In recent years Pirate Cat Radio (PCR), a 14-year-old underground radio station in the Bay Area, has transformed itself from a bedroom project for disaffected punks and undiscovered artists to a full-fledged community radio station with a multilingual staff of volunteers.
But in August 2009 PCR was threatened with a fine of $10,000 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for "extra-legal broadcasts.” Monkey, the main spokesperson for PCR, has argued that PCR performs an essential public service by providing a voice to many marginalized communities in San Francisco — a service barely touched by corporate radio conglomerates — and that the FCC is shirking its duty to support “the larger and more effective use of radio in the public interest.”
Despite this recent history of conflict with the FCC, on May 8th Pirate Cat Radio will take advantage of an opportunity to "go legit" with the offer of a fully legal license for a station in Pescadero, CA (KPDO, 89.3FM). PCR has made the unusual move of leaping at the chance to create a community radio station network that will be protected by the FCC rather than pursued by it.
Pirate Cat Radio will continue to have a studio in San Francisco that will broadcast over the internet, and KPDO will broadcast a mixture of its own and PCR content (in the form of volunteers' weekly news/talk/comedy/music shows) from a separate studio in Pescadero.
As confusing as this complicated arrangement might seem, it makes possible the continuing development of two community radio stations, both now sanctioned by the FCC. This development marks an experiment in community radio that could very well influence the future of underground broadcast in the U.S. by highlighting a path to making radio airwaves accessible to the public on a powerful grassroots level.
More information about Pirate Cat Radio and KPDO is available at http://www.piratecatradio.com.
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