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It’s hip,
it’s hyped and it’s totally against the law . Tune your
radio dial nowadays and the chances are, you’ll enter a criminal
underworld. Pirate radio is still illegal but today there are more
stations than ever beaming everything from trance music to anarchy
into Britain’s homes. Some are now making so much money that the
legally stations are seriously concerned. In this special report
David Rowan joins the pirates on the rooftops to find out why the
radio outlaws are now calling the tunes. |
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David Rowan reports:
Across the radio dial a powerful new underworld is breaking down the
established order. While commercial radio struggles with recession
Pirate radio is booming with hundreds of stations stealing listeners
and profits that legal broadcasters say should be theirs.
Today’s pirates are slick professional operations filling
Britain’s airwaves with everything from street music to extreme
political messages. There are now almost 300 stations, twice what
there were 10 years ago and the profit some make suggests crime
really does pay. |
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'Mr.C' from
Silk City FM says: "If you put the right infrastructure into
place and your business ideas are correct, you can gross between from
30 to 60 grand a year if it’s run properly."
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The key is
bringing advertisers to those young hard to find listeners. 'Mr Kidd'
sells adverts to half a dozen Birmingham stations taking his media to
clubs and nail salons promising to undercut the legal stations rates.
"If you come to a pirate station, for £1500 you could get
at least 6 months advertising . A pirate station will give you the
same quality plus You’re getting the DJ’s mentioning it
with a little bit more heart because they are told to." |
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Just as the
60’s pirates led to Radio 1, todays pirates are leading to
Number 1’s. Acts like So Solid Crew have broken through from
illegal radio to major record deals. It doesn’t bother the
pirates that they face 2 years in jail. 'Mr C' says : "They are
part of household culture now . Everyday household entertainment
culture is pirate radio, especially in London, Birmingham and Manchester." |
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They leave
their £400 transmitters on tower blocks and hope that they are
safe from government raids and rival stations. Some pirates have cut
the odds by keeping dogs on the roof, or booby trapping transmitters
with CS spray.
A recent
police raid in Lewisham, South London unearthed in a studio a guide
to pirate radio called ‘Radio is my Bomb', a DIY pirate radio
manual with everything from contacts to guides to building a
transmitter and then there is the internet also. |
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Stations claim
they are bringing new listeners to the dial and that this crime has
no victims but not according to Thames FM, a legal stations which
plays adult cool music to South London.
Mark Walker,
Programme Controller of Thames 107.8 says: "There are people
sitting in the sales area trying to sell this radio station and they
don’t want it being interfered with by people who have no right
to be there. So Yes, they are nibbling into our income and possibly
taking away our listeners who find it irritating and affecting the
livelyhood of these people" |
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Legal stations
are getting desperate. They say the fines for pirates, just £377
on average are too low. They are sueing individual DJ’s and are
now calling in the DTI, but complaining brings its own risks. Greg
Martin, Managing Director of Thames FM says: "One of our
presenters had his vehicle in the station parking lot smashed up and
we believe this is the direct result of notifying the DTI about a
pirate station". |
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In Glasgow
Club FM was raided after organising gang fights live on air. Another
local station told us it was giving pirates like them a bad name. DJ
'Miss-Cheif' of Allusion FM says: "They are advertising gang
fights and we can’t be bothered with that. We are all too old
for that. Basically we are here to play the music and make sure
everyone is listening to the tunes they want to listen to." |
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But some
stations are speaking out for their communities. Sandra Lewis has a 3
year old daughter who needs a lung transplant in America. It will
cost £50,000 which 3 London pirates are helping to raise. One of
the stations has tried to go legal but was turned down. It’s
supporters are not surprised. Galaxy FM urges it’s listeners to
empower themselves against white oppression. A spokesman said:
"What we are doing as a peoples station is debriefing black
people after going through 400 years of mental slavery". |
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For some
stations the politics are even more radical. Interference FM preaches
anti-capitalism to London, Brighton and Bristol. On election day,
it’s message was stark. 'Chris Winton' from Interference FM
says: "Vote for nobody because nobody will change anything. The
politicians promise and renege on their promises left right and
centre continually. We are dangerous because we are there offering
alternative views. When we start giving out the actual facts, we are
dangerous to the state. Stations that just play music last for 2 or 3
months. We last 5 or 6 hours." |
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The DTI sees
raids as the most cost effective way of policing the airwaves. Yet
for a station selling lucrative adverts, 1 lost transmitter is a mers
business expense. If raids are meant to silence the pirates, then the
system is clearly failing. With more illegal broadcasters than ever
jamming Britain’s airwaves their listeners and advertisers seem
to want something they are not getting elsewhere, yet every pirate
station we spoke to said they would go legal if given the chance.
Then it would be for the market to sort out who survives.
David
Rowan. Channel 4 News. |
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