Recently a radio station called “Radio Free Ohio” got some attention. It operated in the Akron/Canton area and once had a web site that generally bitched about the suckiness of corporate radio. Most importantly, the station allegedly interfered with the broadcasts of a Clear Channel station in the area.
Sounded intriguing, until an amateur sleuth discovered that the station’s online home tracks back to Clear Channel. Now CC has backtracked, nearly wiping the site and a related message board clean. Lest we forget that Jacor Communications, which was assimilated by CC in 1999, was founded in Ohio and now HQ’s just over the river in Kentucky.
This would not be the first time a commercial station’s gone with a pirate motif; it’s also not the first time corporations have engaged in pirate broadcasting, either. What’s really intriguing is whether or not Clear Channel peeps in Ohio deliberately interfered with their other station(s) as part of a stunt. The FCC has never been keen on malicious interference, regardless of who owns the stations involved. Personally I’m leaning toward the clever-production theory: mimicking interference isn’t that hard given the capabilities of audio editors today.
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