How big of a threat is a station like Granger's to his corporate counterparts in the Denver market? "We're not worried about low-power FMs at all, and I don't see those stations as a threat to our revenues," says Mike O'Connor, program director for KTCL-FM/93.3 and KRFX-FM/103.5. "I'm much more threatened by alternative media outlets on the Internet. Those are going to have impact on us, but the low-power FMs aren't going to matter to a hill of beans as far as I'm concerned."
For Granger, the fact that he's off the air is a heartbreaker for him and his staff of twenty-plus, but not for financial reasons. If anything, being shut down will save them all a few bucks, as each DJ paid for his or her own time on the air, depositing expense money in a cash box nailed to the side of the studio's two-by-four console desk. "You put your name on an envelope, you throw it in the box. Man, we were ready to go," says Granger, who pays his bills by waiting tables in a downtown brewpub. "It was our first week--everybody was so excited. And then the FCC said 'Thou shalt not broadcast.'"
Fiske and the Denver FCC office refuse to offer details on who or what led them to Granger's door a few weeks ago. Fiske says that stations are usually discovered through complaints from listeners or stations experiencing interference and that the FCC does not actively monitor the airwaves for pirates. He says many stations are discovered as a result of their own promotional efforts, such as Web sites and T-shirts that advertise a station's dial location or city of origin. Granger wonders if one of his former employers ratted him out, but those on his short list deny any hand in his closing. Fiske acknowledges that the power supply, transmitter and antenna the FCC took from Granger (which Granger values at around $500) will not be returned to him. The FCC has suggested, though, that since Granger cooperated with their request to cease transmission, his pirate status shouldn't keep him from being deemed fit to broadcast should he apply for a low-power license if the FCC approves such stations in the future. According to Fiske, the FCC's decision-making process could last well into next year. Considering that, even if the FCC decides in favor of low-power, when vilified pirates will be allowed to legally broadcast is anyone's guess. Until then, he points out, "enforcement will continue."
In the meantime, Capitol Underground's now-defunct request line (303-TALK-889) will serve as the Denver Low-Power Radio Coalition's conduit to Denverites interested in flooding the FCC with a pro-low message. Granger is left to ponder his future and that of Denver's listeners. "There's a part of me that wants to put something back into this city and into people's lives," he says earnestly. "If this service came around, I think it could be a rebirth of radio. This is real radio, run by real people who play real music, not the demographic, targeted stuff on the air now.
"If there's a town meeting or an important debate, who's gonna broadcast that?" Granger wonders. "Not KHOW, not KOA. We take a microphone, set it up and broadcast it. And maybe only two people are interested, but you still do it. That's how radio used to be, but now it's all about getting the most listeners that you can for the buck. It's about being Howard Stern and putting lesbians on and getting listeners. But people don't want the corporate crap that they're getting. Why not put some local information on there, some local news, some political voices, and let us hear some music that you don't get to hear? The Fugazis, the Sebadohs, and forget about Seven Mary Three and Limp Bizkit and bands you hear forty times a day? Why not give us a chance to put some community radio on?
