Free Radio Santa Cruz (FRSC) is an unlicensed

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

, United States. Founded by activists Skidmarkbob Bob, Phil Free and Dennis Davey. The station has been on the air since Spring, 1995; its broadcast content is a mix of daily news, music, and cultural programs, produced both locally and nationally. Because FRSC does not have a license from the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

(FCC), the station is in open violation of US federal regulations. Free Radio Santa Cruz allows individuals in the community to have their own shows, and encourages participation through donations, membership in the broadcasting collective, and calling in live during shows. On September 29, 2004, the station was raided by agents of the FCC, backed by federal marshals armed with assault rifles. No arrests were made, but the agents shut down the station and physically seized nearly all of the equipment, including the transmitter, computers, mixing boards, microphones, headphones, CD players, and CDs. The equipment was never returned. However, with a strong showing of community support, the station was

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

online again within 48 hours and transmitting at 101.1 FM less than a month after the raid. FRSC continues to stream and broadcast 24 hours a day. As of October 2011, the station is broadcasting on 101.3 MHz.

List of Current Programming

Democracy Now ''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...

Hour of Slack ''The Hour of Slack'' is a one-hour radio program produced by the Church of the SubGenius centering on the King of Slack, J. R. "Bob" Dobbs. Reverend Ivan Stang presents his own commentary, along with recorded material from all SubGenius radio ...

Lava Lamps & 8-Track Theatre The Mind's Ear Music in the Mail R Duck Show Lost at Sea The Gist of Justynn Tyme

References

KCBA Fox 35 coverage from 1995Santa Cruz IMC coverage of FCC raidDemocracy Now! coverage of FCC raidLA Times - Tiny Pirate Radio Station Shut DownGood Timees article - station back on the airCity on the Hill - 15 years on the air

18 year celebration with Henry KaiserGood Times article 21 years broadcasting

External links

* {{Santa Cruz, California Pirate radio stations in the United States Radio stations in California Radio stations established in 1995 Santa Cruz, California