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 similar vein Genesis Radio founded in 1985 (broadcasting briefly, mainly playing music). Genesis Radio re-launched properly in 1991 and in latter years it began broadcasting 24 hours with various talk and information shows, often extremely politically engaging. One of the founder members of Genesis Radio is also the founder of the legendary Reggae Sound System Saxon Sound. The station suffered constant attacks by the authorities, but was still regularly on the FM. In 2005 Genesis Radio was one of the first pirate stations to go on the internet and became less consistent and unreliable on the FM, sometimes going months