Chicago Independent Radio Project

Last updated

The Chicago Independent Radio Project (CHIRP) is a non-profit organization that operates a community radio station, CHIRP Radio. CHIRP is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization funded primarily through individual donations, special event revenues, and grant support. [1]

Contents

History

From 2007-2010, CHIRP partnered with organizations across the country to get licenses from Federal Communications Commission for a low power FM radio in urban areas. In 2009, CHIRP's president and vice president, Shawn Campbell and Jenny Lizak, were invited to the White House to discuss the issue of expanding low power FM radio with President Obama's technology team. [2] The bill CHIRP worked on was the Local Community Radio Act, which was signed into law in early 2011. [3]

On January 17, 2010, CHIRP started an online radio station. [4] [5] The first song played was "Thank You Friends" by the band Big Star.

In June 2011, CHIRP Radio was named "Best Overall Radio Station" by the Chicago Reader in its annual Best of Chicago issue. [6]

In November 2013, CHIRP submitted its broadcast license application for low-power FM. [7]

In late 2014, CHIRP constructed a low power FM broadcast outlet in Chicago's north side. [8] [9] In October 2017, the organization launched its broadcast at 107.1 MHz with the call letters "WCXP-LP". [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Low-power broadcasting</span> Radio or TV service, 100W or less

Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" and broadcast translators. LPAM, LPFM and LPTV are in various levels of use across the world, varying widely based on the laws and their enforcement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBEZ</span> Public radio station in Chicago

WBEZ – branded WBEZ 91.5 – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, and primarily serving the Chicago metropolitan area. It is owned by Chicago Public Media and is financed by listener contributions, corporate underwriting and some government funding. WBEZ is affiliated with both National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX). It also broadcasts content from American Public Media and the BBC World Service. It produces several nationally syndicated shows for public radio stations, including This American Life and has a co-production credit for Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, which is produced by NPR.

WFMU is a listener-supported, independent community radio station licensed to East Orange, New Jersey. Since 1998, it has been headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. It broadcasts in northeast New Jersey at 91.1 MHz FM, to New York City and Rockland County via a repeater at 91.9 FM, and in the Hudson Valley, the Lower Catskills, western New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania from Mount Hope, New York at 90.1 via the repeater station WMFU. It is the longest-running free-form radio station in the U.S. The station's main terrestrial transmitter is located in West Orange, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WKUF-LP</span> Radio station in Flint, Michigan

WKUF-LP is a student-run low-power campus radio station located in Flint, Michigan. It broadcasts at 100 watts. It is operated by Kettering University, formerly the General Motors Institute (GMI). It is paid for by student activity fees and a special fund created by the university.

The Prometheus Radio Project is a non-profit advocacy and community organizing group with a mission to resist corporate media consolidation and radio homogenization in the United States. Founded in 1998 by a small group of radio activists in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Prometheus has participated in the community radio movement by providing technical training, helping marginalized communities gain access to affordable media outlets, and creating a network of low power community radio stations. A lot of Prometheus' efforts have over-time been focused on legal advocacy for low-power FM (LPFM) stations.

WBRU is an internet radio station based in Providence, Rhode Island. The station is owned and operated by Brown Broadcasting Service, an independent non-profit organization, and is primarily staffed by students from Brown University.

WGOT-LP was a low power FM radio station that broadcast from Gainesville, Florida, United States. WGOT-LP was last operated as a community radio station by the Civic Media Center, a non-profit library in Gainesville.

WCIW-LP is an American low-power radio station licensed to serve the community of Immokalee, Florida, United States. The station is operated by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an organization representing farm workers in one of the largest winter vegetable markets in the United States of America. The WCIW-LP broadcast license is held by Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KUCB (FM)</span> Radio station in Unalaska, Alaska

KUCB is a non-commercial radio station in Unalaska, Alaska, broadcasting on 89.7 FM. It signed on in October 2008 to replace KIAL 1450 AM. KUCB generally broadcasts local programming, plus programming from National Public Radio, Native Voice One and Alaska Public Radio. The KIAL radio and television stations were formerly owned by the municipality of Unalaska; due to municipal cutbacks they now operate as an independent non-profit organization dependent largely on individual donors. Shortly after its sell-off, KIAL, which only broadcast at 50 watts, moved to the FM dial as KUCB, with a stronger signal.

WVEW-LP is a radio station licensed to Brattleboro, Vermont. The license to operate the station is held by Vermont Earth Works. The broadcast radius is from 3 to 5 miles. There are 56 volunteers on the staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KRFF-LP</span> Community radio station in Moorhead, Minnesota

KRFF-LP is a non-profit low power radio station broadcasting in Fargo, North Dakota, airing a DJ Selected format.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXHQ-LP</span> Radio station in Rhode Island, United States

WXHQ-LP is a non-commercial radio station licensed to the community of Newport, Rhode Island. The station serves Newport and the greater Providence, Rhode Island, area. The station is owned and operated by the Newport Music Arts Association, a non-profit organization. It airs a jazz and freeform format that, according to the station's website, includes "jazz, blues, r&b, bossa nova, Afro-Cuban, lounge, soul, funk, reggae, ska, electronic, downtempo, acid-jazz, surf, world, country, folk, and even occasionally some rock". The music played is almost exclusively instrumental and the station has a policy against playing songs featuring English language vocals.

WCRS-LP is a North American community radio station in Columbus, Ohio, area. It broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week and has an online stream available 24/7. WCRS-LP broadcasts on 92.7 and on translator station W252AY 98.3 FM in most of Franklin County, licensed to Marble Cliff. WCRS-LP is owned by The Neighborhood Network and is affiliated with the Pacifica Radio Network.

WLEZ-LP, was a low-powered community radio station that served the Jackson, Mississippi area from 2008 to 2019. WLEZ originally went on the air at 103.7 FM in 2008 but later that year moved to 100.1 FM. In 2013 the station moved to its final position at 98.1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WXBH-LP</span> Radio station in Louisville, Kentucky

WXBH-LP was a non-commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Louisville, Kentucky. The station was licensed to Brycc House Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization. WXBH-LP's license was cancelled on June 14, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WVQC-LP</span> Radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio

WVQC-LP is a non-profit, low-power FM radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio, licensed on the frequency 95.7 to Music Resource Center - Cincinnati. The station goes by the name 95.7 MRC Cincinnati’s New Music.

WCRX-LP was a low-power FM radio station licensed to serve Columbus, Ohio, United States. WCRX-LP was a not-for-profit, volunteer, non-commercial community radio station whose broadcast license was held by the Bexley Public Radio Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Programming and broadcast operation assistance was provided by Sax Entertainment Music and Media.

WXNA-LP is a community-oriented 501(c)(3) low-powered FM radio station that is licensed to and located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The freeform-formatted station operates with an effective radiated power of 100 watts. WXNA was voted "Best Radio Station" by the readers of the Nashville Scene in the 2017 "Best of Nashville" issue.

KVGK-LP was a radio station licensed to serve Las Vegas, Nevada. The station, founded by Gregory LaPorta, was established in 2010, was owned by Las Vegas Public Radio Inc. and affiliated with Feature Story News (FSN), T-Mobile, the Las Vegas Tribune, Syndication Networks and Public News Service (PNS). Portsonic Communications, LLC was a local community radio investor and management company for Las Vegas Public Radio Inc. KVGK-LP was governed under the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 as a public radio station to the Las Vegas, Nevada valley. The FCC licensed Portsonic Communications, LLC, a commercial company for KVGK-LP 97.9 FM from May 12, 2023 to November 12, 2023 to work on a split of the nation's Low Power FM service through a research and development pilot project running under a Temporary Application for Provisionial Commercial Use at FCC Facility ID: 190166 in North Las Vegas, Nevada where Las Vegas Public Radio had been broadcasting from with the original KIOF-LP 97.9 FM. Because the FCC licensed a commercial company for Low Power FM operations during a short period of time, KVGK-LP 97.9 FM never came to air and was used to trace fatal flaws in the FCC's Licensing and Management System (LMS) during the final report issued by the FCC on May 14, 2024 in FCC DA 24-252. This single report heavily documents why the LPFM Commercial Service never came about over the past 25+ years due to regulatory/statutory blockage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KEBF-LP</span> Radio station in Morro Bay, California

KEBF-LP is a low power radio station broadcasting a community radio format out of Morro Bay, California.

References

  1. "About CHIRP". chirpradio.org. 2015-05-11.
  2. Gaper's Block: "Getting Down with Low Power FM"
  3. GovTrack.us: "H.R. 6533 (111th): Local Community Radio Act of 2010"
  4. Radio Survivor: "Chicago Independent Radio Project hits the 'net, waits for an FM"
  5. New York Times "Independent Station's Power Lies With Its People"
  6. Chicago Reader Best of 2011: "Best Overall Radio Station"
  7. Project, The Chicago Independent Radio (2024-06-09). "About CHIRP Radio | CHIRP Radio". chirpradio.org. Retrieved 2024-06-09.
  8. FCCData.org
  9. DNAInfo.com "CHIRP Radio To Hit the Public Airwaves After '7-year Odyssey'" Archived 2015-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
  10. About CHIRP Radio