Chicago Independent Radio Project

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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 late 2014, CHIRP constructed a low power FM broadcast outlet in Chicago's north side. [7] [8] In October 2017, the organization launched its broadcast at 107.1 MHz with the call letters "WCXP-LP". [9]

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KTDT-LP is a low-power FM radio station on 99.1 FM in Tucson, Arizona. Known as “Downtown Radio”, the station is owned and operated by LPFM Downtown Tucson, a non-profit LLC. The station format is rock Monday through Saturday and other genres, including talk, on Sunday. The purpose of the station is to provide an alternative to corporate radio and DJs have the freedom to play songs that aren't typically heard on corporate radio. Both the station and LLC were founded by Jason LeValley, who served as the executive director from its launch date of September 13, 2015, to December 30, 2019. The station is currently operated by an unpaid staff of over 50 volunteers, under the guidance of an all-volunteer board of directors.

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. FCCData.org
  8. DNAInfo.com "CHIRP Radio To Hit the Public Airwaves After '7-year Odyssey'" Archived 2015-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
  9. About CHIRP Radio