Getting closer to graduation I recently realized that I would regret never having really listened to the school radio station. My car radio only receives the transmission when I get within a mile of Glades Road and I-95, and since I’m usually listening to something else during that 5-minute window of reception, I forget to check out WOWL. Effectively, I’ve allowed the non-conducive situation to prevent me from listening to the school radio station.

Now that I finally want to tune in, the FCC has stopped the station from broadcasting on FM and made them change their name because there is a WOWL station somewhere in Mississippi. Good thing, too, because I always get them mixed up.

WOWL is now known as Owl Radio and can only be heard in the Breezeway on the Boca Raton campus or on their website www.wowl.fau.edu/.

I was recently having a conversation/argument with my friend who feels that he gets a well-rounded representation of the world by listening to different radio stations in our area.

I disagreed based on my belief that the vast majority of radio stations are controlled by large corporations that are in bed with other corporations and their respective politicians. He disagreed, saying that there were plenty of independent stations.

Of course, neither one of us convinced the other of anything, but it did set off a chain of thoughts in my mind. First, I wondered how many radio stations were independent. To find the answer, I went online and got a list of all the radio stations on the AM and FM dials. After excluding the channels that weren’t in English, I listened to all the stations from Miami to West Palm Beach. Here’s what I found:

He was right, there are some independent stations – seven to be exact. One is a techno station and the other six are religious broadcasts. Also, you have National Public Radio, which is fairly well rounded, but if you listen to any of the other 29 stations out there, you are listening to one of five similar points of view – most likely Clear Channel.

Owl Radio plays the music you might never hear anywhere else. Unlike the corporate organizations, money is not the motivating factor deciding what gets airtime.

As you walk through the Breezeway trying to avoid people who are waiting to give you flyers about this or that, or when you’re on the internet, give the station a bit of a listen and know it might be the last time you here music that hasn’t been picked because Sony Records has a deal with Clear Channel.

Clear Channel(1225 stations in the U.S.)

WBGG 105.9 (classic rock)

WHYI 100.7 (top 40)

WKGR 98.7 (classic rock)

WLDI 95.5 (top 40)

WLVE 93.9 (smooth jazz)

WMGE 103.5 (urban hip-hop)

WOLL 105.5 (oldies)

WRLX 92.1 (rock)

WZTA 94.9 (rock)

WZZR 92.7 (rock)

WBZT 1040 AM (talk)

WBZT 1230 AM (talk)

WIOD 610 AM (news, talk, sports)

WJNO 1290 AM (news, talk)

WRFX 940 AM (sports)

Infinity (180 radio stations in the U.S.)

WEAT 104.3 (adult contemporary)

WJBW 106.3 (adult contemporary)

WMBX 102.3 (adult contemporary)

WPBZ 103.1 (alternative)

Cox Radio (79 radio stations in the U.S.)

WEDR 99.1 (urban adult contemporary)

WFLC 97.3 (adult contemporary)

WHQT 105.1 (urban adult contemporary)

WPYM 93.1 (dance)

Beasly Broadcasting(41 radio stations in the U.S.)

WKIS 99.9 (country)

WPOW 96.5 (top 40)

WQAM 560 AM (sports)

Jefferson Pilot(17 radio stations in the U.S.)

WAXY 790 AM (talk)

WLYF 101.5 (adult contemporary)

WMXJ 102.7 (oldies)

Indie

NPR, WLRN 91.3 (public)

NPR, WXEL 90.7 (public)

WAFG 90.3 (religious, Miami Baptist Church)

WAY-FM 88.1 (Christian, Coral Ridge Baptist)

WOMB 107.1 (dance)

WRMB 89.3 (religious)

WRMF 97.9 (adult contemporary, New Generation Media)

WLVJ 1040 AM (religious, Moody Bible Institute)

WMBM 1490 AM (religious, Palm Beach Broadcasting)