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
Pirate radio in the United Kingdom a new generation of pirate radio stations emerge. In London, stations such as Kool FM were joined by Rude, Dream FM, Flex FM, Deja Vu, London Underground, Freek, and most notably Rinse FM. 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, Crystal Palace, Stoke Newington, Southwark and Lambeth. Set-up costs for pirate radio stations are minimal with a transmitter generally built by the engineer of the station. In days gone by these were powered by car batteries, but when the