Category: media ownership & consolidation

  • Catch up with the mediageek radioshow: New FCC Chairman & FCC Enforcement 2008

    If you haven’t been keeping up with the mediageek radioshow or subscribing to the podcast, now is a good time to listen to this week’s show featuring our favorite FCC watcher, Matthew Lasar. We talk about the man reported to be Obama’s pick for FCC Chair, Julius Genachowski, and what his appointment to the FCC…

  • Another College Station Bids Farewell

    Over at Arcane Radio Trivia, Jose Fritz laments the passing of college station WAWL on Dec. 10, formerly broadcasting from Chattanooga State Technical Community College . The college sold off its license for 91.5 FM for $1.5 million to Christian broadcaster Family Life Radio, based out of Tuscon, AZ. $1.5 mil is a pretty big…

  • mediageek radioshow for 11 December 2008: Looking Behind the Curtain at the Tribune Bankruptcy

    Mitchell Szczepanczyk from Chicago Media Action joins to discuss the Dec. 8 filing for bankruptcy by the Tribune Company. Mitchell has been watching Tribune for many years now, since the company is a major media player both in the Chicago area and nationally. So he has some longitudinal perspective often lacking in press reports. Download/Podcast:…

  • Nov. 4 Is the Date for More than One Important Vote

    There is a vote scheduled for November 4 that is very easily overshadowed by another, somewhat more high-profile vote. While the nation’s voters decide whether Barack Obama or John McCain (or Cynthia McKinney or Bob Barr) will be the next president the FCC will be making an important decision about the future of internet access…

  • One small step for logic and reason: 3rd Circuit Tosses Out FCC’s Janet Jackson Superbowl Fine

    I believe I can see the house of cards that is the FCC’s current approach to broadcast indecency starting to fall apart. Today the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals tossed out the FCC’s $500k fine against CBS for the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl half-time show. In its ruling the Court said the…

  • John Anderson on Freak Radio Santa Cruz: the State of Media in 2008

    My pal John Anderson recently joined Skidmark Bob on Santa Cruz’s long running unlicensed station to dish about many of the topics he writes about at DIYMedia.net and discusses with me on the radioshow. Topics include Pirate Radio, FM Radio, on-air Television, Net Neutrality (or lack their of), translator FM stations and the very bleak…

  • The PBS You Have Vs. the PBS You Wish You Had

    On the radioshow two weeks ago I talked with my pal and public broadcasting alumnus Bill Poorman about some of his issues with that enterprise. Our actual conversation ran over an hour, so I had to leave out some of Bill’s comments about public TV, which were more critical than radio. But his comments rang…

  • Year-End Review Pt. 2

    The 2nd part of my year-end review radioshow with John Anderson from DIYmedia.net is online now. We cover the FCC’s all-but-elimination of the cross-ownership ban, and John catches us up with the year in FCC enforcement action against unlicensed stations. You can download the show at the radioshow page, or just listen here: [mp3]https://mediageek.net/sound/2007/mg20071221.mp3[/mp3]

  • Matthew Lasar Says the FCC wasn’t just Naughty

    Matthew Lasar argues that the FCC did a few nice things this year making it deserving of something other than coal in the stocking. Included in that list are asking Congress to restore LPFM, putting a cap on cable companies limiting them to serving no more than 30% of the nation’s subscribers, and the localism…

  • Links from the Dec. 21 Radioshow

    On this evening’s radioshow John referenced a blog post by Art Brodsky at Public Knowledge’s Policy Blog: Let’s See If the FCC Is Serious About Stopping the Next Media Consolidation. And don’t miss John’s Enforcement Action Database for 2007 at DIYMedia.net.