Quick Takes

  • In a bid to boost its online listenership and raise its profile nationally, Santa Monica’s KCRW is sponsoring a series of concerts ...
  • Henry Hampton’s last documentary series, This Far By Faith, airs on many PBS stations tonight. The Los Angeles Times retells how the production faltered after Hampton’s ...
  • Boston’s WBUR-FM reinstates Fresh Air today after airing it sporadically since the war in Iraq, reports the Boston Globe.
  • A House subcommittee is proposing that CPB take $100 million from its fiscal year 2004 appropriation of $380 million to pay for ...
  • Tavis Smiley’s NPR show has taken off, but some listeners who aren’t black feel excluded. Network ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin considers their complaints.
  • The Onion reports that a college-radio DJ in Illinois believes he has a huge fan base. “Though ‘Rock Blossom’ is heard mainly by his ...
  • NPR and WOI Radio in Iowa will co-sponsor a radio-only debate with the Democratic presidential candidates Jan. 6, 2004.
  • The Pacifica radio network has begun moving back to its spiritual home of Berkeley, reports the Daily Planet.
  • The foundation of KBPS-FM in Portland, Ore., will buy its independence from the city’s school board. Public Radio Capital, which represented the ...
  • The FCC should force commercial broadcasters to fund their local public brethren, argues Rich Hanley on MSNBC.com.
  • The new head of drama for Britain’s Channel Four plans to reposition the broadcaster as the “punk rock star” of TV drama, ...
  • “Sure, Reading Rainbow is good for you, but is it any good?” A Seattle mother writing for the New York Times thinks so.
  • Filmmaker Michael Moore unexpectedly chipped in to help KVMR-FM in Nevada City, Calif., raise some cash during its fund drive. (Last item.)
  • Portland’s KBPS is moving to buy its FM station from the city’s public schools for $5.5 million. The school board will vote ...
  • WMHT in Schenectady laid off four on-air radio staff yesterday in an effort to break even financially. The station had already laid ...