reggae and more) now airs over BSR’s low power signal.

2023 and Beyond

Flashing forward to today, Bleakley is thrilled to have the station back in a physical space after the challenges of the pandemic and emphasized the importance of community for college radio. She also explained that college radio has always been about making connections and that she was inspired by BSR’s history, particularly learning about the time when radio was the main form of connection. Contrasting that with podcasts, she described conversations they had during her radio history class about the “universal connecting appeal” of radio at Brown, with everyone in their dorm rooms tuning in to the station at the same time in its early years. Nostalgic for those “gas pipe network” days of carrier current radio, she said that it would be “so fun” to once again broadcast to campus in that manner.

One challenge with that gas pipe fantasy is that most students don’t have radios. Acknowledging this, she was also plotting ways to get portable radios into more people’s hands. As we poked around the station, she showed me a crystal radio that she’d recently built on a field trip to the New England Wireless and Steam Museum; again hearkening back to radio’s early DIY days.

Vinyl records in the broadcast studio are another sign of radio and station history. Although not as commonly used these days at BSR, Bleakley remarked that a current DJ is interested in doing an all-vinyl show. With around 20 DJs this spring, at the time of my visit, BSR was in the midst of a recruitment period for various positions at the station. Shows on the schedule include Tanvi’s Tunes (“local indie rock to 80’s british feminist punk”), “Crushed Little Songs,” “Spoiler Alert Radio” (“Conversations on the craft of filmmaking”), “The Beat Surrender,” “Trending Globally,” “Donne del Mondo” (“Global music by women, celebrating musical women of the world”), “Cook Out!” (“Charlie and Laurie share their whimsy and fun with the masses”), and more.

Thanks to BSR + More Radio Station Tours

Thanks so much to Josie Bleakley for showing me around BSR and talking to me about the station’s past and present activities. This is my 170th radio station tour report and my 112th college radio station recap. You can see all my radio station visits in numerical order or by station type in our archives. Very soon I will be posting more tours from my East Coast travels.

The post Radio Station Visit #170: College Radio Station BSR at Brown University appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The Federal Communications Commission has announced that it will open two filing windows for non-commercial FM radio licenses. First up will be an opportunity to apply for a full-power non-commercial / educational (NCE) license, followed by a low-power FM opportunity.

Even though the application window dates have not yet been announced, now is the time to get prepared. Broadcast attorney Frank Montero guests to help us understand the process of applying for an FM broadcast license. He’s a partner with Fletcher, Heald and Hildreth, which also publishes the CommLawBlog. He explains who qualifies to apply and other requirements to keep in mind.

License application windows are the only time when an organization may apply for an FM radio license, and they don’t happen frequently. The last full-power NCE window was more than a decade ago, and the last chance at an LPFM was 2013. As the FM dial fills up in cities and towns across the country, this may be the last opportunity for a new station in many regions. If you’re interested in operating a full- or low-power non-commercial station we we hope this episode helps get you started. Even if you’re not interested, it’s important to understand just how stations get on the air in the 21st century.

Show Notes:

• CommLawBlog – The Upcoming FCC Noncommercial FM and LPFM Filing Windows: What You Need to Know
• NFCB: Primer On The NCE Radio Filing Window
• FCC Chair: New LPFM & Noncomm License Opportunities Coming Soon
• FCC Awards Full-Power Licenses to 5 LPFMs, Plus 52 More Orgs (2010)
• FCC’s LPFM order will make 2013 a good year for community radio (2012)
• Radio Survivor documented the roll-out of new LPFM stations beginning with the most recent 2013 application window

Feature image adapted from “The FCC’s front door” by Rob Pegararo / flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The post Podcast #269 – How To Get an FM Radio License in 2021 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

One of the most frequent questions we get via email is, “how can I get a radio station license?” Most often the inquiry concerns a low-power FM license, but the correspondent isn’t always particular.

Aside from the years 2010 and 2013 – the last noncomm and LPFM license opportunities, respectively – our answer is usually “sorry, you can’t, unless you want to buy an existing station.” Looks like we’ll need to modify that advice soon.

As the Broadcast Law Blog reports, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told Congress in written testimony that licensing windows are coming for both full-power non commercial stations in the reserved band (88.1 – 91.9 FM) and for LPFMs. The full-power window will come first, Pai says, because It’s been 13 years since the last opportunity, while the last LPFM window was seven years ago.

For those not acquainted with how radio station licenses are allocated, it’s important to understand that the Commission only accepts applications for new ones during assigned windows of time. Each window is reserved for a specific type of station – such as an LPFM, a translator repeater or a full-power commercial FM – and as you can see, they don’t come about very often. It’s only during these windows that one can apply for a new license, and the process can be very competitive. Commercial stations also require a monetary bid, which is not the case for non commercial stations, including LPFMs.

Just to give you an idea about how rare these windows are, note that there have been only two LPFM applications windows in the twenty years since the service was founded. The second followed the first by 13 years. So, hearing that a new one might happen in the next year sounds downright speedy.

Submitting an application for a full-power non-commercial station is significantly more complex than for an LPFM. It’s up to the applicant to identify an open frequency, and then to make an engineering case that a station can be located on that frequency, in a specific geographic location, without causing interference to existing stations. This will be difficult to impossible in most major metropolitan markets.

It’s also important to understand that in some markets the non-commercial licensing window will probably use up frequencies that could be used for new LPFMs. Once we get to the next LPFM window, it’s very likely that there will be very few eligible frequencies in major cities, except for the possibility that some shuttered stations’ channels might be available. Even so, expect tremendous demand and competition for those.

Despite the caveats, all of this is good news for organizations that are interested in starting new stations. But the time to start organizing is now. While you’ll receive something like fair warning that a license application window is coming – at least 6 months – that still may not be enough time for an organization that’s new to broadcasting to get their ducks in a row.

The post FCC Chair: New LPFM & Noncomm License Opportunities Coming Soon appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The University of Virgina’s WTJU now only permits one person in their studios at one time and has five remote locations ready to take over live broadcasting. That’s a couple of ways that community and college stations are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community radio WTJU General Manager Nathan Moore joins this week to explain how university campus-based stations are coping with the ever-changing situation. He is also the staff adviser to student-run LPFM WXTJ. He tells us how forging alliances with local businesses and groups has helped the station provide original programming and a unique community service during this challenging time.

WTJU is primarily a music station, but is able to weave important news and information into its regular programming, without breaking format. We discuss how while a full-on talk program isn’t suited to all listeners or all stations, that doesn’t mean a music station can’t be a vital community resource.

We also review audio listening data from the just-released 2020 Infinite Dial survey. Radio listening continues to change, while podcasting continues to grow. We reflect on what this means for community and college radio.

Show Notes:

• WTJU
• WXTJ-LP
• Charlottesville Tomorrow
• THE BRIDGE Progressive Arts Initiative
• The Front Porch Charlottesville
• Podcast #237 – How Community & College Radio Can Deal with COVID-19
• Podcast #207 – Building More Communities Around Your Station
• Broadcast Using This Tool is how Nathan connects to WTJU remotely
• The Infinite Dial 2020

The post Podcast #238 – Social Distancing, Going Remote and Automation during Global Pandemic appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Catching a low-power FM radio station in the wild in New Zealand requires a bit of luck. Permitted to broadcast with up to one watt of power without a license, these stations have a bit more range – generally up to one kilometer radius (.6 miles) – than a legal unlicensed Part 15 station in the US, which might be heard up to a quarter-mile away. However, that’s still not a big footprint, even when compared to licensed LPFMs stateside, which may broadcast with as much as 100x as the NZ stations.

One factor working in the listener’s favor is that the country’s LPFMs are consigned to a set of frequencies bookending the FM dial: 86.7 to 88.3 mHz on the left end and 106.7 to 107.7 MHz on the right end. When I talked with Kristen Paterson, station manager of Wellington Access Radio and a co-founder of a university LPFM, she conjectured that the top end LPFM band was set aside as a kind of buffer between full-power broadcasts and the air traffic band situated just north of FM. 

Regardless of the reason why they’re relegated to the far-left and far-right ends of the FM dial, knowing this makes it a little easier to hunt for them. That said, during my time in the country in late January and early February, I could confirm reception of only two.

The first catch was in Browns Bay, in the East Coast Bays area of Auckland, the country’s largest city. I tuned in what I believe to be Great Tech Radio at 107.7 FM. I say “believe to be” because over the course of an hour or so I never heard a legal ID. I did hear an assortment of oldies, from Diana Ross and the Supremes to the Bee Gees, along with a 60s comedy record, accompanied by back announcing and weather forecasts. Those forecasts included days prior and after my listening time, leading me to believe the station was automated and the forecasts weren’t the freshest. 

I identified Great Tech based upon several online LPFM directories, though I won’t hold to that ID if challenged. Given that they’re unlicensed and don’t require much investment to put on the air, New Zealand’s LPFMs are quite transitory, and I found rather few that maintain a regular web presence. 

My second catch was in the resort city of Queenstown, located in the southwest part of the South Island. It’s a beautiful setting along the shore of Lake Wakatipu, surrounded by mountains.

Drop FM came in loud and clear for me on 87.7 FM. I first heard 90s vintage drum ’n bass music, which I learned is a staple for the station when I googled it. The station stands out from other New Zealand LPFMs by having a very consistent web presence, along with an internet stream. In fact it has two other frequencies in Wanaka, north of Queenstown, and the suburb of Frankton. 

Drop FM broadcasts live from dance clubs in Queenstown on a regular basis – though, understandably, corona virus seems to have put those events on hold. While drum n’ bass and related electronic genres seem to be the station’s bedrock, I also enjoyed a long set of eclectic R&B one evening as I was packing up to leave for my next stop.

I last stayed in Wellington, the country’s capital. I’m sad to report I was unable to confirm reception of any LPFMs over the course of several evenings. Perhaps the city’s hilly geography – it resembles San Francisco in that way – worked against me. Or maybe there just weren’t any active stations in a one kilometer radius from my Air BnB. 

I remain fascinated by this broadcast service, since, to the best of my knowledge, New Zealand has the highest power allowed for legal unlicensed broadcasting anywhere in the world. Setting aside a set number of frequencies seems to be an effective way of allowing more voices on the air at a very low cost, while also giving an outlet to broadcasters who might otherwise go “pirate.” This was my second visit to New Zealand, and I do intend to visit again. When I do, I’m tempted to bring a small transmitter to set up my own temporary LPFM.

I still can’t help but think that such a service in the US could help stem the tide of unlicensed broadcasters in the urban areas of Boston, New York, New Jersey and South Florida, while also providing an opportunity for communities and groups that weren’t able to get on the air during the last LPFM licensing window in 2013. Though the FM dial is pretty well full in most metropolitan areas, I suggest that the band could be extended a little to the left, to encompass frequencies mostly vacated by former analog channel 6 TV stations. 

Of course, this proximity to the FM dial has long been exploited by the handful of analog low-power TV stations still broadcasting on channel 6, which by and large now primarily operate as radio stations at 87.7 FM rather than TV stations, often known as FrankenFMs. The FCC is currently deciding the fate of those stations, since all TV is really supposed to be digital, and their transition deadline has been pushed repeatedly over the last five years. I propose that if channel 6 low-power TV stations are allowed to stay analog, keeping their near-FM broadcast signal, then that extra little bit of dial space should be given over to unlicensed LPFM everywhere else, where there isn’t an existing channel 6. Keep the limit to 1 watt, and maybe let them have 87.9 FM, too. I can see little harm, and much benefit. 

However, reality is that even that little bit of uncommercialized real estate is unlikely to be tolerated by the National Association of Broadcasters, nor National Public Radio, whom I expect would lobby heartily against such a radical notion. 

Still, I can dream… until my next trip to New Zealand.

The post Radio Field Report: Legal Unlicensed LPFM in New Zealand appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Last week we declared that the 2010s were a banner decade for community radio. As Jennifer notes, though college radio had a tough start to the last decade, with the loss of prominent stations like KUSF, KTRU and WRVU, the service seriously bounced back, aided by factors like the low-power FM boom, internet radio, HD Radio and support from the new College Radio Foundation. That all adds up to the defensible declaration that it was also the biggest growth decade for college radio, too. We unpack all that happened.

Digging further into our second “Decade in Review” episode, Jennifer also looks at how efforts to preserve radio programming and materials stepped up, seen most prominently with the founding of the Library of Congress’ Radio Preservation Task Force. On that subject, we’re pleased to report that this show has been selected for collection by the Library of Congress as part of a new podcast program. We’ll talk to the manager of the Podcast Preservation Project on next week’s show.

Finally, we also dig into how video, and YouTube specifically, has become radio, in many ways. A picture may be required, but what does it matter if it’s the audio that’s most important?

But, wait, there’s more! Find out how Jerry Lee Lewis fuels a discussion of border blasters, the tempestuous relationship between radio and the record industry through times of both war and peace in some bonus content that didn’t fit into this episode. Our Patreon supporters can hear this bonus episode, and so can you for a gift of just $1 a month.

Show Notes

• More College Radio than Ever in the 2010s as it Takes New Forms
• Preservation is One of the Most Important Radio Trends of the Decade
• Podcast #207 – Building More Communities Around Your Station
• Is YouTube the Home of the New Radio Pirates?

The post Podcast #228 – College Radio’s Biggest Decade 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.

Mid-way through the last decade I declared that, “[w]ith regard to new stations going on the air, 2015 represented the biggest single-year leap forward for non-commercial and community radio in U.S. history.” That’s because 524 new low-power FM stations signed on that year. That was an increase of 56% over the number of existing LPFMs at the end of 2014 (924).

Over the next four years another 753 signed on, bringing the total number low-power stations to 2,186 as of September 30, 2019 according to the FCC. At the close of 2009, when the service was on the cusp of its 10th birthday, there were 864 LPFMs in operation. This means the count more than doubled in the 2010s. No doubt this period saw the biggest expansion of low-power FM in history.

But because the LPFM service is specifically designed to be locally owned-and-operated, with hyper-local service, it’s clear that the last decade also saw the greatest flowering of community radio in US history. In fact, low-power FMs now make up a full 35% of all non-commercial stations in the country. That’s an increase of 14% from the end of 2009. The reason why the percentage didn’t jump more is that the last ten years were good for full-power non-commercial licenses as well, with 942 launching in that time.

Defining & Counting ‘Community’ Radio

Now, one might argue that not every low-power FM station is operated as a true community station, programmed and staffed by local folks who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to broadcast. It’s true that many are owned by groups – religious and otherwise – that fill their schedules primarily with syndicated programming beaming in by satellite or streamed over the internet. There are others that are mostly filled with automated music that feel more like vanity jukebox stations, with no sign of any kind of live or local hosts or DJs. Added together I can’t tell you how many there are, but I could be convinced that they even make up a full half of all LPFMs.

The problem with counting community radio stations is that there is no central authority. The FCC only cares if a station is non-commercial or commercial – it doesn’t dig into the differences between public, religious, college or community stations – or that it meets the ownership and operational requirements to have a low-power license. While the National Federation of Community Broadcasters represents and assists community stations, there’s no obligation for a station to join, even though the organization has worked hard to connect with these new broadcasters.

Nevertheless, even if only a decent minority of these new stations operate with the spirit of community radio, that’s still on the order of at least 200 to 300 new community stations. This estimate is easy to justify by taking a look at any of the top 100 radio markets in the country, where you’ll find a minimum of one new community LPFM. More likely you’ll hear two, three or more. I’m thinking of cities like Portland, OR, Seattle, Philadelphia and Chicago which all added a few. And while some cities, like Philly and Chicago, long have had rich college radio scenes, they didn’t have true community stations, owned by local non-profits and open to local people unaffiliated with a school or college, until this past decade.

But LPFMs didn’t only go up in major markets, although that was a vitally important aspect of this growth. Dozens or even hundreds of smaller cities and towns got new community stations, too. That leads me to think my estimate of 200 to 300 is too conservative.

Growth for All of Radio, too

Despite the supposed imminent death of radio, the medium continued to grow as a whole in the 2010s – by over 2,300 stations – and community radio outpaced all previous growth in the sector. Radio’s share of most folks’ daily listening may have declined, given so much other audio media competing for their ears. But the need and desire for the terrestrial radio hasn’t gone away.

Why a Radio License still Matters

Today, in this always-connected internet environment, it’s significant that many, if not most, community LPFMs have internet streams, which help them reach audiences – especially younger audiences – that don’t use over-the-air receivers. However, this fact doesn’t make their broadcast licenses and terrestrial signals redundant or vestigial. Rather, being a licensed broadcast station is an assurance to the community that the organization is serious, and intends to stick around. The official sanction of a license shouldn’t be underestimated or overlooked, because it’s also a shared asset that a community is more likely to rally behind and value, in part because, if lost, it’s not easily replaced.

Community stations function as community media centers, providing local residents a chance not only to broadcast, but to learn audio or video production, train up on live sound engineering or create podcasts. These are functions that most commercial, public or religious stations don’t serve, even if their programming is a community service. Though an LPFM’s listening audience may be small compared to a town’s local NPR affiliate, the interpersonal network and impact is often much stronger, especially with people who aren’t amongst the local elite or traditionally well-connected.

An Historic Global Flowering

Not only was this the biggest ten-year increase in US history, it was arguably the biggest in world history, too. India certainly adds a lot to that total, with 428 letters of intent (like a US construction permit) issued to groups that applied to build stations, on top of many other countries. This is why the explosion of community radio, especially via low-power FM, is one of the most important radio trends of the last decade.

The post The Greatest Flowering of Community Radio in History Happened in the 2010s appeared first on Radio Survivor.

On the edge of a funky beach town in Maui lies magical community radio station KOPO-LP, whose broadcasts are filled with youthful voices. Since 2006, thousands of kids and teens from the Pa’ia Youth and Cultural Center (PYCC) have taken to the FM airwaves from its seaside perch.

Known as RadiOpio (opio means “youth” in Hawaiian), KOPO-LP operates from the site of a formerly abandoned building that now houses a youth center, complete with skate park. As surfers trek to and from the adjacent beach, young people are hanging out, skateboarding, playing pool, and taking part in a range of programs, from cooking to media production.

While on vacation in Hawaii this August, I dropped in to the station with my family and was lucky to be able to meet up with RadiOpio Program Director Laura Civitello. Civitello greeted us enthusiastically and indulged me in a short interview and tour. She told a fascinating story about the station’s improbable history. It all begins with Pa’ia Youth and Cultural Center, which stemmed from a grassroots community effort to re-purpose an old, spooky home that was the sole survivor of a neighborhood-destroying 1946 tsunami.

Civitello recounted that in 1999, a staff member at the youth center spotted an ad in Wired Magazine about the opportunity for a low power radio license and that prompted the organization to apply. By 2005, they were awarded a construction permit for a new FM station, but struggled to find someone to take on the project as a youth program.

When the center reached out to Civitello, her reaction was markedly different. She told me that she thought, “That’s perfect for me.” After taking on the project, she heard from plenty of naysayers who told her that it was “insane” to launch a radio station at the beach with kids on the air. She was undeterred.

Having been a volunteer at another Maui community radio station, Mana’o Radio (see my tour report), prior to KOPO-LP; Civitello had both local radio connections and insights, which helped as she worked to get the new station on the air in 2006. “It went well immediately,” she recounted, explaining that RadiOpio’s focus on its participants is key. To emphasize that, she spoke about the station’s air sound, relaying, “I hope it’s the sound of kids having fun.”

While we chatted, I noticed numerous radios in Civitello’s office. When I pointed them out, she smiled and revealed that folks keep giving her radios as gifts, no doubt as a sign of her passion for radio. The school year started a few days before our visit and the center was buzzing with activity. Young people trickled in and out to check in with Civitello and we were introduced to some of the DJs, including a pair of 12-year-old girls who were on the air.

The KOPO-LP studio is in a tiny room next to Civitello’s office. A short hallway leads in to the studio and we loitered there while checking out the space. With two DJs sitting in the studio in front of microphones and audio equipment, the studio was pretty much at maximum capacity.

Between songs, the show hosts bantered before exiting the studio to make room for the new crew of DJs. Civitello explained that the schedule is very loose, with kids as young as nine years old coming in after school and taking turns on the air. “I give them a lot of freedom,” Civitello shared, telling me that the young DJs make their own decisions about what to play and say on the air. Sometimes kids will even sing along with the music that they are playing with the microphones turned on.

Although KOPO 88.9 FM’s 100 watt range is hampered by the ocean (not too many listeners in that direction), we were amazed by how far we heard the station on our sunset drive up to the 10,000 foot summit of Haleakala. As we trekked out of town and up into the clouds, we caught a mix of pop (Billie Eilish was a big favorite of many DJs), hip-hop (Cardi B, Post Malone and Big Sean were represented) and reggae and could still hear KOPO-LP as we hit an elevation of 7,000 feet! On our post-sunset journey back down, KOPO-LP was playing some older music, including jazzy-bluesy material and some vintage pop from Patti Drew. Earlier in the day we’d heard some classic Beastie Boys as well.

Civitello said that over FM, KOPO-LP covers the north shore of Maui, but that it also has many “faithful” online listeners. The soul of the station is its young participants. “We’re like a family,” Civitello opined, telling me that the free after-school programs at the youth center draw in 9 to 19-year-olds from a range of backgrounds, including “some of the wealthiest kids in the world” as well as youth who are homeless. Most end up doing radio at one point or another, but there’s also the lure of the skate park, pool tables, and other programs.

As I took in the beautiful surroundings and incredible opportunity for kids to do radio at such young ages, I thought about all the tourists passing through on their way to see the sights of Hawaii. I hope they take the time to flip through the dial on their rental cars to catch the joyful sounds of kids and teens on RadiOpio.

Thanks to Laura Civitello for welcoming us at RadiOpio when we stopped by unannounced! Following the visit, she joined us on Radio Survivor show/podcast episode #210, “Youth Radio by the Beach,” filling in even more details about how the station came to be. This is my 165th radio station tour report and my 36th community radio station recap. View all my radio station visits in numerical order or by station type in our archives.

The post Radio Station Visit #165: Maui Youth Radio Station KOPO-LP RadiOpio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

RadiOpio Program Director Laura Civitello has the enviable job of running a youth radio station on the Hawaiian Island of Maui. From an upstairs perch at the beach side Pa’ ia Youth and Cultural Center, Civitello manages KOPO-LP, whose on-air hosts range in age from 9 to 19 years old. On this week’s show, Civitello tells the story of how RadiOpio came to be and talks about the unique role that this LPFM station is playing for young people in the town of Pa’ia.

Show Notes

• RadiOpio website
• Pa’ia Youth and Cultural Center
• The 40 Best Little Radio Stations in the U.S. (Paste Magazine)
• Radio Station Tours on Radio Survivor
• Mahalo to Mana’o Radio, Maui’s Community Radio Station
• Mana’o Radio website
• KOKO-LP
• KAKU-FM
• Free Speech Radio News Documentary – On Being Hawaiian and Homeless

The post Podcast #210 – Youth Radio by the Beach appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Jennifer is back from travels, that included Hawaiian community radio, to join Eric and Paul. First up, a question: is “pathfinder” a good replacement for the word “pioneer,” the latter of which has an unfortunate colonial heritage? Listener Pat Flanagan suggested it to us after we asked for input a couple of episodes, so we provisionally adopt it here to talk about people who are finding new paths for our favorite audio media.

Jennifer updates us about a new pathfinding low-power FM station backed by the San Francisco Public Press, and announces that the call for papers is open for the next Radio Preservation Task Force conference in October 2020.

Paul reports back from Podcast Movement, where some 3000 podcasters of many stripes met for 3 days in Orlando, Florida. He remarks on the wide variety of podcast email newsletters he learned about, and the Podcast Brunch Club. We note recent allegations of plagiarism against a popular true crime podcast, using it as a launching point for a discussion about journalism and ethics in community broadcasting and podcasting.

Show Notes:

• Call for Papers – ‘Century of Broadcasting: Preservation and Renewal’ Conference
• Podcast #192: Saving Radio History with The Radio Preservation Task Force
• Muni Diaries
• San Francisco Public Press
• Podcast #191: How an LPFM Produces an Hour of Hyper-Local News Every Weekday
• Podcast Movement 2019
• Preserve This Podcast
• Podcast Brunch Club
• The Adventure Zone podcast
• NY Times: Popular ‘Crime Junkie’ Podcast Removes Episodes After Plagiarism Accusation

The post Podcast #208 – Radio and Podcast Pathfinding in San Francisco and Podcast Movement appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Tucked away in a shed in a northwest Seattle neighborhood was perhaps the tiniest radio station that I’d ever seen: community radio station KBFG-LP. Part of the most recent wave of low power FM stations, it launched in December, 2017 and broadcasts for a 2.5 mile radio to a potential FM audience of around 250,000 people in the Ballard, Fremont and Greenwood neighborhoods (thus the B-F-G call letters).

Radio Survivor readers will recall that my colleagues Eric and Paul attended KBFG’s launch party, interviewing several of its founders for Radio Survivor Podcast #124. That event was also featured in a big story about low power FM in the New York Times, lending some incredible early attention to the station.

Thanks to the wonders of technology, KBFG-LP was able to take to the airwaves before it had a public-facing studio, with programmers submitting their shows remotely. Within a year, it opened “The Shack,” in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. The mini studio was housed in a pre-fabricated building that I was told was really designed as a lawnmower shed. Nestled behind a coffee stand and steps away from a dumpster on a Ballard corner, it was a funky location that truly spoke to KBFG’s hyper-local, neighborhood ethos.

On a rainy afternoon in late October, 2018, I ventured to “The Shack” to check out the station. With room for approximately two people in the studio, part of the visit was spend lingering outside under umbrellas. As I spoke with Fulcrum Community Communications (KBFG’s non-profit license-holder) board member Jerry Russell, his fellow board member Pamela Burton arrived for a separate interview. I was curious how we’d all manage the space constraints and watched in awe as she invited the guest into her car for the conversation, while I chatted with Russell in the small studio. Clearly this is a crew that is used to managing with limited resources.

At the time of my visit, the Shack had been up and running for about six months, with a couple of shows broadcasting live from the cozy studio, including a Sunday evening show called “Night Sweats.” Other volunteers used the Shack to pre-record their shows or conduct interviews that would air at a later time. Russell explained that the Shack was outfitted with “bare bones” equipment while KBFG awaited an eventual move to a bigger space.

A light outside the door of the Shack alerted passersby that the station was on the air and speakers could also be set up to play KBFG to folks hanging out in the adjacent triangular gravel-filled space. While it was quiet (except for the “45rpm” show of 1940s and 1950s music playing from automation in the background) and rainy on my visit, I was told that during summer months there were picnic tables and a food truck parked outside, creating an even more convivial atmosphere

Earlier in the day, I got my first taste of KBFG during the Halloween event/food drive, Hunger Goblin’ Treat or Treat, in a nearby neighborhood. The station set up a remote outpost in the corner of a bank, with windows facing a busy daytime trick-or-treating route. The costumed father-son DJ duo played spooky tunes and chimed in with running commentary about the ghouls, goblins, TV characters, and other revelers spotted during the event.

While both the parade broadcast and the Shack speak to KBFG’s community outreach, back in October much of the production of radio shows was taking place inside the homes of DJs and show hosts. With a mix of music and public affairs programming, KBFG’s local-focused mission extends to the artists played over the airwaves. When there isn’t a live DJ, the station plays a curated mix of music, with 80% of it from Seattle artists and 20% from musicians from other states in the Northwest. Russell told me that by October, 2018, the station had already acquired music from 5,000 artists in Seattle alone. During my visit, the music collection was largely digital, with not much room for a physical music library of records or CDs in the Shack (although I did spot a few vinyl LPs).

Russell and Burton were among the group of folks who worked to bring KBFG to the airwaves. While Russell’s radio experience was limited to a stint at his high school station many years ago; Burton worked at Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles for close to 20 years in numerous roles, including Director of the Pacifica Radio Archives.

Burton’s work at Pacifica as both a radio producer and archivist informs her current programming on KBFG, as she regularly combs the archives to use on her “You Heard it Here” program, drawing links between current events and historical material. She’s pulled clips from a wide range of past programs, with topics covering everything from feminism to vampires.

Excited about both the current group of KBFG-LP volunteers and the possibilities of collaborations with Seattle institutions and venues, Burton told me that she was looking forward to having more people involved with the station, adding, “everybody’s invited to come and play.”

In March, 2019, KBFG moved to its new home, complete with studio and office, leaving the Shack behind. Its new headquarters, The Jack Straw Cultural Center, holds a special place in community radio history, having been established with funds from pioneering Seattle radio station KRAB (hear about the KRAB Archives on Radio Survivor Podcast #134). Over email, Burton relayed the exciting news:

Our new digs are in the Jack Straw Cultural Center which was built from funds earned when KRAB radio’s frequency was sold in 1984. There are production studios down stairs as well as performance spaces which we plan to use for live broadcasts. For now we are training new programmers in our studio/office including a Monday night session at 7pm called Office Hours when program director Tim Flanagan goes on the air inviting people to come in and learn how to do radio.

Thanks so much to everyone at KBFG for sharing your station with me. This is my 158th radio station tour report, my 33rd community radio station tour, and around my 21st LPFM tour. Read of my radio station tours in numerical order or by station type in our archives.

The post Radio Station Visit #158: Community Radio Station KBFG-LP in Seattle appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The FCC just proposed a series of changes to help make it easier for low-power FM stations to move their transmitters and to fill in weak signal areas. We review this proposal along with a suggestion from the Commission to whittle away at protections for the few dozen remaining analog low-power TV channel 6 stations, often called “Franken FMs” or “Back Door FMs” who’s audio can be heard at the far left end of the FM dial.

Jennifer reports back from the National Federation of Community Broadcasters conference in San Diego where she presented on future trends in community and college radio. She highlights some current stations that exemplify these trends.

Then she shares a few tours of college stations in the San Diego area, none of which have broadcast licenses, despite being around for decades. We explore this interesting niche of radio history.

Support Radio Survivor, Get Our ‘Zine

We’re publishing a ‘zine and you can get one when you support our work at Radio Survivor via our Patreon campaign. Everyone who supports us at a level of $5 a month or more will get a print copy of Radio Survivor ‘Zine #1. 

Your contribution will help us continue to spread the word of great radio and audio, and allow us to embark on celebrating the 20th anniversaries of Indymedia and LPFM by documenting these important histories. We need 100 Patreon supporters by August 1, 2019 to start this work.

Not coincidentally, that’s the deadline to sign up to get your ‘zine. Everything in the ‘zine will be print-exclusive – learn more here.

Support Radio Survivor today.

Show Notes:

• FCC: Amendments of Parts 73 and 74 to Improve the LPFM Radio Service Technical Rules
• REC Networks: My thoughts on the LPFM NPRM
• San Diego City College – SDS Radio
• Grossmont College – Griffin Radio
• San Diego State University – KCR
• UC San Diego – KSDT

The post Podcast #202 – Small Boosts Proposed for LPFM & Why Aren’t There College Stations on the Dial in San Diego? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

My 5th and final radio station visit at the end of a long day of Seattle touring brought me to an interesting arts enclave in Warren G. Magnuson Park in northeast Seattle. My destination, the newish low power FM (LPFM) community radio station SPACE 101.1 (KMGP-LP), which is a project of the Sand Point Arts and Cultural Exchange (SPACE).

I arrived at the park after dark and was told to look for the old gatehouse. A former military base, Magnuson Park is full of historical buildings, lending charm to SPACE 101.1’s perch above one of the park’s entry points. Formerly a Sergeant at Arms quarters dating back to the 1940s, there are some funky quirks, including remnants of an old bathroom, bank, and armory.

SPACE’s Executive Director Julianna Ross and Space 101.1 Program Director Eric Zappa welcomed me for a relaxing chat and tour. Ross has been hard at work on restoration, advocacy, and arts projects in Magnuson Park since 2004 through her work with SPACE. The non-profit also runs a gallery and she and Zappa explained that they are excited to do more programming and endeavors that take advantage of the synergistic relationship between the gallery and the radio station.

A few ideas include grants for on-air projects by local artists and more artist interviews on air. A recent gallery show about protest art inspired an on-air show featuring protest songs, which Zappa acknowledged is just a small example of the types of collaborations that could happen.

The 350 acre Magnuson Park has undergone big changes since it transitioned from its former function as a Navy support base. A number of historic buildings have been restored and a few buildings have been converted to housing. When I visited in October, 2018, Ross told me that by the end of 2019, there are expected to be around 1,000 residents in Magnuson Park.

As a hyper-local LPFM community radio station, Space 101.1 launched over FM on October 6, 2017, so was just over a year old when I visited. Inspired by the LPFM opportunity, Ross marveled at the low cost to apply and get started, while simultaneously reminiscing about all of the hard work and volunteer hours required. After just a year on FM, the station was already attracting dedicated show hosts, garnering unsolicited donations, and inspiring listeners.

Drawing from the nearby community, volunteer hosts range from former college and community radio DJs to journalists to former city council members. The Sunday night programming especially caught my attention, with the station’s own improvised radio serial, “Broken Alaska” and a vocal improv-oriented show “Sound Improv Live!” Other locally-produced programs on the schedule include “Magnuson Nature News,” public affairs show “The Bridge,” as well as a variety of music shows.

With a background in college radio at Ithaca College’s WICB, Zappa said that he didn’t want to be a commercial radio DJ, but easily embraces the allure of community radio at Space 101.1, recounting, “this is my dream gig when I was 22 and it’s still pretty cool now.” In addition to planning the schedule and co-hosting a show (“Wedgwood Rocks,” in a nod to an iconic rock formation in the neighborhood) with his wife, Zappa also crafts a curated mix of music and local voices that airs when there’s no live DJ or host. His goal is to make the station sound “warm and neighborhoody.”

Engaging with local residents is a huge part of the station’s ethos and Ross told me that a big goal is to work directly with folks who live in the park. She’s been working on various grants to aid with radio training for volunteers and an early project did just that with middle school girls. While the physical space isn’t as accessible as they’d like; Ross is hopeful that the technology of radio will allow for remote participation for volunteers who can’t physically get to the station.

Perhaps one of the sweetest tales of the station’s impact on local residents is Zappa’s recounting of a musician revealing his shock over hearing his band’s song on the radio for the first time. At an event, the band member described the moment to Zappa, telling him that he was so thrilled to hear the song on the radio that he started running around his house, with his wife and kid screaming in excitement. Zappa said that the story gave him “goosebumps,” and is one of his favorite moments at the station so far.

Ross also expressed her profound joy in community interactions, reminiscing about a big party in the space before it was a functioning station. She joked about “staging” it to look like a radio station, with desks, posters, and microphones, before they had all of their equipment. Even though they weren’t on the air at the time, it was a successful event, inspiring her to do more community events at the station in the future. “I love interfacing with the community so much. And radio stations are so friendly and fun,” Ross beamed.

Thanks so much to Julianna and Eric for the lovely night-time tour and chat at Space 101.1. It’s a real treat to visit relatively new LPFM stations to see the growth of community radio first-hand. It was also cool to see “Radio Survivor” scrawled in dry erase marker on the schedule on the wall, as KMGP-LP is also one of the radio station affiliates for the weekly Radio Survivor radio show!

This is my 156th radio station tour report, my 32nd community radio station tour, and around my 20th LPFM tour. To dig into more, take a look at my radio station tours in numerical order or by station type in our archives.

The post Radio Station Visit #156: KMGP-LP Space 101.1 FM in Seattle appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Every weekday an all-volunteer reporting staff produces an hour of original, hyper-local news for WOOC-LP’s “Hudson Mohawk Magazine,” serving the Troy, NY area. A focus on mission and a concentration of resources on journalism helps the station accomplish this daily feat.

Steve Pierce is the Executive Director of Media Alliance, which operates WOOC inside the Sanctuary for Independent Media. Steve tells us how that organization grew out of the Independent Media Center movement of the 2000s, adding the solar-powered radio station to its complex of three buildings in 2016. By prioritizing public affairs programming and local service, the station is able to funnel dozens of volunteers into its flagship news program.

Any community media organization looking to produce local reporting will find valuable takeaways in this interview.

The 20th anniversary of the birth of Indymedia at the Battle of Seattle is coming this November.

Underlying this is a nearly forgotten history of independent media that connects unlicensed radio, pre-social media open publishing on the internet and the birth of LPFM. With your help we want to record and document this important history at Radio Survivor.

To do this we need to get to 100 Patreon supporters by July 1. That will help give us the resources we need to begin this work in time for the N30 anniversary.

Show Notes:

• WOOC-LP at the Sanctuary for Independent Media
• “Hudson Mohawk Magazine” podcast
• Nieman Reports: “More Power to Low-Power FM“
• Indymedia
• Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
• “Independent Media in a Time of War” with Amy Goodman can be viewed at Kanopy using your public library
• “Collateral Murder” at Wikileaks
• Dee Dee Halleck

The post Podcast #191: How an LPFM Produces an Hour of Hyper-Local News Every Weekday appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Most press coverage of low-power FM focuses on particular stations, or the flourishing of the medium in the last half-decade. Not unexpectedly, rarely do articles delve into the deep history, which goes all the way back to 1948, with mileposts in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s, leading up the FCC’s eventual creation of the modern LPFM service in 2000.

That’s why I read with great pleasure journalist Glenn Daigon’s well-researched and reported piece for Who.What.Why, “In Big Media Era, Some Communities Turn to Alternative: Low Power Radio.” Daigon lays out the medium’s timeline clearly, beginning with the creation of its predecessor, Class D FM, in the post-war period, to the neglect the license class experienced in the 60s and 70s, on to the FCC killing the service in 1978, at the behest of public radio leaders.

This is a history I know well because I researched and wrote about it for a chapter in the 2001 anthology Radio Reader: Essays in the Cultural History of Radio. To the best of my knowledge, it was a story that was largely undocumented – at least not in a single narrative – prior to this publication.

Daigon also properly cites unlicensed pirate and micropower radio as an important source of pressure on the FCC in the 1990s, leading to the creation of the current LPFM service. Activists took direct action with their own low-powered unlicensed stations to protest both the rapid consolidation and homogenization of the radio dial brought on by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and the fact that the Commission – with no technical argument to support it – refused to license any broadcaster under 100 watts.

(Hear more about this broadcast civil disobedience in podcast episode #34 – How the Telecom Act of ’96 Triggered Popular Resistance.)

Noting the successful launch of more than 1400 low-power FMs in the last two decades, Daigon briefly profiles the efforts of great stations like ArtxFM in Louisville, KY.

This is perhaps one of the best and most concise histories of low-power FM I’ve encountered, and a must-read for anyone who volunteers at or listens to a LPFM station.

The post This Concise History of LPFM in the U.S. Is a Must-Read appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Every week we seek out compelling stories about sound and radio and share them on Twitter. Here are some of the most intriguing from the last week:

Vote looms on bringing jazz radio back to MHCC
“The Mt. Hood Community College Board will vote next week on whether to bring jazz radio station KMHD back to campus, but the chairwoman of the college board, for one, opposes the move.” 

College Threatens Student Radio With Probation Following Lil Pump Event
“A Harvard College official threatened Harvard Radio Broadcasting…WHRB –with ‘administrative probation’ because the group hosted a widely publicized event featuring the rapper Lil Pump, according to an email sent by the station’s president.”

New exhibit shares how the city’s hip-hop scene evolved through the decades
“…put on headphones and listen to music and old community radio stations — an outlet co-curator Dave Clarke says was essential back in the day. ‘Community radio stations were the backbone for emcees and DJ’s in the 90s,’ Clarke said.”

Strong: New Valley NPR station will be fully bilingual
“A new National Public Radio station for the Rio Grande Valley would be bilingual, with programming in Spanish and English, says W.F. Strong. The…educator is leading the effort to get UT-Rio Grande Valley to invest in a new public radio station.”

An On-Air Legacy: Loyola Remembers ‘Doc’
“He founded WLUW — Loyola’s student-run radio station — in 1978. WLUW’s debut was grandiose — the first song to grace the airwaves was the theme to ‘Star Wars’” according to current station manager Eleni Prillaman.” 

iHeart claims to launch first all-podcast radio station, but then folks remember CBS Radio’s KYOU which broadcast an all-podcast format to the Bay Area in 2005.

The post Sound Stories: Toronto Hip-Hop & Radio; First All-Podcast Radio Station In 2019 or 2005? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This November 30 marks the 20th anniversary of the protests against meetings of the World Trade Organization that shut down the city of Seattle. It also marks the birthday of the Indymedia movement, which brought together grassroots media activists from public access TV, print, community radio and internet technology to create a radical open publishing system and network of affiliated centers that let citizen journalists instantaneously publish words, sound, pictures and video years before the advent of YouTube or Twitter.

In the U.S. this movement helped to further solidify much of the support for what would become low-power FM community radio. Established just two months later, in January 2000, LPFM allowed for the greatest expansion of community radio in history. Though the Indymedia movement was not a formal causal agent in the creation of LPFM, that energy sparked at the WTO helped to spur media activists to take advantage of the new service.

With these coming anniversaries, we at Radio Survivor would like to help tell this history, which still remains poorly documented. We need your support to do this.

We’re need to have 100 people making monthly contributions to our Patreon fundraising campaign by July 1, 2019 August 1, 2019. That will allow us to allocate the time and resources necessary to do the reporting, writing and product needed to begin telling this story on our radio show and website beginning with the November 30. For some of us, this means being able to prioritize this work over other freelance gigs or having the ability to do travel that is otherwise out of reach.

As of July 22 we have 42 monthly contributors, so that means we have 58 patrons to go. The good news is that it only takes a contribution of $1 a month to get us closer to our goal, though it’s great if you can contribute more.

To say thank-you, all of our patrons get access to bonus content, including bonus episodes of our podcast, ready-to-print radio station postcards and more. With contributions of $20 or more you can become an underwriter on our show, getting a monthly announcement that you’ll co-write with us.

We think this is an important history that risks being forgotten. In particular we think it’s vital for today’s community broadcasters, podcasters and listeners to know and learn from. When you support our work you help to educate thousands of community media activists while preserving this record for the future.

Please join our Patreon now to support this work.

Don’t hesitate drop us a line if you have any questions or suggestions.

The post Help Us Tell the History of Indymedia & LPFM appeared first on Radio Survivor.

For the past four years, I’ve been sharing tidbits of my radio station tours on the Radio Survivor show/podcast. My travels have taken me across the United States, visiting a variety of stations from California to New York.

In this collection of podcasts featuring radio station tours, you’ll hear interviews with enthusiastic radio participants working in high school radio, college radio, and community radio. Numerous low-power FM stations are represented, some of which were just getting on the air.

Every station has a unique story and it’s been my pleasure to bring more attention to intriguing radio happening in every corner of the United States. Read on for a list of radio station tours that have been featured on the podcast.

To dig into all of my tours, peruse the full list in chronological order.

• Field Trip 91 – Radio K at University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN  (2015); podcast #22
• Field Trip 97 – KBPS at Benson Polytechnic H.S., Portland, OR (2015); podcast #24
• Field Trip 99 – WHCS at Hunter College, New York, NY (2016); podcast #47
• Field Trip 100 – WPRB at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (2016); podcast #48
• Field Trip 103 – WOWD-LP Takoma Radio in Takoma Park, MD (2016); podcast #57
• Field Trip 104 – WERA-LP Radio Arlington in Arlington, VA (2016); podcast #57
• Field Trip 105 – CHIRP Radio in Chicago, IL (2016); podcast #60
• Field Trip 106 – Met Radio at Metropolitan State U of Denver, CO(2016); podcast #56
• Field Trip 108 – The SOCC Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO  (2016); podcast #63
• Field Trip 110 – KVCU Radio 1190 University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (2016); podcast #63
• Field Trip 112 – KBPK at Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA (2016); podcast #66
• Field Trip 113 – KEPC Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado Springs, CO (2016); podcast #66
• Field Trip 115 – KXUA at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR (2016); podcast #69
• Field Trip 116 – KHDX at Hendrix College, Conway, AR (2016); podcast #70
• Field Trip 117 – KCHUNG Radio in Los Angeles, CA (2016); podcast #74
• Field Trip 118 – KPSQ-LP in Fayetteville, AR (2016); podcast #82
• Field Trip 119 – KUOZ-LP at University of the Ozarks, Clarksville, AR (2016); podcast #82
• Field Trip 121 – KUHS-LP in Hot Springs, AR (2016); podcast #68
• Field Trip 124 – WRIR-LP in Richmond, VA (2017); podcast #88
• Field Trip 138 – WPPM-LP at PhillyCAM in Philadelphia, PA (2016); podcast #97
• Field Trip 141 – WKCR at Columbia University in New York, NY (2017); podcast #136
• Field Trip 142 – WIIT, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL (2017); podcast #136
• Field Trip 143 – WHPK at University of Chicago, Chicago, IL (2017); podcast #142
• Field Trip 144 – KVCB-LP at Vacaville Christian Schools, Vacaville, CA (2018); podcast #147
• Field Trip 145 – Wave Farm and WGXC in Acra, NY (2018); podcast #151
• Field Trip 146 – WGXC Hudson in Hudson, NY (2018); podcast #151
• Field Trip 148 – WVKR-FM at Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY (2018); podcast #161
• Field Trip 149 – KDVS-FM at University of California, Davis in Davis, CA (2018); podcast #175
• Field Trip 152 – KNHC-FM at Nathan Hale High School, Seattle, WA (2018); podcast #177

The post Radio Station Tours on the Podcast appeared first on Radio Survivor.

It was after ten o’clock on a Friday night when I headed to community radio station Freeform Portland‘s studio in Portland, Oregon for a visit. Board President Becky Meiers had invited me and Paul Riismandel to join her on her final show before she embarked for Alaska and I couldn’t refuse. The co-host of a cassette-themed program, The Tape Escape, Meiers crafted a radio-themed mix tape for her show in honor of the Grassroots Radio Conference that weekend.

“The Tape Escape” on Freeform Portland’s posted programming schedule. Photo: J. Waits

The indefatigable Meiers played a major role in organizing the 2018 Grassroots Radio Conference, which was hosted by community radio station KBOO (see my tour), where she was wrapping up her work as Development Director. After a full day at the conference, she wound down with her music show, as she reflected ahead to her new job as station manager of community radio station KCAW in Sitka, Alaska.

Becky Meiers in Freeform Portland studio. Photo: J. Waits

Her tracks, which made up the “A” side of the mix tape, expressed her radio love, with songs like “French Radio” by Swirlies, Spoon’s “Car Radio,” and the Guided by Voices track “Radio Show.” Freeform Portland’s consulting engineer Todd Urick (also a college radio alum of KDVS, which was one of my recent tours) created the mix on the “B” side. His selections reflected his passion for retro pop culture, from the theme song to the 1983 video arcade-themed movie Joysticks to cheesy faux jingles, to a new wave parody song (“Palolo Valley Girls”) to radio station air check clips.

“To Radio People” mix tape at Freeform Portland. Photo: J. Waits

While enjoying the music mix (hear the entire October 5, 2018 show) and occasionally sharing the mic with Meiers, Riismandel and Freeform Portland’s Operations & Engineering Chairman Arthur Rizzotto, I also took in the surroundings. The studio is a dream for music nerds, with cassette players, turntables, CD players, a small vinyl collection and even a retro radio.

Turntables and headphones in Freeform Portland studio. Photo: J. Waits

The on-air studio has windows overlooking the street below, with a view of a bus shelter, food mart, and furniture gallery. The room opens up into a living room-like space with a couch, plants, sticker-covered cabinet, and a wall covered with a packed hand drawn on-air schedule.

View from Freeform Portland’s music library hallway. Photo: J. Waits

The narrow hallway leading out of the station is lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves on one side, largely packed with vinyl in addition to some CDs and cassette tapes. In a place of honor adjacent to the studio entrance is a framed memorial to Negativland’s Don Joyce, including one of his cart’s alongside a packet of his cremains.

Framed Don Joyce cart and cremains at Freeform Portland. Photo: J. Waits

It was just two years ago when my colleague Eric Klein was on the scene for Freeform Portland’s antenna raising festivities, which he beautifully documented on Radio Survivor Podcast episode 41. Board member Jessica Ponaman articulated over email why she was inspired to help start the station, proclaiming, “To make sure communities have access to the radio airwaves!!!”

Officially KFFP-LP 90.3 FM and KFFD-LP 98.3 FM, Freeform Portland is one of the many new low power FM (LPFM) community radio stations to go on air following the FCC’s 2013 LPFM application window. The station began streaming online on April 1, 2016 and launched over FM on April 16, 2016.

Vinyl records and more music in Freeform Portland’s hallway leading to its front door. Photo: J. Waits

Considering just how new the station is (launching in 2016), I was flabbergasted to hear about the huge pool of volunteers (hovering around 200) currently devoting time to the station. Clearly Portland was hungry for independent radio. The schedule on the wall hints at the diversity of shows on air during my October visit, ranging from “Dark Noise” to “Part Time Punk.” The station has live DJs twenty-four hours a day, with 84 on-air volunteers hosting two-hour shows. To keep the schedule fresh, DJs must reapply for their shows every six months. According to Meiers, “We bring new people into the community quite often as a result.”

Program schedule on wall at Freeform Portland. Photo: J. Waits

A passion for music is at the heart of Freeform Portland and the station’s name is an overt proclamation of its freeform orientation. After my visit, Meiers elaborated over email:

DJs are given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or approach. There are no blocks of programming for people to conform to. We hold operational expectations (informed by FCC rules and the Communications Act, among other standards) as a community, but otherwise impose no limitations on what goes on the air. We do expect programming to focus on music, art, and cultural expression, so we do not have programs that focus on news or public affairs. That’s just the difference people hear on the air — the difference in our community, the difference in how we’re entirely volunteer-run, the difference in our overall openness to community broadcasting is something that gets expressed differently. We’re openly exuberant and human, and I think that comes through in the way we sound.

Sound board at Freeform Portland. Photo: J. Waits

Meiers first joined up with Freeform Portland in early 2016, even though she was already working at KBOO, recounting, “I saw that the community was going to put up the antenna together, and I joined in. There’s a picture of me lugging cinder blocks up a ladder…I joined right as the station was going on the air.” She added, “…the world of community radio was bigger than a single station, and…expanding opportunities for people to make media was my purpose. Helping to develop a freeform format station was doubly important in Portland, a city where affordable and accessible creative space is dwindling. The format is like an audio ‘studio,’ and I was really drawn to that concept.”

Arthur Rizzotto, Becky Meiers and Paul Riismandel in Freeform Portland studio. Photo: J. Waits

Many folks with radio experience and with Portland radio connections were involved with Freeform Portland’s founding and ongoing operations. In addition to KBOO, there have been intersections with XRAY.fm (see my tour), Radio 23, and Portland Radio Authority. A few of the Freeform Portland founders also had influential college radio experience at KDVS (read my tour) as well.

Radio at Freeform Portland. Photo: J. Waits

Interestingly, both Becky and Todd remain involved with Freeform Portland remotely. Meiers told me, “I keep volunteering for Freeform, even though I live far away, because I truly love the Freeform community and broadcast.”

View of Freeform Portland’s front door from within the station. Photo: J. Waits

Thanks so much to Becky Meiers for inviting me and my colleague Paul along during a fun Friday night broadcast! This is my 151st radio station tour. You can read my full roster of tours in numerical order and peruse field trips by station type in my tour archives. Watch this space, as I will have a cluster of Seattle radio station tours posting soon.

The post Radio Station Visit #151: Community Radio Station Freeform Portland appeared first on Radio Survivor.

On a drizzly Columbus Day morning, I arrived at the Day Theater in Portland, Oregon to visit community radio station Portland Radio Project. The welcoming message on the marquee read: “PORTLAND RADIO PROJECT 99,1 A LOCAL BAND EVERY 15 MINUTES,” proudly proclaiming the presence of the low power FM radio station that was housed within.

Portland Radio Project sign on marquee in front of Day Theater. Photo: J. Waits

The streets were quiet on the block, which contained an interesting mix of businesses, including a frame shop/art gallery on the ground floor of the Day Theater, a marijuana dispensary next door and a gun shop across the street.

Portland Radio Project sign in ground floor window, reflecting view of street. Photo: J. Waits

A steep flight of stairs leads to the upper level of the building, where a dance studio shares quarters with Portland Radio Project aka KSFL-LP 99.1 FM. Percussive sounds emanated from the dance space, where I imagined tap dancers at work. Tucked into two rooms, the station is comprised of a compact on-air studio, hallway and neighboring production room.

Production studio at Portland Radio Project. Photo: J. Waits

The studio is fairly spartan, with a board, a dedicated music computer loaded with the station’s automation system, an internet-enabled computer, turntable, microphones, and monitor speakers. A handful of vinyl records were tucked in a corner, left behind by visiting artists or sent to the station for airplay. A credenza holds office supplies, some station promotional items, and a coffee pot. Mic stands are stacked in a corner adjacent to an intentionally boarded up window, covered by decorative curtains. DJs used to have a view to the street below, but the constant traffic rumble, particularly from trucks, proved to be problematic, as the sound bled into the studio.

On-air studio at community radio station Portland Radio Project. Photo: J. Waits

DJ Nastacia Voisin had just wrapped up her three hour weekly Monday morning program and stuck around to provide me with the low-down on the station. A volunteer since 2015, Voisin began as an intern after graduating from University of Portland. She worked at the campus newspaper and got her first radio experience volunteering at community radio station KBOO (see my tour). It turns out that University of Portland has a policy that students can only participate in one student media outlet, so she was unable to work at college radio station KDUP (see my tour) while working on the newspaper.

Portland Radio Project’s Nastacia Voisin in the studio. Photo: J. Waits

Voisin recounted that when she arrived at Portland Radio Project, the station was mainly focused on music, but was adding more public affairs and talk programming, including the Community Voices show about local non-profits that she still helps produce. Voisin ran down the variety of roles that she plays at the station, saying, “I wear a lot of hats.” In addition to her music show (her program emphasizes local artists and upcoming shows), she’s also the station’s podcast coordinator, as well as the producer for the Cybercast Oregon show in collaboration with Mt. Hood Community College.

On-air studio at Portland Radio Project. Photo: J. Waits

Beginning as a streaming radio station in October, 2013, Portland Radio Project started as a reaction against the dearth of public service-oriented commercial radio stations following years of media consolidation. My colleague Paul Riismandel spoke with co-founder Rebecca Webb and marketing staffer Carrie Kikel during the early stages of the station and provides some great backstory. He writes of their ambitious goals back in 2013, saying, “They’re not looking to serve a small niche of listeners. ‘We’re trying to draw a mass audience,’ Webb said, ‘using a proven radio format: folk, rock and blues. Interjected in that programming are elements of information and news.'”

Rebecca Webb in lobby of Day Theater building. Photo: J. Waits

Interestingly, during Riismandel’s chat, he shared word of the LPFM application window. He writes, “Then the three of us got into a discussion about the upcoming low-power FM licensing window, which prompted Webb and Kikel to start rethinking the option of a terrestrial signal. Webb said she was going to investigate the option. Several days later she sent a follow-up email saying ‘an LPFM app is now in the offing.'”

Portland Radio Project sign in building lobby. Photo: J Waits

Quickly granted a time-shared LPFM channel in 2014, Portland Radio Project was winning awards for its news programming even before its FM debut in 2015. On the Radio Survivor Podcast #6 in July, 2015, we took a closer look at the station’s transition from online to FM broadcasting. Flash forward to 2018 and Portland Radio Project is now the sole inhabitant of its low power FM channel in Portland, Oregon after its time-share partner, Q Center, departed in fall, 2016.

Birthday greetings at Portland Radio Project. Photo: J. Waits

Broadcasting over 99.1 FM around the clock, Portland Radio Project’s mission today is focused on a mix of music, local artists, and engagement with the Portland non-profit community. The website states:

Along with a fresh mix of new rock/indie/pop/R&B/Soul and Hip Hop, and special shows dedicated to alternative, jazz and country, we play a local artist every 15 minutes! It’s a new model for radio: a true, independent and sustainable radio station/stream that serves as a cultural hub, reflecting and reacting to listeners. Our mission is to give a voice to local musicians, nonprofits and small businesses – engaging and mentoring new generations of arts lovers and community supporters.

Posters and flyers for local events posted in Portland Radio Project’s hallway. Photo: J. Waits

Some of the programs on the schedule include shows centered around music subcultures (“Subculture”), proto punk (“Radio After Death”), Portland artists, country, and indie rock. When there isn’t a scheduled show or a live DJ, automation software takes over. A music curation team creates “music logs,” which are essentially curated playlists utilizing both algorithms and hand-picked tracks aligned with the time of day and type of music, according to Voisin. Describing it as “rough curation,” she explained that newer DJs can also stick to the programmed music logs, adding that, “It’s like a river of music” that one can dip in and out of during one’s show.

Sound board in Portland Radio Project’s on-air studio. Photo: J. Waits

In addition to the logged digital music, some hosts also play vinyl or pull material from their own collections (Portland Radio Project doesn’t have a physical music library). Live DJs mostly come in after 5pm, as it’s a volunteer operation and most folks have day jobs. During my visit I heard a lot about plans for the station’s growing roster of podcasts, including the Portland-specific “Joyride,” which will deal with transportation, including deep conversations about ethics, access, and more. On the Friday “Podcast Co-op” show, the station airs a collection of public affairs shows, which are also available on-demand as podcasts.

Audio equipment in Portland Radio Project studio. Photo: J. Waits

As we wrapped up our visit, Voisin spoke passionately about the station, telling me what she loves about Portland Radio Project, revealing, “I’m just in love with the mission statement…my deepest goal as a journalist is to figure out a way of using media for what I believe is one of its true purposes is, which is giving a voice to those who don’t have a voice….and being able to fulfill that on a daily or weekly basis by playing local musicians and featuring non-profits and businesses from the area.”

View into production studio at Portland Radio Project. Photo: J. Waits

Voisin added that she also enjoys collaborating with fellow volunteers, saying, “The work itself is beautiful and…hopefully we’re building something that is meaningful outside of just our little collective…”

Equipment and vinyl in studio at community radio station Portland Radio Project. Photo: J. Waits

Thanks so much to Nastacia Voisin for taking the time to chat with me about Portland Radio Project and to Rebecca Webb for setting up the visit. This is my 150th radio station tour report overall and 30th community radio station field trip report. See the full collection of tours on the Radio Stations Tour page.

The post Radio Station Visit #150: Portland Radio Project appeared first on Radio Survivor.

This past weekend I accompanied my wife for a short trip to Oregon’s Illinois Valley where she facilitated a Conversation Project for Oregon Humanities. Of course I tuned around the FM dial in search of something interesting and local. Quickly I stumbled upon KXJC-LP at 105.7 FM broadcasting from Cave Junction, an eclectic and artsy small town that, as the name implies, is the gateway to the Oregon Caves National Monument.

Saturday morning I heard two young women introduce a segment called “Ladyline,” and begin a discussion about environmental protection. Reading from a well written script, they sounded animated, convincing and very smooth. Looking at the station’s website I learned that it was part of the “Empower Hour,” which is a “teen-powered” show.

Later, during music programming, I heard the DJ read a PSA for the very conversation that my wife was leading later than afternoon. Now that’s the power of truly live, local radio, I thought to myself. Where else on the radio dial would we have heard that?

The post Listening Notes: KXCJ-LP in Cave Junction, Oregon appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Radio Survivor co-founder Matthew Lasar declares we’re in the post-“Radio Is Dead” era, during a time when audio media has survived and thrived, whether you listen over the broadcast airwaves, podcast, satellite or internet stream.

Jennifer Waits and Paul Riismandel join Matthew live in San Francisco for a discussion about radio’s recent evolution, including the satellite-internet radio hybrid being born out of the Sirius/XM acquisition of Pandora, and a review of this year’s Grassroots Radio Conference.

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:

• How SiriusXM won me over with its “Jzz/Stndrd/Clscl” zone
• Inside Radio: Q3 Brings Another Record Number Of Translators & LPFMs
• Current’s “The Pub” podcast sadly ended production this year
• Podcast #132 – Sounding Out on the Cultural Politics of Sound & Listening
• Bloomberg upgrades radio to cockroach status
• The Drum: How radio has consumed the podcast world
• Radio Survivor Visits Gramophoney Baloney Show at KPOO-FM in San Francisco
• Podcast #146 – Volunteer Radio from Antarctica
• Podcast #124 – Seattle Hosts Young Podcasters & a New LPFM
• Meow! Get ready for Low Power FM radio for cats and dogs
• SiriusXM 40s Junction

The post Podcast #163 – The Post-‘Radio Is Dead’ Era appeared first on Radio Survivor.

What will community radio sound like in 2023? Will the death of net neutrality make radio even important? Will analog FM radio even exist anymore?

Two active and insightful community media activists joins us to tackle these questions and more, live from 2018 Grassroots Radio Conference held in the Native American Student & Community Center at Portland State University, in Portland, Oregon. Vanessa Maria Graber is the station manager for WPPM-LP at public access TV station PhillyCam in Philadelphia, PA. Ernesto Aguilar is the Program Director for the National Federation of Community Broadcasters.

Together we discuss the skills that today’s new broadcasters will need in the next five years, real-world tactics for engaging your community and recruiting fresh voices, and the challenges posed by the monopoly power of large telecom companies.

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 #102 – How Inclusive Is Community Media, Really? with Ernesto Aguilar and NFCB CEO Sally Kane

The post Podcast #162 – The Future of Community Radio, Live from Grassroots Radio Conference appeared first on Radio Survivor.

]]> 43508 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/09/podcast-159-ch-ch-ch-changes-in-college-radio-and-podcasting/ Tue, 18 Sep 2018 10:33:43 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=43284 Programming changes draw attention at one college station, while another might be close to the auction block, and a new San Francisco LPFM steps in to the spiritual space left behind by a beloved departed station. Team that with some big changes in the podcasting industry, and we’ve got a full episode. After hearing from […]

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Programming changes draw attention at one college station, while another might be close to the auction block, and a new San Francisco LPFM steps in to the spiritual space left behind by a beloved departed station. Team that with some big changes in the podcasting industry, and we’ve got a full episode.

After hearing from many listeners, Jennifer checks in with UNLV station KUNV. It’s a station we’ve been keeping up with since a takeover was averted back in 2015. The station recently had some staff and programming changes, but we find that students are still involved. Jennifer also reports on University of Evansville’s WUEV, which students and alums are concerned might go up for sale. And there’s happy news from San Francisco, where new community station KXSF-LP just launched to fill the void left behind when KUSF left the airwaves in 2011.

Paul has news about the the exit of a major podcast network, but also words of encouragement for all the current and would-be community podcasters: there’s so much room for podcasting to grow, and somewhere there’s a listener who wants to hear the show you want to make.

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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 #28 – A Deep Dive into the Public Radio Bid for KUNV
  • Other episodes where we covered KUNV: #27, #77, #113
• Oct. 17, 2011: Fighting for College Radio…and Winning: Part Two – WUEV
• May 25, 2018: College Radio Watch: WUEV Sale?, Radio Conferences, and More News
• September 7, 2018: College Radio Watch: WCWS to Leave FM, Fight to Save WUEV, and More
• Tristate Homepage: Group forms in hopes of saving UE’s radio station WUEV
• Courier & Press: University of Evansville alumni fight for radio station WUEV’s future
• September 14, 2018: College Radio Watch: WGTB’s 1976 Shutdown, KXSF-LP Launches, and More News
• KXSF-LP 102.5 FM San Francisco
• Visiting KUSF.org at University of San Francisco
• Panel Explores Past, Present and Future of KUSF
• Nieman Lab: Podcast shakeup! Panoply, iHeartMedia, Stuff, and…Malcolm Gladwell? are all making industry moves

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]]> 43284 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/07/podcast-149-how-to-get-started-podcasting/ Tue, 03 Jul 2018 09:01:13 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=42740 How do I start podcasting? That’s one of the questions we field most frequently. So we answer it, in this second installment of our “Frequently Asked Questions” series. But first we do some follow-up about phone phreaker ‘Captain Crunch’ Draper (#147) and the nearly 1,000 challenges filed against applications for FM translator repeater stations (#144). […]

The post Podcast #149 – How To Get Started Podcasting appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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How do I start podcasting? That’s one of the questions we field most frequently. So we answer it, in this second installment of our “Frequently Asked Questions” series.

But first we do some follow-up about phone phreaker ‘Captain Crunch’ Draper (#147) and the nearly 1,000 challenges filed against applications for FM translator repeater stations (#144). Paul also reports on the National Association of Broadcasters’ proposal to further loosen radio ownership regulations.

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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:

• One of our listeners recommends the book Exploding the Phone, all about phone phreakers, like Captain Crunch
• FCC letter to Prometheus and Common Frequency dismissing their translator objections
• NAB letter to the FCC on radio ownership rules
• Podcast #126 – We Answer Your Frequently Asked Questions

The post Podcast #149 – How To Get Started Podcasting appeared first on Radio Survivor.

]]> 42740 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/06/podcast-147-prison-radio-exhibit-and-a-high-school-station-in-a-band-room/ Tue, 19 Jun 2018 18:13:58 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=42645 On this week’s episode we venture to prison and to a very unusual high school radio station. Members of the artist collective Provisional Island (Heidi Ratanavanich, Eileen Shumate, and Michael McCanne) speak with us about their prison-radio-themed exhibit, An Electric Kite, which is on view at the historic site/museum Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia through […]

The post Podcast #147 – Prison Radio Exhibit and a High School Station in a Band Room appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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On this week’s episode we venture to prison and to a very unusual high school radio station. Members of the artist collective Provisional Island (Heidi Ratanavanich, Eileen Shumate, and Michael McCanne) speak with us about their prison-radio-themed exhibit, An Electric Kite, which is on view at the historic site/museum Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia through at least fall, 2018. The installation incorporates a low power radio transmission as well as a visual components.

Additionally, Jennifer shares her tour of VCS Radio at Vacaville Christian Schools in Vacaville, California. The high school radio station is part of the school’s music program and has many unusual elements. Not only is it a low power FM (LPFM) station, but it also broadcasts in HD and is housed in the band room. It also has secret Morse Code and carrier current broadcasts.

Show Notes

• Radio Survivor Inaugurates Podcast (Radio World)
• Behind the Scenes of the Radio Survivor Podcast (YouTube)
• Provisional Island
• Eastern State Penitentiary
• Eastern State’s An Electric Kite exhibit page
• Provisional Island’s An Electric Kite page
• The iPod of Prison (The New Yorker)
• Whatever Happened to the Phone Phreaks? (The Atlantic)
• Early Hackers’ Supersecret Spyware: Toy Whistles (Slate)
• Maurice Chammah’s “Guerrilla Radio” article (The Marshall Project)
• Radio Survivor Podcast #94: The High School Radio Station That Went HD
• Radio Station Visit #144: KVCB-LP at Vacaville Christian Schools
• KVCB-LP/VCS Radio
• VCS Radio Conservatory
• VCS Radio Symphony performance of Modern Times (YouTube)
• National High School Radio Network

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]]> 42645 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/05/podcast-144-standing-up-for-lpfms-slice-of-the-pie/ Wed, 30 May 2018 04:38:19 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=42503 Applications for 1,000 translator radio stations may pose a threat to low-power FM stations, say three community radio groups. So the groups filed informal objections against all of them, slowing down the FCC’s processing of these applications. This move has sparked controversy within the radio industry. The Center for International Media Action, Common Frequency, Inc. […]

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Applications for 1,000 translator radio stations may pose a threat to low-power FM stations, say three community radio groups. So the groups filed informal objections against all of them, slowing down the FCC’s processing of these applications. This move has sparked controversy within the radio industry.

The Center for International Media Action, Common Frequency, Inc. and Prometheus Radio Project are the groups behind the objections to these proposed translators, which are low-powered stations that are only permitted to repeat the signal of another station. Common Frequency’s Todd Urick and Prometheus’ Paul Bame join the show to explain why they took this action, and to answer some of the criticisms coming both from the mainstream radio industry and from within community radio.

Paul also reports on the final death blow to the podcast patent troll, and files a correction to his recollection from episode #142 of the “Disco Demolition” night in Chicago.

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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

• Prometheus Radio Project: Low-power FM radio advocates file 1,000 Objections with FCC
• Radio World: Sides Are Split on Those 998 Objections
• Statement of REC Networks: Informal objections filed by Prometheus, et. al. against pending FM translator applications
• Todd Urick’s editorial on the 998 informal objections
• Learn more about LPFM
• FCC: FM Translators and Boosters
• The Podcast Patent Troll Is Dead and Buried
• Matthew Lasar: Rock radio’s war against disco

  The post Podcast #144 – Standing Up for LPFM’s Slice of the Pie appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> 42503 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/05/lpfm-advocate-998-translator-objections-create-a-needed-pause/ Wed, 30 May 2018 04:34:16 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=42508 Editor’s Note: Common Frequency is one of three LPFM advocacy groups that on May 16 filed informal objections with the FCC against 998 FM translator applications. CF’s technical director Todd Urick was a guest on episode #144 of our podcast to explain some of the reasoning behind this controversial action. He follows up with this […]

  The post LPFM Advocate: 998 Translator Objections Create ‘a Needed Pause’ appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  Editor’s Note: Common Frequency is one of three LPFM advocacy groups that on May 16 filed informal objections with the FCC against 998 FM translator applications. CF’s technical director Todd Urick was a guest on episode #144 of our podcast to explain some of the reasoning behind this controversial action. He follows up with this guest editorial. -P.R.

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  When three LPFM advocacy groups recently filed 998 objections against pending translator applications, proponents on both sides had divided opinions. However, the petition was not intended to be a foray on individual translator applicants. It was a needed pause interjected into a spectrum mob-haul where hundreds of applications were fast-tracked to seal an uncertain fate for the FM band.

  The Local Community Radio Act (LCRA) Section 5 is a Congressional mandate directing the FCC to assure LPFM and translator spectrum availability, “based upon the needs of the community.” Yet, in virtually every market, translator deployment has grossly surpassed LPFM coverage. For instance, in terms of coverage area, in Atlanta translators cover twenty times more area than LFPMs. In San Antonio it’s 16.3x, Raleigh-Durham is 24.1x and Scranton, PA is 39x.

  What happened to balanced usage based upon community input? It is not difficult to assess what is happening here. Take for example 250-watt/1196 m HAAT translator K288GY. Repeating KUDD HD-2, it effectively creates a new station that has equivalent coverage to a full-powered Class C2 (50 kW) FM station for Salt Lake City, comparable to 65 LPFM stations. But there are repercussions from squeezing blood from a turnip.

  Translator proposals are permitted to accept incoming interference. In the past this option was conservatively negotiated. But engineering best-practice has been disregarded with most new translator applications. It’s a race to direct the consultant engineer to grab any channel that works “on-paper.”

  An example from Portland, OR includes a 2-watt directionally-proposed translator shoehorned in between two minimally-spaced co-channel LPFMs, amidst additional co-channel full power interference. Upon propagation modeling, the effective interference-free coverage reaches 64 persons, and the rest is an interference slurry of four stations. One San Francisco applicant proposes pointing a highly directional antenna into the Pacific Ocean at the expense of short-spacing multiple co-channel LPFMs.

  A Camas, WA LPFM – surrounded on both sides by full-power stations and with no viable channels to move to – is also wedged in, between two translators that have equivalent coverages of Class A (6 kW) full power stations, in additional to co-channel interference. Two non-commercial educational (NCE) Christian network licensees profit from leasing these translators to commercial HD2-fed licensees to create two new commercial stations.

  In Sacramento, a LPFM had to go silent shortly after start-up because it was inundated with copious (60dBu) incoming co-channel fill-in translator interference. Another Sacramento LPFM was rendered unviable via newly-introduced first adjacent HD radio interference.

  There are many other LPFM operators that need to modify their sites but are locked to one utilizable spot due to new translator “short-spacing.” Many new translators have employed tight directional antennas to propose wrapping around LPFM primary (60 dBu) coverage areas, allowing the translator to commandeer 75% of the city coverage, relegating the LPFM to a sliver of coverage. Recourse for these LPFMs will get worse under the FCC’s proposed liberalized translator remediation rules.

  LPFM services, with shrinking coverage, spend their savings on hiring lawyers and engineers simply to maintain their paltry coverage. Many LPFM operators are on the verge of just throwing-in the towel. They view the new massive footprints of adjacent 250-watt translators on huge mountains and towers and ask me why their LPFM is relegated to an inference-laden spectrum corner.

  The industry’s solution has been just to move all AM stations to FM with full power… and FM translators… and LPFMs… and HD Radio. The master plan is: “Let’s see if it works, and fix the problems later. Just get me this translator license first.”

  Years of industry counsel-led regulation concerning FM band capacity is poised to receive a bite-back from physics and the reality of spatial listener habits. Who is going to listen to two different AM stations on FM translators jammed onto one co-channel with a LPFM in one metro, while commuting? A third of the reception area will be dedicated co-channel interference and HD noise.

  The industry hobbled LPFM with the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000 (RBPA), and again lobbied against the service prior to the passage of the LCRA. The industry originally deep-sixed community ascertainment through the deregulation of radio, disabled localism via the elimination of the local content requirement, then decimated ownership caps via the Telecommunications Act of 1996, followed by the rescinding of the main studio requirement. This all served to minimize any public interest requirement so it could bolster profits, consolidate, then bankrupt themselves.

  With LPFM advocates now drawing attention to the LCRA being neglected by the FCC, select industry advocates posit that these objectors are now not playing nicely. Wait, what? Who’s been the victim here?

  Public interest advocates have a communications challenge within a system that is predicated on pay-to-play. Today’s growth of LPFM as brought on by the LCRA was the product of community radio spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to gain that to Congress, on order to reverse the technically-erroneous RBPA rules. How do listeners and community radio participate in the conversation without full-time lawyers, lobbyists, and money?

  It is not going to happen by submitting novel proposals and writing thousands of letters to the FCC. LPFM subjugation and LCRA Section 5 abandonment has been so pervasive it is unclear how or where to pick up the conversation. Filed objections are an only recourse in a broadcast regime with a withered public interest component.

  Translators were never meant to create new HD2-fed “full power station” equivalents playing MP3 playlists to pad corporate radio incomes at the expense of new local community radio. That privilege was bought from the FCC.

  I sympathize with independently-owned AM broadcasters. But there should be some empathy concerning LPFMs facing a similar predicament AM broadcasters are trying to escape from. The central quandary is, how does the FCC assess the “the needs of the community” when it had exited the business of public interest arbitration years ago. Surveys? A point system?

  FM stakeholders need to converge on discussion over managing resources fairly, anchored to engineering reality. But how does that happen within a system where the people who pay the most make the spectrum laws?

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  Radio Survivor invites written and audio editorial submissions on all topics pertinent to community media. Inquire by email to editors@radiosurvivor.com

  The post LPFM Advocate: 998 Translator Objections Create ‘a Needed Pause’ appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> 42508 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/05/grassroots-radio-conference-2018-to-be-held-oct-5-7-in-portland-or/ Thu, 03 May 2018 04:53:00 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=42301 Community radio KBOO-FM is hosting this year’s Grassroots Radio Conference on the occasion of the station’s 50th anniversary. The conference is happening October 5 – 7, 2018 and registration is open now. Founded in 1996, the GRC is intended to be a space where broadcasters, producers and supporters can share skills, discuss important issues and […]

  The post Grassroots Radio Conference 2018 To Be Held Oct. 5 -7 in Portland, OR appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  Community radio KBOO-FM is hosting this year’s Grassroots Radio Conference on the occasion of the station’s 50th anniversary. The conference is happening October 5 – 7, 2018 and registration is open now.

  Founded in 1996, the GRC is intended to be a space where broadcasters, producers and supporters can share skills, discuss important issues and learn together. The Grassroots Radio Coalition which started the conference is not a membership organization, so anyone is invited to participate. This includes folks involved in full-power and low-power FM community stations, college radio, internet radio, podcasting or other community media.

  The GRC’s theme for 2018 is “The Future is Community Radio.” The organizers are now accepting proposals for sessions at the conference. It’s an opportunity to share skills and knowledge, hold a workshop or host a discussion. Some suggested topics include: technical workshops on things like automation and engineering; volunteer coordination; building networks and collaboration between stations in a region; community podcasting; and social media and digital strategy.

  Personally, I’m hoping to see a diversity of attendees, with podcasters, independent producers, college radio volunteers, high school station broadcasters, and maybe even legal unlicensed Part 15 broadcasters joining the core group of people from full-power and low-power community stations.

  You can submit your proposal online. Then, make your plans to be in Portland this October.

  The post Grassroots Radio Conference 2018 To Be Held Oct. 5 -7 in Portland, OR appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> 42301 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/01/podcast-126-we-answer-your-frequently-asked-questions/ Tue, 23 Jan 2018 09:01:50 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=41632 How do I get a broadcast radio license? How can I find all the LPFM or college radio stations? Will you visit and write about my favorite station? Every week the editors of Radio Survivor receive, and answer, queries like these from readers and listeners. While we enjoy corresponding with people, we thought we shouldn’t […]

  The post Podcast #126 – We Answer Your Frequently Asked Questions appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  How do I get a broadcast radio license? How can I find all the LPFM or college radio stations? Will you visit and write about my favorite station?

  Every week the editors of Radio Survivor receive, and answer, queries like these from readers and listeners. While we enjoy corresponding with people, we thought we shouldn’t reserve our replies to just individual interlocutors. So here we have our very first mailbag episode, responding to the most frequently asked questions we receive.

  Maybe we tackle your most pressing questions about radio and community media. If not, drop us a line: podcast@radiosurvivor.com.

  Be sure to subscribe to Radio Survivor in your favorite podcast app or platform so that you never miss an episode.

  The show is available in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, Overcast, Radio Public, and any player that supports RSS.

  Need help subscribing? Click here for more info.

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  Show Notes:

  • Mailbag: We Get our First Transmitter Kit from a Fan
  • The Education of a Radio Pirate
  • Podcast #120: Have Your Own Tiny Radio Station
  • Part 15 legal unlicensed broadcasting coverage on Radio Survivor
  • Metro State University’s WCAS and its Part 15 Plans
  • College Radio in the 1970s: Industry Notes Influence of Carrier Current Radio
    Hobby Broadcaster: Part 15 AM & FM transmitters

  • Prometheus Radio Project: Q and A About Pirate Radio
  • Podcast #114 – A Common Sense Approach to Unlicensed Broadcasting
  • About Low Power FM
  • What about Low-Power AM (LPAM)?
  • Podcast #125 – Radio Free America is an Online Hub for Noncomm Radio
  • LPFM Database
  • College Radio Watch: 1980s Syndicated Radio Show
  • Spinning Indie Radio Station Field Trips
  • Spinning Indie 50 State Tour

  The post Podcast #126 – We Answer Your Frequently Asked Questions appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> 41632 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/01/mailbag-we-get-our-first-radio-lpfm-trans-kit-from-a-fan/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/01/mailbag-we-get-our-first-radio-lpfm-trans-kit-from-a-fan/#respond Sat, 13 Jan 2018 22:44:56 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=41535 We received the following package from an admirer last week, accompanied by this missive: “Howdy! Read in Monday’s New York Times about your low power FM radio efforts (I thought smartphones put an end to low power FM. Glad it did not). Back in the 1990’s I was interested enough to get a kit from […]

  The post Mailbag: we get our first LPFM transmitter kit from a fan appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  We received the following package from an admirer last week, accompanied by this missive:

  “Howdy!

  Read in Monday’s New York Times about your low power FM radio efforts (I thought smartphones put an end to low power FM. Glad it did not). Back in the 1990’s I was interested enough to get a kit from Berkeley Community Radio (I think that’s what you called it). But I didn’t get it to work so can have it! Power to the people! Free speech for all!

  Dan”

  

  Dan, your gift will receive a place of honor in the newly christened Museum of Low Power FM, just set up on a bookshelf at our San Francisco offices. Many thanks!

  The post Mailbag: we get our first LPFM transmitter kit from a fan appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/01/mailbag-we-get-our-first-radio-lpfm-trans-kit-from-a-fan/feed/ 0 41535 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/01/podcast-124-seattle-hosts-young-podcasters-a-new-lpfm/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/01/podcast-124-seattle-hosts-young-podcasters-a-new-lpfm/#respond Tue, 09 Jan 2018 11:01:46 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=41469 Eric and Paul met young enthusiastic podcasters and podcast fans when they attended Podcon in Seattle at the beginning of December. It’s almost an understatement to say they were impressed by diversity of the attendees, and their love of radio drama style shows. Your hosts learned a lot (there’s a library with free public podcast […]

  The post Podcast #124 – Seattle Hosts Young Podcasters & a New LPFM appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  Eric and Paul met young enthusiastic podcasters and podcast fans when they attended Podcon in Seattle at the beginning of December. It’s almost an understatement to say they were impressed by diversity of the attendees, and their love of radio drama style shows. Your hosts learned a lot (there’s a library with free public podcast studios!) and they share some of the takeaways in this episode.

  The same weekend Paul and Eric had the opportunity to attend the launch party for KBFG, a new LPFM community station in the Ballard neighborhood. The station was also featured in a recent New York Times feature on low-power FM. We share an interview with station staffers, co-founder Pam Burton, board member Jerry Russell and programming and promotions director MacKenzie McAninch.

  Paul also gives an update on the FCC’s decimation of network neutrality now that the FCC finally released the approved policy. He explains the timeline ahead for when the new rules will take affect, and when court challenges can begin.

  Be sure to subscribe to Radio Survivor in your favorite podcast app or platform so that you never miss an episode.

  The show is available in Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn, Overcast, Radio Public, and any player that supports RSS.

  Need help subscribing? Click here for more info.

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  Show Notes:

  • Ars Technica: FCC releases final net neutrality repeal order, three weeks after vote
  • Multichannel News: Parsing a New Net Dereg Reality
  • Podcon
  • KBFG-LP
  • New York Times: As Low-Power Local Radio Rises, Tiny Voices Become a Collective Shout

  The post Podcast #124 – Seattle Hosts Young Podcasters & a New LPFM appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/01/podcast-124-seattle-hosts-young-podcasters-a-new-lpfm/feed/ 0 41469 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/01/the-new-york-times-covers-lpfm-community-radio/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/01/the-new-york-times-covers-lpfm-community-radio/#respond Tue, 09 Jan 2018 05:46:04 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=41462 This past weekend the New York Times published a story on low-power FM community radio, with a particular focus on Washington and Oregon, where there is a unique concentration of stations. In assembling his story correspondent Kirk Johnson visited many stations and talked with a host of broadcasters and advocates, including Radio Survivors Jennifer Waits, […]

  The post The New York Times Covers LPFM Community Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  This past weekend the New York Times published a story on low-power FM community radio, with a particular focus on Washington and Oregon, where there is a unique concentration of stations. In assembling his story correspondent Kirk Johnson visited many stations and talked with a host of broadcasters and advocates, including Radio Survivors Jennifer Waits, whom he quoted, Matthew Lasar and myself.

  Though limited by the space constraints of a major daily newspaper, Johnson was able to get to the communitarian heart of LPFM:

  What low-power urban radio creates, believers say, is a sense of community, a defined physical stamp of existence that goes only as far as it can be heard. So new licensees and programmers are knocking on doors near their antennas and holding fund-raisers at the local brewpub. That’s a stark contrast to the amorphous everywhere-but-nowhere world of the web, and the web-streaming radio or podcasts that a few years ago seemed most likely to take center stage in low-budget community communications.

  Todd Urick of Common Frequency—instrumental in so many West Coast stations going on the air—puts a very fine point on the critical importance of LPFM community radio:

  “If it gets harder for independent media to stream online, the low-power FM stations will become even more important[.]”

  On this week’s podcast (releasing Tuesday) we’ll have an interview with staffers from Seattle LPFM KBFG-LP, recorded at the station’s launch party in the city’s Ballard neighborhood, and featured in the Times article.

  The post The New York Times Covers LPFM Community Radio appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2018/01/the-new-york-times-covers-lpfm-community-radio/feed/ 0 41462 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/12/podcast-119-chicago-independent-radio-project/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/12/podcast-119-chicago-independent-radio-project/#respond Wed, 06 Dec 2017 04:49:10 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=41251 The Chicago Independent Radio Project launched as an internet radio station nearly a decade ago, with a mission of bringing a truly independent music- and arts-focused community radio station to Chicago. Thanks to the Local Community Radio Act, which allowed the growth of low-power FM stations in the nation’s biggest cities—and a lot of hard […]

  The post Podcast #119 – Chicago Independent Radio Project appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  The Chicago Independent Radio Project launched as an internet radio station nearly a decade ago, with a mission of bringing a truly independent music- and arts-focused community radio station to Chicago. Thanks to the Local Community Radio Act, which allowed the growth of low-power FM stations in the nation’s biggest cities—and a lot of hard work and organizing—CHIRP took to the Chicago FM airwaves on October 21 of this year.

  Shawn Campbell, CHIRP’s founder and general manager, also was a strong proponent and activist to pass the LCRA and grow LPFM, leading efforts at the station to educate listeners and supporters to advocate for the expansion of community radio. She tells the story of the station’s founding and move to the FM dial, and also shares some practical advice for building, organizing and funding a sustainable community radio station.

  Show Notes:

  • The Chicago Independent Radio Project
  • LPFM News: Chicago Independent Radio Project To Take Off
  • Radio Station Field Trip #105 – CHIRP Radio in Chicago
  • Podcast #60 – Happy National Radio Day!
  • Prometheus Radio Project
  • Learn more about LPFM
  • Spinning Indie Radio Station Field Trip to WLUW in Chicago
  • Spinning Indie Radio Station Field Trip to WZRD in Chicago
  • Radio Station Field Trip 7 – Northwestern’s WNUR

  The post Podcast #119 – Chicago Independent Radio Project appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/12/podcast-119-chicago-independent-radio-project/feed/ 0 41251 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/11/radio-station-visit-140-community-radio-station-kllg-lp-in-willits-california/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/11/radio-station-visit-140-community-radio-station-kllg-lp-in-willits-california/#respond Wed, 15 Nov 2017 21:04:52 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=39736 Mendocino County has a bounty of new community radio stations thanks to the recent low power FM (LPFM) application window and I was excited to get to visit one of those stations: KLLG-LP in Willits, California earlier this year. After spending the night near the coast, I headed inland, driving on a windy country road […]

  The post Radio Station Visit #140 – Community Radio Station KLLG-LP in Willits, California appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  Mendocino County has a bounty of new community radio stations thanks to the recent low power FM (LPFM) application window and I was excited to get to visit one of those stations: KLLG-LP in Willits, California earlier this year. After spending the night near the coast, I headed inland, driving on a windy country road through the forest to Willits. On my way, I passed campgrounds, a horse camp, logging operations, and vineyards before arriving at the Little Lake Grange, the non-profit that holds the FM license for KLLG. With headquarters in a beautiful, 100-year-old school building, it’s an idyllic place for a community radio station. And, as last month’s devastating fires in Mendocino County illustrated, hyper-local local radio can be an important lifeline during a crisis, particularly in small, rural communities.

  

  The Little Lake Grange in Willits, CA: home to LPFM radio station KLLG-LP. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  When fires came roaring through the Redwood Valley area just south of Willits in early October, KLLG-LP did its best to keep listeners informed. KLLG’s former Program Director Michelle Cummins told me over email that the Redwood Complex fire was about 8 miles from the station. She recounted that:

  Remarkably, we did not have any programmers who lost their homes, however, we all know people who did. We had many programmers who were in the mandatory and voluntary and evac zones. In the first hours of the fire incident, there was no internet or cell phones available. We definitely learned the importance of the relationship of a local radio station with all of the agencies that are first responders.

  

  Studio at LPFM community radio station KLLG-LP. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  Volunteers stepped up to report on the fires. According to Willits News,

  When cell phone towers were damaged and all cell phone communications (with the exception of satellite phones), and internet were unavailable over a two day period as a result of the Mendocino Lake Complex fire, KLLG and KZYX Public radio became the local sources of information in Willits.

  Mike Burgess, Lauren Jaslow and Liam UiCearbahil were some of the volunteer staffers manning the station and attempting to keep residents informed during the emergency.

  UiCearbahil in particular, came in to do the night shift from 11 p.m. to sunrise and relayed emergency and evacuation updates from CalFire, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and other sources throughout the night. Cummins said people told her they were very grateful to have his comforting familiar voice getting them through the confusion when the internet was down.

  

  Willits Hometown Radio sign at KLLG-LP. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  Having launched just a year prior, in September 2016, KLLG-LP had not faced this scale of an emergency. Programmers shared information about the fires, but had a number of challenges, including lack of internet access and road closures. Cummins said that the station learned a lot and offered advice for other community radio stations in order to better prepare for this type of  disaster:

  Tips for other LPFM stations would definitely be to host some kind of…open forum where you invite the first responder agencies such as highway patrol, sheriff, police department, fire departments, to come and learn about what the station can do for them and how they can use the station and view it as an asset to the community [and] the agencies. Being proactive is very important. Also, when reporting, definitely stick to the facts, use a calm and positive tone, [and] record and document everything. It’s a good idea to have a map of the area in the station as well.

  

  Signed Willits Fire Rescue T-shirt on wall of KLLG-LP in April, 2017. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  Cummins added, “I am very proud of our station, KLLG, for the support that we were able to offer our community in the week of this disaster. We had volunteers on air 24 hours a day for the first 72 hours and continued playing updated messages throughout the incident. The community has shown a lot of support and validated the importance of the station in times of disaster and in times of peace.”

  

  Album covers above bulletin board and white board at KLLG-LP. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  All of this support must be particularly gratifying since KLLG is a very young station. Whereas many other Mendocino County towns have community radio stations (including LPFM stations in Covelo, Laytonville, Ft. Bragg and Ukiah), Willits was one of the last to hit the airwaves.

  

  KLLG-LP stickers at the LPFM community radio station. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  Founder and former General Manager Lanny Cotler was instrumental in getting KLLG-LP off the ground and has been following the station’s progress. Over email he provided more back story about the station, telling me that he wanted to bring community radio to Willits. Cotler elaborated, “I saw the narrow window the FCC was offering to obtain one of a limited number of LP licenses, learned that rural areas with one application are a good bet to be granted the license, and it hit me how a hyperlocal station would be a great boon to a small community…”

  Cotler remarked, “The vision was that in order to survive our community had to become more RESILIENT. More self-reliant, more able for all sides within the community to communicate with each other—rich, poor, old, young, gay, straight, left, right. I wanted to set up a means of communication, a platform to do this. That’s what sold all sectors of this town on backing the idea of a low power FM radio station.”

  With the recent fire, he acknowledged that “KLLG rose to the occasion,” adding, “In a sense, we prove[d] ourselves to the town. We made mistakes. Many behind the mic didn’t know all the protocols, but we were for a few days the only means for citizens to get info on what was happening.”

  

  Poster from “station delivery” party for KLLG. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  When I met up with Cummins and other station volunteers back in April, we talked a lot about community, which is at the heart and soul of the station’s parent organization and landlord, The Little Lake Grange. Part of a large, national fraternal organization for farmers that dates back to 1867, the Grange, was historically a place where folks might share tools and farming skills, according to Cummins. The Little Lake Grange was founded in 1938 and was “primarily a farming organization into the 1950’s” that “gradually transformed itself into a community organization focused on the life of the Willits community,” states a Little Lake Grange brochure.

  A longtime Grange member, Cotler had his eye on the Grange building as an ideal spot for a radio studio, so approached the organization to be the sponsoring non-profit for the new LPFM. He also found synergy between the goals of the Grange and the new community radio station, explaining, “Since the goal of the Grange is to serve our community by making it more resilient, I wanted a radio station that would dedicate itself to that purpose: strengthening our community’s resiliency!”

  

  Promotional materials at the Little Lake Grange. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  Farming, food and community are still a vital part of the ethos of the Little Lake Grange. Today, the Little Lake Grange hosts numerous community events, including pancake breakfasts, concerts, film series, and a farmers market. It helped to establish a nearby farm school and also houses local grains in silos behind its building. Cummins added that Willits is an “active agrarian community.”

  

  Mini production studio at KLLG-LP. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  One benefit for KLLG is that its location within the Little Lake Grange building allows for easy access to its auditorium, which has a direct line to the radio station’s studio. This proximity has allowed the radio station to broadcast from various events, including pancake breakfasts. Focusing on locally-produced programming, the station was working to train programmers and build out its schedule when I visited in April, just a few months after the station first started running live shows. At the time, the Willits LPFM radio station had around 18 live shows a week, comprising 28 hours of the weekly schedule. Around sixty folks had gone through programming training by early April, with at least 20 more in the queue. An automated mix of music airs when there is no live show. By early November, KLLG was up to 30 programmers producing a total of 68 hours a week of locally-produced content.

  

  KLLG-LP entrance in the distance, just down the hall from Little Lake Grange auditorium (right side of photo). Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  The programming mix today includes a variety of music and talk shows, with music shows focused on reggae, local music, electronic music, bluegrass, blues, Americana, and more. Talk shows run the gamut from “Baby Talk” (birth stories) to “Steve on Sports” (sports talk). One of the more unusual shows, “BiPolar Express,” is hosted by Skunk Train (a historic train that runs through the redwoods from Ft. Bragg to Willits) conductor/train singer Greg Schindel. On the show he plays music and brings in a range of guests. Cummins explained that part of what makes the show unique is that, “he has two personalities and they talk to each other on the show.”

  

  Baby Talk host Mamma J. (Jaynene Johnson) in KLLG-LP studio. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  While KLLG has a small collection of vinyl records and CDs, most DJs bring in their own music to play, typically via CDs, vinyl records, cassettes, and digital files. During my visit, Chief Engineer Roger Wilson joked that the station has “one and a half turntables,” as he was working to fix a persistent hum emanating from one of them. The building’s vintage electrical system and 14-foot ceilings have presented various challenges for the station, yet much attention was put into the construction of KLLG’s free-standing, thick-walled studio within the former schoolhouse classroom space. Wilson, along with volunteers, did the majority of the work to build the studio and Cummins and others reminisced about crawling under the building in order to complete a few different tasks.

  

  “Live” studio sign at KLLG-LP. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  As she passes the torch to new Program Director Lauren Jaslow, Cummins shared that much has been accomplished in the past year, from creating procedures and training programs to developing plans for underwriting and fundraising. She pointed out, “Year two is about developing all of those systems” that have been put in place, particularly in the areas of “programming, engineering, and development…”

  While the station has accomplished a great deal already with a tiny volunteer staff, KLLG’s Finance Director Bob Fry told me that the station could accomplish even more with additional volunteers. Projects on the wish list require extra engineers (including folks who can simply run a show for tech-wary hosts), traffic managers (to schedule and run syndicated shows), and marketing experts to help get the word out about the station. Fry relayed that the station has the potential to bring together residents from their diverse community and that he’s already felt inspired by listener response to KLLG.

  

  CDs at community radio station KLLG-LP. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  Wilson reflected on the group effort required to get KLLG up and running, recounting that, “I’m used to building and making anything, but to have a team…who haven’t built a radio station before…to step up and say ‘this sounds like a good idea’ and we’ll learn all this esoteric voodoo that’s necessary to make something happen in spite of whatever noise gets in the way of us…For them to step up and put the effort in, separate from their regular lives and make it happen, it is…wonderful to see…I am delighted.”

  

  Bob Fry, Michelle Cummins and Roger Wilson at KLLG-LP. Photo: J. Waits/Radio Survivor

  Thanks to everyone at KLLG-LP for the warm welcome, including Lanny Cotler who reached out to Radio Survivor from the very beginning and to Michelle, Bob, and Roger for taking the time to speak with me during my visit.

  The post Radio Station Visit #140 – Community Radio Station KLLG-LP in Willits, California appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/11/radio-station-visit-140-community-radio-station-kllg-lp-in-willits-california/feed/ 0 39736 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/10/local-radios-value-demonstrated-emergencies/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/10/local-radios-value-demonstrated-emergencies/#respond Thu, 19 Oct 2017 17:01:41 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=40877 The local service of radio grows enormously in value when disaster strikes a community. This is what we’ve seen with the wildfires that have swept through the Northern California counties of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake and Solano beginning last week. Fast moving and unpredictable, these deadly fires also took out communications infrastructure like cell towers, […]

  The post Local Radio’s Value Demonstrated During Emergencies appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  The local service of radio grows enormously in value when disaster strikes a community. This is what we’ve seen with the wildfires that have swept through the Northern California counties of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake and Solano beginning last week. Fast moving and unpredictable, these deadly fires also took out communications infrastructure like cell towers, internet and cable TV, leaving radio as one of the most reliable sources of potentially life-saving information.

  Commercial and non-commercial stations stepped up to offer emergency information to residents and first responders. Large Bay Area stations offered coverage, but often it was smaller, locally-owned stations that could better serve the hyper-local information needs, able to report the conditions on the ground in specific towns, cities and neighborhoods, from what roads are shut down, to what kind of donations were most in need at specific emergency shelters.

  My San Francisco-based colleague Jennifer Waits reported hearing an emergency services press conference on “Sauvignon Rock” station KVYN-FM The Vine in Napa, which also ran a bilingual call-in show where residents could get answers regarding local emergency services. In addition emergency information was broadcast on Sonoma Community Radio KSVY and country station KZST in Sonoma.

  The Willits News in Mendocino County documented the service that LPFM KLLG provided the community:

  “Michelle Cummins, program manager at KLLG radio said people were coming up to her at Mariposa Market last week thanking her for the fledging station’s crucial role during the fire emergencies.

  “When cell phone towers were damaged and all cell phone communications (with the exception of satellite phones), and internet were unavailable over a two day period as a result of the Mendocino Lake Complex fire, KLLG and KZYX Public radio became the local sources of information in Willits.”

  Inside Radio talked with staff of two small commercial radio groups in the area, Wine Down Media and Redwood Empire Stereocasters (owner of KZST), which switched their stations’ music programming to “wall-to-wall coverage.” Staff at Redwood Empire studios even had to evacuate twice due to the fire threat, only to return when the flames receded. Owner Gordon Zlot recounted the story to public radio KALW in San Francisco.

  Radio newsletter Tom Taylor Now published a report from the Sonoma Media Group, owner of six stations, including news/talk KSRO. Market manager Michael O’Shea said the latter station ran, “24/7 commercial-free news coverage for 72 straight hours, with virtually all the group’s on-air people helping the news anchors with coverage, handling phones, feeding social media, etc.” The coverage was noticed and appreciated. “I can’t tell you how many times listeners would call and tell us this same discovery,” he said. “[T]hey almost had to re-learn the ultimate magic of local live radio.”

  Amateur radio operators also reported for duty, as they do during nearly every kind of disaster, natural or man-made. According to the American Radio Relay League ham radio operators were stationed at local hospitals and large nursing homes through the middle of last week in Mendocino County. In Sonoma County amateur operators were relaying fire and emergency information on amateur radio frequencies, and also supporting shelters and maintaining a presence at the area Emergency Operations Center.

  This celebration of local radio isn’t at the expense of other media platforms. Most of these stations maintained a strong presence on social media, providing updates along with live feeds from regular press briefings by local authorities whenever possible. Moreover, some stations had to rely only on their internet streams and social media when their transmitters were knocked off air by the fire.

  And, while internet and cell was out in some areas, this wasn’t the case everywhere. What this means is that radio is part of a fabric of media and communications, where each platform has its particular strengths and can be called to serve when and where other platforms are less appropriate, or unavailable.

  What makes the difference are the people who step up to do the work, to broadcast information and create that lifeline when needed. One advantage that a radio station has is that community trust – the standing of being a community asset that folks trust due to a record of service. You might say that a local radio station is authenticated – you know (in most cases) that they’re working hard to be accurate and reliable in their service, especially in trying times.

  With so many media and audio options available to us, it’s understandable if you don’t tune in to local radio every day. But don’t forget about your local stations, either. Because it’s all too likely that there will be a day when you need them, and tuning in will be vitally important.

  ---

  Additional reporting and contributions by Jennifer Waits

  The post Local Radio’s Value Demonstrated During Emergencies appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/10/local-radios-value-demonstrated-emergencies/feed/ 0 40877 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/09/college-radio-watch-zombie-apocalypse-war-worlds-news/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/09/college-radio-watch-zombie-apocalypse-war-worlds-news/#respond Sat, 30 Sep 2017 23:14:54 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=40815 Although college radio is my true love, community radio comes a close second. Local, independent radio stations in the United States are enjoying an unprecedented moment right now, as so many brand new stations are hitting the airwaves thanks to the Local Community Radio Act and the subsequent low power FM application window in 2013. […]

  The post College Radio Watch: Zombie Apocalypse, War of the Worlds and More News appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  Although college radio is my true love, community radio comes a close second. Local, independent radio stations in the United States are enjoying an unprecedented moment right now, as so many brand new stations are hitting the airwaves thanks to the Local Community Radio Act and the subsequent low power FM application window in 2013. Some four years later, we are now seeing the results of hard working activists, radio enthusiasts, and passionate volunteers, as new LPFM radio stations launch all over the country.

  This week, I was glad that my Radio Survivor colleague Matthew Lasar and I had the opportunity to talk community radio with Ben Fong-Torres for his San Francisco Chronicle column “Radio Waves.” The piece is online now and will be in this Sunday’s print edition in the “pink” section of the paper. It was fun to share recent community radio news with him, particularly as it pertains to the San Francisco Bay Area. Many community radio stations are packed with college radio alums, so that scene is truly an extension of that culture.

  Speaking of community radio, we preview the upcoming Grassroots Radio Conference on this week’s podcast. Taking place in Albany, New York from October 6-9, the event welcomes folks from LPFM, community radio, and college radio stations.

  More College Radio News

  College Radio Profiles and News

  New WTBU Studio Prepares to Open (Daily Free Press)

  WBRU Sale Could Put Direction of Station Back in Students’ Hands (The Brown Daily Herald)

  Five Reasons to Join College Radio Station WCUR (The Quad)

  Women in American College Radio (The Panoptic)

  College Radio Behind the Scenes at XLR (Index Journal)

  KVRX Works to Grow Music Diversity Initiative (The Daily Texan)

  Middlebury Radio Speaks Volumes (The Middlebury Campus)

  Profiling WMSC Sports DJ Mario Papa (The Montclarion)

  Nardwuar The Human Serviette Reflects on 30 Years of Campus Radio (BeatRoute)

  From College Radio to Parliament (LawFuel)

  College Radio Events

  Theater Roanoke and WRKE to Collaborate on “War of the Worlds” (The Roanoke Times)

  College Radio Station Participates in Mock Zombie Apocalypse (The Columbus Dispatch)

  WSUM Participates in Sustain-a-Bash (The Daily Cardinal)

  College Radio Station KSDB co-sponsors Banned Books Week events (The Collegian)

  Broadcasting Peace: From Ghana to Charlottesville (UVa Today)

  CBI Taps Roger Lindley to Keynote Conference (Radio World)

  Radio Education

  10th Edition Published of Radio Textbook (Southeast Missouri State University)

  The post College Radio Watch: Zombie Apocalypse, War of the Worlds and More News appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/09/college-radio-watch-zombie-apocalypse-war-worlds-news/feed/ 0 40815 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/09/podcast-110-grassroots-radio-conference-preview/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/09/podcast-110-grassroots-radio-conference-preview/#respond Tue, 26 Sep 2017 07:05:30 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=40802 The Grassroots Radio Conference is an annual meeting of community, college and other non-commercial radio stations for the purpose of skill-sharing, training and strengthening ties. We talk with Caitlin Reading, a LPFM station startup specialist who is helping to organize this year’s GRC, happening Oct. 6 – 9 at WCAA-LP in Albany, NY, to learn […]

  The post Podcast #110 – Grassroots Radio Conference Preview appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  The Grassroots Radio Conference is an annual meeting of community, college and other non-commercial radio stations for the purpose of skill-sharing, training and strengthening ties. We talk with Caitlin Reading, a LPFM station startup specialist who is helping to organize this year’s GRC, happening Oct. 6 – 9 at WCAA-LP in Albany, NY, to learn what will be happening.

  Then Paul and Jennifer reflect on the two decade history of the GRC, and its evolution and growth alongside the birth and flowering of low-power FM radio.

  Show Notes:

  • Grassroots Radio Conference 2017
  • WCAA-LP, Albany, NY
  • Podcast #68 – Report Back from the Grass Roots Radio Conference 2016
  • Radio World: Optimism Infuses Grassroots Conference – Jennifer’s report from 2012
  • Community radio broadcasters and builders converged at GRC 2012
  • Podcast #67 – New Community Radio in Borneo (interview with Jim Ellinger)
  • Podcast #72 – Pete Tridish Celebrates an LPFM Success Story
  • Radio Station Visit #124 – WRIR-LP in Richmond, VA
  • Podcast #88 – From Color Radio to WRIR

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  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/09/podcast-110-grassroots-radio-conference-preview/feed/ 0 40802 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/08/low-power-lpam/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/08/low-power-lpam/#comments Mon, 07 Aug 2017 20:39:55 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=40615 With the last group of low-power FM stations approved in the 2013 licensing window now going on the air—and no new LPFM windows scheduled—many folks are wondering what other licensed low-powered broadcasting opportunities might exist. So far this year we at Radio Survivor have fielded quite a few inquiries from people who would like to […]

  The post What about Low-Power AM (LPAM)? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  With the last group of low-power FM stations approved in the 2013 licensing window now going on the air—and no new LPFM windows scheduled—many folks are wondering what other licensed low-powered broadcasting opportunities might exist. So far this year we at Radio Survivor have fielded quite a few inquiries from people who would like to start a station, or who are simply curious about the subject.

  A handful of them asked about the possibility for a low-power AM radio service. It’s a reasonable question, especially since in the last decade the FCC has made so-called “AM revitalization” one of its broadcast priorities, and the Netherlands approved its own low-power AM service last year (machine translation from Dutch).

  As it turns out, several proposals to create a LPAM service have been submitted to the FCC, with the first coming in 1997. However, it’s obvious that none have become reality.

  The proposal that received the most serious consideration came from a coalition of groups led by Don Schellhardt and Nick Leggett—the latter responsible for the first 1997 proposal—two members of the Amherst Alliance which also contributed to the proposal that kicked off the eventual creation of LPFM. Filed in August, 2005, this petition suggested a commercial low-power service. Commercial, because petitioners contended that stations would need advertising revenue to be economically viable, in addition to providing advertising opportunities for small businesses unable to afford time on full-power stations.

  I interviewed Schellhardt about it back in 2004 for my old radio show and podcast, “Mediageek.” The archive audio is still available.

  That proposal was itself a follow-up to one filed two years earlier by broadcast engineer Fred Baumbartner, which was never taken up by the FCC. This time around the Commission did open up a proceeding, RM–11287, in which about 75 comments were filed. The filing didn’t escape the attention of commercial broadcast industry groups, which generally opposed the idea. The National Association of Broadcasters wrote, “the LPAM Petition threatens to undermine the Commission’s efforts to clean up and improve the AM band,” presaging the current AM Revitalization effort.

  A year later the original petitioners, joined by REC Networks, submitted a “streamlined proposal” to use technical specifications inspired by 10-watt Travelers’ Information Stations. Those are the stations which you’ll see advertised on the highway offering road condition updates and tourist information.

  Ultimately the LPAM proposal received no additional action from the FCC, and the proceeding was closed formally on January 30, 2015.

  Gone, perhaps, but not forgotten. Only seven months later Radio World published a commentary by independent broadcaster Jim Potter advocating for LPAM in order to revive “live and local” radio.

  Making no reference to the earlier Schellhardt/Leggett or Baumgartner petitions, Potter called for stations to be licensed at 250 to 500 watts of power (Schellhardt/Leggett originally proposed just 100 watts, the same as LPFM), but did not specify commercial or non-commercial service. “ He argued that high-powered AM stations, “are doomed to wither because large mass-appeal stations cannot serve the ever-increasing diversity of large urban populations.” The solution would be low-powered AM stations for communities to,

  “satisfy their own local needs, including radio swap shop; city council and school board meetings; ask the mayor call-in shows; high school ballgame remotes; community calendar, school lunch menus, local news and views and inexpensive spots read live by the local announcer. In other words, live and local content, reasons for folks to dust off their kitchen AM radios and find the new station in town. Fancy that!”

  (The tenor of this argument ought to sound pretty worn in to anyone familiar to community radio and LPFM.)

  Though the FCC decided not to carry low-power AM forward, that doesn’t mean the idea doesn’t have merit and isn’t technically feasibly. Rather, as it is with communications policy, the barrier is political. Not political as in Republican or Democratic, but political with respect to the power of numbers.

  Looking over the comments to the Schellhardt/Leggett proposal it’s clear there just wasn’t a groundswell of support. By comparison, the push for LPFM in the late 90s joined together a broad coalition that even included the United Church of Christ, alongside a multitude of broadcast professionals, public interest groups, musicians, artists and individuals, with tens of thousands of filings submitted to the FCC.

  I don’t fault the original LPAM petitioners for the outcome. Building the needed coalition and overwhelming grassroots support is hard, hard work, and only a tiny fraction of proposals to the FCC are ever granted any kind of consideration, never mind actually becoming policy. My sense is that AM radio simply isn’t that attractive to enough groups and people. Moreover, many of the advocacy groups one might expect to back a new low-powered radio service are likely preoccupied (if not overwhelmed) with supporting existing and new LPFM stations, or focused on other enormous public interest battles, like net neutrality and media ownership.

  So, I have to conclude that a new low-power AM broadcast service in the U.S. is very unlikely. That said, anyone can submit a fresh proposal and dig in. However, it would be wise to learn from the previous proposals and the success of LPFM and think about how to build a movement—especially one that can meet or beat the expected resistance from the established broadcast industry, which has consistently opposed all low-powered radio efforts of the last twenty years.

  That said, if you’re interested in getting on the air I’d strongly recommend researching to see if there’s an existing community radio station or new LPFM in your area. To aid in your search, Wikipedia has a reasonably accurate list of community stations (though unhelpfully listed alphabetically, rather than geographically), and REC Networks maintains a list of low-power FM construction permits that have been granted since 2013. Odds are there’s a station somewhere that could use some help and some new programmers. It may not be as exciting as starting your own station, but it’s also not nearly as expensive or labor-intensive. In any event, any opportunity to broadcast is valuable, and shouldn’t be dismissed.

  The post What about Low-Power AM (LPAM)? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/08/low-power-lpam/feed/ 1 40615 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/07/still-time-to-sign-up-for-diy-fm-radio-summer-camp/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/07/still-time-to-sign-up-for-diy-fm-radio-summer-camp/#comments Fri, 21 Jul 2017 23:52:39 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=40520 If you’ve been telling yourself since forever that you want to learn the deets on building a low power FM broadcast system, here’s your chance. Free Radio Berkeley is running a four day DIY workshop on the subject, to be run out of Rodeo, California on September 1-4. “With an emphasis on direct, hands-on learning, […]

  The post Still time to sign up for DIY FM radio summer camp appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  If you’ve been telling yourself since forever that you want to learn the deets on building a low power FM broadcast system, here’s your chance. Free Radio Berkeley is running a four day DIY workshop on the subject, to be run out of Rodeo, California on September 1-4.
  

  “With an emphasis on direct, hands-on learning, you will learn how to solder, identify electronic components, assemble an FM broadcast transmitter from a kit of parts, build and tune an antenna, properly setup and test broadcast equipment and much more,” the “Seize the Airwaves” brochure we received explains. “Further, you will be given an overview of basic electronics and broadcast engineering.”

  Anyone 16 or older can sign up for the camp. The workshop fee is sliding scale: $200-$300. At the end of the course you can buy a transmitter.

  Tickets at Eventbrite.

  More information on the FRB Facebook page.

   

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  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/07/still-time-to-sign-up-for-diy-fm-radio-summer-camp/feed/ 1 40520 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/interference-conflict-unlicensed-stations-new-zealand/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/interference-conflict-unlicensed-stations-new-zealand/#respond Thu, 29 Jun 2017 04:59:17 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=40411 From Wellington, New Zealand comes news that a commercial radio group is planning a new station that threatens one run by an elementary school, MaranuiFM. The commercial radio group Mediaworks plans to run its popular “Polly and Grant” morning show on a 24-hour loop at 106.7 FM, the same frequency as the school station. Typically […]

  The post Interference Conflict Between Unlicensed Stations in New Zealand appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  From Wellington, New Zealand comes news that a commercial radio group is planning a new station that threatens one run by an elementary school, MaranuiFM. The commercial radio group Mediaworks plans to run its popular “Polly and Grant” morning show on a 24-hour loop at 106.7 FM, the same frequency as the school station.

  Typically one would expect that the government radio regulator would ensure that two stations wouldn’t interfere, and that an existing school station could not be encroached upon by a new commercial station. However, it turns out that these stations are both unlicensed, and so not under the purview of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment—at least not when it comes to interfering with each other.

  You see, new Zealand has legal, unlicensed low-power FM radio on two sets of frequencies, from 86.7 to 88.3 mHz and 106.7 to 107.7 mHz. I first wrote about this service in January after visiting the country and discovering some unlicensed 1-watt stations. I noted that despite the possible fear that these loosely regulated bands would turn into chaos, they generally don’t, and that the LPFM Society of New Zealand exists as an independent organization to help mediate conflicts between stations.

  So, a situation like this puts the laissez-faire approach to the test. Responding to concerns about interference, it appears that Mediaworks has issued assurances that its new station won’t interfere with MaranuiFM. The LPFM Society doesn’t appear to be involved at all, and may even be defunct, since there are no updates since 2013.

  The school broadcasts from Lyall Bay, on the southeast end of Wellington, which lies. The commercial station plans to broadcast from central Wellington, roughly about 4 to 5 km from Lyall Bay.

  Given that each station is limited to 1 watt of power, it’s quite plausible that this distance is sufficient to avoid significant interference within each one’s strongest signal area. Reception on the outer fringes might be more dodgy.

  However, the question that comes to my mind is, why does Mediaworks have to broadcast on the same frequency as the school? Between 106.7 and 107.7 mHz there are two to four other frequencies that wouldn’t pose any interference threat. The Wikipedia entry for radio stations in Wellington only lists five LPFMs at the right end of the dial, and two of them—both 107.5— are located in the northern suburbs, many kilometers from Central Wellington.

  The Radioheritage.net guide lists eight stations in that band around Wellington, and does not include MaranuiFM, even though it’s been broadcasting since 2008. Even so, all but one are located further away from Central Wellington than Lyall Bay, ostensibly making those frequencies clearer for Mediaworks than 106.7.

  Of course, 106.7 FM is the frequency closest to the licensed end of the dial. Moreover, because LPFM is unlicensed there may be other stations operating that are not listed in either of these directories. Only someone on the ground with an actual radio knows for sure.

  It surprised me that a commercial radio group was planning an unlicensed LPFM in the first place. It never occurred to me that a licensed broadcaster would bother with a 1-watt station. At the same time, there’s likely little cost and risk for the broadcaster, especially compared to building a full-power licensed station. If the 1-watter brings in some additional listeners and revenue, then it might be worth it.

  But that makes me worry. What if Mediaworks’ low-power experiment is a success? Would other commercial radio groups investigate building their own unlicensed LPFMs? Even if only in dense urban areas—of which there are few in New Zealand—this seems out of step with the intent of unlicensed LPFMs, and would pose a definite threat to the service as a community radio resource.

  I’ll be watching, since I’ve fantasized about having such a service here in the U.S. With such a cramped dial in most markets, I realize it really is a fantasy. But if it were to come true—perhaps if the low end of the FM dial were liberated by the eventual digital transition of LPTV—would it just get squatted by comparatively well-resourced commercial groups, unless it were explicitly deemed non-commercial?

  My hope is that cooperation will rule the day on the Wellington dial, and that the commercial station really won’t interfere with the elementary school station. And if there is interference, Mediaworks will do the right thing and resolve it, rather than trouncing on MaranuiFM or forcing the school to accommodate its rude intrusion.

  The post Interference Conflict Between Unlicensed Stations in New Zealand appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/interference-conflict-unlicensed-stations-new-zealand/feed/ 0 40411 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/podcast-97-phillycams-lpfm-city-brotherly-love/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/podcast-97-phillycams-lpfm-city-brotherly-love/#respond Tue, 27 Jun 2017 07:05:55 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=40389 Intrepid radio tourist Jennifer Waits reports back from her journey to PhillyCAM radio in the City of Brotherly Love, adding a low-power FM station, WPPM-LP, to an established public access TV operation. Following up on episode #96 we catch up on the latest smart speaker research and Jennifer shares news about two college stations sold […]

  The post Podcast #97: PhillyCAM’s LPFM in the City of Brotherly Love appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  Intrepid radio tourist Jennifer Waits reports back from her journey to PhillyCAM radio in the City of Brotherly Love, adding a low-power FM station, WPPM-LP, to an established public access TV operation. Following up on episode #96 we catch up on the latest smart speaker research and Jennifer shares news about two college stations sold off to the highest bidder.

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

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  Show Notes

  • Podcast #96 – Are Smart Speakers Smart for Community Radio?
  • Matthew’s Hybrid Highbrow Podcast #1
  • My TV Roamio is an Internet Radio
  • My Sonos is an Internet Radio
  • PhillyCAM Celebrates Community Media Day (Jennifer’s report for Radio World)
  • Radio Station Visit #138 – Philadelphia’s Community Radio Station WPPM-LP
  • College Radio Watch: Weber State to Sell KWCR License to EMF, WUMD’s Final Days of FM
  • UMass Dartmouth Plans to Sell License for WUMD
  • Radio World: Radio Survivor Launches Podcast
  • UMass Dartmouth Plans to Sell License for WUMD

  The post Podcast #97: PhillyCAM’s LPFM in the City of Brotherly Love appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/podcast-97-phillycams-lpfm-city-brotherly-love/feed/ 0 40389 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/lpfm-stations-get-boost/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/lpfm-stations-get-boost/#respond Fri, 23 Jun 2017 11:01:02 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=40380 For the first time, the FCC just granted booster stations to two LPFMs in California. Like the name implies, a booster helps a station to fill in parts of its broadcast area where geographic impediments–like hills or mountains–prevent the signal from being received well where it otherwise should be heard. Unlike a translator repeater station, […]

  The post LPFM Stations Get a Boost appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  For the first time, the FCC just granted booster stations to two LPFMs in California. Like the name implies, a booster helps a station to fill in parts of its broadcast area where geographic impediments–like hills or mountains–prevent the signal from being received well where it otherwise should be heard. Unlike a translator repeater station, boosters operate on the same frequency as the primary station.

  This move is notable because previously the Commission had prevented LPFM stations from having boosters, ruling that the booster essentially constituted a second station. Unlike with other classes of stations, organizations may own only one LPFM, and an LPFM may not be co-owned with another radio station—with a few exceptions for Tribal stations and student-operated LPFMs at colleges and universities. However, LPFMs are permitted to own up to two translator stations, which are only permitted to repeat the broadcast of the primary station.

  REC Networks is responsible for the filings which convinced the FCC to change course and grant waivers allowing the boosters. In part, REC argued that a booster should be considered equivalent to a translator station, which an LPFM is permitted to own.

  While this is an exciting win for low-power FM, REC cautions that, “for 95% of the LPFM stations out there, a booster will not work.” That’s because the circumstances and terrain surrounding the two California stations that were granted waivers are unique. Moreover, quite a bit of engineering expertise is needed to make the case for a booster—more than was required to apply for the LPFM in the first place.

  To help stations understand the implications of a booster station, REC put together a “FM Boosters for LPFM” fact sheet.

  The post LPFM Stations Get a Boost appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/lpfm-stations-get-boost/feed/ 0 40380 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/radio-silence-10-part-series-explores-iraq-displacements/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/radio-silence-10-part-series-explores-iraq-displacements/#respond Fri, 23 Jun 2017 04:33:10 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=40377 “Radio Silence” is a ten-part radio event from Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz that will launch on July 29 with a live performance on Independence Mall in Philadelphia. The series returns famed Iraqi broadcast journalist Bahjat Adulawahed to the airwaves, along with the talents of Iraqi refugees, Iraq War veterans, musicians and performers, to frame the […]

  The post ‘Radio Silence’ – 10-Part Series Explores Iraq & Its Displacements appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  “Radio Silence” is a ten-part radio event from Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz that will launch on July 29 with a live performance on Independence Mall in Philadelphia. The series returns famed Iraqi broadcast journalist Bahjat Adulawahed to the airwaves, along with the talents of Iraqi refugees, Iraq War veterans, musicians and performers, to frame the experiences of the participants and reconstruct an Iraq “dematerialized by literal destruction and diasporadic separation.”

  According to Mural Arts,

  Material is drawn from their own experiences in Iraq, America, and in between–from the progressive Iraq of the 1960s, to the decimation of physical and emotional landscapes during and after the 2003 American invasion and subsequent war in Iraq, to the realities of life in the United States, post-immigration and/or post-war. The program animates Iraq through scattered protagonists, conflating geography, time, and experience, as the audio (ranging from field recording and first-person narrative to music and poetry), layers like fragments of excavated artifacts.

  The Prometheus Radio Project is a presenting partner along with Mural Arts Philadelphia, Warrior Writers and Philadelphia public access and LPFM station PhillyCAM. The entire series will be available free to air for non-commercial stations, as well as available streaming online and as a podcast for listeners. The project partners hope to bring together a global network of stations to air this unique radio performance project.

  The July 29 kick-off performance will be broadcast live on PhillyCAM, and available as a live stream. Learn more at the Mural Arts website.

  Here’s a trailer for “Radio Silence”:
  

  The post ‘Radio Silence’ – 10-Part Series Explores Iraq & Its Displacements appeared first on Radio Survivor.

  ]]> https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/radio-silence-10-part-series-explores-iraq-displacements/feed/ 0 40377 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/whats-deal-lpfm-hd-radio/ https://www.radiosurvivor.com/2017/06/whats-deal-lpfm-hd-radio/#comments Fri, 09 Jun 2017 05:50:29 +0000 https://www.radiosurvivor.com/?p=40306 Our latest podcast is all about the first, and—to the best of our knowledge—only low-power FM station broadcasting digitally with HD Radio. The episode has stimulated quite a bit of conversation on social media and raised some questions about the relationship between LPFM and HD Radio. Here I’ll try to answer the most common questions […]

  The post What’s the Deal with LPFM and HD Radio? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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  Our latest podcast is all about the first, and—to the best of our knowledge—only low-power FM station broadcasting digitally with HD Radio. The episode has stimulated quite a bit of conversation on social media and raised some questions about the relationship between LPFM and HD Radio. Here I’ll try to answer the most common questions and clear up some of the confusion.

  The station we profiled is KVCB-LP, a high school station operated by Vacaville Christian Schools in Vacaville, CA. Ralph Martin, the operations director, contacted us months ago to let us know about his experiment in broadcasting in HD Radio. For those who are unfamiliar, HD Radio is a digital broadcasting standard that works on the analog AM and FM dials, allowing stations to add a digital signal that can carry one to three channels of programming.

  Because the digital signal is a sideband to the primary analog transmission, it expands the amount of space a station takes up on the dial (a reason why critics oppose the technology in the first place). To mitigate the effect this has on adjacent stations, the digital HD signal can broadcast at no more than 10% of the station’s rated power. So a 10kw station can have an HD signal broadcasting at no more than 1kw.

  A LPFM station, then, which is limited to 100 watts, can have an HD signal with no more than 10 watts of power. But, as Martin explained, that isn’t the primary barrier for LPFM stations to broadcast in HD. What he found is that there simply aren’t any LPFM-approved transmitters available for HD.

  You see, HD Radio requires a specialized transmitter. It’s not just some kind of add-on, like a signal processor. But HD Radio transmitters are designed for full-power stations, presumably because manufacturers—correctly—presume there is very little market amongst LPFM stations.

  As he explains on the podcast, Martin eventually found a LPFM transmitter model that is similar to one used for translator repeater stations, that can have an HD module added to it. Essentially, putting KVCB on air in HD required some hacking, with willing assistance from the manufacturer.

  Although KVCB’s HD signal is only 7 watts strong, Martin tells us that the signal is about as robust as the analog signal, often coming in better in places where the station’s analog signal is weak. In addition to the main HD–1 digital signal, which is required to simulcast the station’s primary analog signal, KVCB broadcasts HD–2 and HD–3 channels with alternative programming, with all student-created programming on HD–2, and HD–3 broadcasting school information.

  Should LPFMs Go HD?

  The question we’ve been hearing since releasing the podcast is: Is HD Radio a wise, or even necessary, investment for LPFM stations? Based upon the scant evidence we have so far, it’s hard to make that case.

  Martin told us that one of his motivations for doing the interview is to network with other LPFM stations interested in HD, with the goal of convincing equipment manufacturers to make the necessary transmitters. While my intention is not to oppose his goal, I have to honest in my assessment.

  Frankly, it’s even tough to make a strong argument for a full-power station to adopt HD Radio. Home HD Radios are rare. Most HD Radio receivers are in cars, where listeners are often unaware of the fact that they’re listening to a digital signal, as their radios seamlessly shift between analog and digital signals, depending on what’s stronger.

  Sure, there are the additional HD–2 and HD–3 channels, but these aren’t easy to scan like analog stations. It takes a few extra seconds for an HD receiver to lock on to the digital signal and then find the HD–2 or 3 channel. Doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but when you’re used to the near instant tuning of analog stations, a few seconds is an eternity. In practice, this means the the driver scanning the dial on her HD-capable car radio will only occasionally stumble upon an HD–2 or HD–3 signal.

  Of course, if you know about an HD–2 or HD–3 signal that you want to tune in, you can do that. But, really, how many HD–2 or HD–3 stations do YOU know about? If you have an HD Radio capable radio in your car—and you know it’s HD capable—how often do you seek out HD–2 or HD–3 signals?

  So, if HD Radio is a questionable investment for a full-power commercial station, it’s an even dicier proposition for a non-profit, non-commercial LPFM. The big question is: How will HD Radio enhance an LPFM’s service?

  Though having one or two additional channels to program is enticing, as it is, plenty of new LPFMs have a hard enough time filling all 168 hours of the broadcast week for their main channel with fresh, live programming. How do they expand to 336 or 504 hours?

  An even bigger question is: How many people in your community have HD Radios, and use them within your broadcast radius?

  If HD Radio were an inexpensive technology, these questions would still be relevant, but would constitute speed bumps rather than roadblocks. But HD Radio is not cheap. As Martin explained to us, the one transmitter that can be modified for HD costs between $5,000 and $8,000—more than most LPFM transmitters.

  Plus, most new LPFMs are already on air. So, going HD would require replacing their current transmitters wholesale.

  On top of equipment costs, HD Radio is a patented and licensed technology. Unlike analog FM tech, it’s not free to use. Stations pay a licensing fee to adopt HD Radio channels, and then an annual fee for digital sub channels.

  Unfortunately, we didn’t get into this free structure with Ralph Martin in our interview. So I’m not certain on how much a noncommercial LPFM would be expected to pay, given that the annual fee is based on 3% of revenue.

  But any additional fee is a burden for many LPFMs, whether it’s the money or the additional paperwork.

  As it is, I can’t advocate for your average LPFM to adopt HD Radio technology. For most stations, I simply can’t see how it would enhance their local service enough to justify the additional cost and complication.

  That said, if you’ve got the money and the time to mess around with it, I can’t make a strong argument that it’s an utter waste. Rather, it’s best considered an experiment, in that the results and impact are unknown. It may be that listeners in your community are ready to take advantage of an HD signal and any sub channels. But that’s a question only the broadcaster can answer.

  If you’re interested in learning more, you’re invited to reach out to Ralph Martin at KVCB.

  What About These LPFM HD-2s I Hear About?

  It’s not uncommon for commercial and non-commercial stations that use HD Radio to rent or lend out their HD–2 and HD–3 signals to other broadcasters. As we’ve reported, in some cases an HD–2 signal on another station has been offered up as a consolation prize to college stations that had their licenses sold, making them otherwise internet-only.

  In other cases there are LPFMs or small community stations that also broadcast on a larger station’s HD2 channel in order to reach a somewhat wider audience. A more common use is to feed a translator repeater station that extends the station’s reach.

  As Michelle Bradley of REC Networks informed me, it’s legal for LPFMs to own and operate up to two translator stations, but those repeaters are limited in how far away they can be sited; generally between 10 and 20 miles away, and the repeater must be fed by the LPFM’s over-the-air signal. But if a full-powered station’s HD–2 channel is used to feed the translator the repeater doesn’t have to be limited to the low-powered station’s broadcast area–it only has to be within reach of the broadcast area of its higher-powered host.

  But it’s important not to confuse a LPFM that is rebroadcast on a larger station’s HD–2 as the same as the LPFM having a HD Radio broadcast itself. It’s more like an AM station that gets onto the FM dial by leasing some HD–2 space on an FM station. It has nothing to do with a LPFM actually getting an HD Radio transmitter and broadcasting in HD.

  Isn’t HD the Future?

  In our interview Martin tells us that one of the reasons he looked into HD Radio is to sort of future proof the station, in the eventuality that it becomes the radio broadcast standard in the U.S., in the same way that digital broadcasting replaced analog on television in 2009. Though not impossible, a digital radio transition is not likely in the near future.

  For perspective, note that the digital television transition required an act of Congress, paired with a subsidy so that Americans could buy reduced price converter boxes for their analog TVs. Moreover, digital TV offered a very obvious and visible upgrade, by supporting a high definition picture with four times the resolution of analog broadcast.

  While the “HD” in HD Radio implies that it’s somehow “high definition,” the same quality upgrade doesn’t quite apply. Digital HD Radio signals are not susceptible to noise and interference like analog signals, but the quality difference between a HD Radio signal and good analog reception is minor in most cases. The addition of more channels per stations qualifies as an upgrade of sorts, although as someone who regularly surfs the HD–2 and HD–3 signals, it doesn’t seem like most broadcasters have figured out any profitable purpose for them.

  HD Radio was sold to the FCC based upon its ability to work alongside analog signals, to supplement, rather than replace. It seems as though there was not, and is not, much of an appetite to transition the country to an all-new radio standard, obsoleting millions of receivers in the process.

  I suspect it would require a similar act of Congress to transition the nation to digital radio, and I frankly don’t see that happening. Mostly because I don’t see the broadcast industry lining up in support, seeing little return on investment for the massive infrastructure upgrade. Plus, there are millions more radios out there than televisions, with the most valuable ones (from a broadcaster’s standpoint) installed in cars, where they are less likely to be upgraded. Instead, a driver with a newly obsolete radio would probably just switch to her smartphone.

  Therefore, I don’t see HD Radio as a strategy for future-proofing. Even in the unlikely event of a digital radio transition, stations will get years—if not a decade—of notice.

  LPFM + HD: A Valuable Experiment

  I’m grateful to Ralph Martin and KVCB-LP for experimenting with HD Radio and low-power FM. We’ve always relied on the tinkerers and experimenters to push radio forward.

  Frankly, I was surprised to learn from him that KVCB’s HD signal is nearly as strong as its analog signal, even at 7% of the power. It goes to show that we can’t necessarily generalize based upon the performance of a 10 kilowatt transmission to a 100 watt transmission; not everything is linear.

  Even if HD doesn’t gain traction in LPFM, Martin and KVCB have contributed useful findings to our knowledge of the medium, and have valuable experience and tips to share for any stations that want to try out HD.

  The post What’s the Deal with LPFM and HD Radio? appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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