Although there were (and are) many
pirate radio stations in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, Network 21 in 1986–1987 was one of the few pirate television stations to operate in
Britain. Despite only broadcasting for half an hour on a Friday nights in a part of the
UHF
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...
waveband near the frequency occupied by ITV in the London area, it showcased what was happening in the then vibrant
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
arts scene at that time. Among others, artists like
Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was a singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmissions arti ...
of
Psychic TV appeared in programmes documenting their work.
Vision
While the UK television industry was dominated by three companies (
BBC #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 ...
,
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
franchise holders,
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
), Network 21 was an attempt to break the triopoly of the UK broadcasting industry. In an article in ''
Broadcast Magazine
''Broadcast'' is a monthly magazine for the United Kingdom television and radio industry, owned by Media Business Insight.
History
''Broadcast'' was started in 1973 by Rod Allen, who went on to work at LWT, HTV and HarperCollinsInteractive. ...
'', Network 21's aim was to "See a similar approach to TV as has been afforded to radio, for the BBC and ITV to release their monopoly on frequencies and make some available to the community", in the manner of
low-power TV in the US. A press report by the ''
London Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
'' even claimed that the station had 100,000 viewers and that although it was very much in keeping with the post-punk
DIY ethic, it was "definitely professional". The DIY element was that programming was shot on 8mm camcorders and transmitted on a domestic
VCR
A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...
connected to a UHF transmitter, but it was staffed by freelance journalists and artists.
There was also a
pirate radio spin-off, which broadcast from 8 PM Friday night to early Saturday morning. The radio station generally played music from independent labels and artists (e.g.
Coldcut appeared on the show) and discussion programmes.
While it received press attention, it was rarely raided. However, one raid occurred shy of its first birthday. Although Network 21 only lasted a few months, it had a small but significant impact.
Popular culture
An advertisement for Network 21 was one of several notable paid advertisements included between the tracks and in the liner notes for the debut album ''
Flaunt It'' (1986) by
British band
Sigue Sigue Sputnik
Sigue Sigue Sputnik were a British new wave band formed in 1982 by former Generation X bassist Tony James. The band have had three UK top-40 hit singles, including "Love Missile F1-11" and " 21st Century Boy".
The band's music, image and insp ...
.
See also
*
Pirate television
A pirate television station is a broadcast television station that operates without a broadcast license. Like its counterpart pirate radio, the term pirate TV lacks a specific universal interpretation. It implies a form of broadcasting that is u ...
*
Pirate radio
References
External links
Network 21 Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Network 21 (Television Station)
Pirate television stations
Pirate radio stations in the United Kingdom
Arts in London