Haitian and Jamaican pirates

[ciao99]

Who else had noticed the pirate Caribbean stations proliferating on the Boston radio dial? I'm in Roslindale, I can get 98.9, a Hatian station, 102.1 WRCI, Radio Continental, another Haitian station, and Choice FM, a Jamaican station at 102.9. I also have noticed French programming on 107.5, a very weak signal I can pick up in the Milton area, don't know if it's French or French Creole.
All these pirate stations popping up on the dial are just proof that Boston does not have enough legit stations serving minority communities.

 

[thedougpound]

One of the program producers at WNTN, "Brase Lide" was asspciated with a pirate on 1700AM..

 

[ciao99]

WRCI

> One of the program producers at WNTN, "Brase Lide" was
> asspciated with a pirate on 1700AM..
>
WNTN is listed at this link of Haitian radio programs that the Boston Radio Watch guy (Mark?) sent me. http://www.haiti.fm/boston.html
That's a legit station though. However I doubt WRCI-Radio Continental is legit, particularly when WRCI are the FCC calls for a Christian radio station in Rochester, NY!

 

[raccoonradio]

Re: WRCI

There's a whole bunch of pirates (many ethnic) in the AM expanded band (1610-1700) esp. in downtown Boston plus Lynn, Brockton, Cambridge/Medford, etc. A story about them from last Oct in the Globe (and somewhere there was a site providing links to pirate radio websites):

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/10/16/pirate_radio/

"''This is Radio Concorde," she enthusiastically declares in Creole inside this tangerine-hued studio at Mattapan's WRCB-AM 1580 station. Posters of hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean adorn the walls along with a mural of a sunset over a tropical island.

"Radio Concorde entertains its listeners, serving as a community resource for local news and Haitian-related bulletins in Creole. It's also unlicensed -- what some in the industry call ''pirate radio.""

The article mentions a station at AM 1640 which was fined $10,000 by the
FCC for repeatedly going on the air despite orders not to.

 

[webcastboy]

> All these pirate stations popping up on the dial are just
> proof that Boston does not have enough legit stations
> serving minority communities.
>

I think that's an overgeneralization. There were, for many years, quite a few Haitian-language programs renting time on WNTN and some other AM signals. There's also significant Caribbean programming on several college stations as well (WZBC, WMFO and WBRS all immediately come to mind...I'm sure there's others, too) Granted, we're not talking WBCN flamethrowers, but not what I'd call a lack of "legit" stations.

Note that despite large Brazilian, Vietnamese, and Orthodox Jewish populations...it's almost entirely the Haitians that have crowded onto the pirate radio train. After all, the Vietnamese community seems to have found something that works for them in renting subcarriers (I know there WAS one on WBUR as of two years ago...don't know if it's still there. I think WERS used to have one, too). And WUNR has some Yiddish shows (as does WBRS).

So why do Haitians seem to prefer the pirate route? I think this is because supposedly there's a strong tradition of pirate radio in Haiti itself. And also because I suspect these stations tend to serve their own staffs' desires a lot more than any perceived community. I've been told there's a tremendous amount of infighting amongst the Haitian radio community...with disgrunted members leaving one station and starting their own. Frequently trash-talking each other on the air, etc etc etc. Certainly it helps explain why there's nearly a dozen different Haitian pirates (at last check) between the AM and FM bands.

Big disclaimer...I can't verify any of this, though...it's just what's been told to me by folks who have either volunteered at these pirate stations, or have talked to people who do. I don't speak Creole, either.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that the FCC has been rather toothless around Boston for several years now. Unless a licensed broadcaster complains, the FCC seems very disinclined to act against a pirate. Hence the proliferation in the expanded AM band (1610-1700) since there are no licensed EX-AM band stations anywhere near Boston, save for a 10-watt TIS on 1650 out at Logan airport. Ditto for 89.3FM, although that hole will likely close soon whenever WUMD comes on the air down in Dartmouth.

For what it's worth though, I know at least two non-Haitian pirate stations that existed largely to serve their own staffs' desires (one eventually died out from lack of funds, I'm not sure what happened to the other)...and hell, most of the college stations operate that way, too.

It's a bit of an overgeneralization...but usually if there's a perception of an "underserved market", it means that demographic has little or no buying power. And thus no advertisers want to target them. Which means certainly no commercial station is going to lose money in an attempt to serve that market. I also have little sympathy for a lot of these pirate broadcasters. Why? Because at any given point there are a half-dozen college stations around here, some of which with pretty hefty signals, that are literally begging for DJ's to come in and do shows...and yet the pirate operators don't choose that outlet.

 

[Eli Polonsky]

> Who else had noticed the pirate Caribbean stations
> proliferating on the Boston radio dial? I'm in Roslindale, I
> can get 98.9, a Hatian station, 102.1 WRCI, Radio
> Continental, another Haitian station, and Choice FM, a
> Jamaican station at 102.9. I also have noticed French
> programming on 107.5, a very weak signal I can pick up in
> the Milton area, don't know if it's French or French Creole.

There is also currently a Reggae pirate often on 105.3 with a pretty good signal.

 

[blabhead]

> > and Choice FM, Jamaican station at 102.9.

Choice FM also plays old school R&B overnights,they also air adverts.
>
> There is also currently a Reggae pirate often on 105.3 with
> a pretty good signal.
>
South of Boston I can hear this pirate also,signal could be a little better,must be broadcasting from the City.


Given the current state of morning radio,I wouldn't mind if a pirate would air O&A
or Howard.I think a NY pirate is rebroadcasting Howard's show.

 

[ciao99]

> > Who else had noticed the pirate Caribbean stations
> > proliferating on the Boston radio dial? I'm in Roslindale,
> I
> > can get 98.9, a Hatian station, 102.1 WRCI, Radio
> > Continental, another Haitian station, and Choice FM, a
> > Jamaican station at 102.9. I also have noticed French
> > programming on 107.5, a very weak signal I can pick up in
> > the Milton area, don't know if it's French or French
> Creole.
>
> There is also currently a Reggae pirate often on 105.3 with
> a pretty good signal.
>
Yes! I missed that one. It's got an excellent signal in my part of town, so much that I was thinking it was Northeastern's college station, which I forgot is at 104.9.

 

[RadioJay]

> Who else had noticed the pirate Caribbean stations
> proliferating on the Boston radio dial? I'm in Roslindale, I
> can get 98.9, a Hatian station, 102.1 WRCI, Radio
> Continental, another Haitian station, and Choice FM, a
> Jamaican station at 102.9. I also have noticed French
> programming on 107.5, a very weak signal I can pick up in
> the Milton area, don't know if it's French or French Creole.
>
> All these pirate stations popping up on the dial are just
> proof that Boston does not have enough legit stations
> serving minority communities.
>
Even in Johnston, RI, a predominently Italian suberb of Providence, there is a pirate on 107.7 at night playing what sounds like French Creole.<P ID="signature">______________
Moe: (Sees a microphone in a radio studio) Ooh, a microphonie!

Curly: Or a phoney at the mike!

Moe: Quiet numbskulls I'm broadcastin'!

From The Three Stooges episode "Micro-Phoneys"</P>