Episodes
“Grass Roots Radio Conference has been a giant jump start in my learning process,” said Julia Rose of KPSQ lp in Fayetteville Arkansas. Radio Survivor’s Jennifer Waits attended the GRC and she reports back for us with her own observations as well as wi...
Jim Ellinger of Austin Airwaves joins us on the program to share a preview of his talk “Community Radio, A Global View,” which he is giving at this year’s Grass Roots Radio Conference. Jim is recently back from the highlands of Borneo,
The stereotypical college radio station plays a free-form music format and functions as an extra-curricular student club. But the diversity in community and college radio is what we at Radio Survivor are here to celebrate. On this week’s show,
Our intrepid radio tourist Jennifer Waits will be attending two big radio conferences this fall, the 2016 Grassroots Radio Conference and CBI’s National Student Electronic Media Convention. She gives us a preview of what’s in store,
“The best way to cultivate a sensibility of what makes for a good [radio] interview is to pre-tape your interviews and set aside large amounts of time to edit them down to half the length they start at. Because it makes you think really critically abou...
Two stations: KVCU Radio 1190 at University of Coloradio, Boulder and The SOCC, The Sounds of Colorado College. One has a professional general manager, the other a student general manager. One is terrestrial, the other is online.
The FCC just released its long-awaited revision to media ownership rules. After years of back-and-forth with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals there are very few changes. Prof. Christopher Terry, of the University of Minnesota School of Journalism,
Becky Meiers is our guest to help us better understand some best practices for fundraising in community radio. She’s the development director for KBOO in Portland, OR. Becky has tips for planning on-air pledge drives and more fundraising advice for sta...
We celebrate National Radio Day, August 20, with this special episode. Jennifer Waits shares her tour of the Chicago Independent Radio Project. Then Paul Riismandel and Eric Klein join her in reflecting on some of their favorite moments as radio listen...
Radio Survivor’s Matthew Lasar is fascinated by the news of what is going on at community stations in places outside of the U.S. like India, South East Asia, Mexico, and Africa. He is especially interested in the dramatic and sometimes extreme nature o...
On this episode of Radio Survivor, Paul Riismandel talks with the editor and founder of Tedium.co, Ernie Smith about their mutual fascination with back-door, Franken FM stations, the TV broadcasters who use analog Channel 6 to be heard at 87.
It’s time to get ready for National Radio Day on August 20. Paul Riismandel has the details at the top of the show, followed by an interview with Ernesto Aguilar, the incoming Membership Program Director of the National Federation of Community Broadcas...
Jennifer Waits brings us a tour of Met Radio at Metropolitan State University of Denver, CO, where the students are trying to embrace the experimental spirit of college radio. Co-host Paul Riismandel delivers a report from friend of the show,
Not all amateur radio enthusiasts are old guys. This is obviously a statement of fact, but it took a listener to the podcast to write in and remind us. Co-host, Eric Klein apologizes for error. Paul Riismandel attended a local marketing conference as p...
Eric and Paul do some “dusting up,” by reviewing some reader emails about carrier current radio. Paul brings the good news about KPLU in Tacoma, WA, which was purchased from its university owner by a community group in order to preserve its local owner...
Even when a station goes off the air — like Hastings College’s KFKX — more go on the air every day. Jennifer Waits joins to share the sad news about KFKX, but also has positive news to report about a new LPFM community station in the heart of San Franc...
Low Power FM radio stations can be a great addition to the media landscape in the big city, but on this episode we focus on rural LPFM. Eric Klein takes listeners on a tour of KFSL, the low power FM station that is the sole broadcaster in Fossil,
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld the FCC’s open internet rules, also known as net neutrality. Co-Host of the podcast Eric Klein admits that he still finds it hard to believe that the big telecom companies can lose so Paul Riismandel expl...
The FCC has made nearly zero progress in its Congressionally mandated review and revision of media ownership rules for more than a decade. Instead the Commission has been dragging its feet for 13 years by failing to comply adequately to the ruling of t...
Community radio is about access and social justice. In a digital world, this includes digital equity: access and training to use the tools of the internet and digital media. Sabrina Roach joins to explain why community radio stations should make digita...
It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for. College radio correspondent Jennifer Waits shares her 100th radio station tour, and reflects on what she’s learned about radio in the process of reaching this rare milestone. What station is number 100?
College radio correspondent Jennifer Waits shares her 99th radio station tour. This time, her guide at Hunter College’s WHCS was prepared with historical artifacts for Jennifer’s perusal. Then Eric and Paul dive into more adult territory,
Like community radio, podcasts can serve communities of many different types. Getting involved with the local improv comedy scene reminded Eric of his experience in community radio. He and Paul discuss the podcast Eric is producing that’s intended to s...
College radio correspondent Jennifer Waits joins for a discussion on the difficulty of claiming “firsts” in radio. Sparked by claims that WTBU in Boston was the first college station to stream online in 1999, Jennifer,
Radio Survivor co-founder Matthew Lasar has just released a new book. Radio 2.0 explores the development of radio into its current form as both analog and digital, terrestrial and internet. Matthew joins to discuss his ideas,
A recent Slate article about the podcast challenge to NPR added fuel to the debate about how the public broadcaster should respond to this disruption. Paul jumps into the fray to posit that superserving affiliates and local listeners is key to NPR’s fu...
Cumulus Media’s long-standing San Francisco radio news station KGO recently laid off its news staff, at the same time the company’s rock station KFOG also fired most of its on-air staff. We discuss what this means for Bay Area listeners and what it ind...
Eric attended the volunteer effort to raise the antenna for new low-power FM station Freeform Portland. Interviewing some of the participants, he discovered a shared history in college radio and a common dedication to freeform musical expression.
This week we’re on the hunt for radio treasure. Prof. John Anderson of Brooklyn College joins us to talk about his quest to find and preserve the legacy of labor radio with his role in the Library of Congress’ Radio Preservation Task Force.
Is college radio too small for its own good? Or is its smallness a hidden asset? Those are the questions we take up this week with guest Ken Mills. He’s a radio consultant who works with non-commercial, commercial and college stations.