Independent radio indicates a radio station that is run in a manner different from usual for the country it broadcasts in. In countries where there exist government-run radio stations that served as the primary or only the variety of licensed broadcaster, the term independent radio generally means commercial radio stations which are not operated by the government, and thus independent of the government.
Conversely, in places such as the United States, where commercial broadcasters are the norm, independent radio is sometimes used to refer to non-commercial educational radio stations that are primarily supported by listener contributions and are thus independent of commercial advertising concerns. With the advent of large commercial broadcast radio network companies, and the general adoption of the term public radio in the United States to refer to non-religious radio-oriented listener-supported stations, the term has also been used to refer to commercial radio stations that are run independently of the large radio conglomerates.
Famous quotes containing the words independent and/or radio:
“In the great department store of life, baseball is the toy department.”
—Los Angeles Sportscaster. quoted in Independent Magazine (London, Sept. 28, 1991)
“The radio ... goes on early in the morning and is listened to at all hours of the day, until nine, ten and often eleven o’clock in the evening. This is certainly a sign that the grown-ups have infinite patience, but it also means that the power of absorption of their brains is pretty limited, with exceptions, of course—I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. One or two news bulletins would be ample per day! But the old geese, well—I’ve said my piece!”
—Anne Frank (1929–1945)