Simon Geller was an American classical music station radio personality who ran a one-man radio station in Gloucester, Massachusetts

Gloucester, Massachusetts

Gloucester is a city on Cape Ann in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is part of Massachusetts' North Shore. The population was 28,789 at the 2010 U.S. Census...

.

Radio career

Geller was a radio engineer before starting his own station. The station, WVCA-FM ran thirteen hours a day, seven days a week and was operated out of Geller's apartment. He was known for his eccentric style, which included taking bathroom breaks during live broadcasts, or shutting down the station to run errands.

Legal battles over liicense

In 1982 the U.S. Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission

The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...

 (FCC) voted not to renew Geller's operating license because he did not meet requirements for broadcasting non-entertainment programming and ascertaining community needs. The license was awarded to the Grandbanke Corporation, which had been challenging Geller's license since 1974. In 1984 a Federal Court of Appeals ordered the FCC to reconsider its ruling, citing "serious First Amendment concerns" and concerns over the FCC departing "from its own precendents" in comparing competitors for the license. In 1985 Geller's license was renewed.

Later life

In 1988 Geller retired from radio, selling his station for $1 million. At that time he had 90,000 listeners. After retiring Geller moved to the Upper West Side of New York City, where health issues kept him essentially isolated in his home.

In 1990 a short film, Radio Fishtown, directed by Henry Ferrini

Henry Ferrini

Henry Ferrini is an American non-fiction filmmaker best known for his portraits of Jack Kerouac and Charles Olson.Ferrini attended Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, MA where he studied music...

, was made about Geller's life and career.