Sinclair Broadcasting Group’s CBS WKRC-TV is reporting that at least one citizen has filed a complaint with the FCC about a pirate plying the airwaves at 87.9 MHz. The station can be heard in some of the city’s southwestern neighborhoods.
The citizen is displeased with the language contained in some of the station’s musical selections.
According to the report, the broadcasts have been going for a couple of months.
A local radio station operations person, Dave Schram of noncom WMKV-FM, explained to WKRC how easy it is to set up a non-licensed FM station, with all necessary equipment available from sources found without difficulty on the internet.
Schram noted that the FCC has means to track down the source of the transmission. He said that the operator might get a warning at first, particularly if it turns out to be a teenager. But eventually, there could be a $10K fine levied.
RBR-TVBR observation: When the FCC writes up the tale of a typical pirate bust, and it’s true that they often issue a Notice of Unauthorized Operation, essentially warning the pirate to cease and desist. Only when they ignore the NUO does the matter proceed to the penalty level.
We suppose that there is a reason for this. We suppose pirates cannot be expected to be up on all the FCC rules and regulations.
But licensed broadcasters are not accorded any leeway based on ignorance of a particular rule. We just wrote a story about a small AM operator that was unaware of the issues/programs list public file requirement. The FCC told this person that ignorance is no excuse.
The fine for this violation is typically the same $10K.
Is ignorance an excuse for operating an FM station without a license? We don’t think so.
And shouldn’t the fine for piracy be much greater, particularly when the pirate is broadcasting actionably indecent content and perhaps benefitting from the sale of advertising?
The bottom line: Something needs to change in the way FM piracy is enforced and punished.
