Monday, December 12, 2016

NYC Radio: Pirate Signal Hacking WQXR-FM

South Brooklyn listeners of the Big Apple’s only classical radio station are livid that a pirate broadcast of a man preaching the Torah often drowns out their Tchaikovsky.

Irked fans have lodged several complaints to WQXR 105.9 FM, which recently reported the pirate broadcasts to the Federal Communications Commission.

“It’s my favorite radio station and I can’t even listen to it anymore. It’s gotten so bad,” said Kensington resident Patrick Russell, 65.

About a month ago, “I was reading and trying to unwind listening to WQXR when suddenly I started to hear this crackling and a weird voice,” Russell recalled. “I was like what the hell is this? Then I turned the dial and boom!”

WQXR 105.9 FM (610 Watts)
The illegal airwave — located very close to the classical station’s frequency, at 105.7 FM — features religious tunes, but is mostly a man “yelling and lecturing about the Torah” in English and Hebrew, Russell said.

The FCC confirmed that “there is no licensed operation on that frequency in New York City,” said spokeswoman Margo Davenport.

The illicit station hijacks the frequency from about 6 p.m. until 8 a.m.

WQXR said there have been “several complaints” about 105.7 “bleeding into” their station,” according to spokeswoman Jennifer Houlihan Roussel. The identity of the rogue broadcaster remains unknown.

Pirate stations are a big problem in the city (especially in Brooklyn) with about 100 operating illegally throughout all five boroughs — up 58 percent this year compared to last, according to New York State Broadcaster’s Association president David Donovan.

No comments:

Post a Comment