I am a young person interested in radio, and am thinking about starting a Hot AC radio station targeted at the south and west immediate suburbs, directly competing at WBMX and WXLO, along with WMJX, and will be mainly voice tracked 96 hours per week and live broadcasted another few hours, with the rest being automated. It will have 2 classics from the 80s/90s, 4 2000s, 2 recent hits at least 2-3 years old, and the other 8 being Currents and Recurrents per hour. Any thoughts/comments on me/ my radio station are appreciated. I Adam also on the Autism Spectrum.
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Thinking about starting a Hot AC radio station in Boston, pirate
- Thread starter Tomgsinger
- Start date
Sorry for the typo. It's supposed to be I am on the Autism Spectrum.
If you're starting a pirate station you will be breaking
the law (unless you make it reach half a block or
something) and probably be annoying legit stations
and their listeners.If caught you will be subject to
thousands of dollars in fines. Why not do an operation
online? The FCC rules are there for a reason. If you
have lots of money and get a station legally, then
fine.
https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/pirate-broadcast-stations
the law (unless you make it reach half a block or
something) and probably be annoying legit stations
and their listeners.If caught you will be subject to
thousands of dollars in fines. Why not do an operation
online? The FCC rules are there for a reason. If you
have lots of money and get a station legally, then
fine.
https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/pirate-broadcast-stations
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R
Radio-X
Guest
I can tell you, as a person who has dabbled in urban pirate broadcasting and worked at legitimate broadcasters, you will not get much support on this board. Most of everybody here works has a connection of some type with licensed radio broadcasters...as they see it, by being a pirate, you are breaking the law, potentially eating into their business, endangering public safety, supporting terrorism, etc.
I can also tell you that getting a signal to eke out more than a mile in a signal saturated area like Boston metro will be challenging and cost several thousand for a respectable xmitter and antenna. And unless you get lucky, even that signal will only go out a few miles at best.
I feel your options are as follows (assuming you want to program your own time on air):
- College/non-commercial stations are often a good spot if one wants to get a few hours a week on the air. My first gig on air was just this...at the local college station...at the age of 14! I was not affiliated with that college besides the fact that I lived in the same town as the school.
- There are tons of brokered time stations all over. You can buy time for cheap...a few hours on a AM station over a year's time will be several thousand dollars, but you can legally sell commercials to recoup that cost!
Now onto the options of running your own station:
- Part 15 AM: There are ways to do this and get a very respectable signal. For about $2000, you could have a network of 3 AM transmitters that would cover about a 1/2-1 mile radius per transmitter. Best of all is that it is legal. No worries about folks on here ratting you out, no concerns about potentially interfering with other bands, etc. You could do the same thing with talking house transmitters..a network of 5-6 used ones would set you back $5-750. Their range is more 1/4-1/2 mile each.
- You can buy those Chinese made 10-25 watt FM transmitters with a basic antenna for $100. The quality is iffy at best and will be throwing harmonics from your station all over several non-broadcast bands...that will not get you many friends especially if it interferes with public safety, aircraft, or other commercial signals. Even with that antenna mounted 60' up (roof of 5 story apartment building), in normal circumstances (based on personal experience) you'll be lucky to get a 1-2 miles of decent coverage
- A decent 100-250w transmitter with a basic 5/8 wave antenna will set you back at least $2-3000. Put that up 60' in the air, you'll probably get 4-5 miles of decent coverage and less interference on the bands. You will also have an illegal signal that is more audible to more folks and more likely to be tracked and shut down.
Basically, anything you do with your own unlicensed FM signal (part 15 FM is useless for your purpose here) will be illegal and subject to FCC issues. If they come depends on a lot of factors...primarily interference to other legitimate users of broadcast spectrum and how strong your signal is.
However, I would not get too in depth about any pirate options on this board. As mentioned, most people on here are affiliated with the broadcast industry and you'll be looked at with disdain at best...at worst, someone who knows what they're doing will find your transmit location and forward that on to the Enforcement Bureau of the FCC. At that point, they will contact you and order you to shut it down. There are tons of sites out there (just google 'free radio' that usually puts you in with the more anarchist-side of pirates, but they also share the most information on how to properly do it)
Best of luck to you...I'd look into the non-comm station option if you've never done radio before. You'll get enough of a taste of working at a radio station to see if it's more than just an interest, plus it sets you up for potentially working in legitimate broadcasting...nothing is more awesome than making money doing something you love!
Joe
(aka Radio-X)
I can also tell you that getting a signal to eke out more than a mile in a signal saturated area like Boston metro will be challenging and cost several thousand for a respectable xmitter and antenna. And unless you get lucky, even that signal will only go out a few miles at best.
I feel your options are as follows (assuming you want to program your own time on air):
- College/non-commercial stations are often a good spot if one wants to get a few hours a week on the air. My first gig on air was just this...at the local college station...at the age of 14! I was not affiliated with that college besides the fact that I lived in the same town as the school.
- There are tons of brokered time stations all over. You can buy time for cheap...a few hours on a AM station over a year's time will be several thousand dollars, but you can legally sell commercials to recoup that cost!
Now onto the options of running your own station:
- Part 15 AM: There are ways to do this and get a very respectable signal. For about $2000, you could have a network of 3 AM transmitters that would cover about a 1/2-1 mile radius per transmitter. Best of all is that it is legal. No worries about folks on here ratting you out, no concerns about potentially interfering with other bands, etc. You could do the same thing with talking house transmitters..a network of 5-6 used ones would set you back $5-750. Their range is more 1/4-1/2 mile each.
- You can buy those Chinese made 10-25 watt FM transmitters with a basic antenna for $100. The quality is iffy at best and will be throwing harmonics from your station all over several non-broadcast bands...that will not get you many friends especially if it interferes with public safety, aircraft, or other commercial signals. Even with that antenna mounted 60' up (roof of 5 story apartment building), in normal circumstances (based on personal experience) you'll be lucky to get a 1-2 miles of decent coverage
- A decent 100-250w transmitter with a basic 5/8 wave antenna will set you back at least $2-3000. Put that up 60' in the air, you'll probably get 4-5 miles of decent coverage and less interference on the bands. You will also have an illegal signal that is more audible to more folks and more likely to be tracked and shut down.
Basically, anything you do with your own unlicensed FM signal (part 15 FM is useless for your purpose here) will be illegal and subject to FCC issues. If they come depends on a lot of factors...primarily interference to other legitimate users of broadcast spectrum and how strong your signal is.
However, I would not get too in depth about any pirate options on this board. As mentioned, most people on here are affiliated with the broadcast industry and you'll be looked at with disdain at best...at worst, someone who knows what they're doing will find your transmit location and forward that on to the Enforcement Bureau of the FCC. At that point, they will contact you and order you to shut it down. There are tons of sites out there (just google 'free radio' that usually puts you in with the more anarchist-side of pirates, but they also share the most information on how to properly do it)
Best of luck to you...I'd look into the non-comm station option if you've never done radio before. You'll get enough of a taste of working at a radio station to see if it's more than just an interest, plus it sets you up for potentially working in legitimate broadcasting...nothing is more awesome than making money doing something you love!
Joe
(aka Radio-X)
Great post.Many of us indeed work in radio,in my case
for the past 34 years at a North Shore college station.
Currently we and 2 other stations are being plagued
by pirates.In other cases big companies are getting
interference or losing potential listeners and money
due to unlicensed infringers.
Yes broadcasting a flea powered station won't
get you far but there are so many stations out
there who could be interfered with.A church in
downtown Lynnfield has a talking house xmtr on
1640 that goes a few blocks. A recent LPFM
went on the air at 89.3 in Lynn with Spanish language Christian
broadcasting in Lynn and they reach quite a
few towns.
Both are LEGAL and good for them.
for the past 34 years at a North Shore college station.
Currently we and 2 other stations are being plagued
by pirates.In other cases big companies are getting
interference or losing potential listeners and money
due to unlicensed infringers.
Yes broadcasting a flea powered station won't
get you far but there are so many stations out
there who could be interfered with.A church in
downtown Lynnfield has a talking house xmtr on
1640 that goes a few blocks. A recent LPFM
went on the air at 89.3 in Lynn with Spanish language Christian
broadcasting in Lynn and they reach quite a
few towns.
Both are LEGAL and good for them.
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I sent the following email message to the OP, Tomgsinger:
"You may not write posts which promote your illegal (pirate) activity on this website. The FCC does look at the posts on the RadioDiscussions website from time to time. Any future posts which promote illegal activity will be removed.
Thank you for your understanding."
Frank Berry
"You may not write posts which promote your illegal (pirate) activity on this website. The FCC does look at the posts on the RadioDiscussions website from time to time. Any future posts which promote illegal activity will be removed.
Thank you for your understanding."
Frank Berry
G
Groove1670
Guest
Thank you. If you ever wanted to own a radio station you should of applied for a LPFM, or in one of the future FCC auctions that will be scheduled again soon. There were several permits in the last one that went without one single bidder (and please don't argue if they had any value or not). They would be legal and have more value than a pirate station.
You can build one of these permits with Ebay equipment and have a legit operation. The only new items I purchased was my EAS system, and antenna. It can be done on a shoestring budget.
You can build one of these permits with Ebay equipment and have a legit operation. The only new items I purchased was my EAS system, and antenna. It can be done on a shoestring budget.
I'd like to mention an anecdotal experience regarding public safety:
Some years ago, when landing at MIA on a flight from LAX, the pilot aborted the landing about a mile or two from the outer marker. As he circled, he told the passengers that they were coming around for a new approach as they "had to reestablish communications on another channel with the tower due to interference from an illegal radio station".
One of Miami's slew of pirates was obviously generating some kind of signal on an aircraft frequency. Given the non-type accepted gear most use, that is not surprising. Few pirates have the knowledge and the money to pay a good engineer, and few good engineers would endanger their reputations helping a pirate. Thus, they are a real threat to human life in some cases.
You could always do an internet-only stream (if the music licensing fees don't kill you!)
If you think you , indeed, have the next great programming idea, the easiest, fastest, and cheapest broadcast option
is to buy some airtime on an existing, legal station. The marketplace will decide if your content is compelling, or not.
If you can't make the numbers (costs) work for several hours per week, you absolutely cannot make any type of
fulltime station work, much less be profitable. That being said, roll the dice, and have at it. Good luck!
If you think you , indeed, have the next great programming idea, the easiest, fastest, and cheapest broadcast option
is to buy some airtime on an existing, legal station. The marketplace will decide if your content is compelling, or not.
If you can't make the numbers (costs) work for several hours per week, you absolutely cannot make any type of
fulltime station work, much less be profitable. That being said, roll the dice, and have at it. Good luck!
Some of you know I am a pilot, General Aviation, little planes....
so I tend to catch when the FCC goes after Pirates that are screwing with the bands aviation uses.
The one that I remember clearly was the FAA called the FCC and they got up off their backside and actually did something, and quickly.
Seems some pirate in Brockton was screwing up the ground frequencies at Logan, and the FAA and MAssport were none too happy.
It got an IMMEDIATE response from the FCC who made a trip to the fair urban oasis of Brockton and shut down the offending community radio operator ( a polite way of saying scum sucking law breaking, P.O.S Pirate broadcaster) from 2007...
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/09/07/rogue_radio_not_music_to_logan/
from 2010 -2013
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2...on-brockton/enjD6SUmZP2NMuxTvFEBqK/story.html
Then there are hundreds of FCC actions against Pirates that screwed up public safety frequencies like this:
http://www.enterprisenews.com/article/20130817/News/308179862
I'll do it!
Yup, I will definitely do it. Internet radio is the way to go! I might even be able to start it before Dec 26th!
Yup, I will definitely do it. Internet radio is the way to go! I might even be able to start it before Dec 26th!
So explain to us how you are going to deal with those pesky ASCAP , SESAC and BMI fees?
The FCC may be dolts that couldn't find their azzes with both hands and a map, but the folks that collect royalties for the people who own the rights to public performances of certain works will not be as willing to look the other way.
One of my friends is a touring comedian. Last weekend he had to do his 90 minute show without any of his musical bits because the club did not have permission ( a license) to use music in the venue. When a club tells you NO MUSIC you know they have ad a visit from ASCAP or BMI, or have been sued.
The best way to start a radio station is to sign up for a VIP membership with Live365. A monthly or annual membership can help you keep on keeping on, since the company will pay the fees for you. And you can also explore selling ad time on your station. There are advertisers who'd be happy to sponsor your show.
Radionomy has its music licensing fees covered... The only problem is when you sign up its page is in French. Help?
Or Live 365. The only problem is. I don't have 750 dollars to buy the music.
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