Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 FM, a pirate radio station celebrating 16 years of unlicensed broadcasting, was recently shutdown by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The commercial-free, community station continues to air on the internet 24/7 at freakradio.org while programmers search for a new home to host the transmitter and antennae.

On August 12th, agents from the San Francisco office of the FCC hand-delivered papers to the house which Free Radio Santa Cruz had been broadcasting from for the last year. The FCC “notice of unlicensed radio operation” stated in part; “A valid FCC radio station license for your radio transmission on 101.1 mhz was not in evidence at the time of attempted inspection…” The owner of the house chose to comply with the FCC notice and local broadcasting was stopped.

Free Radio Santa Cruz is a collective of forty programmers who produce music, news and cultural shows. The station also broadcasts independently produced national and international shows like Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News. It's a completely volunteer station and donations are always needed to pay rent and maintain equipment. Read more