Radio: Pirate

Pirate radio stations are stations that defy the regulations of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and exist without a license to broadcast directly to the public. These stations, run by predominantly male hobbyists, provide alternatives to licensed stations, which in turn creates competition. Also known as free, bootleg, or microradio, pirate radio broadcasts on long-wave, medium-wave, and short-wave frequencies, as well as television and satellite bands. Today many pirate radio stations have turned to the Internet to avoid federal lawsuits. Pirate radio stations air everything from copyrighted music to sports to community-focused news and political views. Because of the illegal nature of pirate radio, some stations are short-lived, while others tend to move from place to place, making it difficult to estimate the number of existing pirate stations.

Pirate radio began with the start of wired communication and early radio-telephone experiments. At that time, there were no regulations limiting people from going on the air without a license. By the late 1920s, the Federal Radio Commission (the FCC's precursor) started to impose regulations and required licenses. These early stations were forced to close out after passage of the Communications Act of 1934. Nevertheless, pirate radio stations still managed to broadcast, sometimes from offshore ships equipped with powerful transmitters. Others were created by hobbyists who used low radio frequencies. When pirate radio operators were caught, they were usually fined and their equipment was confiscated.

The first true pirate station to hit U.S. airwaves was WUMS (the call sign stood for “We're Unknown Mysterious Station” or “We're Unlicensed Marine Station”), operated by David Thomas between 1924 and 1948 on the Ohio River banks. Although Thomas was fined $8,000 and sentenced to four years in prison, he managed to outsmart the FCC in 1938 and 1948 by building a secret transmitter into a table. Thomas tried to build another transmitter in 1983 to bring WUMS back on the air, but he died of cancer that year.

Pirate radio is different from clandestine, or guerrilla, stations because the majority of pirate stations are nonpolitical. Clandestine radio stations are more likely to support violent and radical change in their countries. Political pirates that border on the clandestine do not promote violent change, and they lack the support of powerful organizations that clandestine stations enjoy. Prominent political pirates include Berkeley Liberation Radio, Steal This Radio, and Black Liberation Radio.

An important phase in the history of pirate radio saw offshore pirates, which existed in Europe from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. These pirates offered European youth American-style Top 40 playlists, pop music, radio personalities, and news. Many of these stations were supported by American entrepreneurs and advertisers.

In 1958, Radio Mer cur began its transmission into Copenhagen from a ship anchored in international waters. Radio Nord was a pirate station that broadcast from off the Swedish coast. In England, pirate stations threatened the monopoly of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) by offering listeners American popular music, including rock and roll as well as ethnic music. Radio Caroline broadcast in England in 1964 and was known as England's premier rock station because it introduced to British youth new rock songs by The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones.

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