2011 in radio
 | The examples and perspectives in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (January 2018) |
| List of years in radio |
|---|
| (table) |
The following is a list of events affecting radio broadcasting in 2011. Events listed include radio program debuts, finales, cancellations, and station launches, closures and format changes, as well as information about controversies.
Events
[edit]January
[edit]| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Radio and Television of Slovakia, a new state-funded organisation based in Bratislava, is formed by a merger of Slovenská televízia (Slovak Television) and Slovenský rozhlas (Slovak Radio).[1] |
| 2 | KELI/San Angelo flip from Adult Hits to AC as Magic 98.7. Urban AC WPHR-FM/Syracuse became News/Talk WSYR-FM.[2] |
| 3 | More post-New Year's Day format flips occurred, with Spanish Christian KSAC-FM/Sacramento changing to a Business Talk format,[3] likewise with Talk sister station KVCE/Dallas-Ft. Worth,[4] Adult Top 40 WBZZ/Albany changing to 90s hits as "Crush 105.7,"[5] WMVX/Cleveland dropping Adult Top 40 in favor of Adult Hits as "106.5 The Lake",[6] KCKC/Kansas City shedding Adult Contemporary for Classic Alternative as "Alice 102.1", KFYX/Texarkana flipping from CHR to Talk as Freedom 107, and Spanish Christian moving from WNSW/Newark to WNYH/Huntington as WNSW flipped to Russian. |
| 4 | Toyota unveiled the Entune, a multimedia in-car communications and entertainment system that would be available on selected 2011 models. The device featured Bing searching, Pandora, HD Radio, XM, and iHeartRadio, a CD player, and Bluetooth and USB connectivity.[7] |
| 5 | Inspired by a story that appeared in The Columbus Dispatch,[8] Top 40 WNCI morning hosts Dave Kaelin and Jimmy Jam helped Ted Williams, a homeless man with a troubled past,[9] seek job offers and attract attention from the national media.[10] |
| 6 | President Barack Obama signed into law The Local Community Radio Act, which paved the way for Low-power FM stations to start operations without unnecessary restrictions.[11] |
| Seven African-American account executives filed a joint discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Clear Channel/New Orleans, claiming that station management were giving them less pay and fewer sales leads while their White counterparts got more pay, better leads and better advertisers.[12] | |
| Classic Hits WQTX/Lansing flipped to Country as "92.1 Big Country".[13][14] | |
| 7 | United States Congressman Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado 5th) introduced a bill that would eliminate all funding for NPR.[15] The news came a day after NPR SVP Ellen Weiss resigned in the wake of her decision to fire commentator Juan Williams in October 2010.[16] |
| 10 | Australian Radio Network added On Air with Ryan Seacrest to its evening lineup, where it would be heard on Adult Top 40 outlets Mix 106.5/Sydney and Mix 101.1/Melbourne.[17] TV/radio personality and singer Michelle Visage was named the new morning co-host at Rhythmic Hot AC WMIA/Miami.[18] |
| 10 | CBS Radio reacquires the WBZZ calls from WQSH, planning to use them to replace the WZPT calls in Pittsburgh, where the WBZZ calls were once heard and retain the Adult Top 40 direction once the calls return to Pittsburgh, following the merging of the current format with WBZW's Top 40 format in 2010.[19] However, the WZPT calls could end up on another Pittsburgh station.[20] |
| 11 | Clear Channel sold KUFX/San Jose to Entercom[21] |
| 13 | In the wake of the 2011 Tucson shooting, a series of outdoor ads from News/Talk KNST promoting Rush Limbaugh with the banner "Straight Shooter" riddled with bullets was removed by co-owned Clear Channel Outdoor. Ironically, one of the ads had been located near the aforementioned crime scene.[22] |
| 14 | CKRK/Edmonton protested a ruling from the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council by playing an unedited version of Dire Straits' 1985 song "Money for Nothing" every hour for a month after the CBSC ruled the song as too offensive for Canadian broadcasts.[23][24] WWTJ flipped to a simulcast of WCHV. |
| 17 | Sirius XM Radio received Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to place 1,800 watt repeaters in Alaska and Hawaii, paving the way for the satellite service to now cover all 50 states.[25][26] The expansion in Alaska had been long opposed by Alaskan broadcasters, who feared that satellite radio would hurt their stations;[27] the situation was similar in Hawaii.[28] |
| 18 | WKJI/Long Island would flip to Country as My Country 96.1, and Talk KBYO/Monroe would flip to an undetermined format as Fun Radio 92.7. A duopoly was formed in Pittsburgh, with the owners of WYEP buying Duquesne University's WDUQ.[29] The University of San Francisco moved the Alternative format of KUSF/San Francisco to online and replaced it with programming from Classical Public Radio Network.[30] It was announced that Entercom had sold the format and intellectual property of KDFC to CPRN parent University of Southern California and would make KDFC's 102.1 signal the new home of KUFX with KUFX's 98.5 signal a simulcast.[31] |
| 19 | Bonneville International sold 17 stations to Hubbard Broadcasting. The deal meant that Bonneville would exit the Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Washington, D.C., radio markets.[32] |
| 21 | Active Rock WLUP/Chicago evolves to Classic Rock.[33] |
| 22 | Clear Channel/Memphis GSM Jeffery Jones is arrested on extortion charges.[34][35] |
| 24 | WQJQ/Jackson, Mississippi, drops Urban Oldies for Classic Hits and takes the call letters of its AM sister, WJDX.[36] |
| 26 | KZMG/Boise drops Top 40/CHR for a simulcast of Sports Talk KTIK.[37] |
| 27 | Spirit Radio, an Irish Christian and religious radio station, begins broadcasting on 89.8–92.2 MHz, covering the cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Bray, Greystones, Dundalk, Naas Athlone, Carlow, Kilkenny and Newbridge. The station originally broadcasts from Hume House, Ballsbridge, using a studio formerly belonging to FM104.[38] |
| 28 | The CRTC revokes the license of Ryerson University's campus radio station, CKLN-FM.[39] The station would be granted a court injunction on February 11, allowing it to remain on the air pending the results of an appeal to the Federal Court of Canada.[40] |
February
[edit]| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Rick Dees signs a deal with Westwood One to distribute his programs produced by his company Dees Entertainment, including his long-running countdown show The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40. In addition, 25 Cumulus Media outlets would pick up most of Dees' shows to air on their stations.[41] |
| KYLZ/Salt Lake City drops Triple-A to simulcast Sport Talk sister station KZNS.[42] and KGU/Honolulu drops Religious programming for Business Talk, joining sister stations KSAC and KVCE.[43] | |
| 2 | WPTR/Albany drops Christian Contemporary to become "Legends 96.7."[44] Top 40/CHR KDLW/Albuquerque replaced regional Mexican sister station KLVO at the latter's 106.7 signal. KDLW's 97.7 signal would pick up a new format after it finished its temporary simulcasts.[45] |
| 3 | KOPA Pala, CA signs on as Pala Rez Radio 91.3.
Top 40/CHR WDOD/Chattanooga changed its moniker from "The Mountain" to "Hits 96."[46] |
| 4 | Four new Top 40s make their début. San Antonio, Texas, picks up its fourth as KLTO drops Active Rock to become "Party 97.7." KHHM/Sacramento evolves from its longtime Rhythmic format to a Mainstream direction with a Rhythmic lean. KVLY/McAllen officially shifts to Mainstream after a long tenure as an Adult Top 40. Edmonton adds a third as CFMG also shifts from Adult Top 40 to the " |