They are now fondly remembered for helping kickstart the swinging Sixties and revolutionising the airwaves forever. But the fear that the arrival of offshore pirate radio stations drove into the broadcasting establishment has only now become clear. Previously unseen documents from the BBC archives disclose how the corporation was so alarmed at the rise of the stations that it launched a secret “dirty tricks” campaign to have them shut down.
Related story:
on Feb 22nd, 2009 at 14:47
Another proof that pubcasters are to much involved getting rid of their rivals then producing fine programmes for their audience.
Also the attitude that they are the only party that can make decent programmes is shocking, but so well known.
In Holland it is all the same, however with less success and Radio Veronica holding out for 14 years in a row.
In my final paper for the University of Amsterdam I stated that the policy of the pubcasters was set by the “Northsea”.
Hilversum 3 was the result of getting Veronica out of the way, In television suddenly more entertainment appeared when the TROS was part of the broadcasting system. The TROS originated from the pirate TV Noordzee (REM) and basicly only aired entertainment. To avoid the TROS from becoming to popular the pubcasters included more enetrtainment, called “Vertrossing”
Now the pubcaster is is still very concerned about the ratings, and tries to get more audience then the commercial stations. Content is not the first priority anymore, since a long time.
on Feb 22nd, 2009 at 15:32
Ruud, it might work out well in the Netherlands, but in Germany the lack of creativity among commercial broadcasters is stunning. Most of them combine a rotation of about 50 to 100 tracks with some bad jokes and unfortunately some pubcasters start mimicking them …
on Feb 22nd, 2009 at 17:27
Well If a short playlists is appreciated by the audience , what is wrong with it.
I don’t like such stations, but it is not about you and me.
As long as the pubcaster does it better, with a longer playlkist, even so better.
But does the pubcasater in Germany not take al the good frequencies away, and leaving the commercials with the left overs. Is there level playing field in distribution and sales?
on Feb 23rd, 2009 at 14:26
Here in the Uk we have only ONE national FM service for commercial broadcasting, It is in the Ofcom remit to not let them play pop music. The BBC has all the prime national frequencies issued by the government many years ago.
on Feb 23rd, 2009 at 18:02
I suspect the article has been written by someone who isn’t old enough to remember. ”
“Radio Caroline, the most popular of the pirates”
As far as I know, Radio London was the most popular.
“They are now fondly remembered for helping kickstart the swinging Sixties ( citation needed ) and revolutionising the airwaves forever ( Nonsense ! )”
The airwaves haven’t been revolutionised. As David says ( above ), we only have one national commercial station on FM. The fact is that the BBC won in the end and it is incredulous that we still haven’t got as much choice on the radio as we had over forty years ago.
Thank goodness for the internet so that I can listen to Dutch radio, which, unlike England, has built on the success of the pirates.
on Feb 23rd, 2009 at 19:26
Caroline South’s audience did slump dramatically when Radio London opened but picked up somewhat when Tom Lodge was made programme director. Caroline North always had a very large audience.
on Feb 24th, 2009 at 12:39
Caroline North + South had a larger audience then London.
And David, it is a shame that in your country only one natiuonal FM network is available for commercial radio, and pre-formatted to classical music as well.
As for radio my feeling is that at least 10 more channels can be allocated for commercial radio if an ifficiency operation is carried through. UK has little common borders, only r Northern Ireland and Channel Islands might need international coordination .
IN Holland we have, next to 4 pub channels on FM, 9 national stations and a bunch of regional/local commercial stations on FM. Some of them are preformatted, varying from Classical to news and Alternative. Here the Government (pubcasters) used a financial intrument and a very unfair auction to set the stations at high costs. To high for most of them, Arrow is the first to come down.
on Feb 24th, 2009 at 17:16
“Caroline North + South had a larger audience then London”
Ruud, much though I normally agree with you, this really won’t do. Caroline North and Caroline South were two different radio stations. One may as well say that Radio London + Radio 270 had more listeners.
Furthermore, Radio Caroline North was the only station broadcasting to the North West of England. For those with standard transistor radios, they hadn’t got much choice; had it not been for the advent of the Marine etc. Broadcasting Offences bill, Radio London would have set up Radio Manchester.
I lived here in those days and Radio London was looked upon as the big one. It was also the one that Radio One tried to copy ( with no success, in my view ) .
on Feb 24th, 2009 at 17:42
So, when the BBC says “we have so so much listeners on all our stations” they are doing something wrong. That’s what you are saying.
Maybe Radio 1 was a copy of BigL, the Caroline name for a long time had much more appeal then the London/BigL name.
But who cares?
on Feb 24th, 2009 at 18:55
ruud #3, I do not know what goes on behind the scenes, but my impression as a consumer is that commercial broadcasters in Germany have no problem getting FM frequencies. Most commercial broadcasters are regional, but then most pubcasters are regional as well. It is just the way our federal system works.
on Feb 24th, 2009 at 19:21
’But who cares?’
Here’s the answer, Ruud :
Your mate, Ray Anderson, and Chris and Mary Payne ( radiolondon.co.uk ) and the thousands of readers of Dutchman Hans Knot’s monthly report and the numerous other fans of Radio London who are still around, from famous names like Tom Mulder ( a.k.a. Klaas Vaak ) to the common people who still think that Big L was better than anything we have today.
Try typing ’Wonderful Radio London’ into a search engine and you will see what I mean. What has made Caroline famous is the fact that it has kept bouncing back and still exists today.
As for the rest, I think we are in the same situation that we were in at the beginning of 1964. Surely there was no great clamour for the pirates to begin broadcasting, but once they did, people realised how deficient radio had been before. I feel that if a government were to allow national commercial radio on the scale of the Netherlands and with the necessary freedoms too, it would be popular after the event but that is not a vote winner. There lies the problem for England. How do we get the politicians to be bothered ?
on Feb 25th, 2009 at 14:35
I agree that there is still a feeling that the pirates did something special and that the spirit behind it should live on. As you might know I have been working with Ray to get a BigL on air. I am also working on such a station in Holland, cooperating with ex- Veronica people. There is not much cooperation from the Government, for such niche sttaions the high prices for FM and AM are against us.
on Mar 1st, 2009 at 08:17
Hello Folks,
Taken from personal memory, the real corner stone of breaking the BBC’s monopoly on sound broadcasting within the UK was the effort of Radio Northsea International with its additional hardware to broadcast on shortwave’s 6210 khz frequency and on FM. The latter being a bonus for listeners on the Essex coast!
Radio Northsea International had a programme content of very professional presenters. DJs included the late Carl Mitchell and the late Spangles Muldoon, Andy Archer and Duncan Johnson, amongst others. The length and breadth of the sound track play list on Radio Northsea International would put modern commercial radio stations to shame.
Although never intended by the British government and for a short time, Radio Northsea International enjoyed a somewhat plucky image when her medium wave outlet was jammed by the General Post Office. This intentional interference only boosted the popularity of RNI and seemed not to put off potential advertisers at the station. -It was reported that RNI made a modest operating profit.
The shortwave service was appreciated in my area of south west Scotland, especially in the day time, courtesy of Radio Northsea’s world service output in the English language.
I am not talking down Radio Caroline. Even today, one hour listening to Radio Caroline will give the listener a far wider musical repertoire than any other local or national commercial popular music radio station in the UK.
It seems that Radio Northsea International’s early 1970s efforts have been forgotten!
Kind Regards..Willie Bone in Scotland
on Mar 1st, 2009 at 12:41
Radio North Sea Int’l wasn’t well heard only in the Nordic Seas; I remember the Sw fq around 9900 kHz here in Northern Italy with a very good signal that summer of 1970, and the following one with the only Dutch language programme. Reception was fine despite a small single SW band receiver I used.