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Bradenton Pirate ? 99.9 Freedom FM

Radio is easy. Just a studio, transmitter, antenna, receiver. Turn it on, it is there.

Today? Internet is not reliable. too many variables just to find it, "plug-ins", not updated, IP overload.

Internet "radio"? I have one. Another one on order. There are so many steps to go through just to, maybe, listen. You have to be going there to get there. There is no "stumbling" on your internet station, unless you can't find your station.

It will take a number of years yet to make it profitable.

In the meantime, OTA FM is being treated as the band to go to. But I still have similar problems cropping up that started with AM. Windshield GPS causes loss of radio sensitivity. Whoops, your "Micro-Markets" are turning "nano".

Pirates? When was the last time a "pirate" showed up in a ratings book? Who knows, they may becoming the pioneers of the internet. Less chance of getting caught and listen on your hand-held device - until REAL programmers figure a way to make it profitable.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
"..Radio is easy. Just a studio, transmitter, antenna, receiver. Turn it on, it is there..."

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.......oh, jeesh..whew..that was great!

Sure for listeners

Radio is just there, to be turned on, tuned in and enjoyed.

For operators

Radio is REAL ESTATE for a large metal tower (or more) that requires FAA approval and lighting..
Radio is ATU Shacks that need to be de-snaked, and hornets, and leaks, and weed killer.
Radio is REGULATORY HELL from the FCC, FAA and local authorities
Radio is EMPLOYEES who want to be stars and don't care about your equipment or building.
Radio is ELECTRIC bills that will numb your sense of value.
Radio is AIR CONDITIONING that must be replaced whet dies or everything burns up.
Radio is COMPUTER SOFTWARE that gets corrupted, and needs constant updating, and at least two reliable backup systems if you rely on it to keep things going.
Radio is MASSIVE FEES for operating an environmental hazard.
Radio is LAWYERS to apply, amend, and otherwise keep you legal.
Radio is fried circuit boards, improper wiring, refusal of the local utility to give you three-phase power and you having to purchase an expensive and unreliable rotary phase converter.
Radio is like going to a doctor perfectly healthy, and asking him to give you an incurable stomach ache as you write a check to him for 4-10 thousand bucks a month.
 
Jeff, you have just explained why pirates are pirates instead of buying some AM for the equivalent of $10 down and a perpetual gasoline trade-out for the seller.
 
Radio was a lot more fun before it became what Jeff is talking about. The simplicity of pirate radio is what makes it so appealing. When OTA radio becomes unprofitable (and it will), it won't surprise me to see restrictions eased. It would be nice to hear more mom and pops, and less of the corporate garbage.
 
Jeff Laurence said:
"..Radio is easy. Just a studio, transmitter, antenna, receiver. Turn it on, it is there..."

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.......oh, jeesh..whew..that was great!

Sure for listeners

Radio is just there, to be turned on, tuned in and enjoyed.

For operators

Radio is REAL ESTATE for a large metal tower (or more) that requires FAA approval and lighting..
Radio is ATU Shacks that need to be de-snaked, and hornets, and leaks, and weed killer.
Radio is REGULATORY HELL from the FCC, FAA and local authorities
Radio is EMPLOYEES who want to be stars and don't care about your equipment or building.
Radio is ELECTRIC bills that will numb your sense of value.
Radio is AIR CONDITIONING that must be replaced whet dies or everything burns up.
Radio is COMPUTER SOFTWARE that gets corrupted, and needs constant updating, and at least two reliable backup systems if you rely on it to keep things going.
Radio is MASSIVE FEES for operating an environmental hazard.
Radio is LAWYERS to apply, amend, and otherwise keep you legal.
Radio is fried circuit boards, improper wiring, refusal of the local utility to give you three-phase power and you having to purchase an expensive and unreliable rotary phase converter.
Radio is like going to a doctor perfectly healthy, and asking him to give you an incurable stomach ache as you write a check to him for 4-10 thousand bucks a month.
Click to expand...
I think you misunderstand me.

All of what you state above is also true for an internet station, (except for the FAA and ATU shacks) but the simplicity of operation is in OTA radio. The listener has two seconds and he/she is enjoying the product. The internet has buffering AFTER it "finds" the program after about 20 "hops". You might be listening to the station until it "buffers". Is it "buffering"? or has it lost the lock? Who knows?

You also forgot to mention the complaints from nearby neighbors for interference to their TV or radio.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
Jeff and all, There are some among us who have had long careers in radio (just lucky , I guess), who now have time to devote to making radio more affordable to operate for a few smaller stations. We offer our time and talents to help mainstream operators for very little monitary return. The payback is participation in something we love. I know that there are a few like myself that would love to be a part of a general, full service radio station, dispite the many obstacles that you mentioned. I know that we have a lot of managerial talent, sales, engineering, and air talent (some in multiple areas) in the Tampa area. Would it not be great to harness this resource?
 
Yup..I do the same for quite a few Indy operators..spot production..some imaging. Many times gratis, or certainly reduced rate because I too..love it.

However with a lot of small market AMs I am afraid that there aren't enough people listening to generate responses for clients. I was considering a purchase of one such station, and (stop me if you heard this already) myself and a potential partner went in to look at the station during the "popular morning show" during swap shop..there were no calls..the poor on air guy was reading from a list of really old yard sales, and various items..some were from more than three months before...the owner stressed that "folks around here don't like to use the phone much" but I pulled out three 50 dollar bills, and asked if the morning host would offer one to the next three listeners who would come by or call.....(cue the chirping crickets). Nothing...nobody....dead.....still have that money.

Also the medium is not what it was on AM. It seems that FM is certainly the best way for anyone to go..and why pirates go there..I know of a fellow in Indiana with a 75 watt AM station on 610 and it gets out nearly 15 miles in any direction..that he has been running for over 6 years...with nary a boo from anyone. Another guy in the same area puts on one of those 1 watt Chinese FM transmitters that carried maybe a half mile, and he gets nailed in a month. I would love to see restrictions on "hobby FM" stations lifted to allow for a half watt or a watt or so..and in a band portion that would be available to the masses. The problem there is the paranoid commercial operations who are literally afraid that someone as "unrefined, and uneducated" as that might get more listeners than their current big stick offerings. Seems like that would be a great place to find the new programmers of the next level of "real" broadcasting..it is a sure bet that there are no places for up-n-comers to learn the craft.

And really..as long as there is no physical interference with licensed operations, and there is no violation of obscenity rules, who gets hurt here? Many lose interest in a week or two as it is.
 
I think the big guys may also be afraid of interference within their own fringe signal area from the little guys, which could negatively impact the big guys' marketing efforts. Many of their customers are retail chains such as Home Depot and Publix which have stores all over the coverage area.
 
Please! If a 100kw has concerns over thier fringe area to a point that a one watt station on a quiet frequency in that town "cuts into their marketing efforts". They have a MUCH larger problem.

Home Depot cancels WRBQ because of a one watt station in Seebring at 104.5.

Nope!
 
You're right, unless there's a proliferation of them. Is that realistic? I don't know - But certainly one little guy wouldn't make any difference.
 
Jeff Laurence said:
Please! If a 100kw has concerns over their fringe area to a point that a one watt station on a quiet frequency in that town "cuts into their marketing efforts". They have a MUCH larger problem.

Home Depot cancels WRBQ because of a one watt station in Sebring at 104.5.

Nope!
Click to expand...
pretty skittish.

Maybe not a 1w on 104.5 in Sebring for 104.7, but how about a 99.9 (at ~10w) in Bradenton for sister station 99.5?

if a legal translator can be shot down between Detroit and Toledo...

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
Whenever I hear the comments that there is no listener feedback, especially on an AM station, I think of all of the comment I hear from people (probably "in the business") about how good it would be to have a local, full service music station with a monster play list. I also begin to ramble on... We hear of a small AM station running temporary programming until the next brokered program is bought. Usually the temporary fill is some type of music and somtimes it's some guy who's filling in, not paid, just to get his voice on the air. Some of these fill-ins create some interest. It takes a good deal of time to establish any program, but I think that the interest for certain types of "full service" music programing exists. Low debt load, good sales efforts (if you can't sell it at first, give it away), and a staff of seasoned (retired) pros and volunteers. If the audience builds, more resources would be used for programming. As strange as it may seem, I think that the audio quality of some of the latest generation of am radio has improved. My opinion is that FM and satellite radio have their own characteristic distortions. A reasonably engineered AM signal can be competative (unless you are wedded to brittle highs and a booming bass line that can not be recognized as any particular instrument). Would a 1.5-2.0 rating in the Tampa be marketable? Even if the demographics are skewed to an older audience, eventually ad dollars will follow the disposable income.
 
Wow! finally got time to read my thread and WOW, I was hoping someone would have taken the initiative to stop by and explain to these folks the consequences of what they are doing. They seem to have a little cash involved and should be educated, why?, with the future for LPFM soon being moved forward it would be a shame to see them get busted and never have a chance.

I didnt want to get involved with that part because it could be misconstrued as threatening because of who I work for.

Most folks have good intentions of offering something that can't be found in the commercial world. This is why I myself will be applying for an LPFM, just for the fun of radio, the reason I originally got into broadcast 15 years ago. The costs are ridiculus even for 100 watt LP operation, just ask WSLR. All the same costs as a big operations: employees, RIAA/BMI/ASCAP/Soundexchange and whoever else has their hands out, Automation, Rent, equipment, us engineers who require a large amount of money as reported by a previous poster...... Oh and no means of revenue, sounds great sign me up.

I had a guy approcah me wanting an LPFM in Sun City, spent a week on a turn key quote only to be never heard from again. I gave him a real quote and tried to give him real expectations. Needless to say I do this alot and lose alot of money. I do it because I still believe in what we do.

Please someone step up and contact these folks and just educate them, you as fellow or former broadcasters owe it them to ensure a future of our beloved medium.

Sorry for the rant but as you can see I am still very passionate about what I do for a living.
 
Perhaps someone can explain to me the rationale that the FCC had adopted in requiring these LPFM licenses to be owned by non-profit educational foundations and religious groups. Why will they not consider allowing a qualified individual to own one? Many of us have the disposable income to enjoy legally doing this, and can prove capital to do so. What is this "special consideration" for organizations that must be incorporated as a 501-c3 and have a board of directors, and literally NOBODY owns them. And folks, there are enough BIG RELIGOUS organizations that provide NO local service, but repeat their agenda from locations thousands of miles away?

Again I am suspicious of many HUGE operators, the NAB and others who don't like the idea of a better product being offered with LOCAL content.

How come with 40 years in the business I can not apply and be awarded a license for an LPFM, but some "foundation" or "special interest" group with studios in Coloradio or Texas gets them in a snap?

Something stinks.
 
It's called the GOVERNMENT !!!!
 
Don't turn a good thread into politics. Dems or GOP, both have business as their backers. And business owns the air. It's not right, it's not constitutional, but it is fact. We must work within these parameters.

The FCC won't allow any pirates or "independent" type people who don't have high 6 figures, low 7, in the bank, MINIMUM, because without such a significant investment, they can't TRUST us. The pirate station I was on years ago, is one big reason. Party Pirate 102.1 FM in Temple Terrace was openly violating a ton of FCC rules, from uncensored songs to uncensored DJ's, and basically rubbing it in the governments face. Sure it was great at the time, but I fear that what we did 15, 20 years ago is what is fueling this hatred of a local independent, ANY local independent.. Hell, we actually took a picture of the Feds monitoring our signal and posted it on our website (yes, we had a site, it was just as primitive as anything else circa 1997). Boy, that was great fun, but if you think our case isn't being used as an example for their current trainees, you are mistaken. Let's be real... they raided our studio with a full out SWAT team and held Craven and his wife at gunpoint for over 12 hours. They don't do that if you don't fight the system.

Again, I feel that they figure by only allowing those with an extremely high investment, it minimizes the people who would buck the system, because of the extreme investment one would lose to get in the circle. It ****s the "regular guy" like us, but it keeps the airwaves "clean" and "decent".

Even when the local top 10 station is playing a song with a chorus line of "Blow my whistle baby, whistle baby, blow my whistle baby".

http://www.diymedia.net/feature/micro/f050801.htm

http://freepacifica.savegrassrootsradio.org/news/tampabust.html

https://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/florida-low-power-radio-stations for this link, check out 99.9 Party Pirate and 102.1 Party Pirate
 
I had a guy approcah me wanting an LPFM in Sun City, spent a week on a turn key quote only to be never heard from again. I gave him a real quote and tried to give him real expectations.

I think I know who he is. If it's the same guy, he had major expectaions about Part 15 AM. :)
 
druidhillsradio said:
I had a guy approcah me wanting an LPFM in Sun City, spent a week on a turn key quote only to be never heard from again. I gave him a real quote and tried to give him real expectations.

I think I know who he is. If it's the same guy, he had major expectaions about Part 15 AM. :)
Click to expand...
Sun City is too close to the Riverview blasters for the signal of an LPFM to stand out.

With all of the interference problems AM has, that would not be much of an option, either.

Jeff in Sa-ra-so-ta!
 
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