Some of these "pirates" see themselves as freedom fighters and prefer to be called "free broadcasters". They often offer programming that is ignored by conventional broadcasters for several reasons. For example, there are pirate stations dedicated to just heavy metal because the commercial radio broadcasters decide such music isn't in the interest of their advertisers.
The FCC will begin an investigation into a "pirate station" if somebody complains. Often the complainer would be a commercial station saying that the signal is causing interference. A lot of the time the complaints are made because the stations are worried listeners will tune into pirate stations instead. In the case of the Howard Stern show, it gets more interesting because the show is filled with swear words and it is also a pay service.
What would happen if pirates all over the U.S. began rebroadcasting more shows from satellite radio for free?
Source:
Mercury News