Posts Tagged ‘FCC’

Deep Background for February 21-27, 2010

Ask any blogger that gets even marginal readership; you are bound to get called some names or just deal with some weird stuff. Come to think of it, weirdness is attracted to all media like metal shavings to that bald guy’s head in that old 5 & 10 game we used to have when we were kids.

One pirate radio listserv dude called P&T “FCC-loving” and “bootlicking.” That’s too funny! FCC obeying, yes. Loving? Not even a slight attraction.

Like most bloggers, I use a program to block comment spam (I’ve received over 12,000 spam comments since the beginning). Sometimes the creativity used to try to get past the spam filter is quite cute. Favorite of the week: “Gday thanks regarding your page. I truly adore your web page. Its really informative.” I know I might be adorable, but adoring the P&T…really?

Leave your adorable comments in the space below (no spam please) or through e-mail or tweet @pressandtower.

By the way, if you think you been following me for several months now, make sure you still are following @pressandtower for media tweets. I run two Twitter feeds now, changing my old account to @JoelNatalie for all around professional and personal tweets, and creating a new @pressandtower just for the media stuff. Sorry about any confusion.

Embrace the chaos!

Erie mainstream media shines spotlight on pirate radio operator

Now that the FCC has identified Marshall Jones as operating a radio station without a license, he is telling his story to Erie’s mainstream media.

Last night on WJET/WFXP, John Treanor reported a package on Jones where they showed that he continues to operate the station with a computer, some microphones and a transmitter connected to a small mast at the top of a building in Erie’s Little Italy neighborhood. Despite the possiblity of major penalties, Treanor reports that Jones is determined to continue with 90.1 The Movement:

But Jones, a former Super Soul Saturday DJ, tells us he can’t stop – if he’s not on air, a whole genre would disappear in the city.

“The question always remained, why don’t we have this 24 hours a day, what do we have to do to do it and basically I went ahead and said let’s see what happens, you know what I mean,” says Jones…

…Jones is staying on air as long as he can before getting fined – his dream is to make the movement legal.

“I have to I have to go forward and see what it is that has to be done to make this happen,” Jones says.

This morning (Thursday), David Bruce continues his reporting on the pirate radio stations in the Times-News, complete with pictures of Jones’s operation. Bruce describes the chain of events leading to the sign-on:

A club disc jockey and former announcer at Gannon University’s WERG-FM, Jones said that he started broadcasting in October because there wasn’t enough urban music being played in Erie.
“Blacks, whites, Hispanics all had a major concern about the type of music played in Erie 24/7,” Jones said. “It was my mission to get this station up and running.”
Jones said that he started broadcasting at the low-frequency limits, then increased power.
“The response from people was so strong that I just turned it up,” Jones said. “Then someone ratted me out to the FCC.”
One problem was that Jones’ signal was intruding on the signals of other, licensed, radio stations, said A.J. Miceli, who oversees WERG as Gannon University’s chairman of theater, communications and fine arts.
What’s a little frightening to me is that the FCC doesn’t need any more incentive to fine these guys; once they find a unlicensed station and cite it, the breaking of Federal law has already occurred. If you happen to have  a kindly Enforcement Agent who will write you a warning first, it’s wise to take that as a blessing and not push the issue. We’ll keep watching this unfold.

FCC ID’s unlicensed radio operators

Two Notices of Unlicensed Operation were issued on February 2nd by David Viglione, Resident Agent of the Buffalo office of the FCC and are now posted on the Commission’s site. You read the text of the NOUO’s by clicking on each link:

The notices indicated that the operators had to cease operation immediately and that such violation of Federal law…

could subject the operator to severe penalties, including, but not limited to, substantial monetary fines, in rem arrest action against the offending radio equipment, and criminal sanctions including imprisonment.

All of the rationalizations and justifications tend to fade away in the clarity of the FCC seal and citing of United States Code.

Deep Background for January 31 – February 6, 2010

The FCC investigation and shut down of two pirate radio stations in the Erie city limits is proving to be a controversial topic on this blog.

For some readers (and of course the FCC), the situation is clear: you must have a license to operate a broadcast radio station. For others, it’s more complicated: these stations filled a community need that big corporate radio just neglects.

Let’s continue the conversation about radio, TV, newspaper and internet concerns in Erie and beyond on this open forum in a civil and constructive manner.

As always, in addition to your comments below, you can e-mail me or tweet @pressandtower.

Embrace the chaos.

FCC shuts down two Erie pirate FM’s

FCC Shield

Turns out that Erie pirates are easier to catch than the Somali kind.

An agent from the Federal Communications Commission’s field office in Buffalo came to Erie Wednesday, located and ordered the shut down of two pirate FM radio stations that were operating within the city limits.

According to a very reliable source who spoke with the agent while he was in town, the agent found a signal at 89.5 emanating from a retail business on lower Parade Street. My source said that the signal which played urban and hip-hop music had been broadcasting for more than a year on the frequency.

The other pirate broadcasted gospel music at 90.1 FM and was found in the Little Italy section of the city near Walnut Street.

The operators of both stations were given verbal warning to immediately cease transmission, with official Notices of Violation to follow. According to my source, no fine will be issued unless the operators fail to comply with the shut-down. If they were to resist the FCC, fines can amount up to $10,000 for illegal transmission of an unlicensed station.

Hats off the prudent P&T commenters for actually instigating the FCC visit to our fine city!

Poll: Who will survive until 2020?

P&T readers tend to have a love/hate relationship with radio stations that offer the all-Christmas formats during the holidays. In our poll, the same percentage said that they were more likely as said “less likely” to go to a “Holly, Jolly”-formatted station.

As I said yesterday, the “aughts” has been a tumultuous decade for media, even locally. Remember it was nearly  ten years ago when Myron Jones sold Jet-FM and Froggy to Next Media, ending local control. And then we truly became a one-newspaper-town in September 2000, as the long and painful process of merging the Morning News and Erie Daily Times came to fruition. Of course, P&T has covered extensively the merger of the WICU and WSEE newsrooms this past June.

Even with all that change, we have not seen a media outlet go dark since the Daily Times stopped landing on our stoop in the afternoon sun. Since World War II, that’s the only major media stream to stop cold: every licensed radio and television station continues to operate with FCC authority, and the Times Publishing  Co. still delivers seven days a week.

So my question to you is, will that be the case in the next ten years? Will we actually lose media streams, or will they morph to an online presence and dump their transmitters or presses? Honestly, the question makes me shiver, but it is worth the ask.

On a scale from 1 to 5, will the current traditional Erie media streams (newspaper, TV, radio) exist in ten years?

  • 2 - It's not likely (49%, 21 Votes)
  • 4 - I think so (19%, 8 Votes)
  • 1 - Not a chance (16%, 7 Votes)
  • 3 - I'm not sure (12%, 5 Votes)
  • 5 - Absolutely (4%, 2 Votes)

Total Voters: 43

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New FCC Chair Genachowski joins VP Biden in Erie Wednesday

Julius Genachowski, FCC Chair

YourErie.com and WSEE’s Jacqueline Policastro are reporting that the new FCC Chairman, Julius Genachowski, will join Vice President Joe Biden in Erie on Wednesday.

Biden, Genachowski, along with Cabinet members Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will reportedly appear at Seneca High School at 12 noon Wednesday, discussing a national rural broadband initiative that is part of the economic stimulus package.

Tickets to attend the event at Seneca will be available at the Seneca High School library beginning at 4 PM Tuesday on a first-come, first-serve basis.