I've spoken with several pirate operators in the NYC area, and generally speaking there is little staff beyond the person running the station. They are not making much money, if any, and they tend to be passion projects rather than the lucrative business ventures that are often alleged. As one Haitian station operator said to me: "We're the ones putting the money into the station." They may run ads, but the rates are very low and are often just an in-kind donation, like food from a local restaurant or the business. Frequently the ads on the stations are from the business the station operator owns. In some cases they parcel out blocks of time to other programmers for a small donation. In NYC, his practice was pioneered by Dr. X of WJQR, Nasty Radio fame in the mid-90's.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Pirate at 99.7 FM in NY
- Thread starter Mykel the Radio Guy
- Start date
The activity is still fairly robust even 25 years into this phase of pirate activity in NYC. In Brooklyn, I hear 25-30 stations a night, and city-wide I estimate there are about 75 stations on every day. Many have been on for a decade or more. But now, most stations stream from their own websites or apps, as well as using Facebook live and similar platforms. I can only think about 2 or 3 of the Flatbush stations that don't have a web presence of any kind.
H
Harvey_Dogg
Guest
Big City Or Small Town, Pirate Stations Keep Popping Up.
Pirate radio is typically seen as a big city problem. Yes, most of the enforcement action does occur in places like New York and Boston. But unlicensed stations are a
H
Harvey_Dogg
Guest
The FCC's new approach to this is to go after the property owners. They no longer have to speak to the pirate in person. All they have to do is locate the building where the illegal signal is coming from.
Then the owner of the property gets a letter from the FCC threatening a $2,000,000 fine. This new means of FCC Enforcement will result in evicted pirates and or financially ruined pirates.
Then the owner of the property gets a letter from the FCC threatening a $2,000,000 fine. This new means of FCC Enforcement will result in evicted pirates and or financially ruined pirates.
Has the FCC actually imposed and collected such a fine? Or is it more carrying a "big stick" to get compliance?
H
Harvey_Dogg
Guest
They have only just begun.
The FCC only acts if the affected station files a complaint. There is, generally, no exploratory searching on a regular basis for pirates.
A few years ago, the owners of Thunder Country WKMK 106.3 successfully challenged a translator that had planned to transmit from a tall building in Manhattan on 106.3. So I wouldn't be surprised if they filed a complaint about the pirate on the same frequency.
Though I can still hear plenty of pirates in the area, it seems to be that ones with strong signals are less common than a few years ago.
Though I can still hear plenty of pirates in the area, it seems to be that ones with strong signals are less common than a few years ago.
Last edited:
Thanks for posting that. It is a "fun" read and gives the perspective of a field agent of the FCC.
My worst pirate experience was aboard a Triple-7 approaching MIA from the West. We were on final approach, just over the Turnpike and gear down. Suddenly the engines accelerate, the plane goes into a steep ascent and turns 90° to the South.
We fly back out over the Everglades and start a new approach and then a successful landing. The pilot then announces that when just a few miles out from the airport, a pirate radio station started interfering with the communications with the tower at MIA. They performed an emergency abort, got out of the flight paths and came around while moving to another alternate frequency.
Our engineer at WAMR/WAQI /WQBA called a contact they had at the airport and found out that the pirate was very rapidly triangulated and, from what he understood, silenced "with force". Miami being one of the busiest airports, that was deemed critical... particularly since the airport is "right in the middle of the city".
Last edited:
H
Harvey_Dogg
Guest
Yikes! Many of today's pirates are not whiz-kids or engineer types. They pay fifty bucks for a transmitter made in China on eBay. These units might not have a low pass filter. They don't know they need that filter.
There's a reason for the requirement that LPFM's have type certified equipment. Type certified LPFM transmitters have a low pass filter. Type verified exciters might not have the low pass filter.
Last edited by a moderator:
Are these pirates as successful at evading the music royalty collectors for their streaming operations as they are at evading the FCC for their OTA operations?
Many are low powered and the brunt are in Brooklyn and New Jersey. If you're in Brooklyn and especially at night, the dial is interesting to go through to.say the least
There's a translator now on 106.3 and pirates on 106.3 in Brooklyn. Even if WKMK we're audible in the city there's no beating the pirates that pop up monthly and the translator that is now directional.
W292DV is on air? Last I checked it was silent pending a move to downtown and a frequency change to 107.9, upon which it will become W300EI
Late, but Radio-Locator doesn't list pirate stations. All I saw were licensed stations.
Of course they wouldn’t list the pirate stations because they don’t know about them.
Ironically they have a place for unlicensed stations. **insert Alanis Morrisette's Ironic here**
I also checked out the pirate station days ago, and it seems to have been taken off the air.
The FCC keeps a list of pirate stations. Please provide as much detail as possible here: https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=38844
- Status