Category: Pirate Radio

Stimulus/Response Goes Coast to Coast: FCC Visits Vermont

Stung twice in California by the cities of San Francisco and Santa Cruz, who like their microradio stations unlicensed, thank you very much, the FCC shifts focus and moves on two stations in Vermont.
Radio Free Brattleboro, who just returned to the air two weeks ago after a visit from field agents, got an FCC follow-up yesterday. None of the station DJs actually spoke face-to-face with them; two strained yet cordial conversations were conducted through a locked door.
The first time the agents asked to enter and inspect the station they were prompted to show a warrant. The FCC duo responded by asking to see RFB’s authority to broadcast. Someone inside shot back: “the people of Brattleboro had authorized us to do so.” Continue reading “Stimulus/Response Goes Coast to Coast: FCC Visits Vermont”

Freak Radio Santa Cruz Gets FCC Visit

According to V-Man, Freak Radio indyjournalist extraordinaire and collagist with the Dept. of Corrections, FCC agent David Hartshorn shoved a warning letter – addressed to the V-Man himself – into the front door of the building that houses the station.
In addition to carrying the standard language about consequences and penalties, the letter also makes reference to the fact that “spurious radio signals associated with the operation of this station were detected on the frequency of 196.2 MHz.” Methinks that is a typo, as 192.6 MHz is the second harmonic of FRSC’s broadcast frequency (96.3), and a more likely location for spurious emissions. Low-pass filter ahoy, and update the bust PSA!
The thinking at Freak Radio is the FCC will try to nail the V-Man personally on this one, which would make already bad news incredibly worse. The call for support is going out.

Clear Channel/KJR Re-Jammed in Seattle

Last September, when the National Association of Broadcasters descended on Seattle for their annual radio convention, they were met by a swarm of microradio stations, who dubbed themselves the “mosquito fleet.”
During the convention the stations coordinated a simulcast spoof of local Clear Channel classic hits outlet KJR-FM, which ran on spots across Seattle’s FM dial for the better part of a day. The on-air culture jam, produced by Negativland, ripped into KJR and Clear Channel for billing the station as playing the “SuperHits 60s and 70s,” yet sneaking in a significant number of 80’s tunes. It was a sideswipe at Clear Channel and the NAB’s focus on broadcasting for a demographic and the bottom line. Continue reading “Clear Channel/KJR Re-Jammed in Seattle”

RFB Returns; FRSD Gets Grant; RFPI Gets Reprieve

When the FCC came and intimidated Radio Free Brattleboro off the air in June, the Vermont community responded with zeal. A parade float, petition drive, and countless benefits and station meetings later, the station returned to the airwaves today on 107.9 FM. That frequency is currently vacant, but there is a pending LPFM application for it. RFB has promised to vacate the frequency if and when the license is awarded and the station is ready to broadcast.
A local petition drive has drawn “way more than 2,000 signatures” in support of the station, reports RFB’s Steven Twiss: “The petition’s signatories include several area heavy-hitters including politicians, business owners and artists. One, a wonderful older woman, is on the town council. She bought a ‘Free rfb’ T-shirt and wore it to a few council meetings, which are broadcast on the local cable access channel.” There is also an online petition drive for anyone else interested in symbolically standing with them. Continue reading “RFB Returns; FRSD Gets Grant; RFPI Gets Reprieve”

San Francisco to FCC: Hands off SFLR

This time, the vote was unanimous: the resolution condemning the FCC’s moves against San Francisco Liberation Radio got the support of the city’s full 11-member Board of Supervisors at its meeting this afternoon. Not only does the resolution ask the FCC to keep its mitts off SFLR, but it also “urges state and local law enforcement officials to refrain from involvement in activities that prevent San Francisco Liberation Radio 93.7 FM and other diverse local media from providing healthy democratic local media in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
That should keep most of the dogs at bay, but the FCC doesn’t have to listen to the city if it doesn’t want to. Usually the agency is loath to stir up publicity for a pirate, and while SFLR isn’t the first microradio station to get an endorsement from its hometown, the action can’t hurt. Free Speech Radio News is also airing a story on SFLR and its recent struggles on Wednesday.

SF Liberation Radio: First Step Toward City Endorsement

On Thursday the San Francisco City Services Committee approved a resolution supporting San Francisco Liberation Radio in its struggle with the FCC. The vote was 2-1; the lone dissenter was concerned with the city butting in on a “federal issue,” not with the station’s unlicensed status. The full Board of Supervisors takes up the resolution tomorrow.

Partial Hiatus Ahoy & Miscellaneous Notes

Look for more sporadic news updates this month as I hunker down and pound out major portions of my master’s thesis. Regular refreshes (like the Schnazz) will continue, and news updates will occur if the story’s is big or unique, both of which could happen considering the FCC’s official implementation of its media ownership rule revisions takes place on September 4.
All of the coordinated grassroots media reform e-mail and call-in campaigns have worked so well to date that a big petition push is now on, and a national conference on media reform is slated for November 7-9 here in Madison. The Amherst Alliance has also ginned up a double-sided flyer for “LPFM Summer,” which is starting to hit full stride. Continue reading “Partial Hiatus Ahoy & Miscellaneous Notes”

Florida Broadcasters Change Tactics Against Pirates

An article in the business section of Sunday’s Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper highlights the “pirate problem” in southern Florida and features lots of quotes from irate broadcast industry-types. My favorite comes from David Ross, Clear Channel’s regional vice president for its 27 south Florida broadcast properties:
“They’re destroying the ability of listeners to hear what they choose and our ability to serve advertisers. It’s a form of squatting. They don’t pay any taxes, they’re breaking the law, they don’t need to meet any licensing requirements and they affect all of us, from the biggest to the smallest operator.” While there is a huge mass of pirate activity in Florida, making that state the most active by far, one gets the sense Ross would say the same thing in any situation where there’s “pirates.” Continue reading “Florida Broadcasters Change Tactics Against Pirates”

A Call to Seize the Airwaves on Media Democracy Day

Media Democracy Day is October 17. The holiday, begun by a group of Canadian media activists three years ago, is designed to “connect existing critical and creative media with active social movements, creating a coherent message for public attention and local and global action.”
In this spirit, Free Radio Berkeley founder Stephen Dunifer has issued a call to action for U.S. microradio stations to speak as one on October 17. In conjunction with workshops held around the country to teach interested folks the art of transmitter-building, microradio stations are encouraged to coordinate a nationwide simulcast. Continue reading “A Call to Seize the Airwaves on Media Democracy Day”