What is a radio legal ID?

What is a radio legal ID?

The Legal ID lets the audience know which broadcast station they’re tuned into. Although your station’s jingles play into and out of every stop set or between each song, the public has a right to know the information that more accurately identifies the station.

Are there illegal radio stations?

Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially when the signals cross a national boundary.

Is radio broadcasting illegal?

So, as you may or may not know, broadcasting a radio signal on AM and FM bands over a distance of 200 feet is illegal. But there are cities in the US, like Miami and New York City, where unlicensed radio stations are broadcasting to large neighborhoods or even entire sections of a city in an underground community.

Why are pirate radios illegal?

The operation of an unlicensed radio station, sometimes called ‘pirate radio,’ is illegal. Illegal broadcasters use equipment which may cause interference and have the potential to disrupt the communications of critical services like air traffic control.

How do radio station names work?

All radio stations have a four-letter identification code. The letters ‘N’ and ‘A’ were given to military stations, but ‘K’ and ‘W’ were assigned out for commercial use. Radio stations east of the Mississippi River had to start their stations with ‘W’, and stations west of the Mississippi with ‘K’.

Why do radio stations play same songs?

Why do radio stations play the same handful of songs over and over? Playing the same, popular songs simply attracts listeners. The radio stations need songs of which they know the general majority will enjoy, or at least like.

Is pirate radio based on a true story?

Richard Curtis, director of the new film Pirate Radio, which is based on these events, was an 8-year-old boy confined to a posh boarding school when he first heard the broadcasts. While he wasn’t allowed to listen to music during the day, he remembers hiding a radio under his covers at night .

Why do radio stations have letters?

Originally Answered: Why do radio stations have call letters? Call letters give each station a unique identifier that also tells you the country it’s in. This is a convention established long before Google and the web. Your call letters were your identity.

What is the legal ID of a radio station?

Simply put, the legal ID is a station’s legal call letters, followed by the city the station is licensed to. The only things permissible between the calls and the COL are the licensee’s name, the frequency and the channel number. If a station is simulcast, you have to give the frequency in each station’s ID.

How often should you run a legal ID during a broadcast?

Here is the breakdown: A legal identification must be run once per hour of broadcasting. The traditional rule, is that the ID must be run as close to the top of the hour as possible in a natural break in the programming. The FCC has, in recent years, become much more liberal enforcing strict adherence to this requirement.

What are the rules and regulations for broadcast radio?

Everything broadcast at your station must adhere to three sets of rules: With so many inexperienced broadcasters, any community radio station theoretically sits on a precipice of legal action. The most important laws covering broadcast radio are those addressing libel, contempt of court and political impartiality at election times.

When are broadcast station identification announcements required to be made?

(a) When regularly required. Broadcast station identification announcements shall be made: (2) Hourly, as close to the hour as feasible, at a natural break in program offerings. Television and Class A television broadcast stations may make these announcements visually or aurally. (b) Content.