Broadcasting
-
Notesday
In wasted dollars Our species began to get civilized when it invented clothing: the original privacy tech. But that was in the natural world. In the digital one, we are still naked, and privacy is just a promise you get from “consent” (cookie notice) agreements and settings. It’s a fail. Example: the GDPR Privacy Monitor examined… Continue reading
-
Cruiseday
Real hard forks Hmm… NiemanLab: NPR, the quintessential audio news brand, adapts to a video-first future. Specifically, “NPR … landed Machine Gods, the new video-first podcast from veteran tech journalists Casey Newton and Kevin Roose.” I subscribed to Casey and Kevin’s old podcast, Hard Fork, and I’ll subscribe to Machine Gods too. But I doubt I’ll… Continue reading
-
Sunlint
A taller way to tell time Liblice II, the tallest structures in the Czech Republic, are about to come down. They carried the 1.5 million-watt signal (30x the maximum power of an AM station in the US) of Czech Radio Two until 2021 on 639 mHz. The cool thing is this (from that last link,… Continue reading
-
Why Charlotte Should Build a Museum of Broadcasting in the Antenna Age
In the foreground are three towers standing on nineteen acres in Charlotte’s south side. They transmit the signal of WBT/1110 AM, a 50,000-watt giant with a signal that stretches from Canada to Cuba at night: WBT-AM was born 104 years ago and is about to die, because the land under its towers is worth more… Continue reading
-
Pre-Labor Day
Yesterday I was working in my office when I suddenly remembered that the first IU football game of the season was on. So I went downstairs, turned on the TV, found the Indianapolis station carrying it (we still use an antenna here, 60 miles away), and started watching in time to see what I thought… Continue reading
-
Undeadlines
Here is some stuff I’ve noticed, thought about, or wrapped up, while ending a summer of travel and work (the order is random): Continue reading
-
Whetherday
On big changes in nowheres becoming somewheres Audacy, by far the most stressed-out owner of too many radio stations, is killing off another big old signal: KXNT/840 in Las Vegas. I dug into that, and wrote about it on Trunkline, my neglected blog about infrastructure that will soon get a big facelift. C****heck them out… Continue reading
-
Local radio lives in Burlington and Graham
WBAG’s callsign stands for Burlington And Graham: two adjoining towns between Greensboro and Durham in North Carolina. I have many kinfolk in the hood, and have been living or visiting here all my life. As it happens, WBAG and I were also born the same year. So was the station’s broadcast tower, which stands in… Continue reading
-
Oneday
That’s all I have to prep for a month on the road. Tomorrow is Baltimore. After that, North Carolina. After that, California. Back in Bloomington in mid-August. Right now it’s hot in all my places: Ground down Says here that Rogers Sports & Media has closed six of its radio stations. One of those, CKWX… Continue reading
-
Flyagain Day
I leave shortly for fun family matters in Minneapolis. Meanwhiles, here are some worthy tabs to close: While finding this kindness by Kaliya Young (quoting a now-vanished utterance by the late and very great Craig Burton) published in 2005 on her IdentityWoman blog, I also dug her latest post there, which is about commons and… Continue reading
-
Some Day
Loose links Hermes Agent, and Hermes Agent. Both new to me, but look important because it’s open-source personal AI. Not clear yet on the difference. Privacy Manifesto. Wrote it years ago. Does it need an update? Reckoning with the Political Economy of AI: Avoiding Decoys in Pursuit of Accountability, by Janet Vertesi, danah boyd, Alex S… Continue reading
-
Tubes
Naturally Washington Post: Human Ninja Turtles keep emerging from New York City manhole covers. Circling the drains BBC will be shutting off its Radio 4 service at 198 kHz longwave (LW) on 27 June. Being old in age and fashion, I travel with a radio and have always loved listening on the LW band, especially to… Continue reading
-
Oneday
Flaming excess Big fire on Santa Rosa Island. Largest fire ever there. Success story Susie James: Three chords, the truth, and a woman behind the signal is a nice piece about good local radio in Lebanon, Tennessee. It's in the Lebanon edition of Good News Exchange, which explains itself here. Continue reading
-
Leftunders
And it will probably be very bad A super El Niño is coming this year. Let’s get it in the OED I’ve been throwing away leftunders, a word I just made up and then found in the Urban Dictionary. Speaking of worse Axios says we’re scaling sin. They are correct, at least in the sense… Continue reading
-
Densday
All the way down, but not out This visit to an abandoned radio station speaks volumes about what remains of the industry. The station is WACQ/580 in Tuskegee, Alabama. I’m listening to the online stream right now, and it sounds like a working local station, with live talent and lots of ads by local sponsors.… Continue reading
-
Ursday
And it still is I posted Why Music Radio is Dying almost 15 years ago, but it’s getting action now for some reason. Verily Reid Hoffman in Faith in the Possible: “It’s easy to get caught up in product releases and cycles, and forget that every technology traces this spiritual arc. You are born into… Continue reading
-
Thisday
Blurp I am told that Santa Barbara’s beaches are covered with velella now. I mean a lot like the one above, See you there A couple of nights ago, a friend and reader of mine said he didn’t understand what today’s talk by Judith Donath would be about. “Signaling theory?” he said. “What’s that?” To him, signals… Continue reading
-
Wonday
em… As a lifelong over-user of em dashes and F bombs—hey, I'm from New Jersey—it's fun for me to learn that AI slop generators follow my style and F bombs are a way around detection. I'd say more, but would rather point to Tom Fishburne's typically excellent cartoon and post about the whole thing. Delayed… Continue reading
-
For broadcasters, digital tech isn’t a lifesaver. It’s a new land for fish with legs and lungs.
Eric Nuzum says public radio isn’t interested in saving itself. He’s actually quoting somebody else, but saying there’s a case. Specifically, When I hear public media leaders talk about the state of audience, ratings, and legacy platforms, I hear a very strong decline-centered narrative, with one station CEO infamously saying that “radio is dead.” Really? When… Continue reading
-
Runday
Did he die in his sleep? "The Gambler" may be the best country song ever written. And performed. (Kenny Rogers' version is the definitive one). Alas, its author, the great Don Schlitz, has passed on. Not many details on that: Nashville hospital, sudden illness. He was from Durham, NC, one of my former homes and… Continue reading