HCN is an independent civilian broadcast network operating six Spectrum Series stations, a twenty-four-hour news desk, and a listener-run Comms relay across Stanton, Pyro, and Nyx. Founded 2953 under the Orion Media Bureau. Public since 2954.10.01. Free, licensed, and editorially independent.
HCN operates four divisions that share a single mission: keeping the 'verse informed, entertained, and in contact.
Six round-the-clock Spectrum stations covering news, variety, classical, investigative journalism, club and electronic, and frontier road music. Signal is relayed through a redundant mesh of jump-point repeaters so listeners hear the same program in New Babbage, Orison, and the Pyro belts alike.
HCN News is editorially independent of any commercial interest, political patron, or military branch. Reporting is sourced from our own field correspondents and a verified contributor network spanning Stanton, Pyro, and Nyx.
Our Comms backbone lets citizens talk to each other across stations, orgs, and comm arrays. Moderation is handled by a tiered officer corps drawn from the listener base — not outsourced to a subcontractor.
We publish our ownership structure, funding sources, and editorial standards. If we get a story wrong, we correct it on air within twenty-four hours and pin the correction in the archive.
Six formats. One dial. Each station runs its own lineup of hosts, but they share the same editorial standards and the same Comms backbone.
“Where the frontier wakes up.”
“The other side of the dial.”
“There's a war on for your signal.”
“The pulse of the 'verse.”
“The music of civilization.”
“The long haul sounds better here.”
From a twelve-person internal logistics service to a three-system broadcast footprint. Here are the moments that shaped what you're hearing today.
Stanton has more cargo vessels than commercial broadcasters. The major corporate networks — owned by the same Big Four that own the moons you land on — loop pre-approved lifestyle programming. Independent voices operate out of pirate rigs in Yela or derelict relays nobody claimed. Pyro has no public broadcast at all.
HCN Radio is formally established as a division of the Orion Media Bureau, HLN Corp's information and culture arm. The original mandate is narrow: a reliable non-commercial news and emergency-broadcast service for HLN personnel and contracted haulers across the Stanton–Pyro corridor. Twelve personnel. Four assets. One transmitter. One goal.
HCN goes live to the public under Content & Broadcast Guidelines ratified by the HLN Communications Authority. Three stations ship on day one: HCN-Radio 1 (flagship news-and-variety), HCN-Radio 2 (general format), and the newsroom feed that will become HCN-Investigative. Free, forever, no questions asked about UCI status or corporate affiliation.
Responding to listener petitions: HCN-Beats goes live for the nightlife and club scene, broadcasting from a studio over Orison's Platform Seven. HCN-Classical debuts as the first dedicated orchestral and art-music station operating outside UEE-government patronage. HCN-Roadhouse is announced for the hauler community — steel-string music for the southern long burns — and is preparing for launch. By year's end, HCN is broadcasting out of three system clusters with content-partnership agreements signed with the Unified Stellar Alliance and independent journalism collectives across the frontier.
Under Directive 2955-27, HLN Group deploys and hardens HCN's first dedicated Pyro broadcast tower — bringing free, licensed public radio to a system where, for over a decade, "broadcast infrastructure" meant whatever pirate relay was working that morning. The tower survives to this day despite three attempted sabotage events, eleven jamming incidents, and exactly one cargo crate reported as being hurled at it from orbit.
HCN operates six stations across Stanton, Pyro, and Nyx, a staff of twelve core personnel supported by a rotating bench of contributors, voice talent, and field correspondents, and a signal footprint that reaches approximately 94.7% of HLN-covered space. The network is also a recent signatory to the Non-aggression In Media Heuristic (NIMH) community framework, filed on Spectrum in the voice of Admiral Selco — affirming HCN's commitment to good-faith broadcast practices and non-hostile engagement with other independent media outfits.
HCN Radio is administered under the Orion Media Bureau, but editorial decisions are made by the HCN Editorial Board — a standing body that includes representatives from HLN Corp, Unified Stellar Alliance content partners, and two rotating seats held by independent contributors.
This is not a courtesy. It is a structural guarantee.
HLN Corp does not pre-approve scripts. Corporate leadership does not dictate lineup. Advertisers do not shape reporting. When HCN-Investigative goes after a story, the Editorial Board answers to the Board — not to any commercial interest, not to any political patron, and not to anyone whose comfort might be disturbed by the reporting.
This has cost us relationships. We consider those costs features, not defects.
These aren't slogans. They're the rules we measure every story, every show, and every moderation action against.
Holds operational authority over HCN Radio as part of HLN Corp's executive leadership. Retains editorial authority and formal network governance alongside the HCN Editorial Board.
Editorial authority and formal network governance remain under Admiral Selco13 and the HCN Editorial Board.
Everywhere you can tune in, talk back, or go deeper.