Offshore radio is

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

broadcasting from ships or fixed maritime structures. Offshore broadcasters are usually unlicensed but transmissions are legal in

international waters The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed region ...

. This is in contrast to unlicensed broadcasting on land or within a nation's

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 potenti ...

, which is usually unlawful.

History

The claimed first wireless broadcast of music and speech for the purpose of entertainment was transmitted from a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

craft, HMS ''Andromeda'', in 1907. The broadcast was organized by a Lieutenant Quentin Crauford using the callsign QFP while the ship was anchored off Chatham in the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. However, the majority of offshore broadcasters have been unlicensed stations using seaborne broadcasting as a means to circumvent national broadcasting regulations, for example the practice has been used by broadcasting organizations like the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

as a means of circumventing national broadcasting regulations of other nations. Unlicensed offshore commercial stations have operated off the coasts of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, 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 ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

, Sweden, 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 ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. By the late 1920s, the " UK government concluded that radio was such a powerful means of mass communication that it would have to be in state control", and gave the publicly funded BBC a monopoly on broadcasting. Because of rigid governmental controls and programming mostly consisting of serious music and highbrow issues, much of the UK population began to turn to radio stations from abroad, such as Radio Lyon, Radio Normandy, Radio Athlone, Radio Mediterranee and

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 ...

, especially on Sundays, when the BBC did not carry any entertainment programmes. However, English-speaking broadcast hours were limited and parts of the UK were unable to receive most stations properly during the daytime. The earliest attempt to establish an offshore broadcaster in England occurred in 1928, when

Associated Newspapers DMG Media (stylised in lowercase) is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at Northcliffe House in ...

(owners of the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'') acquired the yacht Ceto and installed radio equipment. Unfortunately, the apparatus could not operate properly on board, the signal being heavily affected by the climate conditions. The transmitter was then replaced by Siemens loudspeakers and the Ceto toured England "broadcasting" gramophone records interspersed by advertising. Unauthorized offshore broadcasting stations operating from ships or fixed platforms in the coastal waters of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

first appeared in 1958. There were as many as eleven such stations in the mid-1960s. Ross Revenge 1984

One of the most popular offshore radio broadcasts in Europe came from Radio Caroline, which developed out both of the strict broadcasting regulations in England in the 1960s as well as the fact the major labels had left little to no airtime to less established acts.Robert Chapman, ''Selling the Sixties: The Pirates and Pop Music Radio'' London: :Routledge, 1992 The Radio Caroline name was used to broadcast from international waters, using five different ships of three different owners, from 1964 to 1990. Radio Caroline was the brainchild of Ronan O'Rahilly, who dreamed up a way to air music by "unestablished" rock and roll artists Other well-known stations of the period were Radio Atlanta, Radio London, Radio 270 (broadcasting of the coast of

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parish in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, it is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishin ...

, Yorkshire)

Radio 390 Radio 390 (1965–1967) was a pirate radio station on Red Sands Fort, (near Whitstable), a former Maunsell Fort on the Red Sands sandbar. Previously the fort had been used by Radio Invicta (c June 1964 – February 1965) and KING Radio (March � ...

, Radio Scotland, Radio Northsea International and Radio City. Most offshore broadcast is usually associated with European unlicensed radio stations; the trend never caught on as much in the

as most organizations that could afford an offshore broadcasting boat would instead buy a legal station. Still, there were a few American offshore stations that made a lasting impression. The first station to broadcast in the U.S. from international waters was RXKR off of the coast of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. and broadcast from May 1933 until August 1933. It was operated from a cargo carrier named the S.S. City of Panama, a ship that was actually supposed to be advertising tourism in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

to Americans from

. The operators of the ship actually broadcast popular music and advertisements, fooling the Panamanian government and eventually being shut down at the request of the U.S. Department of State.

Suppression

Unlicensed ''Radio and TV Noordzee'' since August 1964 used REM island offshore platform for broadcasting aimed at the

. On December 12, 1964, a law, which split the North Sea into continental sections was passed in the Netherlands. The sea bed under REM Island, to which the structure was attached, was declared Dutch territory. Five days later,

Dutch Marines The Netherlands Marine Corps ( nl, Korps Mariniers) is the elite naval infantry corps of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The marines trace their origins back to the establishment of the on 10 December 1665, by the then grand pensionary of the Dut ...

boarded the platform and ended the broadcasting. The Council of Europe in 1965 passed the "European Agreement for the Prevention of Broadcasts transmitted from Stations outside National Territories" to address this loophole, although some member states were slow to implement this in national law. Radio broadcasts from ships that are unauthorized under the laws of the recipient may cause radio frequencies to be unusable. This can be potentially detrimental to certain emergency and security services. The 1965 agreement was an attempt to resolve this by treaty.''Oppenheim's International Law (Vol.I) (9th Edition) - Peace, 9th edition'' edited by Jennings, Sir Robert; Watts, Sir Arthur (19th June 2008), Part 2, Ch.6, Radio Communication and the High Seas. In 1967, the UK Government enacted the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967, outlawing advertising on or supplying an unlicensed offshore radio station from the UK. Several other European countries passed similar legislation.

List of offshore stations

;Aimed at British listener
#
* Radio Caroline *

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 a ...

* Radio London * Radio City (previously Radio Sutch) * Swinging Radio England * Britain Radio * Radio Scotland *

(Previously Radio Invicta, KING radio) *

Radio 355 Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

* Radio 270 * Radio Atlanta *

Tower Radio A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifica ...

Radio Seagull Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tra ...

* Radio Essex (later BBMS) *

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 sh ...

Commercial Neutral Broadcasting Company ;Netherlands and Belgiu
#
* Radio Northsea International -also targeted British and (occasionally) German listeners * Radio and TV Noordzee *

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 sale ...

* Radio Monique * Radio Atlantis * Radio Mi Amigo Internationaal *

Radio Delmare Radio Delmare was a project by enthusiasts in 1977 to restore a Dutch radio ship, about three years after Veronica and Radio North Sea International, RNI went off air. In May 1977 they bought MV "Aegir" and made it ready. Preemptive raid The f ...

* Capital Radio * Radio 819 *

Radio Antwerpen Radio is the technology of signaling and telecommunication, communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device ...

aka Radio Uilenspiegel *

Radio Paradijs Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

* Radio Dolfijn * Radio 227 ;Scandinavi
#
: *

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 ...

(Sweden) * Radio Syd (Sweden) * Radio Mercur (Denmark and Sweden) * Danmarks Commercielle Radio Denmark ;United State
#
: * RXKR 1933 * Radio Free America 1973 *

Radio Newyork International Radio Newyork International was the name of a pirate radio station which broadcast from a ship anchored in international waters off Jones Beach, New York, United States in 1987 and 1988. The history of Radio Newyork International (RNI) is lin ...

1987-88 ;New Zealan
#
*

Radio Hauraki Radio Hauraki is a New Zealand rock music station that started in 1966. It was the first private commercial radio station of the modern broadcasting era in New Zealand and operated illegally until 1970 to break the monopoly held by the state-ow ...

;Middle Eas
#
*

Voice of Peace Voice of Peace ( he, קול השלום, ''Kol HaShalom'') was an offshore radio station that broadcast in the Middle East for 20 years from the former Dutch cargo vessel ''MV Peace'' (formally ''MV Cito''), anchored off the Israeli coast ...

(Israel) *

Arutz Sheva ''Arutz Sheva'' ( he, ערוץ 7, lit=''Channel 7''), also known in English as ''Israel National News'', is an Israeli media network identifying with religious Zionism. It offers online news articles in Hebrew, English, and Russian as well a ...

(Israel) * Odelia TV (Israel) * Radio One (Israel) *

Radio Hof Radio is the technology of signaling and telecommunication, communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device ...

(Israel) *

Radio Gal Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...

(Israel) *

Radio Dan Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

(Israel) * Galei Hayam Hatichon (Israel) * Arutz 2000 (Israel) ;Other
#
*

(United States Coast Guard Cutter Courier, moored off

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

, Greece) * SPLAJBC/LBJ Libyan State Radio *

Radio Brod Radio Brod ( sr-Cyrl, Радио Брод) is a Bosnian local public radio station, broadcasting from Brod, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The program is mainly produced in Serbian from 7 am to 6 pm. The estimated number of potential listeners of ''Ra ...

Former Yugoslavia *

World Mission Radio 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 ...

British offshore radio: timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:125 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1964 till:31/03/1968 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:onair value:blue id:t value:white ScaleMajor = increment:1 start:1964 BarData = bar:Caroline text:"Radio Caroline" bar:Atlanta text:"Radio Atlanta" bar:Sutch text:"Radio Sutch" bar:CarolineNorth text:"Radio Caroline North" bar:Invicta text:"Radio Invicta" bar:City text:"Radio City" bar:London text:"Radio London" bar:King text:"King Radio" bar:390 text:"Radio 390" bar:Tower text:"Tower Radio" bar:Essex text:"Radio Essex" bar:Scotland text:"Radio Scotland" bar:England text:"Swinging Radio England" bar:270 text:"Radio 270" bar:Britain text:"Britain Radio" bar:BBMS text:"BBMS" bar:355 text:"Radio 355" bar:227 text:"Radio 227" PlotData= width:11 bar:Caroline from: 28/03/1964 till: 02/03/1968 color:onair at:28/03/1964 shift:(0,-5) text:"Caroline" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:Atlanta from: 12/05/1964 till: 02/07/1964 color:onair at:12/05/1964 shift:(0,-5) text:"Atlanta" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:Sutch from: 27/05/1964 till: 22/09/1964 color:onair at:27/05/1964 shift:(0,-5) text:"Sutch" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:CarolineNorth from: 02/07/1964 till: 03/03/1968 color:onair at:02/07/1964 shift:(0,-5) text:"Caroline North" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:Invicta from: 17/07/1964 till: 11/02/1965 color:onair at:17/07/1964 shift:(0,-5) text:"Invicta" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:City from: 23/09/1964 till: 08/02/1967 color:onair at:23/09/1964 shift:(0,-5) text:"City" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:London from: 23/12/1964 till: 14/08/1967 color:onair at:23/12/1964 shift:(0,-5) text:"London" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:King from: 24/03/1965 till: 22/09/1965 color:onair at:24/03/1965 shift:(0,-5) text:"King" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:390 from: 25/09/1965 till: 28/07/1967 color:onair at:25/09/1965 shift:(0,-5) text:"390" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:Tower from: 22/10/1965 till: 30/04/1966 color:onair at:22/10/1965 shift:(0,-5) text:"Tower" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:Essex from: 27/10/1965 till: 06/10/1966 color:onair at:27/10/1965 shift:(0,-5) text:"Essex" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:Scotland from: 31/12/1965 till: 14/08/1967 color:onair at:31/12/1965 shift:(0,-5) text:"Scotland" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:England from: 03/05/1966 till: 04/11/1966 color:onair at:03/05/1966 shift:(0,-5) text:"England" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:270 from: 09/06/1966 till: 14/08/1967 color:onair at:09/06/1966 shift:(0,-5) text:"270" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:Britain from: 16/06/1966 till: 22/02/1967 color:onair at:16/06/1966 shift:(0,-5) text:"Britain" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:BBMS from: 06/10/1966 till: 25/12/1966 color:onair at:06/10/1966 shift:(0,-5) text:"BBMS" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:355 from: 15/03/1967 till: 06/08/1967 color:onair at:15/03/1967 shift:(0,-5) text:"355" textcolor:t PlotData= width:11 bar:227 from: 15/03/1967 till: 23/07/1967 color:onair at:15/03/1967 shift:(0,-5) text:"227" textcolor:t

References

External links

All about Offshore Radio
- website dedicated to the offshore stations. (Dead link - Try http://offshoreradio.co.uk)

(Attempts to provide a comprehensive list of all ships and offshore structures used for broadcasting)
Offshore Music Radio
- website dedicated the music and radio presenters of the offshore stations.
Radio London
- site dedicated to UK offshore radio, especially Radio London. {{Offshore radio Pirate radio International law

History

Suppression

List of offshore stations

British offshore radio: timeline

See also

References

External links