FCC Gets Complaints On Pirates In NYC and Cincy

There's a new pirate radio station 87.9 FM on Cincinnati's west side airing vulgar language in the rap music which residents calling the FCC.

No one knows who is operating the pirate radio station but it can be heard in West Price Hill, North Fairmount and Westwood.

Tuesday night, June 30, and Wednesday afternoon, July 1, rap music from the group The Geto Boys played continuously. "If it was going down like that I didn't give a F#@k." one of the lyrics blared Wednesday.

Resident Pete Witte told Local12-TV someone hijacked the frequency a couple of months ago and it's been playing rap music with illicit lyrics. Witte said it’s not the rap that bothers him – it’s the vulgar language in the lyrics. Witte has filed a complaint with the FCC.

Dave Schram is the operations manager at non-com WMKV 89.3 FM.  He said hijacking a frequency is not difficult to do. "Not many people realize you can go on the Internet and buy an exciter and an antennae and the cabling to go with it. You do not need an FCC license to do this," Schram said.

The Geto Boys played Cincinnati over the holoiday.  Local12 News contacted the FCC for a comment. The agency declined.

Last month, 33 members of Congress asked FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler crack down on pirate radio stations in the New York area.

The legislators complained of 34 pirates "operating on rooftops in Brooklyn and The Bronz area. Plus, another and 15 in Newarck, NJ.

 "The number of pirate FM radio stations throughout New York City could well outnumber the number of licensed operations," the letter stated.