NON-COMMERCIAL
the only airwaves to fly
...nah, let's go Back to NCE home
I love non-commercial educational radio, specifically the noise and "underground" sound one finds playing on many college radio stations.
It must be noted that not all school stations rock. Some are news stations. Some are jazz. Some, in my opinion, have too many all-polka blocks in their schedule.
Further, while any station that truly rocks, by necessity, is a NON-COMMERCIAL station, it may or may not be school affiliated. A good example is WFMU, 91.1FM in New Jersey.
After 22 years of listening to nothing but university "college radio" (only in rare and extreme circumstances have I ventured to the right of 91.9 FM), I finally became a dj, myself: I do a show at WXYC, Chapel Hill, NC, 89.3FM.
WXYC has been my all-time favourite station for at least the last 13 years, so I am very happy, indeed, to have become a part of something which I have so long enjoyed and revered.
I'm especially pleased to be able to say:
WXYC was the first
radio station in the entire
world to broadcast
live on the internet!
Yes, we were here even before any huge, commercial, network, corporation-run radio station: WXYC has been broadcasting live to the world via the internet since November 1994.
WXYC is on air 24/7, whether school is in session or not.
WXYC has an almost entirely NON-BLOCK format. With the obvious exceptions of two requirements--maintaining a non-block format and playing six "rotation" cuts per hour--we are also FREE-FORM. Even the rotation is virtually free-form, because we have a broad selection from which to choose our six cuts.
WXYC has no ties to UNC-CH's journalism school: that is, we do *not* serve as a training ground for people interested in pursuing professions in radio or television. WUNC, Chapel Hill, NC, 90.5FM is where UNC-CH students interested in acquiring professional broadcast careers seek experience.
At WXYC,
our purpose in broadcasting is all about playing music (in its many diverse
forms) for our listeners, in addition to providing useful information about
events and services in our community.
What is a non-block format?
One thing
"non-block" can mean is that you will hear a folk tune, followed by a
jazz tune, followed by a punk tune, followed by an old Broadway tune, followed
by an international tune, followed by an avant garde experimental piece, followed by
a reggae tune, followed by whatever other genre you care to consider.
Non-block means you will hear anything and everything, not just a single genre
of music for a block of time. Often there is a certain theme that links
seemingly unrelated tunes together--for example songs that mention food, or
maybe a few tunes of radically different genres may feature a certain
instrument, like a theremin
or bagpipes--but sometimes being completely unrelated is
the common thread that weaves the songs together!
OK, let's go
back to where I was...
What
is free-format? This one is really easy:
It means a DJ has total control and
choice regarding the music and sounds that are broadcast. For free-format
stations, DJs may air things from personal collections--that is, they are not
limited to the library of the radio station. The Federal Communication Commission imposes
regulations on all public broadcasts, the violations of which may result in
anything from censure to complete and permanent loss of a radio station's broadcast
license. What is acceptable in a public broadcast has changed over the
years, but George Carlin's bit about "the seven dirty words" still
pretty much holds true. This means that even within free-format radio, any
station that is not interested in stretching the horizons of what constitutes a
legal public broadcast will have policies that prohibit airing of anything
considered patently "obscene."
OK, let's go back to
where I was...
* In November 1994, I was just listening in the traditional way, on the radio at
home, when I first heard dj's Chris, Chris, and Nate say 'xyc was broadcasting
over the 'net and around the world. They were known to make lots of jokes,
so I thought they were just kidding around. Not this time! :) The best
non-joke these guys ever did on-air!