BruceS8852 said:
I was riding the #7 Train around Corona and I heard a Spanish music loud and clear on 101.5 FM. In this era of internet radio, I don't see the need for pirates. The FCC should really crack down since it impedes listening of legitimate stations.
Bruce,
Just wanted to clarify something for you about the medium of "underground radio". Pirates as they exist TODAY bear little-to-no resemblence to what used to also be called the era of "hobby broadcasting" that existed before the Panaxis microtransmitter boom of the mid-1990s.
As hard as this is to believe, there WAS a time when 99.9% of actively-broadcasting pirates bent over backwards to be sure they NEVER interfered with licensed radio stations. The reasons for that were three-fold:
1. Most pirates looked upon themselves as an visitor to the broadcast spectrum, not an interloper. The whole idea was to ENTERTAIN without restriction - not to achieve some oddball modicum of fame and fortune - hell, many pirates were run by guys working in legit radio! Most pirates felt that they could fill a missing "niche" - whether it was the lack of LOCALLY-ORIGINATED NY-area talk shows in the late-70s (which led to talk programming on stations such as WFAT, WGOR and WEKG) or the missing "personality" element of the market that led to the existence of WHOT, WFUN, WMAD, et al in the 80s (who knew - people actually ENJOYED listening to "fun" radio!).
2. Pirates of the time did not want to pi**-off any licensed radio stations then. Why would you? As recently as the early 1990s, the idea of putting a pirate in NYC on 101.5 - with WXKW being so close by - would have been the work of an insane person (who would have then had to deal with any other area pirates labeling him a troublemaker - and an idiot).
3. What was there to be gained by raising the antennae of the FCC? Nothing. Being on an "unwelcome" frequency or broadcasting 24/7 would have merely brought down unneeded "heat".
Pirates had a "code" in those days, too. As many as three or four stations could "share" an open frequency without incident. The ultimate Gentlemen's Agreement. And you better believe that NO pirate would have DARED sell advertising back then. The idea wasn't to make money or get into magazines; the idea was to entertain.
You are right on the money with your statement about the availablity of the Internet. With the easy availablity of netcasting and podcasting these days, many of the "Old School" pirates of days gone by have turned to the 'Net as their new medium of choice. If such a thing had been available in the 60s, 70s and 80s, many pirate broadcaster would have likely become Podcasters - but no such alternative existed at the time.
The free-for-all "pirate radio" that has been in existence since the mid-90s bears NO resemblence to what "pirate radio" in this country was for decades (something the Snifferamas of the world can't seem to grasp). It wasn't until exciters and transmitters became as easy to buy as cell phones that things got out of hand. Add to the math misguided individuals like Steve Dunifer (who hands out transmitters the way they hand out free newspapers outside of Port Authorit Bus Terminal) and you have what you see now: a pirate swarm that more resembles the CB Radio boom / disaster of the 70s: way too many people dumping carriers, selling advertising and generally making the whole concept of "underground radio" look bad.
Apparently, when the idea of pirate radio meant a handful of technical or radio guys bucking the law, the FCC had nio problem kicking down doors with rows of gun-toting Federal Marshalls in tow. Now that there are dozens, even hundreds on in big city markets, the once tough-talking, all-swagger FCC has become a paper tiger, afraid of their own shadow. Funny how that works out.
So - while difficult to explain, once should not mistake what we see NOW for what once was.
