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
Swinging Radio England engineering work never succeeded in making the offshore stations operational and RBI failed to sell enough advertising to make the venture profitable, while the public relations firm spent large sums promoting the stations. William Vick submitted an application to the GPO radio licensing authority for licenses to bring his offshore twin stations on land. By late September 1966, Pierson was no longer involved in day-to-day operations and CEO William Vick had named Britain Radio's program chief, Jack Curtiss of San Francisco, general manager of both stations. Curtiss' first assignment was to close Radio England and create a Dutch-language station to