Unlike criminals, radio stations do not have a right to remain silent. The FCC maintains a list of officially Silent radio stations. The editor is now able to let you quickly confirm if the station has an official permission slip from the FCC.
Clicking the link takes you here:
A few things worth knowing:
– the list is only updated once a month
– the station must have been silent for at least 60 days when the report was updated
– after 180 days, the station must ask for an extension – if they don’t, they fall off the list as they don’t have permission to be silent
– if a station tells the FCC they resumed broadcasting for 30 seconds, they fall off the silent list and get another year of silence. This resumption is based on the honor system.
– after a year of silence, the license may be cancelled by the FCC, but until formal action is complete, the station falls off the list