Radio Listeners’ Ears Singed By Saboteur Foulmouth Tapping Kzzu Signal In Coeur D’Alene, Valley Areas

Listeners of KZZU got an earful Tuesday when a crude pirate raided the airways to sling insults at the radio station and its fans.

The saboteur first broke into the Spokane radio station’s frequency Monday evening and returned intermittently Tuesday to the consternation of listeners and radio managers.

“They’re saying a lot of bad things,” said KZZU operations manager Brian Paul. “They’re saying things that the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) won’t allow us to say on the air.”

Station managers don’t know who’s doing it or exactly how. Listeners in the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane Valley areas have heard the pirate, but no one at KZZU’s Spokane offices has.

That leads Paul to believe that the pirate is based in the Post Falls area.

“It’s someone who knows what they’re doing to get that kind of power and cut into our signal on purpose,” Paul said.

KZZU, which is broadcast on the 92.2 FM frequency, has not acknowledged the problem on the air for fear it might only encourage the airways marauder.

“A couple of people who called are upset, thinking we’re doing it,” said Mike Ellis, KZZU promotions and marketing director. “We’d be absolutely insane to use that kind of language on a radio station.”

KZZU is a Top 40, contemporary hit radio station that considers itself a source of entertainment and information for families.

The station filed a complaint Tuesday with the FCC in Seattle. FCC electronics engineer Don Roberson said the complaint would be investigated.

Pirate broadcasters aren’t too difficult to track down, he said. Once caught, the culprit could face an administrative fine of $10,000 a day for violating the Communications Act of 1934, or $75,000 for continuing violations.

If the piracy was done knowingly, the FCC can file criminal charges that could result in a $10,000 fine or one year in jail. , DataTimes MEMO: Cut in Spokane edition