Copyright 1999 The Washington Post
The Washington
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February 09, 1999, Tuesday, Final Edition
SECTION: STYLE; Pg. C02; THE RADIO LISTENER
LENGTH: 1227 words
HEADLINE:
Power to the Pirates?; FCC May License Low-Wattage Operations
BYLINE: Frank Ahrens, Washington Post Staff Writer
BODY:
Adrian Kohn is a Georgetown
University junior who runs his college radio station and says: "I have no desire
to get into politics. Our purpose is to get people into new music."
Until recently, he knew nothing of radio pirates -- the rogue
broadcasters who illegally operate low-wattage FM stations, using them for
topics unheard on commercial radio, such as espousing fringe politics or
addressing community health needs. All Kohn knew was that he wanted to get his
station's signal -- which is now carried by cable to campus dorms only -- into
the surrounding community.
Last month, the Federal Communications
Commission announced that it would, for the first time, consider licensing
low-power FM stations. If the FCC approves the measure, both
the innocuous Georgetown station and radical pirate radio could benefit.
The radio dial is crowded with stations and precious few slots remain in
most markets. To buy an FCC-licensed frequency on the FM dial, a station must
broadcast at least 6,000 watts of power, making it too expensive for all but the
wealthiest to afford. (The WWDC AM and FM stations, for example, sold for $ 72
million last year. DC-101 pumps out 50,000 watts.)
So an underground has
sprung up, with electronics nerds and activists cobbling together tiny radio
stations that illegally broadcast low-power, unlicensed FM signals out of
garages and vans. Radio Mutiny, one such pirate station in Philadelphia, was
shut down by the FCC last June.
Diane Imelda Fleming, who hosted a safe
sex show on Radio Mutiny as the "Condom Lady," says she's happy the FCC is
considering low-power licensing but urges pirate broadcasters to keep the heat
on the feds.
FCC Chairman William Kennard "has the power to change
history majorly and I hope he takes the opportunity," she says.
The FCC
and the National Association of Broadcasters, which represents licensed
broadcasters, both oppose the unlicensed pirates, saying their signals interfere
with those of legitimate stations and may disrupt air traffic control signals.
But the two bodies split on low-power FM. The NAB remains
skeptical, even if low-power broadcasters are licensed and regulated. But
Kennard is an advocate for low-power FM, seeing it as a way to
do legally what the pirates have been doing illegally -- getting a greater
variety of voices on the air and serving community needs. Over the past year,
the FCC has received more than 13,000 inquiries from individuals and groups
interested in starting their own stations. The FCC is soliciting opinions on
low-power FM from potential broadcasters and other interested
parties through April 12. The agency will ascertain whether these stations, if
regulated and assigned frequencies, will interfere with nearby stations and
airplanes.
But pirates may have a tougher time than people like Kohn
making their case for a low-power license.
"If someone had a pirate
station and, once it was brought to our attention, we contacted them and they
shut down, they're more likely to get a license," he says. If a pirate station
continued broadcasting in defiance of the FCC, as many do, "we wouldn't have the
confidence they would operate as a responsible [licensed] broadcaster," Kennard
says. It's too early to say when the first low-power license may be issued, he
notes. Low-power AM is not being considered because "it's easier to shoehorn"
stations into the FM band, Kennard says.
The FCC is considering three
classes of low-power FM: 1,000 watt, 100 watt and 1-10 watts.
Kohn would like Georgetown's WGTB -- which broadcasts out of a CD- and
record-filled hutch in the campus's Leavey Center -- to apply for a 100-watt
license, which could give it a broadcast radius of about 3 miles, according to
the FCC.
That way, he says, WGTB could broadcast music, Georgetown
athletics and community affairs -- such as Advisory Neighborhood Council news --
to the surrounding Georgetown, Burleith and Glover Park neighborhoods. The
station's music format -- with a free-form playlist and featuring 100 volunteer
deejays -- would likely not change. "If you want to play, I don't know, French
house music, you can have a show," Kohn says. One Georgetown official says it's
very possible that the university will apply for a low-power license for the
station.
Through the '60s and '70s, WGTB broadcast over the air at 90.1
FM. But the station's lefty political broadcasts ruffled the school's Jesuit
administrators, who sold the station's license to the University of the District
of Columbia for $ 1 in 1979.
Even though it broadcasts only on-campus
now, WGTB sells some advertising. Kohn has pitched the low-power idea to
Georgetown officials partly by telling them it will help community relations but
also by letting them know they can make more advertising money as an
over-the-air station.
Kohn, a 20-year-old English major who was inspired
to get into radio by Howard Stern and Don Imus, knows WGTB may not get a
low-power license by the time he graduates. But anything's progress. Only two
years ago, he says, WGTB "didn't even have a room."
Sound Bites
This week marks the scheduled debut of Zero24-7 Web Radio, an
Internet-only station run by two WHFS (99.1) weekend deejays and funded by Zero
Population Growth, an environmental advocacy group.
The
alternative-progressive playlist runs the gamut from "Stereolab to Sinatra, from
Bauhaus to Bell and Sebastian," says Mark Daley, 32, a native of Belfast and a
BBC veteran. Daley, WHFS's weekend afternoon host ("The Alien"), is Zero24-7's
program director. Jonathan "Weasel" Gilbert, 49, one of the founding fathers of
WHFS and host of a Sunday morning alternative oldies show there, is the
operation's music director. The Internet station is aimed at "radio refugees"
who are tired of repetitive playlists on commercial radio, says Zero24-7's Web
site. The station will do one live six-hour show per day, which will be repeated
three times throughout the rest of the day. The Internet station is not
affiliated with WHFS.
Zero24-7 features daily shows hosted by Daley and
Gilbert and talk shows from other stations. Though it is being advertised as
noncommercial, it will be a platform for Zero Population Growth's environmental
and political ideology, though Daley promises it won't be "shoved down your
throat." The station's Web site: www.zero24-7.org
More housecleaning at
DC-101: Tony "Mad Dog" Colter, the midday man on WWDC-FM, was fired two weeks
ago. Chancellor Media, which bought the station a year ago, continues to replace
old personalities with new ones, such as Jon Ballard, who was hired in November
to host the afternoon drive slot. Colter, whose nickname derives from his
disheveled, early-'80s look, hopes to return to the air in the area. "Every dog
has his day," he says. But there will be no more "diggin' the Dog and DC-101."
Listen to This
"A Small Southern Town: The Nation's Capital in
Slave Times," a two-part documentary, airs from 8 to 9 p.m. on Feb. 17 and 18 on
WAMU (88.5). The first night features readings of first-person accounts of an
1848 attempted slave escape in Washington. The second show focuses on the
memoirs of Josiah Henson, the model for title character of Harriet Beecher
Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Adrian Kohn runs Georgetown's WGTB, which could
benefit from new FCC rules.
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LOAD-DATE: February 09, 1999