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Pirate Radio In Brockton - When Will The FCC Get Involved?

S

SoxFan04

Guest
Normally on my daily commute down route 24 in the morning I usually scan the FM dial when I get in the vicinity of the Brockton exits to check out the pirate radio activity. This morning I was blown away at the amount of power the pirate on 96.5 is NOW using. 96.5 is playing what sounds like a Haitian / Creole mix of music. I had the 96.5 signal completely listenable down to the Taunton and overpowers the Dorchester pirate on 96.5 to the north. Unbelievable! As of this morning here's a breakdown on the FM pirate activity south of Boston on route 24.

96.5 Dorchester - Slow Jams / R&B
96.5 Brockton - Haitian - STRONG
101.3 Brockton - Haitian - On the air only during the overnights, shuts off around 0730.
102.1 Brockton - Power FM - Simulcast of 102.1 in Boston.

At what point does the FCC get involved??
 
I agree. It's out of hand right now. I was getting splash from 96.5 in Brockton over onto 96.9 FM Talk. There was a 103.1 in Brockton that was killing 103.3, but I didn't notice that one this week. I have only heard one mention of a pirate on the air of a licensed Boston station. On the K & M morning show on WZLX, they had callers telling the hosts about some other foreign language station interfering with 100.7 in the Brockton area.
I was told by a radio engineer that the "local" FCC office is out of Chicago, so these days there must be so few agents to deal with the pirate problem.
 
What few agents there are, are involved in everything the FCC regulates. Broadcasting is only one aspect out of many, so they get spread kinda thin.

What gets the FCC's attention, however, is when a licensed broadcaster complains about a pirate, especially if that pirate is causing interference in the area usually covered by the broadcast station. The only thing that gets more/faster attention than that is if the pirate is interfering, as often happens at the upper end of the FM dial, with aircraft communications. Where there's a danger to life and property, the FCC will act astonishingly fast.
 
The FCC is a reactive agency when it comes to enforcement. They will only respond when there are complaints. More than one, usually...but it doesn't take hordes of listeners or anything. So make a complaint! Unfortunately, they can only be done via US Mail - details are below.

http://www.fcc.gov/eb/bccomplaints/unlic.html

Written complaints alleging violations of Section 301 of the Communications Act should be sent to:
Federal Communications Commission
Enforcement Bureau
Spectrum Enforcement Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554

Complaints should include the name of the operator, if known, how the station identifies itself, the location of the station, the operating frequency, and whether the station's operation is causing interference.


Broadcasters making a complaint also carry a lot of weight if the pirate is directly interfering with them (according to the FCC's contour separation rules). For example, WBUR 90.9 had a Dorchester pirate on 90.5 shut down within a week. But WBUR can complain all it likes about a pirate on 96.5 and the FCC will treat it as "low priority" at best. WTKK (Greater Media) on the other hand, could complain about 96.5 and get results. But it's like playing whack-a-mole. You get a pirate shut down this week, within a month another one will be on that frequency again. FCC enforcement is spread too thin and the penalties are too weak to really deter these pirates.

Similarly, if you are complaining about a pirate, you must live (or perhaps work) within the area of interference. For example, if you live in Medford and work in Boston...and you're complaining about a pirate in Brockton, the FCC treats your complaint as "low priority" because you're not actually experiencing interference. Similarly, if you live in Medford, work in Boston, the pirate is in Medford, but the desired station's service contour doesn't cover Medford or Boston, then it's again "low priority" because you're not a listener as far as the FCC is concerned; you're outside the service contour.

But, if you live in Medford, work in Boston, and the pirate is in Medford and on 107.5, and you're complaining about not being able to hear Kiss108 (a Medford-licensed station)...then you've got a legitimate gripe in the FCC's eyes.
 
>>96.5 Brockton - Haitian - STRONG
101.3 Brockton - Haitian - On the air only during the overnights, shuts off around 0730.
102.1 Brockton - Power FM - Simulcast of 102.1 in Boston.<<

The thing about all of these pirates (eventhough I do not speak nor understand French/Creole) is that they are running full-fledged commercials. The 96.5 in Brockton has obviously upped it's power this week (is running 24/7) and is already running commercials for some fly-by-night mortgage company in Brockton. Talk about brazen. They got to be running at least a cool "C-Note" of power. I noticed the splatter of the 96.5 Brockton pirate while trying to listen to "IMUS" on WTKK (96.9). Sounds like a another "Ramsey" unit. But it's typical..... if one station goes under... another pirate station takes its' place. And so on, and so on, and so on........ etc.
 
Peter Q. George (K1XRB) said:
The thing about all of these pirates (eventhough I do not speak nor understand French/Creole) is that they are running full-fledged commercials.
Click to expand...

That's what gets me. I've always looked at pirate radio as a hobby, not a way to make money. I guess the days of a couple of guys broadcasting from their basement are over, it's all about trying to beat the system and make a buck.

There was a pirate on 96.5 in Easton playing rock with a weak signal but decent processing, I haven't heard it in awhile. I did hear a station on 103.1 splashing over on Oldies but havent heard that one since before the holidays. I've also heard a few pirates broadcasting on the AM X-Band as well.
 
Here's some food for thought:

Say in the next 5 or 10 years a considerable amount of people have left terrestrial radio for satellite radio or even a freshly-invented WiFi internet radio. Demand for terrestrial radio goes way down, prompting stations to sign off.

Do you think that if eventually less or no commercial broadcasters were willing to use these frequencies that they would become unregulated public domain?
 
>>There was a pirate on 96.5 in Easton playing rock with a weak signal but decent processing, I haven't heard it in awhile. <<

While driving home this evening, I actually heard that particular Easton pirate trying to make a futile attempt to put his station on this evening. But his coverage was all but decimated due to co-channel interference from the Haitian pirate from Brockton. It looks like this new breed of pirates are trying to be the FM version of "Channel Masters" (a common occurence during the CB heyday of the 1970's). Never mind that someone was there first. Move over sucker. At least the Easton station, eventhough a "boot", actual sounded like it tried to put a quality signal on the air. This "Johnny come lately" guy from Brockton is putting a dirty noise maker on the air.
 
SoxFan04 said:
Peter Q. George (K1XRB) said:
The thing about all of these pirates (eventhough I do not speak nor understand French/Creole) is that they are running full-fledged commercials.
Click to expand...

There was a pirate on 96.5 in Easton playing rock with a weak signal but decent processing, I haven't heard it in awhile.
Click to expand...

I was dropping my son off at the Oliver Ames high school for a basketball game a few months ago and picked up "Easton's Rock Garden". Although a pirate, it did sound like they were making an attempt to serve the community. They were running promos promoting their internet stream through their myspace page. IIRC http://myspace.com/eastonradio

I used to be a big fan of Steve Conti's WICE-FM. That was pirate Radio done right.
 
countdown until someone posts PIRATE RADIO IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE AND SHOULD BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.

meanwhile, pirates often serve a listenership that is otherwise marginalized. Some may be selling ads but others do it as a hobby. Allston-Brighton Free Radio, for all intents and purposes, was a pirate station at times because we had a higher wattage than allowed by law and the idea wasn't profitability, it was providing an alternative to other stations in the area...

and yes I know it's illegal.
 
They were running promos promoting their internet stream through their myspace page. IIRC http://myspace.com/eastonradio
Click to expand...

I just checked out The Rock Garden's web page it is interesting reading. It appears to be a pretty professional operation. I listened to their stream for a little while, good mix of music. This is the type of station you'd like to see end up with an LPFM license (although that will never happen in this area). They do mention that they are going off the air due to the Brockton pirates.

Allston-Brighton Free Radio, for all intents and purposes, was a pirate station at times because we had a higher wattage than allowed by law and the idea wasn't profitability, it was providing an alternative to other stations in the area
Click to expand...

Does ABFR stream online? I never got a chance to listen to their over the air broadcast.
 
SoxFan04 said:
Does ABFR stream online? I never got a chance to listen to their over the air broadcast.
Click to expand...

A-B Free closed in Jan. '05... we lasted almost 5 years. We never did have a proper streaming webcast... we tried to at one point but it didn't work out. In any case, I began webcasting my own show (as a download) in mid '03 and after the station closed, I got my own DJ equipment and started recording it at home--my show is now web-only. Truth be told, once I started doing a webcast, I basically was using the station to record my show since the broadcast range was so limited...
 
I remember picking up Radio Free Allston at 106.1, and read that the FCC shut them down. So they decided
to go about it the legal way as ABFR (1580 and 1640, IIRC)--1 milliwatt, I think. A day was set (it was in
March--the Red Sox had an exhibition game later that day) on a Saturday at noon, for them to make
their debut.

I drove down to a spot in Allston (near Able Rug, Sports Depot, etc.) and took out my recordable Walkman
to record it (I no longer have the tape). Steve Provizer, their founder, was speaking and I remember him saying
"I am glad this day but I am also angry." He was angry because the FCC was forcing them to go on at such a low power; what he had to deal with, etc. I think Provizer co-hosted Let's Talk about Radio once or twice.

I know I had to walk around a little bit to tape them because the signal wouldn't quite come in with the
Walkman placed in my car. Just went on to Google maps (and used the aerial view/ "hybrid" which also shows you the street names). Looks like I was just off the Everett St bridge, just off of Braintree St. On the other side of the bridge was a big supermarket, a Stop and Shop I think (and just west of that is Guest St
home of the New Balance Bldg and Entercom)

Just did a search for when ABFR debuted and I found a still-active yahoo group, and the following was
submitted to it by SonicAl: "I just did my 6th anniversary show for Sonic Overload. We went on the air on March 13, 2000 if I remember correctly"

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/abfree/

Oddly enough just yesterday I was talking about pirate radio and micro/flea-power broadcasters with a friend. I mentioned some pirates in Vermont (Radio Free Vermont/Rutland 96.5; Radio Free Brattleboro) and some of the more recent pirates here.
 
RE: New Pirate In Brockton On 106.3

Well, I discovered another BIG SIGNAL pirate in the Brockton area tonight on 106.3 playing a salsa/Spanish mix of music. Unbelievable!!
 
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