I've always known that KQED (the Bay Area's public TV and Radio) had archive and live audio streams of their radio programs. But until the other day, I'd never paid much attention to them.
I was very pleasantly surprised to find that KQED Radio offers audio streams for Real Player, Windows Media, and QuickTime. Just follow that link and click on the "listen live" button.
Awesome!
The Quicktime feed is very bandwidth friendly and still very good quality too. Derek found that the URL to use if you'd like to use iTunes directly is http://www.kqed.org/w/streamingfiles/kqed_qt.mov
BTW, KQED FM is the largest NPR station in the country. I know that because their pledge drive just ended and they make a point of saying that a lot. I just wish there was a way to opt out of the pledge drive. As someone who's been giving them money for a few years now, I don't need convincing!
Posted by jzawodn at September 23, 2004 05:59 PM
Listening to local news in a country on the other side of the world is just cool :)
NPR = National Public Radio
NPR stations are essentially talk shows on the radio. For more information: http://www.npr.org/.
Keep in mind NPR is American and so reflects some Americans' opinions. I've found it is good to get a world opinion on things from my shortwave radio to compare and contrast to my own preconceived notions and opinions.
No MP3 streams? bah.
proprietary, proprietary, proprietary.
Another public radio station worthy of your online attention (and financial support) is KEXP in Seattle (http://kexp.org). They play the best music 24x7 and it's all commercial-free. Their live streaming comes in flavors Windows Media, Real, and MP3. Their streaming archive contains all of the last two weeks of music. Can't beat it with a stick.
After living in San Jose I recently moved to Lubbock, in the panhandle of Texas. One of the hardest slaps was that when I turned on the radio, KQED wasn't there. Even compared to other major cities where I had lived (Dallas, Atlanta) KQED matched my taste better than any other NPR station. Thanks to their stream, though I live in the 1950's I can listen to Radio Free 2004.
Jeremy, thanks for the excellent pointer. The link that you provided for iTunes works quite well in the Quicktime Player on Windows, too.
"NPR = National Public Radio"
aaah - i see, kind of like the BBC , but without the compulsory license fee. NPRs survive on donations? or local state taxes maybe?
Hmm, I had never though to try their quicktime stream... the windows media ones I've always found to be pretty crappy quality (a lot of 'artifacts'). The Quicktime one seems much better so far.
I keep telling myself next time they have a pledge drive, I'm going to do one of those challenge grant things. You can offer as little as $500, once, and you even get to pick when it'll be offered. I was thinking do it in the name of my site prince.org, and have it during one of the music-related Fresh Air episodes...
There are actually quite some number of NPR affils that stream MP3. Searching for NPR at shoutcast.com will produce a fairly long list, including Penn State's WPSU.
They claim if you send MO MONEY, it shortens the pledge drive. Now, they'll raise the bar next year if the line works. ;->=
I just wish their site weren't so Java* intensive. The home page doesn't even show if you're running Java* disabled.
"aaah - i see, kind of like the BBC , but without the compulsory license fee. NPRs survive on donations? or local state taxes maybe?"
All the above, AND a small bit of fed tax money(consider it a hidden compulsory fee). Works for me.
Hi! A really great link with hundreds of Public Radio stations around the world (including many NPR stations in the US) is:
Jake White
Seattle
What is going on with KQED? No more QuickTime streams! Sad and lame! I expected more from KQED.
