Where are all the pirates?

[Doctah]

I search up and down the dial... nothing. C'mon Los Angeles, you should be crawling with pirate radio signals? Or has the FCC been doing such a good job that no one can get on the air? Anyone know of any good ones?

 

[gerald]

I think the problem is (with excuses to those on the board) LA is NOT a radio town. TV of course, movies hell yeah, but not radio. Even if a pirate came along (as they apparently do in Silverlake every so often), no one would pay it any mind and it would just linger and die. By the time it got a mention in the LA Times it would already be gone. And think of all the other ways to get out your message if you have a message to get out, or some deeply held conviction or passion (hint: rhymes with internet).

When I came out here from Boston 25 years ago I was a) appalled at the low state of radio (which has only gotten worse), and b) equally appalled that there weren't 4 or 5 hoppin college radio stations keeping everyone on their toes. Radio in LA isn't considered a glamour profession and just can't compete with the lure of TV, and the music industry is moribund. IMHO, of course.

 

[davideduardo]

I think the problem is (with excuses to those on the board) LA is NOT a radio town. TV of course, movies hell yeah, but not radio. Even if a pirate came along (as they apparently do in Silverlake every so often), no one would pay it any mind and it would just linger and die. By the time it got a mention in the LA Times it would already be gone. And think of all the other ways to get out your message if you have a message to get out, or some deeply held conviction or passion (hint: rhymes with internet).

When I came out here from Boston 25 years ago I was a) appalled at the low state of radio (which has only gotten worse), and b) equally appalled that there weren't 4 or 5 hoppin college radio stations keeping everyone on their toes. Radio in LA isn't considered a glamour profession and just can't compete with the lure of TV, and the music industry is moribund. IMHO, of course.

LA has among the highest usages of radio in the US. And it has about the highest pay, too.

That you would think the LA Times owuld write about a pirate is giving pirates way too much cred. They might write about one when the FCC closes it and fines the operator, but the story is the breaking of the law, not the programming of the radio stations.

Are you older than 21?

 

[jimbo]

Where are all the pirates? Hell, who needs the FCC in their underwear? They'll give you ten thousand reasons for leaving the air if you ignore the NOUO. The FCC has been busy: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/

 

[SuperRadioFan]

Jimbo, thanks for the link. I find it very interesting! Especially one about JILL-FM. Amaturo failed to have a local office/studio for KLIT-FM COL Fountain Valley. They tried to pass off their local office for KLIT-FM as in KBPK's Fullerton Community College studios.
FCC fined them $7,000. So what typically does happen in a case like this as there are other stations around the country doing a simulcast?

http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-265778A1.html

 

[jimbo]

SuperRadioFan - try $25,000 for failing to have a main studio in the COL.

http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-242819A1.html

BTW, on the topic of pirates, a legal Part 15 FM transmitters have about the same range as your cordless telephone.