The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 (c. 41), shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act or "Marine offences Act", became law in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
at midnight on Monday 14 August 1967. It was subsequently amended by the
Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006
The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 (c 36) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act repealed the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949.
The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 had as its purpose to "consolidate enactments about wireless telegr ...
and the
Broadcasting Act 1990
The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...
. Its purpose was to extend the powers of the
Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949
Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the telecommunication, transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transmission med ...
(which was incorporated by this Act), beyond the territorial land area and
territorial waters
The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potent ...
of the UK to cover airspace and external bodies of water.
The Act represented the UK's ratification of the 1965 "European Agreement for the Prevention of Broadcasts Transmitted from Stations outside National Territories" (sometimes referred to as the "
Council of Europe Strasbourg Convention" or "Strasbourg Treaty").
At the time that the Bill was introduced in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
in 1966, there were radio stations and proposals for television stations outside British licensing jurisdiction with signals aimed at Britain. These stations were anchored at sea but there were press reports of stations broadcasting from aircraft – Caroline TV, and from a ship – Radex TV.
The Act extended to the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
and the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
(despite the protests of the Governments there). The Act meant that the operation of offshore,
pirate radio stations
Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license.
In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...
became illegal if they were operated or assisted by persons subject to UK law. It prohibited "carrying by water or air goods or persons to or from it" which made tendering illegal. Station operators thought they could continue if they were staffed, supplied and funded by non-British citizens, but this largely proved impractical.
Origins
In 1966, broadcasting in the UK was controlled by the British
General Post Office, which had granted exclusive radio broadcasting licences to the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
and television licences to the BBC and 16 regional
Independent Television companies.
The power of the GPO covered letters delivered by the
Royal Mail, newspapers, books and their printing presses, the encoding of messages on lines used to supply electricity; the electric telegraph, the electric telephone (which was originally deemed an electronic post office); the electric wireless telegraph and the electric wireless telephone which became known as "telephony" and later wireless broadcasting. In the 1920s the GPO had been circumvented by broadcasting from transmitters in countries close to British listeners.
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
terminated these broadcasts except for
Radio Luxembourg
Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg).
The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
.
Broadcasting pressure groups
In the 1950s a pressure group campaigned with the help of
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
to pass the
Television Act 1954
The Television Act 1954 was a British law which permitted the creation of the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom, ITV.
Until the early 1950s, the only television service in Britain was operated as a monopoly by the Briti ...
that broke the BBC television monopoly by creating
ITV. Some members wanted commercial competition to radio but were thwarted by a succession of governments.
By the 1960s several companies formed in the hope that radio licences would be issued. Radio monopolies in adjoining nations had been broken by transmitters on ships in international waters. The first attempt to broadcast offshore to Britain was by
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
, an English-language station from the same ship as
Radio Veronica
Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales ...
broadcasting in Dutch to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. CNBC ended transmissions but press reports followed that GBLN, ''The Voice of Slough'', would transmit from a ship with sponsored programming already booked and advertised by
Herbert W. Armstrong
Herbert W. Armstrong (July 31, 1892 – January 16, 1986) was an American evangelist who founded the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). An early pioneer of radio and television evangelism, Armstrong preached what he claimed was the comprehensive ...
. GBLN was followed by reports that GBOK was attempting to get on the air from another ship, both ships to be anchored off south-east England. Many in these early ventures were known to each other.
Some of the commercial television group members had registered broadcasting companies and were working to create offshore radio. The first venture was "Project Atlanta" in 1963, which had ties to British political leaders, bankers, the music industry and to
Gordon McLendon
Gordon Barton McLendon (June 8, 1921 – September 14, 1986Texas State Historical AssociationMcClendon, Gordon Barton/ref>) was a radio broadcaster. Nicknamed "the Maverick of Radio", McLendon is widely credited for perfecting, during the 1950s ...
, who had helped
Radio Nord
Radio Nord was a Swedish offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 8 March 1961 to 30 June 1962 from a ship anchored in international waters of the Baltic Sea off Stockholm, Sweden. While the station was dubbed as a pirate radio sta ...
broadcast from a ship off Sweden. When that was put off the air by Swedish law it became available to British entrepreneurs. Before
Radio Atlanta Radio Atlanta was an offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 12 May 1964 to 2 July 1964 from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England. The radio broadcasting vessel was owned, at that ...
got on the air,
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly ...
began broadcasting in March 1964.
Texas connections to British stations led
Don Pierson
Donald Grey Pierson (October 11, 1925 – March 30, 1996) was a businessman and civic leader in Eastland, Texas. He founded the United Kingdom, British UK pirate radio, pirate stations Wonderful Radio London, Swinging Radio England and Brit ...
of
Eastland, Texas
Eastland is a city in Eastland County, Texas, United States. Its population was 3,960 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Eastland County.
History
During the 1920s, Eastland, like nearby Cisco, Ranger, and Desdemona, was a petroleum boo ...
to promote three American-radio format stations off Britain:
Wonderful Radio London
Radio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 (in London's case, the " Fab 40") offshore commercial station that operated from 23 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, off Frinto ...
or Big L,
Swinging Radio England
Swinging Radio England ("SRE") was a top 40 offshore commercial station billed as the "''World's Most Powerful''" that operated from 3 May 1966 to 13 November 1966 from a ship in the North Sea, four and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, En ...
and Britain Radio. By 1966 other stations had come on the air transmitting to
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, northern and southern England, or were in the process of doing so. Press reports included rumours of offshore television stations and the brief success of the Dutch
REM Island
REM Island is a platform built in the Republic of Ireland and towed off the Dutch coast in 1964 as the pirate broadcasting home of ''Radio and TV Noordzee''. Both stations were dismantled by the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was 10 km off Noordwi ...
operation called Radio and TV Noordzee heightened the fear of the authorities that de facto unregulated broadcasting was becoming so entrenched due to its popularity that it would not be possible to stop it.
Existing laws
Although these stations maintained sales and management offices in Britain, the transmitters were not under British law. In many instances, the ships were registered in other countries.
Claims of piracy
Parliamentary debates listed several reasons why unlicensed broadcasting should be stopped. Opponents referred to "pirate radio stations". Allegations of piracy included misappropriation of World War II military installations; wavelengths allocated to others and the unauthorised playing of recorded music. Other claims said the vessels were a danger to shipping and that signals could interfere with aircraft and police, fire and ambulance services.
Timing
In 1966, a dispute among offshore radio operators brought the issue of unlicensed radio stations to the fore.
Reginald Calvert
Pearce Reginald Hartley CalvertNational Probate Calendar, 1966 (1928 – 21 June 1966) was an English artist manager, born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England.
He was the manager of The Fortunes, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, Screaming Lo ...
, operator of
Radio City, had refused to pay
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly ...
's operator
Oliver Smedley
Major William Oliver Smedley (19 February 1911 – 16 November 1989) was an English businessman involved in classical liberal politics and pirate radio.''The Times'' (18 November 1989), p. 12.
Early life
Smedley was born in Godstone, Surrey, on ...
for a substandard transmitter. Smedley hired some riggers to occupy the Radio City facility (on
Shivering Sands, a disused offshore defence fort), and in an altercation at Smedley's house, Smedley killed Calvert. This incident strengthened the position of the Labour government of
Harold Wilson, who wanted to bring the pirate stations under control, enough to see the passage of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act on 15 August 1967.
Results
The offshore stations fell into four groups:
*Local operators of small stations such as Radio Essex and Radio City who conducted their businesses with limited budgets primarily from disused forts on offshore sandbars, plus the similarly based larger operation, Radio 390. The UK silenced these stations by bringing the sandbars within UK waters.
* Regional operators such as Radio 270 and Radio Scotland who lacked the resources to relocate to other countries and staff their operations with non-British personnel.
* The ship based stations of
Wonderful Radio London
Radio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 (in London's case, the " Fab 40") offshore commercial station that operated from 23 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, off Frinto ...
,
Swinging Radio England and Britain Radio. While Wonderful Radio London made money, the others had lost so they closed ahead of the law to save further expense. Radio London continued broadcasting until its last transmission on the eve of the new law.
* The Radio Caroline ships announced they would move to Holland, with an advertising office in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. The reality was felt in early 1968 when two tugs representing the company supplying the ships with food, fuel, water, and spares towed the vessels away to satisfy debts.
Continuing challenges
Although challenges began with
Radio North Sea International
Radio North Sea International (RNI; ; ) was a European offshore radio station run by the Swiss firm Mebo Telecommunications, jointly owned by Swiss engineer Edwin Bollier and his business partner, Erwin Meister.. The company, registered in Switz ...
in 1970, the British governments (both Labour, then Conservative)
jammed it until it moved to a position off the Netherlands. There was no Dutch equivalent of the Act until 1974; upon its introduction, RNI closed.
Radio Caroline returned through the 1970s using the , a vessel that sank in 1980, then returned with a new ship, the , in 1983, primarily conducted with volunteer help. For much of this period Caroline's ships also hosted Dutch-language stations whose revenue, along with that of American evangelical broadcasts, kept the station on the air.
In 1984 Caroline was joined by
Laser 558
Laser 558 was an offshore pirate radio station launched in May 1984 using disc jockeys from the US. It broadcast from the Panama-registered ship MV Communicator in international waters in the North Sea. Within months the station had a large audi ...
another station with American backing, and while the latter gained a huge audience, the legislation plus a sea embargo monitoring supplies out to its ship, MV ''Communicator'', drove its operators into insolvency as well as putting additional pressure on Caroline. An attempt to revive Laser under new management only lasted a few months from 1986 to 1987. The arrival of Laser had increased knowledge of Caroline's presence, and its closure plus a change in Caroline's music policy resulted in an increase in their younger audience.
Further amendments to the act had resulted in Radio Caroline having to move its operations into wilder water, and the
Great Storm of 1987 damaged their antenna tower, which collapsed a few weeks later. A smaller antenna system was built but was less efficient. The Dutch and British governments then raided the Radio Caroline ship and removed much of its equipment, but again it limped back onto the air until late 1990 when, with its funding running low, the final amendment to the act, instigating a 200-mile limit, came into effect. Attempts to secure more funding proved futile, and thereafter it pursued legal means of broadcasting.
Apparent conclusion of unlicensed British offshore radio
The end of the offshore
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly ...
came when the
Broadcasting Act 1990
The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...
, which built on all similar and related legislation, together with a storm that caused its staff temporarily to abandon the ship, caused the station to come ashore in 1991, where enthusiasts continue to build a broadcasting business using the new licensing system available to British broadcasters.
Similar legislation in other countries
Denmark 1962, Belgium 1962, Ireland 1968,
France 1969, Netherlands 1974
See also
*
Wireless Telegraphy Act
Wireless Telegraphy Act is (with its variations) a stock short title used for legislation in the Republic of Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom relating to wireless telegraphy.
The Wireless Telegraphy Acts are laws regulating radio commu ...
* ''
The Boat That Rocked
''The Boat That Rocked'' (titled ''Pirate Radio'' in North America) is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis about pirate radio in the United Kingdom during the 1960s. The film has an ensemble cast consisting of P ...
''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marine, andc., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1967
Telecommunications in the United Kingdom
Radio in the United Kingdom
Offshore radio
Pirate radio
Media legislation
1967 in radio
History of mass media in the United Kingdom