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For a blind Nashville entrepreneur, it is an opportunity to educate and serve. For a fledgling university radio station in Madison, Wis., it is a noble compromise to a longtime feud. And for a Spanish-language church in South Florida, it is a cost-effective way to spread the gospel. The Federal Communications Commission moved yesterday to create a national network of thousands of low-power and "micro" FM radio stations with limited broadcast range. If approved, the move would reverse a 21-year-old policy and create opportunities for would-be urban and rural broadcasters who cannot afford the equipment and operating costs of a full-power station.

In the neighborhoods around 52d and Market Streets in West Philadelphia, WSKR-FM offered something people couldn't find anywhere else on the dial: a mix of West Coast hip-hop music, Islamic programming and talk shows on local issues, weaved together by an upbeat entrepreneur named Mike Stone. Stone and his station lacked just one thing - a license. Around noon Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission officials went to WSKR's studio at 23 South 52d St. and removed the transmitter and antenna from atop the nine-story office building where Stone leased space.

Top-40 WCAU-FM (98.1) and adult-rock WIOQ-FM (102.1), both in ratings downturns, revealed within minutes of each other yesterday that they were changing to "oldies" formats - posthaste. At WCAU, the change, planned in secret for months, went into effect early last night. Management at WIOQ, where adult rock has reigned for 13 years, was caught off guard by WCAU's revelation. Nonetheless, general manager Joseph Chairs said he would stick with a target date of Nov. 23 for the change.

ROCKIN' female radio DJs like Carol Miller have always been a rare breed. And almost extinct, some would argue, in today's age of YouTube and Spotify. Yet Miller counters in her breezy new autobiography, Up All Night: My Life and Times in Rock Radio , that broadcast FM is "the medium that just won't quit. " And this hearty survivor is certainly an apt case in point. Over the past four decades, Miller has charmed millions of rock-lovin' radio listeners - and been courted by several highly visible rock stars - thanks to that sultry smoky voice, uncommonly friendly and easygoing demeanor and deep musical knowledge.

If you've been living out of earshot of WXPN-FM - the Penn campus station with a signal that's the megahertz equivalent of a 90-pound weakling - then maybe you haven't heard the news: David Dye, one of the '70s' original psychedelic DJs, a pioneer of free-form radio at WMMR-FM who went on to spend the better part of the '80s ensconced at rock radio's WIOQ-FM, has a new home. Since July 1989, when he came on board as a volunteer and did a weekend morning show of dulcet sounds called Sleepy Hollow, Dye has been headquartered at the listener-supported, noncommercial station.

Irate callers yesterday besieged the switchboard at black-oriented sister stations WDAS-AM/FM as word swept through the city that the stations indeed had laid off 20 full- and part-time employees Monday and that the AM facility would soon switch to a gospel-and-talk format. "We can't just sit back and let this happen," one caller said on the morning talk show hosted by Georgie Woods, WDAS-AM (1480) program director. Another caller, referring to WDAS's parent company, Unity Broadcasting of New York, which apparently ordered the cutbacks, told Woods: "The African-American community in Philadelphia has got to come together and take buses or whatever up to New York and stand up and fight those people.

These smartphone apps do radio - in one way or another - and blur the lines among traditional broadcasting, on-demand service, and customized personal "stations" that play stuff that's like what you like. Stitcher Radio by Stitcher Inc., a free app for Apple, BlackBerry, and your desktop PC, plays live and on-demand talk radio and podcast segments. The name implies you get to "stitch" together your favorite programming for listening anytime. Listen to multiple segments of a program, such as This American Life from Chicago Public Radio or Old Time Radio dramas.

If you listen to this station in Philly Try this one at the shore In Philly WUSL-FM (98.9) or WDAS-FM (105.3) In Jersey WTTH-FM (96.1 and 105.5) The shore's outpost for "urban" music, like hits from Barry White and Anita Baker. Sprinkles of jazz. In Philly WBEB-FM (101.1) WFPG-FM (96.9) For the light rocker in you. Artists include Genesis and Whitney Houston. WFNN-FM (98.7) The soulful sounds of adult-contemporary artists, such as Mariah Carey and Elton John.

Eagle 106 . . . The Soundtrack of Philadelphia. If you haven't heard that on-air slogan blaring from a radio recently, then you haven't pulled up next to a teenager with the windows rolled down at a stoplight. Or been paying close attention to the Philadelphia radio scene. The fact is, Eagle 106 - WEGX-FM (106.1) to the FCC - is just about the hottest radio station in town these days. Not No. 1, but the hottest. (There is a difference.) No. 1 is still rock giant WMMR-FM (93.3)

Frank Kastner, 82, a classical music host and radio announcer for more than 50 years, died of heart failure Monday at Springfield Hospital in Delaware County. Since 1999, and as recently as the Friday before he died, Mr. Kastner was heard on the air at WRTI-FM (90.1), where he pinch-hit for the station's regularly scheduled classical music hosts. In 1949, he was the first announcer to sign on when WFLN-FM (95.7) went on the air as a classical music station, and in 1997, when the station went off the air, he hosted its last midnight shift.