Colleges and high schools are finishing up their first – and, with hope, last – full academic COVID year, and all indicators are that student radio remained on the air, as students adjusted to online classes and socially distant campuses. Jennifer Waits reports back from the Intercollegiate Broadcast System annual conference, held virtually this year, where she gauged the temperature of student broadcasters and the radio professionals who shared their advice with conference attendees. She and Paul Riismandel discuss what the long-term implications of virtual and hybrid broadcasting may have for college and community radio, taking into account that the accessibility that remote technology offers is weighed against the benefits of face-to-face interaction.

Paul shares some highlights from the 2021 Infinite Dial survey from Edison Research, delivering stats on what audio Americans are using in the car, and the growth of podcast listening. He also reminds us about the upcoming non-commercial radio license opportunity, which now has a firm date in November. Jennifer and Paul then finish things out with a look at Franken FMs, which are scheduled to leave the airwaves in July, when the FCC will require all remaining analog low-power TV stations to convert to digital.

Show Notes:

* Intercollegiate Broadcast System* Podcast #295 – High School Podcasting with the Hosts of Rice and Shine* High School Radio Station KMIH “The Bridge”* HBO series “Mare of Easttown”* Haverford on the Radio* Haverford College’s Radio Heyday in the 1920s* The Infinite Dial 2021* Podcast #269 – How To Get an FM Radio License in 2021* Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS)* Netflix series “Daredevil“* Leah Steuer* Time Is Running Out for FrankenFMs – Just 4 Months Left* The Antenna Man on YouTube: 87.7 Franken FM Radio Stations May Go Dark in July