according to FT

Pirate radio given chance to get on right side of the law BROADCASTING LICENCES

Pirate radio stations … are talking to regulators about becoming legitimate under the country’s first scheme for permanent community radio licences. Next week is the deadline for them to get on the right side of the law.

As authorities continue their crackdown … the new community radio licence scheme has proved tempting to those hoping to avoid fines and a threat of imprisonment.

Among several pirate stations to have approached Ofcom, the media regulator, about applying for a community radio licence, is Station FM. Known to some as the “grand-daddy of all pirates”, Station FM has continued broadcasting in London for years in spite of being fined tens of thousands of pounds.

DJ Keithley, its founder, says: “Pirate is a bad word. It’s a community radio station; we are about serving the community.” The station has featured programmes where the local black community calls in to talk about the issues that affect them, such as crime. Like many other pirates, it also claims to broadcast music that mainstream stations ignore.

…Keithley and other pirates wishing to turn legal under the scheme will have to overcome several hurdles.

Ofcom is expecting about 50 community licences to be made available throughout the country and applications for uncontested places, such as rural areas, will be given priority over those in congested areas.

There is also the Ofcom restriction that stations be not-for-profit: a maximum of 50 per cent of funding for community stations can come from advertising.

The government has allocated a funding pot of Pounds 500,000 for all community radio broadcasters for this year and next, which Ofcom will administer. That will not support many stations: the typical cost … is between £100,000 and £200,000 a year. Other funding could come from sources such as regional government, local charities and businesses, the lottery and off-air commercial activities such as club nights.

Pirate station operators who fail to secure a licence can expect no sympathy if they continue to broadcast, warns the regulator.

Besides radio interference, the regulator accuses some pirates of making money by promoting raves pushed by drug dealers. Although Ofcom says that it cannot prove this association, it says that police have found drugs, as well as guns, in raids on some stations

Paul, a youth worker who says he previously ran a pirate station, Creative Expression, to provide black youths with an outlet for their DJ talents, argues that this is not representative. He says raves will often have an in-house drug dealer, whether or not they are associated with pirate radio.

What can be more dangerous on the pirate scene, according to Paul, is fighting between the stations themselves. He says that one DJ who was tampering with another station’s equipment was killed last year. “In an unregulated world, people will enforce their own regulations,” Paul adds.

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i’d be concerned that once i was licensed I’d have to start paying tax on my ‘salary’ and when funding from the “regional government, local charities and businesses, the lottery” was not forthcoming* the DTI would know exactly who was involved and where to come knocking.

I know that my local community radio is funded out of one man’s pocket and through volunteers making it happen, from putting up the mast… H&S was non-existent on the roof top, to the host running decks amps etc on their domestic power supply, to DJ’s spinning, it broadcasts every night.

We are broadcasting on FM and their is no interference with emergency services or commercial stations. So why would we want to change whatisn’t broken?

perhaps I’m just being cynical… 😉 let’s have some a dat guvmunt munny :p