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Sex and Broadcasting2016
SEX AND BROADCASTING is a human and humorous look at New Jersey's WFMU, a radio station that refuses any programming boundaries. Most of its disc jockeys are unpaid volunteers, working for their love of surprising, spontaneous radio. They play everything from flat-out un-categorizable strangeness to every form of rock and roll, experimental music, jazz, psychedelia, hip-hop, hand-cranked wax cylinders, gospel, Inuit marching bands, Rhythm and Blues, Country and Western, radio improvisations, spoken-word collages and throat singers of the Lower East Side. Their captain is station manager Ken Freedman, who has spent the past three decades keeping WFMU alive, independent and one of a kind. At fifty-four, Ken has strapped his entire life and family to this crazy station, and it may all soon be a memory. Since the introduction of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, radio has seen massive corporate consolidation. This has dramatically decreased the diversity of music formats being broadcast nationally and has eliminated many independent and local voices from the public airwaves. Simultaneously, the rise of algorithmic internet radio models (Pandora, Spotify, iTunes and Clear Channel's iHeartRadio) that deliver "automated music recommendations" has tightened the screws on smaller players that attempt to use the internet to bring human-controlled radio to larger audiences. During this time WFMU, through it's foresight and perseverance, has served as a beacon of hope for those who love music and believe in the importance of truly independent media outlets. The film weaves personal stories of WFMU's eccentric DJs with an exploration of the 21st-century media landscape that has made the station such a rarity. As the film unfolds, WFMU reaches a crisis: Ken meets with the board of directors. With six months until their next fundraising marathon, they are almost out of money. Can WFMU stay on the air and stay true to its independent spirit? SEX AND BROADCASTING explores the past and present of this essential, weird and utterly unique American institution while telling the gripping, yet comical, story of its fight for survival.
What makes this film worth watching?
2 members like this review
only because i started listening to WFMU back in the 80s when i lived in NYC it was 24/7 then_now i listen 2x a week_6 hours but i'm glad it's still around
top reviewer
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Starring
- Dave Abramson - Himself
- Pseu Braun - Herself
- Ken Freedman - Himself
- Matt Groening - Himself
- Adam Horovitz - Himself
- Patton Oswalt - Himself
- Lee Ranaldo
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Member Reviews (8)
top reviewer
only because i started listening to WFMU back in the 80s when i lived in NYC it was 24/7 then_now i listen 2x a week_6 hours but i'm glad it's still around
2 members like this review
top reviewer
check out my friend Evan's show "Explorer's Room" via webcast Thursday nights on WFMU!
1 member likes this review
top reviewer
An interesting account of a truly independent (and eclectic) radio station.
movie online visit WATCH.SIDURU.NET
good one
Strictly film school drop-out quality.
Inspiring towards independence.
Interesting since I used to listen to this station in the 80's and wondered if it was still around.