I just think there’s not enough economic clout as in disposable income amongst the various minority communities or large minority owned businesses to advertise with. The raw numbers are certainly there.
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FCC proposed fine for 106.3 pirate: $151k
- Thread starter raccoonradio
- Start date
I just think there’s not enough economic clout as in disposable income amongst the various minority communities or large minority owned businesses to advertise with. The raw numbers are certainly there.
Which is why a non-commercial station makes the most sense. Because that audience knows and recognizes their own "clout," even if the business world doesn't. The people themselves will recognize that they're part of a community-owned radio station that's different from when it's owned by some far-away conglomerate.
But again we come to the problem of no frequencies available, and the likelihood of a flush-with-tax-exempt-money religious organization being able to outbid any community group if a frequency does open up. Besides going the pirate route, the only other option is going online -- and that's not the best way to reach an economic underclass with lots of more vital expenses to worry about. What minority-owned community businesses would want to advertise on a stream that much of its intended audience can't afford to gain access to? Those minority mom-and-pops in the community will support a pirate FM, though, as we've seen in Boston already.
A problem seemingly without a legal solution.
Actually, many minority communities have higher percentages of smartphone ownership than the general market and non-Hispanic whites in particular, although the difference now is minimal
Hispanics have about 86% smartphone ownership according to one survey, 81% per another.
Households that can't afford expensive cable and high-speed Internet often use their cellphone as their principal communications device.These are also the households that don't have landlines; the funds available for communication and entertainment are spent only on the smartphone service.
There are now more homes with no radio than there are homes with no cellphone ownership.
Streaming is actually more effective than broadcasting. However, streaming has the issue of extremely high music licensing fees and a legal system that makes enforcement much easier than it is for the FCC as scofflaws like these pirates will simpyly have their hosting service cut off if they don't pay.
Remember, at the end of the day, these folks are pirates. And it is likely they don't pay business licenses, have permits for broadcasting installations, pay may taxes, and probably the pay staff under the table. These are basically thieves who have decided that they are above the law and justify it using socially-based arguments.
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The Boston pirates under discussion here, though, are programming for the Haitian community. Boston has licensed stations -- albeit not a full-signal FM -- for Spanish-speaking Hispanics. If any licensed station is providing French or Kreyol programming for the Haitians, it might be multilingual dollar-a-holler WUNR 1600 in Brookline, but the largest part of its programming is in Spanish. I'm not defending what the pirates are doing. I'm just asking what can be done in a city where legal radio apparently is not an option and streaming would be too expensive.
I think what the FCC is trying to encourage (although poorly and very ineffectively) is some current owner to donate one of their licenses to a minority group. That's what happened in the 60s when the Washington Post donated it's FM station to Howard University. The station is now among the top rated stations in town. But it all began from a donation. I doubt Entercom or iHeart would do such a thing, although you never know. On the other hand, maybe MIT might consider such a thing.
Keep in mind that the cultural mindset of the community that the stations are "serving" is different. In Haiti, there are dozens and dozens of quasi-legal and illegal stations in just Port au Prince... some interfering with others. In the past (pre-earthquake years) there were reports of one station raiding another to get them off the air so that the frequency could be used. There is a general attitude of "whatever you can get away with is OK" that is pervasive.
We can not expect Haitians who immigrate to the US to immediately adopt very different attitudes about the role (and respect for) government and "the system". And as mentioned before, this pirate operation is likely only able to continue because it does not pay most taxes and fees a normal business would pay... from business licenses and Social Security deposits for employees to ASCAP and BMI fees. "Pirate" is just another word for "criminal".
Especially if they're not yet citizens, and living in a country that doesn't seem to embrace immigrants. Although this particular station is run by a very successful entrepreneur.
They can afford online radio its just that defeats the purpose of reaching listeners in a captive state in their car. People enjoy the convenience the radio dial and not having to download and plug in.
At The end of the day it's just wishful thinking/naive/unrealistic to think a black community the size of Boston/Eastern MA will just settle for not having stations they enjoy and dont serve them in any way for the rest of time. It's not gonna happen, we've seen that for decades no. ANd really an LPFM will never satisfy demand because its too small a signal doesn't matter if its haitian, black american, spanish whatever. Well see what happens moving forward I guess.
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The issue has caught the attention of the Globe.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/01/02/opinion/give-radio-pirates-chance-go-legit/
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/01/02/opinion/give-radio-pirates-chance-go-legit/
alternatives to piracy
There are indeed other broadcast options, as opposed to online only.
A number of stations out there sell time by the hour (brokered time) - such as ours'.
Small niche audiences cannot support a full-time format . One can get on the air a few hours a week,
however, by buying brokered time, and reach an audience.
The non-radio public really has no idea of the costs involved in running a radio station.
Pirates, who do not play by the rules, do an end run around many of those costs.
Shop around.
There are indeed other broadcast options, as opposed to online only.
A number of stations out there sell time by the hour (brokered time) - such as ours'.
Small niche audiences cannot support a full-time format . One can get on the air a few hours a week,
however, by buying brokered time, and reach an audience.
The non-radio public really has no idea of the costs involved in running a radio station.
Pirates, who do not play by the rules, do an end run around many of those costs.
Shop around.
The Pirate Act signed into law
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/183801/pirate-act-signed-into-law/
"The bill raised the maximum fines to $100,000 per day of operation with a maximum fine of $2 million. The FCC will be required to run biannual “enforcement sweeps” in the top five markets to work towards “identifying, locating, and taking enforcement actions designed to terminate such operations” with a follow-up monitoring sweep within six months. The agency will no longer have to send Notices of Unlicensed Operation and can go straight to issuing Notices of Apparent Liability with fines attached.
All efforts to combat pirate operations and enforcement will need to be reported to Congress annually as well as be logged in a database that identifies all entities that have “received a notice of unlicensed operation, notice of apparent liability, or forfeiture order issued by the commission” as well as all licensed stations."
Enforcement sweeps top 5 markets.
Not here.
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/183801/pirate-act-signed-into-law/
"The bill raised the maximum fines to $100,000 per day of operation with a maximum fine of $2 million. The FCC will be required to run biannual “enforcement sweeps” in the top five markets to work towards “identifying, locating, and taking enforcement actions designed to terminate such operations” with a follow-up monitoring sweep within six months. The agency will no longer have to send Notices of Unlicensed Operation and can go straight to issuing Notices of Apparent Liability with fines attached.
All efforts to combat pirate operations and enforcement will need to be reported to Congress annually as well as be logged in a database that identifies all entities that have “received a notice of unlicensed operation, notice of apparent liability, or forfeiture order issued by the commission” as well as all licensed stations."
Enforcement sweeps top 5 markets.
Not here.
Any requirement at all for markets 6 on down, or is this a law that's essentially only for the five cities that "matter"? I assume that for those in the hinterlands -- yes, you, Boston -- the FCC will only enforce this new law IF it gets enough complaints and IF its staffing/budged allows it to.
I imagine the budget is the biggest impediment. When the law was passed, I saw no mention in it of any additional funding or staffing.
I believe that "Top 5" does not refer to population but to pirate activity. The FCC is going to put most of its effort in the places where pirate activity is great.
Here's the actual quote from the law:
ANNUAL SWEEPS.—Not less than once each year, the Commission shall assign appropriate enforcement personnel to focus specific and sustained attention on the elimination of pirate radio broadcasting within the top 5 radio markets identified as prevalent for such broadcasts. Such effort shall include identifying, locating, and taking enforcement actions designed to terminate such operations.
Key words: "identified as prevalent for such broadcasts." So I take that as meaning the Top 5 markets where pirate activity takes place, which should include Boston.
Yes, it includes both Boston and Miami, neither of which are top 5 in population.
I can see from the text that the description might be easily confused; it is imprecisely or badly written. Why didn't they say, "... within the five radio markets with the greatest pirate activity..." instead of that rather confusing phrase?
Having been involved in a number of administrative law hearings (the FCC equivalent of a trial) as an expert witness, I really should not be surprised by convoluted and confusing writing in official documents and, of course, the prevalence of "using 50 words when 5 will do". It's as if not just Charles Dickens was paid by the word!
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Given the number of pirate-related posts and threads in the Houston forum, I'd imagine that city must be right up there with Boston and Miami.
Boston’s first black female-owned (online) radio station to launch in April
https://dailyfreepress.com/2020/01/...emale-owned-radio-station-to-launch-in-april/
Boston radio show consumers will soon find a unique new voice in the local industry. Spark FM is the first all-digital radio station in Boston owned by a black woman, catering specifically to local interests within the urban black community. It will launch April 20.
Boston-based radio personality Danielle Johnson first dipped her toes into radio in 2009. Since then, she has found herself navigating an industry dominated by big media.
“I saw the need for a platform that actually caters to the demographics that are oftentimes overlooked and under-represented from the bigger names in media platforms,” Johnson said.
Red tape around the hiring of new artists at major stations is what often inhibits diversity, according to Johnson.
“It’s really hard to get that urban voice in there that actually has a foot on the ground in the local community,” Johnson said. “There’s not a lot of resources that the urban community knows about that can help them with generational wealth, local politics, community events and engagement volunteer opportunities and all of our entertainment.”
Johnson said she had applied several times to iHeartMedia, one of the largest mass media platforms in the country, with no success. After having spoken to various people working with the platform, she said she discovered that entry was “almost impossible” unless somebody was retiring or moving.
This problem is not exclusive to Johnson. Other radio personalities and small artists share the experience, she said.
“We have a lot of different entertainers in Boston that are not being able to get on the platform that they need to kind of increase their social footprint,” Johnson said, “and to give them the credibility that they deserve to kind of reach in different places.”
https://dailyfreepress.com/2020/01/...emale-owned-radio-station-to-launch-in-april/
Boston radio show consumers will soon find a unique new voice in the local industry. Spark FM is the first all-digital radio station in Boston owned by a black woman, catering specifically to local interests within the urban black community. It will launch April 20.
Boston-based radio personality Danielle Johnson first dipped her toes into radio in 2009. Since then, she has found herself navigating an industry dominated by big media.
“I saw the need for a platform that actually caters to the demographics that are oftentimes overlooked and under-represented from the bigger names in media platforms,” Johnson said.
Red tape around the hiring of new artists at major stations is what often inhibits diversity, according to Johnson.
“It’s really hard to get that urban voice in there that actually has a foot on the ground in the local community,” Johnson said. “There’s not a lot of resources that the urban community knows about that can help them with generational wealth, local politics, community events and engagement volunteer opportunities and all of our entertainment.”
Johnson said she had applied several times to iHeartMedia, one of the largest mass media platforms in the country, with no success. After having spoken to various people working with the platform, she said she discovered that entry was “almost impossible” unless somebody was retiring or moving.
This problem is not exclusive to Johnson. Other radio personalities and small artists share the experience, she said.
“We have a lot of different entertainers in Boston that are not being able to get on the platform that they need to kind of increase their social footprint,” Johnson said, “and to give them the credibility that they deserve to kind of reach in different places.”
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