Bronx Pirate?

While riding along I-95 this evening in the Bronx, getting close to the Westechster County border, I swear I had a pirate station on 100.9 FM. It caused strong interference with WCBS-FM 101.1. It was generally from the Co-Op City area and that huge shopping plaza and to about the cross with the Hutchinson River Parkway. I heard little or nothing by the time I reached the county line.

I know it wasn't bleedover from other strong FM locals. I only heard the station on 100.9 FM and nowhere else.

KML-224 said:

While riding along I-95 this evening in the Bronx, getting close to the Westechster County border, I swear I had a pirate station on 100.9 FM. It caused strong interference with WCBS-FM 101.1. It was generally from the Co-Op City area and that huge shopping plaza and to about the cross with the Hutchinson River Parkway. I heard little or nothing by the time I reached the county line.

I know it wasn't bleedover from other strong FM locals. I only heard the station on 100.9 FM and nowhere else.

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Although CBS-FM is doing very well in the ratings I wonder what the impact is that pirates are having in the ratings. They stay on and interfere long enough people are not going to put up with interference and will tune away.

PLJ for example is not doing to well. I wonder how much if can be attributed to losing audience in Rockland County due to interference from the regular pirate on 95.3.

This is nothing unusual. There are tons of pirates operating all over the dial throughout NYC and North Jersey. Where I live near Newark almost every open dial position has some type of pirate on it. There is one on 102.5 that bleeds into Fresh on 102.7.

Interesting to hear that the 102.5 pirate is back. I haven't been over there in several months but that pirate was on the air for years, as far as I know. I first noticed it sometime around 2010, but it disappeared for a while sometime around 2014. Its signal seemed strongest on I-280 around East Orange so I figured it was probably coming from one of the high rises there. That's a common tactic. Presumably the authorities will have trouble pinpointing exactly which apartment the station is originating from, and in really bad neighborhoods they might be intimidated from raiding them. The FCC is understaffed and overworked, and coordinating with local police to conduct raids is a huge pain for them.

The dial in the Newark area is not as crowded as in Flatbush, Brooklyn, though. At least not last time I checked. On any weeknight or weekend (many of them are off the air during the day on weekdays, perhaps thinking the FCC is more likely to conduct raids then?) you can hear as many as 36 pirates in Flatbush and surrounding parts of southern Brooklyn. Most are Haitian or Caribbean. I usually heard fewer pirates in Newark when I was checking the dial there circa 2010-14 -- more like 10 or 15 pirates at the most -- though some newer ones seem to have cropped up in recent years in the greater Newark area, like a 90.9 Haitian pirate that interferes with WFMU (91.1) and a 91.3 Haitian pirate as well. These may actually originate from Elizabeth or Union though, I'm not sure. Brooklyn Pirate Watch (on Twitter) reported hearing an ad for a Newark business on the 90.9 pirate but that doesn't necessarily mean the pirate is from Newark. That pirate has a very strong signal in western Staten Island so Elizabeth might be a better bet. Anybody else heard this pirate lately? Is it audible in Newark?

Amy idea if the Bronx station I mentioned still on the air?

What did he name the parrot ?

For many years there was a pirate operating on 107.9 in the Newark area. Within the last month they have been off the air and I can finally hear WEBE 108 again in NJ.
Other strong pirates I can hear right now around Newark: 104.7, 102.9, 102.5, 100.7, 99.9, 95.9, 94.3. There is almost always one on 97.5 but it doesn't seem to be on at the moment.

ansky212 said:

For many years there was a pirate operating on 107.9 in the Newark area. Within the last month they have been off the air and I can finally hear WEBE 108 again in NJ.
Other strong pirates I can hear right now around Newark: 104.7, 102.9, 102.5, 100.7, 99.9, 95.9, 94.3. There is almost always one on 97.5 but it doesn't seem to be on at the moment.

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I cannot listen to 102.3 WBAB anymore in Rockland county due to a Spanish pirate. On weekends both WPLJ/WNSH are obliterated by adjacent channel pirates.

In Atlanta, GA, there has been a pirate on 95.5, interfering with 50K WSB Radio.

Covers about a 5 mile radius of Marietta, GA, a northern burb. Very little surprise that they exist considering the major cuts over at the FCC, especially with field inspectors. What does surprise me, is there are not more pirates.