Should pirate stations be rated by Arbitron?

[nd2023]

Before you laugh at me, think about it. There are some cities which have pirate stations that sound professional and fill a format hole. The average listener would not know it's a pirate. It would be nice to know just how many listeners the pirate is stealing from other stations. And if a pirate is doing very well, perhaps a legal station would change formats.
Some pirate stations sell advertising anyway.

Since the FCC doesn't seem to stop pirate stations, it would be nice to quantify how they're doing relative to other stations.

 

[michael hagerty]

They'd have to encode for PPM...that would put Arbitron in the position of knowing who and where they are and dealing with an illegal operator.

 

[davideduardo]

Since the FCC doesn't seem to stop pirate stations, it would be nice to quantify how they're doing relative to other stations.

The main reason we have ratings is to be able to establish value and pricing for clients that buy based on ratings. Since it is totally unlikely that an ad agency would consider buying time on a pirate station, and (as mentioned) pirates won't encode anyway), there is no reason to list them

When Miami had diaries, I would often do diary reviews. Of the dozens of pirates there, there might have been a couple of dozen diaries that mantioned any of them out of around 3000 diaries per book.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

Before you laugh at me, think about it. There are some cities which have pirate stations that sound professional and fill a format hole. The average listener would not know it's a pirate. It would be nice to know just how many listeners the pirate is stealing from other stations. And if a pirate is doing very well, perhaps a legal station would change formats.
Some pirate stations sell advertising anyway.

Since the FCC doesn't seem to stop pirate stations, it would be nice to quantify how they're doing relative to other stations.

Sorry Nick, even before I clicked on the thread link I had to laugh at the topic title

BTW are you the "Nick" from the New Brunswick (NJ) area [my home town]?
Side note: I was a "DJ" along with some teenage friends of a 5 watt pirate station (in my house's basement) at 640 AM (back in the 60s) in Franklin Township on Bloomfield Avenue just off of Easton Avenue. We sure had fun with that for a few summers!

 

[NoWayNoCC]

Absolutely, Arbitron should rate pirate stations. In fact, I thought there was a Fresno pirate some years back that showed in the Arbitron ratings.

Maybe things have changed since the Bush years, but I know that as of a few years ago, the FCC had no tolerance for pirates. Unless of course it's a neo-Nazi pirate, which are allowed to operate for years.

 

[davideduardo]

Absolutely, Arbitron should rate pirate stations. In fact, I thought there was a Fresno pirate some years back that showed in the Arbitron ratings.

Arbitron has long had a policy that they will not rate operations that are illegal and thus unverifiable. If it is an on-air radio station, their software requires unique call letters and pirates have none. Further, contact with each station is required to verify operating schedules in order to project listening into dayparts, etc.

Today, in the all but two of the top 50 markets, a station has to have a PPM encoder to register in the ratings. Getting one requires that Arbitron know where it is installed as well as the assignment of a unique code. No pirate is going to tell Arbitron where they broadcast from.

Maybe things have changed since the Bush years, but I know that as of a few years ago, the FCC had no tolerance for pirates. Unless of course it's a neo-Nazi pirate, which are allowed to operate for years.

The longest enduring pirates, including the one in Vermont and the one in Berkeley, are/were ultra-liberal.

Most pirates, though, are either "a better blend of music than those commercial stations have" (translation: my iPod playlist) or religious operations that can't or do not want to pay to be on a pay-for-pray station ("We are licensed by a Higher Power.").

Many are very dangerous (I was on an LAX-MIA inbound flight that diverted because the pilot could not hear the tower due to a Kreyole pirate in the vicinity) and interfere with licensed stations.

NJ now has a law similar to that which exists in FL and has assisted in closing several pirates of recent... one on 92.7, within the 54 dbu contour of a liscensed station.

 

[NoWayNoCC]

NJ now has a law similar to that which exists in FL and has assisted in closing several pirates of recent... one on 92.7, within the 54 dbu contour of a liscensed station.

If the states can't override the fascist Telecommunications Act of 1996, then they can't restrict pirate radio either.

 

[davideduardo]

NJ now has a law similar to that which exists in FL and has assisted in closing several pirates of recent... one on 92.7, within the 54 dbu contour of a liscensed station.

If the states can't override the fascist Telecommunications Act of 1996, then they can't restrict pirate radio either.

fas·cism noun
Dictatorial movement: any movement, ideology, or attitude that favors dictatorial government, centralized control of private enterprise, repression of all opposition, and extreme nationalism

Since there are no monopolies, not even oligopolies created by the act (the largest owner has 5% of all stations), it does not meet the definition of "facism." And, in any case one bad law does not mean all laws can be broken.

The biggest problem with pirates is that they use generally crummy equipment maintained, if at all, by less than competent people resulting in the high potential for interference with other services, such as the aviation band.

 

[Flying-Dutchman]

I've paid thousands to see these ratings and I expect them to reflect the truth.
I want to know who is listening to what.

However, with the exception of Boston, Massachusetts, it is doubtful that
any pirates have enough listeners to show up.