2021 in radio
The following is a list of events affecting radio broadcasting in 2021. Events listed include radio program debuts, finales, cancellations, and station launches, closures and format changes, as well as information about controversies.
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
Notable events
January
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | DWKX Manila returns to the airwaves after an 8-month hiatus due to COVID-19 Pandemic. | |
| 11 | Cumulus Media has ordered a directive to its News/Talk outlets that orders their local and syndicated hosts to no longer discuss anything that has to do with allegations of voter fraud as the 2020 Presidential Election has come to a end or their jobs will be terminated. The move comes just days after the events of the storming of the United States Capitol on January 6, which was spurred on by Conservative talkers Mark Levin and Dan Bongino, both vocal proponents of debunked election fraud theories. Another host, Ben Shapiro, was also listed in the memo put out by Cumulus but isn't employed by the company. Already one personality from Cumulus' KMJ (AM) Fresno, Ray Appleton, was suspended after comments about "hanging" news editors, and, in doing so, cited its corporate principles | [1] |
| 12 | WMGG Egypt Lake, Florida turns off its analog operations and flips exclusively to digital, becoming the second AM radio station in the United States to do so following WWFD; unlike WWFD, WMGG has filed with the FCC to operate permanently as an all-digital station, the first station to request a permanent license. The station will maintain an analog FM translator. | [2] |
| 25 | Alpha Media files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection and plans to start a reorganization with its creditors and lenders. | [3] |
February
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Numerous country stations, including those owned by Cumulus Media and iHeartMedia among others, have pulled Morgan Wallen’s music from airplay after he was captured on video saying a racial slur. In addition, he was dropped from his record labels, Big Loud and Republic Records along with being pulled from consideration for the Academy of Country Music Awards. | [4] |
Scheduled future events
July
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | The remaining radio stations operating in North America on 87.7 FM will be forced to ceased operations as the digital television transition in the United States completes its final phase. The stations (nicknamed "Franken-FMs") on 87.7 are legally analog low-power television stations whose audio subcarriers are audible on FM radios; the transition will force them to adopt either ATSC or ATSC 3.0, neither of which is compatible with analog FM nor the digital radio standard HD Radio. | [5] |
Debuts
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| January 20 | DWDM-FM launched as a Classic Hits station. | |
| January 25 | Entercom launches the BetQL Audio Network, which will focus on sports betting 24/7. The launch comes after the purchasing of the QL Gaming Group in November 2020. Former Adult Standards KEZW Denver (who'll serve as the flagship station) and KCBS-HD3 are announced as the first full time affiliates of the network. | [6] |
Endings
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| January 22 | Radio Disney is scheduled to shut down. The youth-friendly contemporary hit radio service switched to "best-of" programming without disc jockeys on January 1; on the same day, its companion country music service shut down, with its over-the-air affiliate KRDC flipping back to the main Radio Disney service until the shutdown. The station was pulled off of SiriusXM satellite radio on December 31, 2020 but the station continues to stream on iHeartRadio and its own streaming app until it shuts down. | [7] |
Deaths
| Date | Age | Notability | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 23 | Larry King | 87 | American radio and television host (WIOD, syndicated Larry King Show) | [8] |
References
- "Cumulus Corporate Policy Telling Talk Hosts To Stop Denying Legitimacy Of Election Draws Attention" from All Access (January 11, 2021)
- WMGG files to be first permanently licensed digital AM
- "Alpha Media Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Restructuring" from Radio Insight (January 25, 2021)
- "Country star Morgan Wallen suspended by record label, dropped by hundreds of radio stations after using racial slur". The Washington Post. February 3, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
- "FCC Reminds LPTV Stations Of 7/13/21 Digital Conversion Date; Setting Drop-Dead Date For Franken-FMs". radioinsight.com.
- Entercom To Launch Sports Betting “BetQL Audio Network” from Radio Insight (January 25, 2021)
- "Radio Disney begins programming shutdown". radioinsight.com. January 1, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
- "Larry King: US talk show host dies weeks after testing positive for COVID-19". Sky News. Retrieved 2021-01-23.
See also
- 2021 in British radio
- 2021 in Philippine radio
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