Jennifer Waits reports back from the Grassroots Radio Conference, held in Spokane Washington from September 11 to September 14, 2025. We recap FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez’s keynote address, in which she spoke forcefully about recent actions by the FCC that threaten freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Gomez talked about the importance of community radio, as a place that inherently provides a diversity of view points.

Also on the show, we hear a bit about the National Campus and Community Radio Conference, which was held in Nanaimo, BC, Canada in June 2025. Plus, Jennifer digs into the latest “best college radio stations” list from Princeton Review.

The post Podcast #345 – Catching up with Community Radio at the Grassroots Radio Conference and NCRC 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.

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

The annual Infinite Dial survey from Edison Research was recently released, showing what people in the US are listening to, and where. It even includes social media platforms like TikTok, which Eric observes young people often use like radio, playing in the background as they go about daily activities. We review the stats, and also get into the FCC’s latest count of radio stations. Spoiler alert: there are more than ever.

Jennifer shares her recent visit to the Pyrite Radio art installation, featuring radios using fool’s gold as their crystal.

• Edison Research Infinite Dial 2022
• FCC Broadcast Stations Totals for Q1 2022
• For comparison, Radio Station Totals for Q1 2012
• Jennifer’s dispatch on Pyrite Radio for Hii Magazine

The post Podcast #326: The State of Listening and Broadcast Radio in 2022 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Few topics create as much anxiety at college and community radio stations – not to mention many a commercial radio morning show – than broadcast indecency. Since the dawn of broadcast regulation in the US there have been legal restrictions on the kind of speech that may be broadcast on the public airwaves, with a particular focus on the topics of sexual and excretory functions. Yet, for all the worrying and fretting, for much of history there hasn’t been much action by the FCC. And even when there were more fines and actions, the actual number was still relatively small.

Prof. Christopher Terry from the University of Minnesota joins us to help unravel this history and set the record straight. First we have to define what “indecency” is, because the specific definition used for broadcast enforcement is not necessarily aligned with the common sense definition, nor is it the same as “obscenity,” which has it’s own particular legal definition. Just because some might call a word “obscene” doesn’t mean it necessarily is legally obscene (in fact, it probably isn’t), nor is it necessarily legally indecent (thought it might be).

Then Prof. Terry walks us through a long uneventful period that ends in the 1970s with the very first indecency fine and the Supreme Court decision Pacifica v. FCC, which kicked off a forty year period of increased enforcement and many more fines. Yet, in those four decades, the standard of indecent shifted both due to political pressures and court intervention. It leads up to 2018, when broadcast new organizations struggled with how to report on President Trump referring to some nations as “s**thole countries,” while still remaining compliant.

In the end, in 2021, it’s still the case that airing “indecent” programming between 6 AM and 10 PM may get you an FCC fine, but the risks are different than what you may have thought to be true one, two or three decades ago.

• “The living legacy of FCC indecency enforcement: Trump, ‘shithole’ and profanity in the news.” by Prof. Christopher Terry, Journal of Media Law and Ethics.
• Podcast #318: Battling the Zombie of the Fairness Doctrine

Featured image credit: Paulette Vautour on Unsplash

The post Podcast #321 – The Long Sordid History of Broadcast Indecency Enforcement appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The Fairness Doctrine – a Federal Communications Commission rule that’s been out of commission since the 20th century – just doesn’t seem to die, at least in the minds of politicians, the press and much of the public. Politicos of many political stripes trot out its specter as a bogeyman any time its convenient, while efforts to regulate online speech draw inevitable comparisons.

According to Prof. Christopher Terry from the University of Minnesota, that’s because people fundamentally misunderstand what the Fairness Doctrine was, why it existed, and what it did. Often assumed to be a mandate for “equal time” for opposing positions, it was both more nuanced and less prescriptive. Moreover, the FCC’s interpretation and enforcement evolved over the years, from its first formulation in 1949, until its death in the 1980s.

Prof. Terry is here to set the record straight, explaining the rationale, history and actual life of the Fairness Doctrine. He also details why it was, and would be, a poor tool to grapple with the perceived imbalance of partisan national media, and why he thinks its zombie should finally be laid to rest.

• The First Amendment Encyclopedia: The Fairness Doctrine
• Podcast #258 – Trump Admin Raises the Specter of the Fairness Doctrine
• A “distraction” that won’t go away: FCC drops Fairness Doctrine again
• The decade’s most important radio trends: #8 The Great Fairness Doctrine Panic

Photo by Nathan Wright on Unsplash

The post Podcast #318: Battling the Zombie of the Fairness Doctrine appeared first on Radio Survivor.

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

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

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

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

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

The Federal Communications Commission recently announced that November 2, 2021 will mark the opening of the next licensing window for full-power non-commercial / educational (NCE) FM radio stations. The Commission first hinted at this chance back in fall of 2020. Given how often our listeners ask how and when they can get a radio license, we immediately dedicated an episode to that topic. Now that more is known we decided to revisit it.

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.

• CommLawBlog – The Upcoming FCC Noncommercial FM and LPFM Filing Windows: What You Need to Know
• The Next Noncomm FM License Opportunity Opens November 2
• 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 #300 – How to Get a Noncomm FM License in 2021 (Replay) appeared first on Radio Survivor.

The PIRATE Act was signed into law more than a year ago, but the rules governing increased fines for unlicensed broadcasting are about to go into effect on April 26. The Act is intended to give the FCC additional tools for tamping down pirate radio activity in hot beds like Boston and Brooklyn, NY, but there are reasons to be skeptical.

Brooklyn-based writer, post-production mixer and field recordist David Goren joins to help us tease out the real-world implications. Goren is also the creator of the Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map and has been monitoring and recording unlicensed radio activity in the borough for decades.

Also joining the show is Dr. Christopher Terry from the University of Minnesota. A professor of media law, he helps illuminate some of the legal and bureaucratic elements that complicate the Commission’s efforts. He also catches us up on the latest development in the battle over media ownership rules, with the Supreme Court issuing a narrow unanimous ruling in favor of the FCC’s most recent changes, but not quite addressing the decades-long gridlock in that policy area.

• David Goren
• The Brooklyn Pirate Radio Sound Map
• The PIRATE Act
• Radio World: FCC Can Use New Pirate Radio Fines Starting April 26
• FCC: Enforcement Bureau Warns Property Managers That Tolerate Pirate Radio
• New York City’s Pirates of the Air
• Podcast #133: Preserving Brooklyn Pirate Radio
• Library of Congress’ Radio Preservation Task Force
• Radio Survivor’s most recent episode on Wave Farm, inluding numerous links.
• KCRW: Outlaws of the Airwaves: The Rise of Pirate Radio Station WBAD
• WVIP
• Podcast #168: A Time Machine for All The Radio Plus Shortwave
• Podcast #3: FCC Paper Tiger Teams vs Pirate Radio (episode with John Anderson)
• Listen to this BBC Documentary about 5 Community Radio Stations around the World
• Podcast #282 – New FCC, Who Dis?
• Podcast #277 – How Does the FCC Solve Anything?

The post Podcast #294 – Reading the PIRATE Act / FCC & the Supremes Pt. 2 appeared first on Radio Survivor.

Jennifer, Eric and Paul join together to review what’s news as we kick off the month of March. Top of the list is an upcoming FCC radio license auction. Originally planned for April 2020, but delayed by the first coronavirus lockdowns, the auction will see 140 commercial radio construction permits up for bid. We discuss if this is a good opportunity for community organizations hoping to broadcast, and things to keep in mind when applying.

A new Nielsen report shows that the podcast audience has grown more diverse than the US population as a whole, and Jennifer alerts us to a fascinating new podcast the dives into the audio diaries of former first-lady Ladybird Johnson. Then we dig into one of the biggest controversies in podcasting right now, the “Reply All” mini-series on the racist workplace culture at “Bon Appetit” magazine, that brought a spotlight on the racial inequities in the podcast’s own corporate home. Rather than picking apart the details, we analyze how simply being a new medium open to fresh ideas and voices isn’t enough to escape the racial and gender biases that are still pervasive in media organizations and the culture at large.

• FCC: Auction 109 announced
• Completion of this July commercial station auction is a pre-requisite for the upcoming non-commerical and LPFM license windows.
• Inside Radio: Podcast Audiences Are Increasingly Diverse with Different Strokes for Different Folks.
• ABC News: Audio diaries reveal Lady Bird Johnson’s unseen influence in husband’s administration
• Podcast #135 – Resurfacing Women’s Contributions in Podcasting History
• Podcast #184 – Hidden Women’s Radio History in Uruguay
• NY Times: ‘Reply All’ Podcast Is Paused After Accusations of Toxic Culture
• “Mystery Show” podcast
• “Back to the Double R” is Jennifer’s new “Twin Peaks” rewatch podcast

Feature image credit: Wikimedia Commons – CKUA Radio Tower on campus / Public Domain

The post Podcast #287 – New Station Opportunity, Women’s History Month, and more appeared first on Radio Survivor.

What a difference a week makes. President Biden has appointed Jessica Rosenworcel as acting chair of the Federal Communications Commission, only the second time a woman has held the post. This signals the beginning of a new agenda at the Commission – though currently evenly split down party lines – and Prof. Christopher Terry from the University of Minnesota is here to help us read the tea leaves.

But that doesn’t mean the legacy of the old FCC is gone yet. Just one day before the inauguration, the agency was in front of the Supreme Court petitioning to get out of its nearly-two-decade Groundhog’s Day of repeatedly failing to properly revisit and revise media ownership rules. Although many press reports concluded that the justices were more sympathetic to the FCC’s arguments, Prof. Terry isn’t so sure, and tells us why. He also itemized some other important issues – like Network Neutrality – that the Commission will likely have to deal with in the coming year.

• Commissioner Rosenworcel’s podcast is “Broadband Conversations“
• Broadcasting and Cable says: “government attorneys and broadcasters were likely not unhappy with the tenor of the questioning” when the FCC was in front of the Supreme Court
• Podcast #277 – How Does the FCC Solve Anything?
• Podcast #281 – Wrapping Up Section 230 & the VOA
• Podcast #265 – Inside the “Little Known” Voice of America and the U.S. Agency for Global Media
• Leadership Changes at U.S. Agency for Global Media and Voice of America

The post Podcast #282 – New FCC, Who Dis? appeared first on Radio Survivor.