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Radio pirata nel Regno Unito

Voce principale: Radio pirata.

Le radio pirata nel Regno Unito, intese come stazioni di radiotrasmissione non autorizzata, furono molto popolari negli anni 1960 e negli anni 1980^[1]. Attualmente il numero stimato è di 150 radio pirata nel Regno Unito, la cui maggior parte trasmette da Londra, in particolare dai quartieri di Harlesden, Stoke Newington, Southwark e Lambeth^[2].

"Pirate radio" in the UK first became widespread in the early 1960s when pop music stations such as Radio Caroline and Radio London started to broadcast on medium wave to the UK from offshore ships or disused sea forts. At the time these stations were not illegal because they were broadcasting from international waters. The stations were set up by entrepreneurs and music enthusiasts to meet the growing demand for pop and rock music, which was not catered for by the legal BBC Radio services.^[3]

The first British pirate radio station was Radio Caroline, which started broadcasting from a ship off the Essex coast in 1964. By 1967 twenty-one pirate radio stations were broadcasting to an estimated daily audience of 10 to 15 million. The format of this wave of pirate radio was influenced by Radio Luxembourg and American radio stations. Many followed a top 40 format with casual DJs, making UK pirate radio the antithesis of BBC radio at the time.^[4] Spurred on by the offshore stations, several landbased pirate stations took to the air on medium wave at weekends, such as Telstar 1 in 1965, and RFL in 1968.

According to Andrew Crisell UK pirate radio broke the BBC's virtual monopoly of radio to meet demand that had been neglected. In reaction to the popularity of pirate radio BBC radio was restructured in 1967, establishing BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3 and Radio 4. A number of DJs of the newly created pop music service BBC Radio 1 came from pirate stations. The UK Government also closed the international waters loophole via the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act of 1967, although Radio Caroline continued to broadcast until March 1968.^[3][4]

The 1967 Marine Broadcasting Offences Act officially outlawed pirate stations, but pirate radio continued, moving from ships and sea-based platforms to urban areas in the latter part of the 1960s (they were already illegal under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949).^[4] During this period, home-made medium wave/'am' transmitters [or sometimes short wave] were often constructed inside cheap, expendable biscuit tins.

The main method employed by most medium-wave or short-wave pirate stations during the 1960s and 70s involved programming played back on cassette recorders (often powered by a car battery), with a long wire antenna slung up between two trees. Around this time, VHF/FM transmitters were being built by more adventurous builders. A surge in pirate radio occurred when cheap portable transmitters became available and by the mid 1980s a 50 watt radio transmitter could be obtained for around £200, or could be built for less. The operation of a pirate radio station required a good quality cassette recorder, a transmitter and a high roof, with tower blocks providing the ideal transmission site for pirate radio stations. A 40 watt transmitter broadcasting from the roof of a fifteen storey tower block could reach a forty mile radius. Radio shows were often pre-recorded at home, with the pirate radio station operators setting up temporary transmitters on the roof of tower blocks.^[5]

The 1970s and 1980s saw a wave of landbased pirate radio, broadcasting mostly in big cities. These included community-focused local stations such as Sunshine Radio in Shropshire and Radio Jackie in south west London. In London pirate stations emerged that, for the first time in UK radio broadcasting, focused on particular music genres such as Kiss FM (dance), Solar Radio (soul) Alice's Restaurant Rock Radio & Radio Floss (rock).^[3]

Pirate radio met with increasing opposition, especially from the authorities in the form of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) Radio Regulatory Division (and later the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) after it became responsible for radio regulation) which had claimed since the late 1960s that pirate radio caused interference to licensed broadcasters and could interfere with frequencies used by emergency services. Nonetheless the growth of pirate radio in the 1980s was so rapid that at one point pirate radio operators outnumbered legal broadcasters. Pirate stations such as Radio Invicta, JFM, and London Weekend Radio continued to gain popularity and increasingly operated openly.^[4] Pirate radio targeted music communities ignored by mainstream broadcasting, such as reggae, hip hop, jazz, rhythm and blues. Stations like London Greek Radio, which broadcast to the Greek and Greek Cypriot community, also catered to ethnic minorities.^[6]

By 1989, there were about six hundred pirate radio stations in the UK, with over 60 in London. In the 1990s, a new wave of rave pirate radio stations emerged, such as Radio Sunrise, Radio Centre Force and Radio Fantasy. In the early 1990s, pirate radio briefly declined in response to tougher penalties, an intensified crackdown by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the leading dance pirate radio station Kiss FM responding to the Government's offer of amnesty for pirate stations that closed down voluntarily and applied for an official licence. But Kiss FM failed to satisfy the rising rave audience and pirate radio resurged in 1992 and 1993. The new pirate radio stations abandoned the mainstream pop radio format and moved to a "raves on the air" format with strong emphasis on audience participation, enabled by the spread of mobile phones. Pirate radio stations would frequently lose transmitters worth several hundred pounds due to DTI raids, redirecting to backup transmitters on the roof of another building to maintain broadcast continuity. Pirate radio stations would gain revenue from advertising raves and specialist record shops, as well as DJs who paid a fee for playing.^[7]

The Broadcasting Act 1990 led to the brief decline of UK pirate radio by encouraging diversity in radio and opening up the development of commercial radio. Many pirate radio stations such as the London based dance music station Kiss FM applied for licences to the new Radio Authority and went legitimate. However, the number of unlicensed broadcasts has since increased, partly because many non-licensed broadcasters believed that the 1990 Act had actually undermined community based stations and small scale radio entrepreneurs.^[6] Of the pirate radio stations that gained a licence in the 1990s, such as Kiss FM, FTP in Bristol, WNK Radio in Haringey and KFM Radio in Stockport, only a few, such as Sunrise Radio in London, remained in the hands of the original owners. Most have become significantly more mainstream and target a broad audience as a result of commercial pressures to achieve greater audience numbers and a particular audience type sought by advertisers.^[8]

There are currently an estimated 150 pirate radio stations in the UK. A large proportion of these pirate radio stations operate in London, with significant clusters in Harlesden, Stoke Newington, Southwark and Lambeth.^[2] Set-up costs for pirate radio stations are minimal with a transmitter costing around £350. Pirate radio stations may receive income from advertising and publicising events at nightclubs. DJs may pay to broadcast on pirate radio stations to gain public exposure.^[2]

In November 2006 Ofcom commissioned research among residents of the London boroughs of Hackney, Haringey and Lambeth, finding that about 24 percent of all adults aged 14 or older living within the three London boroughs listen to pirate radio stations. The research found that 37 percent of students aged 14–24 and 41 percent of the African-Caribbean community listened to pirate radio. The development and promotion of grass-roots talent, the urban music scene and minority community groups were identified as key drivers for pirate radio. According to the research both pirate radio listeners and those running pirate radio stations thought that licensed broadcasters failed to cater sufficiently for the needs of the public at large. Pirate radio was regarded as the best place to hear new music and particularly urban music. Furthermore pirate radio stations were appreciated for their local relevance by providing information and advertisement about local community events, businesses and club nights.^[9]

Voice Of Africa Radio is a former pirate station serving London's African and Caribbean communities, which has become licenced and is now a community radio station. Rinse FM has also followed suit and is now licensed as a community radio station, who work with children excluded from school and educated in pupil referral units as part of their community training remit.

The first political radio station was Radio Free Scotland, which broadcast on the sound channels of BBC television after closedown to promote the cause of Scottish Independence. At the time the BBC forbade the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru to broadcast. In the 1970s, Radio Enoch, named after Enoch Powell, was set up by people on the right wing of the Conservative and Unionist Party to help re-elect a conservative government. Although Radio Enoch had vowed to return if a Labour administration was re-elected it failed to do so after Tony Blair was elected in 1997. Other political radio broadcasters are Interference FM, set up by a collective to broadcast on the J18 demonstrations in 1999.^[10][11]

Today, operators of non-licensed broadcasting face high fines and prison sentences.^[6]

The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 provides for Ofcom to issue licences to radio broadcasters for the use of stations and wireless telegraphy apparatus. The Act sets out a number of criminal offences relating to wireless telegraphy, including the establishment or use of a wireless telegraphy station or apparatus for the purpose of making a unlicensed broadcast. The financing or participating in the day to day running of unlicensed broadcasting is also a criminal offence, as is the supplying of a sound recording for an unlicensed station and advertising through unlicensed stations.^[12] The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 allows Ofcom to take a number of actions against individuals committing these offences, including power of entry and search and seizure of equipment. It is a criminal offence to obstruct a person exercising enforcement powers on Ofcom's behalf.^[3] Furthermore the Broadcasting Act 1990 provides that anyone convicted of an unlawful broadcasting offence is disqualified from holding a broadcasting licence for five years.^[3]

Licensed broadcasters may also take legal action against pirate radio stations. In 2000, the Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA) for the first time initiated legal action against a pirate station. The CRCA sued the weekend dance music pirate station Scene FM for £50,000 for causing interference to transmissions and a reduction in advertising revenues.^[6]

Pirate radio stations played a major role in blurring reggae and soul in the 1970s and 1980s. The pirate radio station London Weekend Radio (LWR) became the home of hip hop and Tim Westwood, who pioneered LWR, recruited members for the British chapter of the Zulu Nation through the pirate radio station. During that time, JFM, founded by former Radio Jackie DJ Brian Anthony, and Horizon FM broadcast soul and jazz-funk.^[13]

The West London based DBC (Dread Broadcasting Corporation), founded by DJ Lepke, played reggae on Friday nights in a format based on sound systems style and using heavy dub echo and reverb in the links. DBC also broadcast soul music, gospel, jazz, funk, r&b, Afrikan (South African black music) and soca (upbeat calypso). DBC was unique among radio stations in the UK at the time, a black-run station broadcasting black music to a mixed audience. Miss P, who later dj the first reggae show on BBC Radio 1, commented: "There's never been a station run like DBC. Our format allows us to play music that would otherwise never be heard publicly. We create movement within the industry."^[14]

The 2009 movie The Boat That Rocked is about UK pirate radio and loosely based on Radio Caroline.

(EN) Carole Fleming, Pete Wilby, The radio handbook, 2ª edizione, Routledge, 2002, pp. 209 pagine, ISBN 0-415-15828-1.

• Matt Mason, Pirate Radio documentary, London and UK
• Channel 4 documentary on the upswell in pirate radio in the 1980s
• "Pirate Radio Stations" House of Commons Debate, 18 May 1966
• The History of Pirate broadcasting on Merseyside
• Andromeda Independent Radio, Manchester
• Archive of pirate radio from the mid 1960s-1980s, with a history of British Pirate broadcasting
• The Pirate Archive
• 1908s FM pirate station memories
• The Pirate Files A history of pirate radio on Merseyside including newspaper reports.

[[Categoria:Underground]] [[Categoria:Storia della radio]]