Radio Caroline
| Broadcast area | United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, parts of continental Europe |
|---|---|
| Slogan | "Radio Caroline on 199 your all day music station" |
| Frequency | wavelengths announced as "199" metres (1493/1520 kHz) and later changed to "259" (1169/1187 kHz). |
| First air date | Easter Saturday, 28 March 1964 at Noon GMT to 3 March 1968. |
| Format | variety, religion, news and popular music |
| Power | Radio Caroline North = 10kW (later 20kW). Radio Caroline South = 10kW (later 50 kW). |
| Owner | Planet Sales Ltd |
| Broadcast area | Southern England, western Europe, Northern England, Ireland and Scotland |
|---|---|
| Frequency | wavelengths announced as "259" metres |
| First air date | 15 August 1967 following passage of the Marine Offences Act |
| Format | popular music and news |
| Power | 50 kW |
| Owner | Legal status unclear due to a need to conceal actual legal ownership. |
| Broadcast area | Broadcasting from various locations offshore to Western Europe |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 244m MW, 100.0 MHz FM, 6205 kHz SW |
| First air date | Sat 13 June - Fri 19 June 1970 |
| Format | popular music and news |
| Power | 105 kW MW |
| ERP | 90 kW MW |
| Affiliations | A brief name change from Radio North Sea International during the UK General Election campaign, after which the station reverted back to its original name. |
| Owner | Mebo Ltd |
| Broadcast area | Broadcasting from various offshore locations to Western Europe |
|---|---|
| Frequency | various |
| First air date | 1972 |
| Format | album rock |
| Power | 10 kW later 50 kW |
| ERP | 27 KW (highly variable) |
| Owner | Status unclear and mainly operated by supporters |
| Sister stations | Radio Atlantis 1973 and Radio Mi-Amigo 1974-1978 |
| Broadcast area | Geographic areas bordering upon North Sea |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 963 kHz (wavelength announced as "319" metres) later moving to 819 kHz with additional transmitter in 531-594 kHz range (principally 558 kHz) |
| First air date | August 1983 |
| Format | album rock and news |
| Power | 50 kW (second 10 kW transmitter later added) |
| ERP | 27 kW (highly variable) |
| Owner | Ownership was hidden due to illegality of operation. |
| Broadcast area | UK Worldwide (Internet); Europe (up to September 2013) (Eutelsat 28A) |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Various Internet streams UPC Ireland: Channel 927 Smallworld Cable: Channel 855 Eutelsat 28A (to 30 September 2013): Freq. 11.426 GHz Polarisation: Horizontal Symbol Rate: 27.5 FEC: 2/3 |
| First air date | 1999 |
| Format | AOR (Album/adult oriented) |
| Owner | Radio Caroline Ltd. and Caroline Support Group (originally called the Ross Revenge Support Group). |
| Website | http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk |
Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. Unlicensed by any government for most of its early life, it was a pirate radio station that never actually became illegal, although after the Marine Offences Act (1967) it became illegal for a British subject to associate with it.
The Radio Caroline name was used to broadcast from international waters, using five different ships of three different owners, from 1964 to 1990, and via satellite from 1998 to 2013. Radio Caroline currently broadcasts 24 hours a day via the internet and by occasional restricted service licence, they also broadcast on DAB radio in certain areas of the UK. Radio Caroline broadcasts music from the 1960s to contemporary, with an emphasis on album-oriented rock (AOR). The company also licenses other stations around the world to use the Radio Caroline name.
Radio Caroline was begun by Irish musician manager and businessman Ronan O'Rahilly. O'Rahilly failed to obtain airplay on Radio Luxembourg for Georgie Fame's records because it was committed to sponsored programmes promoting major record labels; EMI, Decca, Pye and Philips.
Encouraged by Scandinavian and Dutch pirates, in February 1964 O'Rahilly obtained the 702-ton former Danish passenger ferry, Fredericia, which was converted into a radio ship at the Irish port of Greenore, owned by O'Rahilly's father. At the same time, Allan Crawford's Project Atlanta was equipping the MV Mi Amigo at Greenore, where the two competed to be first on air.
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