Acerome Jean Charles has been operating his Haitian format radio station, called Radio Concorde, for two decades from the City of Mattapan. Mattapan is less than 10 miles down the road from Boston. On Thursday, the FCC proposed a fine of $151,000 against Charles, the maximum allowed under the current laws.
Charles is supposed to be a low-power FM but, according to the FCC, he’s consistently jacked up his power and caused interference with licensed Boston-area radio stations.
Back in 2018, WGBH reporter Tori Bedford visited the station. She reported that the station has been broadcasting since 1993. When Bedford called to say she was coming to visit the station, whoever answered the phone said he didn’t know what she was talking about. When she showed up to the non-descript building, the place was empty. One of the hosts told her they had taken the station off the air because they were worried Bedford was from the FCC.
Charles has been warned before by the FCC. The FCC says it recently received a complaint from a Boston-area licensed broadcaster alleging that Radio Concorde’s broadcasting on 106.3 was interfering with the broadcaster’s new FM translator station at 106.1. FCC Enforcement Bureau field agents repeatedly warned Charles to end his operation. instructing him to cease unauthorized broadcasts, and outlining the consequences if he continued to do so.
LPFM’s are permitted to operate at 100 watts. Radio Concorde, according to evidence collected by FCC field agents, broadcast at a much higher power, which would required an FCC license. The station was broadcasting at 106.3-FM.
