Washington Beat

RBR Talking Ad


Florida buccaneer fails to buck FCC fine

Octavio Sarmiento is the latest FM pirate to walk the FCC's plank. He was caught in the act of broadcasting on 107.5 mHz out of Naples FL, and interfering with Clear Channel's (N:CCU) WCKT-FM, which beams on 107.1 mHz out of nearby Lehigh Acres. On 4/19/02, FCC field agents tracked the transmission of the station, which was calling itself WTEN "Tropical Estereo."

Sarmiento was found running the station along with several others. He was told to cease immediately.

The next day, the agents were able to tune in the pirate WTEN 107.5 again, and track it to the same point of origin. By 6/5, the FCC had hit Sarmiento with a $10K fine.

He fought the assessment, producing 25 affidavits from people who said they tuned in 107.5 on 4/20 and didn't hear any radio stations at all.

Not good enough, said the FCC, noting that none of Sarmiento's witnesses noted when they tuned in, nor did they say how long they were listening to the frequency. The fine sticks.

RBR Observation:

We'd guess that people would not spend a lot of time with the 107.5 mHz frequency if there was nothing on it but static. It's hard enough to attract listeners with actual programming. It's especially difficult to get people to tune into nothing.

Have a news story you'd like to share? [email protected]

Advertise with RBR | Contact RBR
© 2002 Radio Business Report. All rights reserved.