Ranking of the fifty largest radio markets in the US. Austin is 42nd.

This is really interesting, even if the authors are total corporate douches. The authors complain that low-power licenses interfere with corporate radio's requests to upgrade their equipment, just as it should be.

This long feature examines NPR's struggle to maintain a balance between its historical identity and its efforts to find new audiences. Once the organization began programming like a commercial media group, it alienated longtime listeners.

I tend to agree with this in principle, but I don't think the rules that were in place until 1987 make sense today.

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A 1939 recording of Cary Grant's vocal performance of the FCC's station identification rules.

Via TechDirt, the FCC has approved Arbitron's portable people meter, which constantly monitors media for audio watermarks to get ratings.

Via Dan Gillmor, FCC has given increasingly more citations to unlicensed FM operators.

Steve Safran of Lost Remote discusses the impact the convergence of broadcast media and the web will have on various media industry segments.

Brecht imagines utopian possibilities for radio in this 1932 essay. In my reading, this essay is often alluded to, but rarely cited. Props to jill/txt to tracking this down.

The conglomerate wants to own up to twelve stations in the largest US markets, citing competition from sattelite radio and digital music players. I'm not sure this radio ownership issue even matters any more.

Open channels that could be used by low-power community-run stations can gobbled up by non-profit translators, often by evangelical organizations broadcasting nationwide. These maps show the contrast between use by community LPFM and translator stations.

David Nunez points to this database of mid-century print ads. I'm particularly interested in the ads for radio and television receivers.

The FCC is stepping up enforcement of unlicensed microradio operators and levvying stiffer fines. This post suggests that people are still clamoring for access to the airwaves in urban areas.

Ethan Zuckerman says "citizen’s media isn’t fairy dust that you can sprinkle on an existing program and make it magically interactive, bloggy and web2.0 compliant. "

A documentary about the microradio movement in the United States. I've done a fair amount of research on microradio, so I would love to see this film.

Article decribing draconian provisions of WIPO broadcast treaty. The proposed treaty would give broadcasters control over content for 50 years after first broadcast.

blog post suggesting Bill O'Reilly is using FOX News security to intimidate callers.

How podcasting and the shifting organizational structure of public radio are changing NPR programming.

Google Maps hack allowing users to locate NPR stations across the country.