Saturday, December 23, 2017

More Recent and Upcoming Changes to GCR Programming

Once again, due to changes concerning some of our many syndicated programs, Global Community Radio is obliged to make changes to both its schedules.

First, several changes concerning GCR1, all due to the abrupt cancellation of one show. After 15 years in production, the weekly series Asia Calling will produce its last program on December 29th, and we will air that program on Saturday, the 30th. We are sad to see Asia calling go away, as it was an independent window on all things Asia. We have carried it as far back as when GCR stood for Geneva Community Radio. The program is ending due to lack of funds to be able to continue production.

GCR1 will continue to offer news and feature programming from several Asian broadcasters, including NHK World Radio Japan, KBS World Radio Korea, All India Radio, and Radio Taiwan International. See program schedule for details.

Starting Saturday, January 6th, we will move Global Journalist to Saturday mornings at 9 AM Eastern/6 AM Pacific. We will then shift Focus Asia Pacific to run immediately after. In turn, The hour on Sundays from 11 AM to Noon Eastern will now be occupied by two programs from the ABC (Australia). At 11 AM, we will now air The Minefield. This series currently airs Thursdays at 2:30 AM Eastern/11:30 PM Pacific Wednesday. From the show's website: In a world marked by wicked social problems, The Minefield helps you negotiate the ethical dilemmas, contradictory claims and unacknowledged complicities of modern life. This will be followed by the ABC's outstanding history series Rear Vision at 11:30 AM Eastern. On Thursdays where Minefield used to air, we're adding a new program from the ABC stable. It's called Science Friction. From the website: Science and culture...with extra spice added. Feel the heat. All species welcome.

On the GCR2 side of things, The Appetizer has cut back to one hour per week. So, on Wednesdays at 4 AM Eastern, we've added IMP Indie Mania. This is a weekly radio series from the folks at IMP, anoutfit promoting independent music in a variety of genres. Indie Mania features a wide variety of Indie music. IMP also offers two other radio shows focusing on Indie Blues and Indie Country. We will consider adding these programs to GCR2 in the future.

Another big change occurs later on Wednesday mornings. We recently learned, after it seems we just added this series to our schedule, that Keys to Music will cease production in January after 15 years and 654 episodes on ABC Classic FM. Had we known of the ABC's plans, we might not have picked up the series this Fall. In any case, the final Keys to Music will air on January 3rd at 8 AM Eastern. We do not yet know what we will do with this slot at present. If the ABC is developing a new series to replace Keys to Music, we will look into adding it to the schedule. We are looking at some other Classical offerings as well from other sources. Please stay tuned to this blog for further updates.

It is not our desire at GCR to constantly change things up to confuse or frustrate our listeners or our partner stations. But, like any other radio station, we are at the mercy of the producers and distributors of the programs we broadcast. If a program decides to end its run, we often times have no say in the decision whatsoever. When this happens, we try to make changes to ensure our schedules will continue to "flow" as they did previously, or, to try to improve the overall sound of the station. We appreciate the continued patience and understanding of our listeners and partner stations as changes become necessary.

Thank you for listening to and supporting Global Community Radio!

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Friday, December 22, 2017

Christmas Special to Air on GCR2 Saturday, 12-23

GCR2 is pleased to present a seven hour Christmas special put together by our friends Jim Pemberton and Lady Rachel of Soft Sounds and Pemberton's Basement. This will air on 12-23 from 4 to 11 PM Easteron on GCR2, and will likely be simulcast on the web stream of WRST, and possibly WLRI-LP in Gap, PA. The special will also air at some point on WRAQ-LP in Angelica, NY. Contact WRAQ or consult their website or Facebook page for details.

Happy Holidays to one and all from Global Community Radio!

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Recent GCR Schedule Changes

My apologies for the delay in updating the program schedules to reflect the recent changes made on both GCR streams.

On GCR1, Workers Independent News has been dropped, as it appears the show has ceased production. In its place, we have added two short features. The Loh Down on Science, and Climate Connections. On Saturday nights at 11 PM Eastern/8 PM Pacific, we have added Destinies: The Voice of Science Fiction to our lineup. This replaces Unfictional, which we have been airing in reruns since the series was discontinued this past Summer. We hope fans of modern sci-fi, and radio drama in general, will enjoy Destinies, which has only recently started being available in syndication, after only being on WUSB on Long Island for over 30 years.

On GCR2, we regret to announce that Two Girls One Name has been discontinued due to technical issues. In its place, we have added our first Heavy Metal offering on GCR2. World of Metal is a weekly one hour program offering a wide range of Metal from across the globe.

As always, thanks to all of our listeners and partner stations for their continued support!

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Changes to GCR1 Overnight/Early Morning World News Programming.

Dear GCR1 Listeners and Partner Stations:

Recently, the World Radio Network (WRN) published their new program schedule for the North American service, which is what we use for most of our overnight/early morning world news programming. This new schedule is a bit more diverse, and we are looking forward to offering the new programming lineup to all of you. Unfortunately, it does mean some rather significant changes. These changes are as follows:

Israel Radio has expanded their time on WRN to a full hour every night at Midnight Eastern/9 PM Pacific. We will now air their "News at 8" program during that hour.

The hours between 1 and 4 AM Eastern/10 PM to 1 AM Pacific, remain intact.

At 4 AM Eastern/1 Am Pacific, WRN is again offering the world news bulletin from Vatican Radio as part of their daily lineup. at 4:15/1:15, you can hear the daily news bulletin from Radio New Zealand Pacific (formerly Radio New Zealand International). This will be followed at 4:30/1:30 by the daily program from Radio Prague.

The hours from 5 to 8 AM Eastern/2 to 5 Pacific remain intact.

The biggest change comes during the 8 AM/5 AM hour. WRN is now offering KBS World Radio from South Korea during this time. We want to keep KBS World Radio as part of our world news offerings. So, we are now airing it during this hour.

Sadly, we are dropping programming from Channel Africa until further notice. We regret having to do this, as we would like to bring you news directly from the African continent. But, we have been considering dropping this programming for some time now, as we rely on their daily podcats for broadcast, and these podcasts are not always updated in time for us to bring you a new show. We did look into picking up their live web stream from 2 to 3 AM Eastern, and we reached out to their tech department to ask if this was possible. Unfortunately, their web player URL is not compatible with our automation software, Zara Radio, and so we have no choice but to discontinue their programming at this time. If a solution can be worked out where we can connect to their live web stream on a daily basis, we will seriously consider bringing Channel Africa back to the GCR1 lineup. In the mean time, you can still hear developments from Africa on the program Africa Link, from DW in Germany, Tuesday to Saturday at 2 AM Eastern.

Lastly, we are swapping out VOA news at the top of the 9 AM hour for the full five minute newscast from Feature Story News (FSN).

Please make adjustments to your respective program schedules and make the necessary updates to your websites to reflect the above changes. As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for listening to and/or partnering with Global Community Radio.

Sincerely,

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Monday, October 23, 2017

GCR to Add Feature Story News

Global Community Radio is pleased to inform its partner stations and listeners that we're adding Feature Story News (FSN) at selected times during our broadcast day.

This is made possible thanks to the generosity of Tom Oy of St. James University and Nova Public Media, who is allowing GCR to access their FSN account.

For now, FSN will air Monday to Friday at 5 AM and 11 PM Eastern on GCR1 with their 3 minute news bulletin. If there is enough interest from partner stations and listeners, we will start offering FSN's 5 minute newscasts at selected times during the broadcast day, alternating with the top of hour news headlines from the Voice of America (VOA).

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

GCR1 Welcomes New Online Radio Affiliate

Global Community Radio is pleased to welcome another internet radio station to its growing family of partner stations.

This time, it's WMS-DB in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. WMS will be offering GCR1 programming 24/7 for the moment.

Thank you to Bill for reaching out to GCR, and inviting us on to his station. We hope listeners in Myrtle Beach and elsewhere will find our programming to be enjoyable as well as informative. WMS listeners can send email to globalcommunityradio@gmail.com with questions, comments and suggestions. We'd love to hear from you!

Radio Taiwan International on GCR1

We want to inform our listeners and partner stations that we were notified in writing that Radio Taiwan International is in the process of updating their internet servers. While this process is taking place, there will be no new RTI podcasts available. GCR will be airing encore/recent RTI podcasts for the interim, until new episodes are available. Thanks to our friends at Radio 360 for putting us in touch with RTI regarding this issue.

Monday, October 2, 2017

Tom Petty Tribute Tonight on GCR2

In place of Pemberton's Basement from 1 to 5 AM Eastern, GCR2 is running a special tribute show remembering the life and music of the late Tom Petty. This show was put together by Jim Pemberton and Lady Rachel of Soft Sounds. We hope that our listeners and partner stations will enjoy this heart felt tribute to one of Rock music's greatest icons.

Monday, September 25, 2017

Program Changes at GCR (REVISED 10-01-17)

We're making a few changes to both GCR streams. Please see below.

The most changes are coming to GCR1. The programs "What Keeps Me Awake" "Pause Cafe", and "The Correspondents" appear to have ended production. So we are swapping them out with new offerings. Also, "Between the Lines" from ABC Radio National, and "In the Middle/The Radio Kid's Rant!" are moving to new spots in the schedule. Here's how it all shakes out.

Between the Lines will now air Fridays at 2:30 AM Eastern
In the Middle/The Radio Kid's Rant! moves to Saturdays at 1 PM Eastern

We are again proud to offer an hour of children's programming on Saturdays, by adding "Confetti Park" on Saturdays at 8:30 AM Eastern, right after "Tell Us a Tale".

Because VOA has discontinued production of "The Correspondents", this will cause a few changes to our Sunday interview/roundtable programming. The new schedule will be as follows. All times Eastern
Noon VOA News
12:05 Issues in the News
12:30 Press Conference USA
1:00 VOA News
1:05 Encounter
1:30 Top Stories in 3 Minutes
1:33 Quadriga (weekly roundtable/discussion program from DW) We are once again able to present this program as we are now able to access the files more reliably than before.

On Mondays, we are adding another new show to our lineup. "Saffron Says" is a new commentary series discussing the media, and other interesting topics. The show is hosted by DJ Saffron, and will air Mondays at 11:30 AM Eastern.

There are schedule changes coming to GCR2 as well. We have been trying to decide what to do on Thursdays at 10 PM Eastern. "Ceejay the DJ" has had to put her show, "The Tempest" on hiatus until further notice due to some personal issues. We thank her for her efforts producing this show, and we hope maybe it will be able to return to GCR at some point in the future. We had been airing a Japanese Pop show, but there are no new episodes available. We have decided on "2 Girls 1 Name". This is a music and conversation show featuring Serena (The Radio Kid), and, Serena (DJ Saffron). We hope listeners will enjoy this interesting new program.

Regular readers of this blog will know that we've been seeking a new 70s music show to air as part of our very popular Saturday Oldies/Nostalgia programming on 2. We've found one. It comes from the same person who brings us "The Spin-O-Rama Hour". It's "The Spin-O-Rama 70s Hour". Each week, your host, Esther, spins a wide variety of 70s music. From hits to rarities, if it was recorded between 1970 and 1979, chances are you'll hear it on this program. It will air Saturdays at 4 PM Eastern. We're moving "Geezer Rock" one hour later to run at 5 PM so that things will flow more chronologically. 
The American Baby Boomer Radio show was a place holder until we could find something 70s oriented. We may reinstate this program if we ever expand our Oldies programming to weekdays.

 Some sad news coming from our friends at WWFM/The Classical Network. Due to continuing health issues, Bill Zagorski will no longer be able to produce his program, "Strictly Vinyl". We wish Bill nothing but the very best, and it is hoped by everyone that the program may return to the air in the future as his health improves. In the meantime, we are pleased to add a Classical program with an "Aussie" accent, as we add "Keys to Music" to our Wednesday morning lineup. This program comes from the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and their Classic FM service. Each week on Keys to Music, host Graham Abbott explores a different story, theme or idea in Classical music. We sincerely hope listeners will enjoy this program.

Some good news for fans of Cool and West Coast Jazz. Due to popular demand, Raoul Van Hall is continuing his program, "Jazz From the Left" for the foreseeable future. We are delighted to be able to continue to bring this show to our listeners and partner stations each and every Sunday.

As always, feedback from listeners and partner stations is very much appreciated. Feel free to send email to globalcommunityradio@gmail.com.

Thanks for listening to Global Community Radio!

KNDY XTRA Changes Format

We are sorry to inform our listeners to GCR1 on KNDY XTRA that the management has changed format on that web stream. They are now carrying the Classic Country format of KNDY AM 1570 24/7. We thank the Derek Nester and the rest of the crew at KNDY for giving GCR1 a chance to be heard on one of their internet streams. Derek informs me that he may be able to create a new internet service to bring GCR1 back to the Marysville, Kansas area in the future. If this happens, you'll hear about it right here! Please see the list of other GCR1 outlets on the Listen page for details on how you can sitll listen to GCR1 programming.

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

GCR Welcomes TWO New Partner Stations

Global Community Radio is pleased to welcome two new stations to our ever growing family.

First. we'd like to welcome WMUU-LP, a community radio station in Madison, Wisconsin. WMUU will rebroadcast portions of both GCR streams to the Madison community at 102.9 FM, and worldwide via their website.

We also welcome WLRI-LP, a community radio station in Gap, Pennsylvania. WLRI serves portions of both Chester and Lancaster counties. At the moment, WLRI is running tests of both GCR streams over their signal to determine what their listeners think of both GCR1 and GCR2. Soon, we will know for sure the final schedule for relays on WLRI. WLRI can be heard locally at 92.9 FM, and worldwide via their website.

It's always so exciting to announce new partner stations for GCR. We hope to be writing more blog posts like this one as time passes on.

If you listen to WLRI or WMUU, please let them know what you think of GCR. Your feedback is important to community radio stations. So, too, is your financial support!

We sincerely hope listeners in Madison and Lancaster thoroughly enjoy our programming. Again, welcome aboard!

Thursday, August 24, 2017

URGENT: OLD GCR STREAMS TURNED OFF

Dear GCR Partner Stations:

As most of you know, I have switched to a new streaming company to meet GCR's needs better, and at a price that I can afford.

I have sent you all several e-mails over the Summer explaining that this was happening, and that the old server would be shut down by the end of August. This has now happened.

The old GCR1 stream was turned off for good earlier this week, as the one station still using it had switched to the new stream. The old GCR2 stream WILL BE TURNED OFF FOR GOOD at Midnight on August 25th, and cannot be switched on again after that.

I see by the stream log files for both servers that some of you using GCR2 during the overnight have not made the transition to the new stream. I am sorry to leave your stations without any service, but, I cannot continue to pay for two streaming services, especially when most of my partner stations have already made the switch.

I sent you one more e-mail with the new stream URL for GCR2. If you did not receive this e-mail, or if you have not been getting any of my e-mails regarding this change, then please contact me immediately so I can give you the information you need to update your automation systems, and so that you can resume carrying GCR2 once again.

Again, my apologies for any inconvenience or loss of service to your station. This new server will give you more reliable GCR service, and will help me to keep costs down. Considering I don't charge you for access to GCR, and I don't make any money whatsoever running this service, keeping costs down is critical.

Thanks for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Monday, August 14, 2017

GCR1 Partner Station KLQS Going Silent

On Sunday, August 13th, GCR was notified in writing by Peter Gray that KLQS-LP in Agua Dulce, California is going silent for an indefinite period of time.

The situation is a rather unusual one. In short, the equipment used to operate KLQS was in fact on loan to them from another low power FM operator, which did not need it until they were ready to start broadcasting. Apparently, the new station is soon to go on the air in Santa Clarita, California.

This does not mena tne end of KLQS, though. They are making an effort to raise money to purchase new equipment specifically for KLQS, and they are also in the process of relocating the transmitter from Agua Dulce to Palmdale, California, a larger community.

We wish KLQS success, and hope they will return to the air very soon!

KFZR, the "sister station" to KLQS, is not affected by these developments.

Upcoming GCR2 Schedule Changes

We regret that some programming on GCR2 will soon be coming to an end. As such, we need to make some schedule changes which we hope you will enjoy.

Changes to Our Morning Classical Lineup

Israel and Marjorie Herman are retiring from WWFM, a major supplier of our Classical music offerings. Israel Herman's program, On the Wind, will end its run later this month. Marjorie's program, Sounds Choral, will continue production, but with rotating hosts offering their own unique take on choral music.

With On the Wind coming to an end, we need to make changes to our Monday morning lineup. Because we try to schedule our shows to have a certain "flow" to them whenever possible, this will cause a chnage to our Tuesday morning lineup as well.

We will be adding a new program to the Tuesday lineup. The Score, is another outstanding series featuring orchestral music from films. We feel this series will compliment our ling running film music series, Picture Perfect.

The Monday and Tuesday Classical lineups will look like this:

Monday

6:00 Classical Guitar Alive
7:00 The Piano Matters
8:00 Between the Keys
9:00 The Lost Chord (moved from Tuesday)

Tuesday

6:00 Picture Perfect
7:00 The Score (newly added)
8:00 The Lyric Stage
9:00 Curtis Calls

We hope you will enjoy the new lineups.

Jazz From the Left Ends Production

We were recently notified in writing that Raoul Van Hall, the longtime host of the weekly Jazz From the Left program heard Sundays on GCR2, will be retiring from radio after 45 years in the business. While we are sad to lose Jazz From the Left, we want to wish Raoul a happy retirement.

We are currently searching for new Jazz programming to run on Sundays from 6 to 8 PM Eastern. Watch this space for further details. The final Jazz From the Left will air on Sunday, October 1st.

Saturday Programming Changes

We have been having problems accessing Saving the 70s programs of late. We are replacing this show with Music Factory Radio. This series is a music show for the baby boomer generation, offering an eclectic mix of rock and pop from the 50s to the 70s.

We may consider adding a new 70s music show to our schedule soon, as we have word that a new series is being developed. Again, watch this space for details.

VOA News Dropped From GCR2

Lately, we've been having problems with audio drop outs in the VOA News feeds for both GCR1 and 2. We think we have resolved the problem on GCR1. While we were contemplating making the same fix for GCR2, we decided to try something different. We want to make GCR2 a purely musical experience for its listeners. So we are dropping all VOA newscasts from GCR2. We are adding some new features en lieu of the newscasts. These features include:
Classics for Kids
NEA Jazz Master Moments
Earthsongs Spotlight
On This Day in Blues History

As always, listener feedback is very important. Please send your thoughts on these programming changes, or anything else you want to comment on regarding our programming. globalcommunityradio@gmail.com

Thanks for listening!

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

GCR1 Welcomes New Partner Station

Global Community Radio is pleased to welcome another station to our growing network of community and educational radio stations carrying portions of our programming.

This time, we welcome KAKU-LP in Maui, Hawaii. Listeners on the island can hear various programs from GCR1 Monday to Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 PM, and seven nights a week from Midnight to 6 AM Hawaii Standard Time.

Thanks to Shaggy Jenkins and the crew at KAKU for partnering with GCR. KAKU listeners are encouraged to send feedback about what they hear to globalcommunityradio@gmail.com

We hope to be posting more blog entries like this one, as more stations become aware of GCR, and how partnering with us can enhance their programming.

New Streaming Platform

Attention GCR Partner Stations:

I sent an email to all of you regarding this, but am posting a notice here in the event some of you did not receive that email.

GCR has found a new streaming platform which will save money, and prove far more efficient in the long run. I sent an email wiht the new URLs for the GCR1 and GCR2 streams. If you did not receive this email, it is very important that you notify me as soon as possible, so that I can get you this info right away.

Very soon, the old Shoutcast streams from Server Room WILL BE TURNED OFF. Once this happens, your station will not be able to connect to GCR until you have reprogrammed your automation software with the new streaming links.

Again, please get in touch with me as soon as possible if you do not have that info. If you have additional questions or concerns, or if you are having problems accessing/connecting to the new streams, please let me know. I'm here to help!

Thanks for continuing to partner with Global Community Radio!

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

GCR1 Programming Changes

Yet again, we've made some programming changes to GCR1. This is all being done to ensure that GCR broadcasts a diversity of perspectives, and, that it does so in a credible and responsible manner.

Recently, we received a complaint regarding the content of The Aware Show, which we added to replace Humankind on Sundays. Great concern was expressed regarding the show's emphasis on pseudoscience. Upon further research into this, I determined that I do not want Global Community Radio involved in the dissemination of subject matter that is of questionable credibility. In addition to being an outlet for news and political discussion, GCR1 has a strong commitment to educational programming. I will not broadcast educational programming that is not rooted in fact, or whose claims cannot be supported by credible scientific evidence. Therefore, upon receipt of this complaint, this show has been dropped from our schedule, and will not be brought back at any time.

Some Sunday programs have been shifted to make room for two new half hour shows. GCR1 is proud to announce the addition of Global Journalist to our Sunday news lineup. Each week, Global Journalist examines a particular issue or topic that is relevant in today's global news cycle. This show originates at public radio station KBIA, and is hosted by Jason McLure. The show airs Sundays at 11:30 AM Eastern. Also new to Sundays is The Poet and the Poem. This series features poets and their poetry, and is from the Library of Congress. It can be heard Sundays at 2:30 PM Eastern.

Another change concerns our Monday morning lineup. Recently, KCRW expanded the duration of its Left, Right and Center program from 29 minutes to 52 minutes. I've aired LRC for many years, as far back as the old Geneva Community Radio days. I am pleased to offer this new, expanded version of the show. Unfortunately, it means the cancellation of the Laura Flanders show on GCR1. That program may be brought back if another half hour slot opens up during one of our news/political blocks.

I want everyone reading this to know that I do not make these changes to frustrate or inconvenience affiliate stations or listeners. I make them out of what I believe is my obligation to offer all of you the best community radio product possible. I will continue to make changes where needed, but will always value your feedback as well.

Sincerely,

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Thursday, June 29, 2017

GCR1 Programming Changes Effective July 1st, 2017

Global Community Radio is constantly trying to improve its programming to better serve the wants and needs of our affiliate stations and our listeners.

To that end, we are making some major changes to GCR1 effective July 1st.

The biggest change will actually occur on July 3rd, as we add the popular Pacifica radio program Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman to our Monday to Friday lineup. We have had many requests from our partner stations to consider picking up this extremely popular program. After serious consideration, we feel adding Democracy Now! is in GCR's best interest, and the show will attract more listeners and possibly more partner stations to GCR1.

Democracy Now! will air Monday to Friday at 7 PM Eastern, 4 PM Pacific. This means there will be several changes to our weeknight programming. We are dropping our nightly airing of Letters and Politics from KPFA in Berkley. We may consider reinstating this program at another time slot, if enough listeners ask for it. Those who wish to continue listening to Letters and Politics may do so on-demand from the KPFA website.

Most of the programming which has been airing Monday to Friday from 7 to 8 PM Eastern will now shift one hour later, starting at 8. The new lineup will be:

Monday
8:00 TUC Radio
8:30 Building Bridges

Tuesday
8:00 City Club of Cleveland

Wednesday
8:00 Alternative Radio

Thursday
8:00 Commonwealth Club of California

Friday
8:00 Between the Lines Radio Magazine
8:30 Counterspin

New World Notes moves to Saturdays at 1:30 PM Eastern

We are dropping several series which, while the programs are excellent, are no longer producing new content. We want to air programming that is current, fresh, and relevant to today's issues. The following discontinued programs are being dropped.
9-11 Wake Up Call
Body Sphere
For Women Over Forty
Parents' Perspective
Storyland

Another day which will undergo some major programming changes is Saturday.

We are adding an exciting new show to Saturday mornings. GCR is proud to debut In the Middle/The Radio Kid's Rant! This weekly half hour series is produced and hosted by Serena "The Radio Kid" of Clearing the Static and Radio Serena fame. This will be a "two shows in one" program. In the Middle will be a political/current events/social issues discussion platform where liberal, centrist, and conservative viewpoints can all be heard equally and with respect. The Radio Kid's Rant! will be more lighthearted, and will consist of commentaries on non-political issues. The segments will alternate depending on what is happening in the weekly news cycle. In the Middle/The Radio Kid's Rant! airs on GCR1 Saturdays at 8:30 AM Eastern, 5:30 AM Pacific. Our weekly world news programming will shift to air from 9 AM to 1 PM Eastern. We are adding a new weekly interview series at 1 PM called Pause Cafe, followed by New World Notes at 1:30 PM

On Tuesdays, we are making changes to the late morning lineup. It will now be:
10:00 Positive Parenting
10:30 Voices and Views (a weekly interview series on a wide range of topics)
11:00 All in the Mind
11:29 Healthy Moments
11:30 Bioneers
11:58 Medical Discovery News
All other programming remains intact at this time.

As always, we welcome your feedback, comments, and complaints regarding these changes. We value your opinions, and we want you to let us know how we can make Global Community Radio a better programming service. Please send email to globalcommunityradio@gmail.com

Kind regards,

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Monday, June 19, 2017

GCR Welcomes New Partner Stations

Once again, it gives me great pleasure to announce that GCR continues to grow, and to spread our unique approach to community radio to new audiences.

GCR welcomes KIEZ-LP in Monroe, Louisiana to the list of stations offering the intelligent, in-depth news and talk programming of GCR1 to their listeners. You can now listen to GCR1 24/7 in the Monroe area at 106.7 on the FM dial.

We also welcome KCPK-LP in Pine Mountain Club, California to the GCR family. At this time, KCPK has been conducting test transmissions of GCR, and is in the process of determining which GCR programs will be broadcast. KCPK can be heard in the Pine Mountain Club area at 106.9 FM. We anticipate schedule details will be coming soon, so keep watching this space.

I am pleased at the continued growth of Global Community Radio. There is always room for more partner stations. If you know of a campus, community or public radio station in your community that you think could benefit by becoming a GCR partner station, then I urge you to contact the station today and ask them to consider carrying GCR programming. Or, e-mail your local station's contact details to globalcommunityradio@gmail.com, and I will act on the info immediately.

I hope to be posting more blog entries like this one in the near and the distant future. Thanks to all of you for your continued support!

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Update on KFZR and KLQS

We are pleased to announce that, after a successful weekend of test broadcasts, the management at KFZR and KLQS have decided to stay with GCR1 programming 24/7 for the foreseeable future.

We are delighted to be able to serve the Frazier Park and Agua Dulce communities with high quality news, informational, educational and public service programming from around the world. We welcome feedback from listeners of KFZR and KLQS. Send e-mail to globalcommunityradio@gmail.com.

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Two LPFM Community Stations in California Currently Conducting Tests of GCR1 on FM

Global Community Radio is pleased to announce that two low power FM (LPFM) stations in California are considering becoming GCR partner stations. To that end, they are running tests of GCR audio over their FM transmitters.

The stations are:
KFZR-LP (93.3) in Frazier Park
KLQS-LP (96.7) in Agua Dulce

From now through June 12th, both stations will be offering GCR1 and its innovative news and talk programming 24 hours a day.

If these tests are successful, then KLQS will remain with GCR1 24/7 for the foreseeable future, as they are in the process of applying to the FCC for a transmitter move. Meanwhile, KFZR will likely offer GCR1 programming to its listeners during the overnight hours, while resuming their normal mix of Pacifica programming during the day.

Please watch this space for further updates as we continue to work with these stations to solidify this partnership. In the meantime, we would love to hear from listeners in Frazier Park and Agua Dulce who are receiving this programming. We'd love to hear your thoughts on GCR1, and its programming. Please send e-mail to globalcommunityradio@gmail.com

Jason Longwell
Global Community Radio Station Manager

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

GCR Welcomes New Partner Station in Northeast Ohio

Global Community Radio is pleased to welcome another local community radio station to our network. WNPA-LP "Neopa Community Radio" serves the Canton, Ohio area at 102.5 FM, and streams worldwide online.

WNPA will offer GCR2 music programming to their listeners during overnight/early morning hours seven days a week.

We welcome Neopa Community Radio as a partner station, and we encourage listeners in the Canton area to send us feedback on GCR programming.

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Minor Schedule Change to GCR1 Friday/Saturday Programming

Due to "restructuring" at United Nations Radio, the weekly segment Global Perspective is no longer in production. In its place, GCR1 has moved the weekly segment American Cafe from Voice of America to Saturday afternoons at 1:50 PM Eastern. UN Radio will continue to offer its other weekly segments, UN and Africa, and Gender Focus, which will continue to be heard on Saturdays at 1:30 and 1:40 PM Eastern, respectively, along with UN Daily News, Monday to Friday at 9:05 AM, and UN News in Brief, Monday to Friday at approximately 5:27 PM Eastern.

American Cafe's former time slot of 4:50 PM Eastern will now be occupied by another Voice of America weekly podcast, The Game Room. Each week, The Game Room presents some of the most interesting stories from the week in international sports.

Why do we keep changing our programming?

GCR has no desire to drop any of its existing programming. We feel that all of our programming on both streams is of the highest quality. We are proud of our program lineups, and don't want to see them change. Unfortunately, we are at the mercy of our programming providers, like UN Radio, VOA, DW, and a host of other networks, radio stations, and producers from around the world. They are the ones who decide whether or not a particular program stays in production. A program may be cancelled for a variety of reasons, most of them either of a financial or personal nature, and Global Community Radio often has no say in these decisions. In the case of UN Radio and Global Perspective, GCR did take part in a recent programming survey offered to us by UN Radio, in which we gave very high praise to all of UN Radio's program offerings. Our guess is that, unfortunately, the overall response to that particular feature was not sufficient to justify its continued production.

As always, we appreciate the continued support and understanding of our partner stations and our listeners as these changes are made. We will always keep our programming schedules accurate and up to date, and you can always watch this space for the latest programming news, and other station developments as they happen.

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Follow Up: GCR1 Changes

Those who follow this blog regularly know that GCR1 has undergone a few schedule changes in recent weeks. Now, we are completing these changes, and hope that the GCR1 schedule will remain stable for the foreseeable future.

The final broadcast of Humankind aired on Sunday, April 30th. Effective Sunday, May 7th, GCR1 will offer The Aware Show in the 8 AM hour. We hope this will be a suitable substitute for those who enjoyed the Humankind series.

Another Sunday change. Backstory is no longer being offered as a weekly radio series. It is still available as a podcast which listeners can access on their website. In its place, we present two programs. At Noon, we offer Rear Vision, a program that looks back at critical events in World History. This is one of the many outstanding shows we air from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). At 12:30, we are bringing back to our schedule The Correspondents, a VOA "week in review" news magazine which will compliment our existing VOA weekend programming that starts at 1 PM Eastern.

This, in turn, causes a change to our early Friday morning schedule. At 2:30 AM Eastern, we are replacing Rear Vision with the series What Keeps Me Awake. This, too, comes from the ABC down under, and is a fascinating conversation series with individuals from all walks of life talking about the issues they often ponder late at night.

Another change we learned about recently concerns the long running progressive news program Free Speech Radio News (FSRN) which had been producing a weekly half hour program in recent years. Due to lack of distribution, and due to their inability to find "firm financial footing", FSRN has ceased production. Their last broadcast was produced on April 28th. On Mondays, GCR1 will now air Left, Right and Center 30 minutes earlier at 10 AM Eastern. At 10:30, we have added The Laura Flanders Show. Laura is no stranger to community radio, as she has been part of various progressive news programs for many years. Her weekly program will present field reports, interviews, and commentary on a variety of relevant subjects. We hope fans of the former FSRN programming will enjoy this series.

One last change we recently made to the early Saturday morning schedule. Unfortunately, the DW program Quadriga has not been reliably available to us. We need shows that are accessible and which are produced on a regular basis. When we suddenly have problems accessing a show's audio files, we have no choice but to drop this program, and find other programming to put in its place. We have found another series from DW which is available reliably every week. It's called Spotlight on Europe. Unlike DW's flagship program Inside Europe, which will continue on GCR1, Spotlight on Europe presents the week's European news from an African perspective. This series will now air Saturdays at 1:30 AM Eastern, with Conflict Zone airing at 1 AM Eastern.

The GCR1 program schedule will be updated to reflect these changes shortly.

As always, we welcome your feedback on our programming. Let us know what you think, and what you'd like to hear on Global Community Radio by sending email to globalcommunityradio@gmail.com

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Thursday, April 13, 2017

More Changes Coming to GCR Schedules

As our various hosts encounter changes in their personal and professional lives, they must sometimes change the way in which their radio programs are produced, or, they must end their shows entirely. Both are in the process of hapening here at Global Community Radio.

Thursday, April 13th, we will air the final episode of All Popular Genres Considered. We wish to sincerely think host and producer Bob Cavanaugh for his dedication to the program, and for supplying us with a total of 44 excellent episodes of musical variety. We're sorry to see the show end, and we wish him well in his future endeavors. From time to time, Bob may re-appear on GCR with special programs. We'll be sure to post info about these specials here on the website in order to promote them.

Filling Bob's former time slot is our newest broadcaster "CeeJay" and her new show The Tempest. This show moves from its temporary slot on Wednesday nights, starting Thursday, April 20th, at 10 PM Eastern. Fans of All Popular Genres Considered may well enjoy The Tempest, and its approach to music variety. Please let us know what you think of this exciting new show.

On Wednesdays at 10 PM Eastern, GCR2 is pleased to add The Stone Age, a series of hour long programs presenting the wide variety of electric Rock sounds that came out of the 1960s and 70s. We feel this show will be a nice lead in to FM Odyssey at 11 PM.

There will be a slight change to our Saturday morning nostalgia programming on GCR2. We were very saddened to learn of the passing of Geoff Kemp, who co-hosted The Fabulous 50's Radio show with Paul Peters. Geoff was more than just a co-host of a radio show. He and Paul had known one another for over 40 years. As you can imagine, this has been a very difficult time for Paul. However, he recently informed his radio affiliates that he will be continuing with The Swinging 60's program, and, he will be developing a new 50's music show which will likely be called "The Softer Side of the 50's". These shows will air Saturdays from 10 Am to Noon Eastern on GCR2.

Lastly, there is a change coming to GCR1 on Sunday mornings starting in May. We were recently notified in writing by PRX, the Public Radio Exchange, that the series Humankind will be ending its 20 year run on Public radio at the end of April. GCR1 will air the final episode of the series on Sunday, April 30th at 8 AM Eastern. Right now, we do not know what program will replace it. We are looking at a handful of shows that discuss topics such as religion, spirituality, and how to live a positive lifestyle. We will be discussing this with our partner stations to determine what program will go in to this time slot next month. As always, check this blog for further details.

As always, we thank all of our listeners and our partner stations for their understanding whenever it becomes necessary to make programming changes. Please continue to send us your feedback and your suggestions. They are always greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Jason Longwell
GCR Station Manager

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Slight change to GCR1 on Sunday nights

We've made a minor change to the GCR1 program schedule during the 11 PM Eastern hour on Sundays.

Recently, Freethought Radio expanded to 50 minutes per week. This meant we had to shorten the length of The Radio Kid's Rant! Well, The Radio Kid has found that this is a bit too restrictive, as many of the topics they discuss require much more time than ten minutes per week. So, we have decided to make the rants an online only feature of the Clearing the Static website, where they are always posted anyway. This way, there will be no time limit for the rants. We are adding a VOA newscast at the top of the hour, and we'll wrap up the hour with a short program from VOA called Asia Weekly.

As always, our apologies for any inconvenience these changes may cause. Thanks for listening to Global Community Radio.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

GCR2 Welcomes New Show

Global Community Radio is pleased to announce the addition of a new show to the lineup of GCR2, our all music stream.

Introducing "The Tempest" a new freeform/music variety show hosted by Cee Jay the DJ, an aspiring young broadcaster with a passion for music and intelligent commentary and discussion. Listeners can expect to hear a wide variety of music on her show ranging form Indie to Pop to Classic Rock, and everything in between. Those of you who like such GCR2 offerings as All Popular Genres Considered, Pemberton's Basement and Radio Serena may find this new show quite appealing.

For now, The Tempest airs Wednesday nights at 10 PM Eastern. I say "for now" because we may be making other programming changes to GCR2 which may impact the scheduling of this program.

So, please listen to the new show, and offer your feedback via email and via her new website.

Thanks for listening to GCR2, where music matters!

Friday, February 3, 2017

Further Changes Regarding GCR1 and ABC Programming

As more programming changes take place at the various networks of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), GCR1 has modified its program schedule.

The documentary series Earshot is now only produced twice a week. We will air the series on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 2:30 AM Eastern. On Thursdays at this time, we have added The Mine Field, a weekly half hour program designed to help us navigate the "mine field" that is modern life. On Fridays, we are pleased to add Rear Vision to our schedule. Rear Vision looks at historical events and how they have had an impact on modern times.

It seems that another documentary series, Pocket Docs, was near the end of its run when we decided to pick it up. So we have repalced it with Extra, another outstanding weekly program from the ABC's RN service which takes an in depth look at some of the past week's most interesting news stories.

Lastly, we regret to announce the cancellation of the outstanding series The Body Sphere. This series was a nice compliment to the All in the Mind series, which, as far as we know, will continue production. Because there were many episodes in the Body Sphere series which we haven't yet aired, and because we feel the subject matter is still very compelling and relevant, GCR1 will continue to offer encores of the series until further notice.

As always, watch this blog for the latest programming news, and other news concerning GCR happenings.

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

GCR2 Adds The Midnight Special to its Lineup

Global Community Radio is pleased to announce the addition of one of America's longest running Folk music radio programs to its weekly schedule.

Starting Monday, January 23rd, GCR2 will offer to its partner stations and their listeners The Midnight Special. Founded way back in 1953 at pioneering Public radio station WFMT in Chicago, this weekly two hour program presents the very best in Folk and Acoustic music. Currently, the show is hosted by Rich Warren.

More info can be found at the show's website.

Midnight Special will air on GCR2 every Monday from 10 AM to Noon Eastern. Listeners can hear the program on partner stations WRAQ (FM and Webcast), and WRST (Webcast).

We hope everyone will enjoy this newest addition to our music lineup. As always, your thoughts and ideas on how GCR can serve you better are more than welcome.

Sunday, January 8, 2017

GCR Welcomes New Partner Station

Global Community Radio is pleased to welcome another partner station. Now, listeners in Clay county West Virginia can hear some of the diverse music programming of GCR2 on their community radio station, WYAP-LP "Yap Radio" 101.7 FM, and streaming here.

GCR2 relays are broadcast every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night from 11 PM to 7 AM the following morning.

If you live in and around Clay, WV, and you like what you hear from GCR on WYAP, why not take a moment to let the crew at Yap Radio know what you think of the programming. They would love to hear from you.

Our thanks to Andy and the rest of the folks at WYAP for giving GCR programming a chance on their station.