Rob Day never made it to the airwaves to the best of my knowledge and that was that. The only broadcast staff on board were Tom Lodge and Jerry Leighton. The station had some success but stopped broadcasting due to lack of funding. [6] The generator was left running but the pumps could not manage and the vessel sank 10 minutes later. On 20 January 1966, the MV Mi Amigo lost its anchor in a storm, drifted and ran aground on the beach at Frinton-on-Sea. The station re-started for a second time in August 1983 from new ship the MV Ross Revenge. Radio Caroline was founded by Irish businessman Ronan O'Rahilly and George Drummond. The Dutch offshore station Radio Veronica was on 1562 kHz and Radio Atlanta broadcast on 1493 kHz. Radio Caroline was begun by Irish musician manager and businessman Ronan O'Rahilly, after he failed to obtain airplay on Radio Luxembourg for Georgie Fame's records because the station was committed to sponsored programmes promoting major record labels: EMI, Decca, Pye and Philips. Gradually Caroline is fighting its way back and I'm sure that once advertising is coming in, there will be no need for listener donations. In the 1960's, to attract advertisers, Radio Caroline and Radio London always reported rather high listening figures. I live in Wigan, just west of Manchester. At the same time, Allan Crawford's Project Atlanta was equipping the MV Mi Amigo at Greenore, where the two competed to be the first on air. On 1 January 2016, a second channel was launched called Caroline Flashback, playing pop music from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. I must say the people on the station got my sympathy very quickly. Island FM (58% of people in their area tune in every week) Channel 103 FM (55%) Moray Firth Radio (46%) Radio Borders (43%) Yorkshire Coast Radio (42%) 3FM (38%) Wessex FM (38%) Northsound 1 (38%) IOW Radio (35%) Tay FM (35%) The supermarket chain Asda and English Heritage were among the backers. It is jointly owned by the BBC and the Radiocentre on behalf of the commercial sector. I just hated the intrusive way deejays tried to influence my taste on the other radio stations. Encouraged by Scandinavian and Dutch radio pirates, in February 1964 O'Rahilly obtained the 702-ton former Danish passenger ferry Fredericia, launched in Frederikshavn in 1929,[5] which was converted into a radio ship at the Irish port of Greenore, owned by O'Rahilly's father. Most of Radio Caroline's pop music programmes were targeted at housewives, and some later programming was aimed at children. In December 1976, Radio Mi Amigo moved to 1562kHz on the 50kW transmitter, leaving Caroline on 1187kHz 24 hours a day on the 10kW. We . Some DJs were embarrassed but some were fascinated by the challenge of an abstract concept. I vividly remember the days leading up to the first broadcast from the Ross, the test tones, the usually incorrect! The only singer to stay overnight, she helped present programmes, make jingles, and close the station at night.[15]. This memory has never left me and I can remember it made us all late for school, though as my mother was also my teacher at primary school, it didn't matter so much for me! Caroline returned on 9 March 1977 on 953kHz, actually 315 metres but announced as 319. "It was just so special and so different and worth fighting . Some of these 28-day Restricted Service Licence (RSL) broadcasts took place from the Ross Revenge during the 1990s, with the ship anchored off Clacton, in London's Canary Wharf, Southend Pier and off the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Broadcasting Hours: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 12 midnight to 2a.m. On 1 October 1989, Radio Caroline restarted broadcasting from the Ross Revenge using makeshift equipment and low power, to retain the 558kHz frequency. I remember wandering around that show house with my tranny on my arm. American Cancer Society 2022-2024. . O'Rahilly had initially competed with another pirate station broadcasting from the MV Mi Amigo. It's Source of your ultimate Entertainment. Every time I succeeded in getting a good signal during the evening, I knew I again would have a very good evening. MV Caroline sailed from Felixstowe to the Isle of Man, broadcasting as she went. Some DJs from the USA and Commonwealth countries, such as Graham Webb, Emperor Rosko and Keith Hampshire were also heard. On 28 December, unpaid crew cut the Mi Amigo's generator fuel line and departed. US Stocks Snap Two Days of Losses; Yields Rise: Markets Wrap. Daytime programming was leased to a community radio service called Puketapu Radio on 756kHz.[75]. Radio Caroline South = 10kW (later 50 kW). Radio Caroline was off the air for most of the 1990s, except for occasional low-power broadcasts of one month. Smedley later withdrew from the deal. Radio Caroline 4+ Patrick Mounteney 4.6 10 Ratings Free iPhone Screenshots Listen live to the world famous Radio Caroline on your iOS device. BBC Radio 6 Music celebrates its 20th birthday with record listening figures. MV Ross Revenge weathered the storm in the North Sea. It was founded in 1964. However, the ship sank in a storm in March 1980 after losing its anchor. The two stations experimented with different frequencies. Important information on how the survey works and who and what we measure. Obviously, we hope to be back with you as soon as possible, but just for the moment we would like to say goodbye. There are very few restrictions placed on Caroline's licence, allowing them to broadcast virtually what they like within the law. In March 1968, the very existence of Radio Caroline was threatened when both the MV Caroline and Mi Amigo were boarded and seized before being towed to Amsterdam by a salvage company to secure unpaid bills owed to a Dutch firm. The project not unexpectedly hit the quay side, but it would have been interesting should the plan have come to fruition. 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. RAJAR figures for Q3 2022, 27 June - 18 September 2022. Radio Caroline lobbied against the Labour Party, for the Conservative Party and for the introduction of licensed commercial radio in the United Kingdom. BBC Radio 2 to air special show for Tony Blackburn's 80th birthday. 17:31 GMT 28 Sep 2021 ", Andries Peterson from the Netherlands also has his memories of the station: "I had heard from Radio Caroline before the station started its transmissions off the Dutch coast, late 1973. Presentations were made to US advertising agencies. In addition, we have used some data from our BBC and Commercial Stakeholders from their own independent case studies during lockdown and these are sourced accordingly. Nowadays, Radio Caroline has to resort to other sources. The Mi Amigo's 160-foot (49m) mast remained erect for six years. Never miss a show by setting an alarm for when it is about to start, or if you do - listen to it later using our 'Listen Again . In the 1960's, to attract advertisers, Radio Caroline and Radio London always reported rather high listening figures. Radio Caroline South's 259 metres signal was now near those of Radio London on 266m (1133kHz) and the BBC's Light Programme on 247m (1214kHz). In November 1985, the competing offshore station, Laser 558, closed after electrical problems and Caroline moved from 576kHz to Laser's 558kHz frequency, with a Top 40 music format similar to Laser's under the name Caroline 558. (Gordon): For the moment from all of us, goodbye and God bless. [citation needed], In Spain, a station broadcast during the summer 2009 on 102.7MHz in the Costa Blanca from studios in Benidorm. [6] The Cheeta II was equipped for FM broadcasting, so it was fitted with the 10kW transmitter from the Mi Amigo, feeding a makeshift antenna. ", Also Philip Coleman was selected to be a part of this chapter: "I do not think my Caroline memories deserve to be mentioned in the Caroline's special, but there are two which may be of interest to you: First, on September 30, 1972, I was a student with a part-time job. In December 2010, Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch presented an Early Day Motion to the House of Commons calling for Ofcom to allow Radio Caroline to broadcast as a licensed medium wave station to its "traditional heartland of the south east". I think so. [8] On a fund-raising trip to the U.S., O'Rahilly reportedly saw a Life magazine photograph of Kennedy and his children in the Oval Office that served as the inspiration for the name "Caroline Radio". My parents' house in Holyhead, North Wales, looked out over Newry Beach and we often saw various ships stopping off just behind the breakwater to pick up the pilot for their onward journey Blue Funnel line vessels in particular. Caroline really got more and more attention after August 31, 1974, when the other offshore stations off the Dutch coast had to stop their transmissions, while Radio Caroline survived to please its listeners. Now I don't know Peter Moore personally, so cannot comment on the type of person he is, but I do know that he has done a lot for Caroline over the past few years and I'm sure without him it would still be nowhere to be heard. From December 1984 the Ross Revenge broadcast Radio Monique, recorded and live Dutch-language programmes of a Dutch music radio production company using the 50kW transmitter during daytime. [6] During summer 1973, it broadcast separate stations in English and Dutch simultaneously, on 389 m/773kHz and 252 m (announced as 259)/1187kHz. Nice to think about Dixie Peach, too. I remember Caroline North with great affection. I wonder if any of the people who criticise have even tried setting up or running a radio station on land, let alone from twelve miles out to sea with the law heavily biased against them. DJs could choose ordering of oldies all current pop hits in strict rotation. Rough weather sometimes prevented tapes from arriving and old programmes had to be repeated. Offshore radio stations were no exception to this rule. They included Blackburn, who became the first to broadcast on Radio 1. This was replaced by a twin-mast T-antenna. The station tried to obtain a licence from a developing country,[44] hoping it might offer protection from the new provisions in the Broadcasting Act 1990 which came into force on 31 December that year. Using land-based studios leased in Kent[51] in the late 1990s, the station began broadcasting via satellites Astra 19.2E and Eutelsat 28A, covering western Europe. While on a trip to America, O'Rahilly had seen a picture of Ms Kennedy laughing and smiling as she sat in the footwell of her father's desk in the White House's Oval Office. Her latest opera, The Listeners, is a psychological nail-biter set in southern California. 18:03 GMT 28 Sep 2021. Radio Caroline began to broadcast from the ship on 19 August 1983, with unwanted mechanical sounds on speech. Frequency: 648 AM. The bureauxs client must also be a RAJAR subscriber. I could never figure out if he was "high on life" or high on some of that famous Falls Head Herb usually found in the Overdrive studio, so John Bennett tells me. Great reads on Radio Caroline and Free Radio from the 1960's to the 1990's, including from Radio . Harry Howard, History Correspondent For Mailonline In February 1964, O'Rahilly obtained the Fredericia and converted it into a radio ship at the Irish port of Greenore, which was owned by his father. In the late 1990's and later on I helped them with the promotion team when they were busy trying to convince as much as possible cable networks to put their signal on their networks. [25], Between 11 and 20 April 1973, the ship broadcast for Radio Veronica while its ship, the Norderney, was aground. Ken Bruce has also confirmed that he's moving. No, I did buy records which were also nice and were brought to my ears by listening to Radio Caroline quite other music than the other stations were offering. The station hasn't the glamour anymore it had in its High Seas Days, but I'm still enjoying all the memories. Each of his crew was awarded The Thanks of the Institution on vellum.[33]. These stories continued and included co-operation by a former member of the Beatles[who?] Since a couple of years we can read a lot on the subject Offshore Radio on several internet sites. On 9 August 1985, an official vessel anchored 150 yards from the Ross Revenge. To allow Radio Mi Amigo to continue broadcasting by day, the engineering work for Caroline's move had to be carried out over six nights, after the 50kW transmitter was switched off. Only the Caroline app has a live programme schedule, 'Now Playing' and multiple streams to suit most internet speeds. [60], From 31 March to 27 April 2014, a Caroline North tribute station, based on the Planet Lightship berthed in the Albert Dock complex on Liverpool's waterfront, broadcast locally on 87.7FM and on the internet. On 1 September, a small motor launch had difficulties in rough seas. The highlight however was picking up test transmissions from Radio Caroline I had missed the tests of the previous day. album, and Turnbull and Gallagher joined them on the Stiff's tour, becoming The Blockheads.[28]. In July Caroline moved to the adjacent channel, 962kHz (312 metres but still called 319) and reception in the UK improved. The two stations were able to cover most of the British Isles. I can clearly recall "Pushover" by Etta James and "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)" by Betty Everett being two of the tracks. Continuous Flashback Music. Menu. The medium wave frequency was 235 metres (1278kHz) and programmes were sent through ISDN landline to Maidstone and via the internet and broadcast on satellite. From 2007, the ship was docked at Tilbury, where a volunteer crew repaired and maintained it. (Anderson): It's not a very good occasion really, we have to hurry this because the lifeboat is standing by. It began taking in water and the crew was rescued by lifeboat. Beginning in 1975, the cassettes were transported from Playa d'Aro on the Europa Bus service, which carried people from Amsterdam to Madrid at low prices. Community radio listening figures - do 10 million people tune in every week? [14] Presenters Tony Blackburn, Roger Gale, Ray Teret, Simon Dee, Tony Prince, Spangles Muldoon, Keith Skues, Johnnie Walker, Robbie Dale, Dave Lee Travis, Tommy Vance, Tom Edwards, Paul Noble, Bob Stewart and Andy Archer became well known. Currently they also broadcast on DAB radio in certain areas of the UK: these services are part of the Ofcom small-scale DAB+ trials. Radio Caroline continued on satellite but required manual tuning. I took my radio to work and annoyed everyone by listening to RNI in Dutch on short-wave. Six weeks later, the BBC introduced its new national pop station Radio 1, modelled largely on the successful offshore station Radio London, and employed many of the ex-pirate DJs. During the same quarter, on BBC Sounds there were a total of 162m plays of. Many people, of a certain age, still associate Radio Caroline with the pop music of the 60s & 70s. Former offshore broadcasters who continue on the station are: Roger Mathews, Nigel Harris, Martin Fisher, Marc Jacobs, Johnny Lewis, Doug Wood, Dave Foster, Cliff Osbourne, Chris Pearson, Bob Lawrence, Jeremy Chartham and Ad Roberts. In 1990 the UK government amended the 1967 anti-offshore law to allow the boarding and silencing of stations in international waters if their signals could be received in the UK, even if their vessels were foreign-registered and operated. ", Earlier this year I met Bob Le-Roi and of course we talked a lot about Radio Caroline. Reception area: North of England, Midlands, Ireland, Scotland and North Wales. Since 1991, the Ross Revenge has been maintained by enthusiasts called the Radio Caroline Support Group, originally the Ross Revenge Support Group. This was not because they wanted to buy a house, but because the ones on the new estate had been constructed with an innovative type of central heating, which blew hot air through ducts under the floor. [36] The remaining 5kW transmitter was later converted for short wave use. The station restarted just before Christmas as Radio 199 but soon became Radio Caroline, with a Top 40 format. The 'amateurs' were said to be reaching 39million listeners with 15million in the South of England and the rest in the North. The RAJAR Audio MIDAS Survey is designed to provide context and insight into how, when and where audio content is being consumed within this liberated environment; including device usage, activities, location, who listened with. Programmes were still heard on satellite until the provider replaced the signal with a 1kHz tone on the morning of 1 October 2013. People have to move away from the idea that Caroline can only broadcast from a boat I thought that back in the early days we were fighting for free radio to be legalised "free" as in freedom of speech and on land! American Cancer Society Cancer Facts & Figures for African American/Black People. Boom Radio grows by 9,000 listeners from 233,000 to 242,000 but has a boom in hours - with average hours up from 7.8 to 10.1 and total hours up from 1.81m to 2.45m Times Radio drops by 135,000. From the Radio Today site. How different it seemed six weeks later when the Mi Amigo had no mast and RNI no English service. These analogue transmissions ended and a full digital service from Astra 28.2E started in February 2003.[52]. Backed by wealthy investors which included Jocelyn Stevens of the popular Queen Magazine, the station was bizarrely named after Caroline Kennedy the daughter of assassinated US President John F Kennedy. By and large the old hands ignored us but Rob was very enthusiastic and took us to the top floor where the new studios of Radio Mi Amigo were being given a dry run. Home; Stations . [19], Because of the rise of land-based pirate stations after the MOA became law (usually stations run from bedrooms or outdoor sheds with small wattage transmitters), at least two stations later broadcast using the Caroline name, one based in Dublin. [39] Caroline returned to the air using a makeshift aerial with a less powerful signal. The comments below have not been moderated, By (Gordon): I think we'll be back in one way or another. LBC saw 3million weekly listeners - a record for the station - while Talk Radio increased from 424,000 listeners to 450,000. On 3 August 2021, Ofcom announced that it had granted a power increase to combat man made noise and interference, and to extend the coverage area to include Suffolk, northern parts of Essex, and parts of Kent and East Sussex. This channel broadcasts mainly in community format. The tapes were picked up in Belgium at a bus stop, taken to a small sports plane and dropped in the sea close to the radio ship. "Walking down the King's Road" track by Squire "In a Chelsea drug store with some friends of mine, mini skirts, dolly birds and Radio Caroline". Much improvement to the lay-out of the ship was planned but basically the studios would have remained. The Ross Revenge also featured powerful generators.[37]. , updated In 1987, the Territorial Sea Act[38] extended the UK maritime limit from three to 12 nautical miles (22km). Total listening hours for Talkradio were up 23% compared to the last quarter to reach 5.7m hours each week, while Times Radio's listening hours were up 16% to 3.6m hours weekly. Next to that we can listen in to Radio Caroline on internet and satellite. Therefore I would like to thank the Monitor Magazine from Benfleet from the later Buster Pearson and the Pirate Radio News team from the Netherlands. He promised to write some lines about it for this series and here they are: "In the early 1990's, soon after the Ross Revenge was dragged of the Goodwin Sands and taken into Dover, a plan was conceived by the team of the then Invicta Radio Group, comprising the fairly nautical crew of Roger Day, Andy Archer, Johnny Lewis, Nigel Harris, Bob Matthews and Bob Le-Roi. Myriad factors contribute to the audience curve for radio . Caroline broadcast regular apologies to Spectrum listeners but refused to vacate the channel. Now as in the past, for every commercial radio station it proves very important to have an audience, as advertisers are always looking at the station's RAJAR-figures. Radio Caroline North = 10kW (later 20kW). The lineup will feature some of the most incendiary figures on the far right, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, whose supporters stormed . The station's slogan was Your all-day music station. Whilst they were ultimately unable to stop it broadcasting because of the fact it was broadcasting from international waters the 1967 Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 made it illegal for British subjects to associate with it. On 24 March 1970, a radio ship named Mebo II anchored off the east coast of England during the UK general election campaign, broadcasting as Radio North Sea International (RNI). In late 1972, Radio Caroline had money problems. These data are produced and sold at cost providing both industry accountability and a robust trading currency for each medium. I was extremely excited about the new station and borrowed a big transistor radio from my grandmother, so that I could take the music everywhere I went.