UK pirate radio (unlicensed illegal broadcasting) was popular in the 1960s and experienced another surge of interest in the 1980s.[1] There are currently an estimated 150 pirate radio stations in the UK. A large proportion of these pirate radio stations operate in London, with significant clusters in Harlesden, Stoke Newington, Southwark and Lambeth.[2]
"Pirate radio" in the UK first became widespread in the early 1960s when a number of pop music stations, such as Radio Caroline and Radio London started to broadcast on Medium Wave to the UK from offshore ships or disused sea forts. At the time these stations were not illegal because they were broadcasting from international waters. The stations were set up by entrepreneurs and music enthusiasts to meet the growing demand for pop and rock music, which was not catered for by the legal BBC Radio services.[3]
The first British pirate radio station was Radio Caroline which broadcasted from a ship off the Essex coast since 1964. By 1968 21 pirate radio stations were broadcasting to an estimated daily audience of 10 to 15 million. The format of this wave of pirate radio was influenced by Radio Luxembourg and American radio stations. Many followed a top 40 format with casual DJs, making UK pirate radio the antithesis of BBC radio at the time.[4]
According to Andrew Crisell UK pirate radio broke the BBC's virtual monopoly of radio at to meet demand that had been neglected. In reaction to the popularity of pirate radio BBC radio was restructured in 1967, establishing BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3 and Radio 4. A number of DJs of the newly created pop music service BBC Radio 1 came from pirate stations. The UK Government also closed the international waters loophole via the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act of 1967.[5][6]
The 1967 Marine Broadcasting Offences Act officially outlawed pirate stations, but pirate radio continued, moving from ships and sea based platforms to urban areas in the 1970s.[7] The 1970s and 1980s saw a wave of landbased pirate radio, broadcasting mostly in big cities. These included community-focused local stations such as Sunshine Radio in Shropshire and Radio Jackie in south west London. In London pirate stations emerged that, for the first time in UK radio broadcasting, focused on particular music genres such as Kiss FM (dance), Solar Radio (Soul) and Alice's Restaurant Radio (rock).[8]
In the 1980s the growth of pirate radio was so rapid that at one point pirate radio operators outnumbered legal broadcasters. Pirate radio met with increasing opposition, especially from the BBC which claimed that pirate radio caused interference on legal services and could interfere with frequencies used by emergency services. Nonetheless pirate stations such as Radio Invicta, JFM, and London Weekend Radio continued to gain popularity and increasingly operated openly.[9] Pirate radio targeted music communities ignored by mainstream broadcasting, such as reggae, hip hop, jazz, rhythm and blues. Stations like London Greek Radio, which broadcast to the Greek and Greek Cypriot community, also catered to ethnic minorities.[10]
The Broadcasting Act 1990 led to the decline of UK pirate radio by encouraging diversity in radio and opening up the development of commercial radio. Many pirate radio stations such as the London based dance music station Kiss FM applied for licences to the new Radio Authority and went legitimate. However, the number of unlicensed broadcasts has since increased, partly because many non-licensed broadcasters believed that the 1990 Act had actually undermined community based stations and small scale radio entrepreneurs.[11]
Of the pirate radio stations that gained a license in the 1990s, such as Kiss FM, FTP in Bristol, WNK Radio in Haringey and KFM in Stockport, only a few, such as Sunrise Radio in London, remained in the hands of the original owners. Most have become significantly more mainstream and target a broad audience as a result of commercial pressures to achieve greater audience numbers and a particular audience type sought by advertisers.[12]
The second summer of love had led to pirate broadcasters playing acid house as an extension of the dance floor and announcing raves in a cat and mouse game with police, the Radio Authority and ravers. In the late 1980s and early 1990s many pirate stations often were in then niche genres such as hip-hop, acid house, techno and indie rock.
There are currently an estimated 150 pirate radio stations in the UK. A large proportion of these pirate radio stations operate in London, with significant clusters in Harlesden, Stoke Newington, Southwark and Lambeth.[13] Set-up costs for pirate radio stations are minimal with a transmitter costing around £350. Pirate radio stations may receive income from advertising and publicising events at nightclubs. DJs may pay to broadcast on pirate radio stations to gain public exposure.[14]
In November 2006 Ofcom commissioned research among residents of the London boroughs of Hackney, Haringey and Lambeth, finding that about 24 percent of all adults aged 14 or older living within the three London boroughs listen to pirate radio stations. The research found that 37 percent of students aged 14-24 and 41 percent of the African-Caribbean community listened to pirate radio. The development and promotion of grass-roots talent, the urban music scene and minority community groups were identified as key driver for pirate radio. According to the research both pirate radio listeners and those running pirate radio stations thought that licensed broadcasters failed to cater sufficiently for the needs of the public at large. Pirate radio was regarded as the best place to hear new music and particularly urban music. Furthermore pirate radio stations were appreciated for the local relevance by providing information and advertisement about local community events, businesses and club nights.[15]
Today operators of non-licensed broadcasting face high fines and prison sentences.[16]
The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 provides for Ofcom to issue licences to radio broadcasters for the use of stations and wireless telegraphy apparatus. The Act sets out a number of criminal offences relating to wireless telegraphy, including the establishment or use of a wireless telegraphy station or apparatus for the purpose of making a unlicensed broadcast. The financing or participating in the day to day running of unlicensed broadcasting is also a criminal offence, as is the supplying of a sound recording for an unlicensed station and advertising through unlicensed stations.[17] The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 gives Ofcom allows [[Ofcom to take a number of action against individuals committing these offences, including power of entry, search and seizure of equipment. It is a criminal offence to obstruct a person exercising enforcement powers on Ofcom's behalf.[18] Furthermore the Broadcasting Act 1990 provides that anyone convicted of an unlawful broadcasting offence is disqualified from holding a broadcasting licence for five years.[19]
Licensed broadcasters may take legal action may be taken against pirate radio stations and in 2000 the Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA) for the first time initiated legal action against a pirate station. The CRCA sued the weekend dance music pirate station Scene FM for £50,000 for causing interference to transmissions and a reduction in advertising revenues.[20]
The 2009 movie The Boat That Rocked is about UK pirate radio. Loosely based on Radio Caroline.
On the album The Who Sell Out by The Who, their music tracks are separated by PAMS jingles from the period of 1964 to 1967 when they were used by Wonderful Radio London.
Peter Townshend remarked in the Melody Maker: "You don't realize how good something like the pirates are until they're gone, so to give our album that ethereal flavour of a pirate radio station we incorporated some groovy jingles. And so The Who sell out." John Entwistle later stated a different opinion in the NME: "Do you remember that dreadful thing The Who Sell Out? I never wanted to do that. It was done mainly for America. What a load of rubbish!"
The Goodies ran a pirate radio station in the episode "Radio Goodies".
This is a partial list of stations either in the UK or in nearby offshore waters. Some of these have been shut down while others have become legal.
Liverpool had a vibrant pirate scene in the early 1980s and this also spread across the Mersey to Birkenhead. Although there were many stations, frequently unimportant and transient, the scene itself was long-established and revolved around two key broadcasters: Rick Dane of Radio Jackie North and Bert Williams who was associated with Merseyland Alternative Radio, Radio Merseywaves and The Rhonda Jukebox to name but a few. These two formed the twin nuclei around which many other DJs, engineers, profiteering wide-boys and other colourful characters came and went.