Pirate radio in the United Kingdom 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. The first British pirate radio station was Radio Caroline, which was launched by Irish music entrepreneur Ronan O'Rahilly, and started broadcasting from a ship off the Essex coast in 1964. By 1967 ten pirate
Capital Radio (pirate) Capital Radio (pirate) Capital Radio (not to be confused with the later British radio station of the same name) was a pirate radio station which operated from international waters off the coast of the Netherlands in 1970. The station was set up by Canadian idealist Tim Thomason. In 1965 Thomason had established the International Broadcasting Society with the intention of bringing together professional broadcasting organisations from around the world. Eventually Thomason decided that the Society should have its own radio station which could be used to broadcast messages from the participating organisations. Thomason and his associates acquired a former German