The below post appeared on our first website. Thanks to the Wayback Machine, we’re refreshing it and putting it here.

SSCR Tampa is an online radio station in the Sulphur Springs neighborhood of Tampa, Florida, USA. 

Why Tampa?

Why not? Everyone has to be somewhere.

I know, but… why Sulphur Springs?

Because this neighborhood is a hidden gem. From the Springs Theatre up to New World Brewery, there are many good things starting to happen in Sulphur Springs. We’re halfway between the University of South Florida and Ybor City. We’re also right between Busch Gardens and ZooTampa at Lowry Park. You’re going to start hearing a lot about Sulphur Springs this decade. 

We already have heard a lot about Sulphur Springs….

Yeah, don’t remind me. Er, I mean, I thought you were asking questions?

OK, fair enough. So why radio?

There is a lot of good music here in the Tampa Bay area and beyond. There is also a lot of… um, radio stations. But with the exception of the venerable WMNF, there aren’t many organizations looking to put the two together. Like most American cities, we are in a wasteland of corporate rock coming into the 2020’s. And while there still is good music to be found on mainstream stations, particularly modern rock stations, there also is a lot of… well, schlock. Quite a lot of schlock: It’s to the point that one is beginning to have a hard time determining if they’re listening to rock, country, hip hop, generic pop, or Latino. And no offense to listeners of those genres (well, except generic pop, as you have no soul), as there are good artists performing in those genres, too. Many of them, however, aren’t getting airtime right now. When you can’t even find songs by longtime successful rockers like Dropkick Murphys, nor even mention of them when they come to town to sold out shows, something is seriously wrong. 

Well, alright then.

Wait, don’t go yet. Don’t you want to ask anything else?

Um… like what?

Well, you seem to have been working your way backwards through the opening sentence….

Okay, uh, what’s the deal with SSCR?

Not where I thought you were going. OK, so I suppose SSCR just stands for Sulphur Springs Community Radio. Or… well, nothing at all, really, since our online community stretches far beyond the confines of the Sulphur Springs neighborhood. Think of it as our call letters… which, y’know, is completely ridiculous, because as an online radio station, we don’t need call letters. Have I dropped enough hints yet?

I don’t know what you’re talk… wait. You don’t mean…?

You know you want to ask it. There’s a reason you’re seeing this on a website, after all, as opposed to, oh, I dunno… Broadcasting magazine or something. (Is that even still a thing?) So just ask already.

Was that a dig on…?

Yeah, it’s fine, they go by something else now. ASK, dammit.

*sigh* Ok, FINE. Why online?

Funny you should finally ask that. </sarcasm> We’re online because that’s the future of radio. 

No, seriously. I can hear you laughing. Yes, I realize that they’ve been saying that the internet would kill radio since the founding of the World Wide Web thirty years ago. Yes, television was supposed to kill radio long before that yet: Who can forget Bruce Wooley’s hit, “Video Killed the Radio Star“? (Who, indeed, except for all the folks who’ve been born since MTV stopped playing videos? Ahem…) 

The thing is, though, all those people have been confusing the medium for the technology. The various media haven’t gone anywhere. Even print, the supposed “death” of which is well documented by the constant reporting on defunct newspapers and magazines, hasn’t gone anywhere. The medium has just been picked up by other technology, due to the reluctance of traditional print media outlets to adapt their business models to the technology. (Don’t believe me? You’re over 600 words into this print article, making for a decent-sized newspaper article in days gone by.) 

The same will happen to radio. The same already has happened to television: As cord-cutters have discovered, there is plenty of video content to be found nowadays on the internet. Even broadcast television itself frequently is delivered online now, as IPTV has replaced analog cable. The reason the medium we still call “radio” is associated strongly with its technology, is because that technology has had the advantage of being portable. But take a look at that device that likely is in your hand right now, or at least maybe near your keyboard. That’s portable radio. The smart speaker you might have in your home might not be “portable” by definition, but it is as convenient as the portable radios your parents or grandparents once carried around the house. And your car? Online radio is coming soon to automobiles… that is, for those who aren’t already using Bluetooth to connect to their car stereos. 

Online radio is the future. We at SSCR Tampa would like to be a part of that future. Thanks for “tuning in”.

(For dry, technical details about this website, see About This Website.)