To understand why pirate radio broadcasting began in the UK, it was necessary to understand the cultural context before 1964 (the first successful pirate radio broadcast UK – Radio Caroline).
There is not a large amount of radio archives from this period, it has been particularly difficult to find archives of music shows. The website Radio Rewind (3) outlines the show listings of BBC radio, I have focused on the 1960s, a pivotal time in broadcast media. A typical day of broadcasting consisted mainly of talk shows with some music, though it is known that “Most popular music programmes would include a BBC orchestra playing the latest tunes”(1). This leaves the question; what was missing from the BBC’s content that audiences were desiring? It seems that audiences wanted the radio to feel more modern, perhaps move with the times more. Popular music being covered by the orchestra band may not have satisfied listeners, particularly young listeners.
The radio was the most popular form of entertainment, mainly due to its cost-effectiveness, this was crucial to audiences as the country was in a state of financial hardship post-war. A reason there was such a high amount of talk shows/ radio dramas was due to the accessibility of radio compared to televisions at the time, radio was the only place non-fiction entertainment could take place that was widely accessed, making radio the most powerful form of media to connect the nation.
https://archive.org/details/the-storm (2)
May 1961 – audio drama adaptation of novel by H.L.V Fletcher.This is an episode from the BBC Saturday Night Theatre, a show running weekly from 1943 to 1996. broadcasted a variety of feature-length entertainment episodes such as dramas, comedies and mysteries.
https://archive.org/details/BennyHill2_201903 (2)
1963 – comedy show with music This episode reminded me of a pantomime, dramatic yet playful. The music integrated throughout is all of the classical genre bridging the gaps between segments of the show.
The more archives of BBC radio I listen to and research the more apparent how poor the representation on radio was at the time. DJs/Hosts at the time were upper-class white men with formal educations in journalism/ music. It was thought to be impossible to work for the BBC without a university education (which was much more inaccessible at the time). Almost all hosts on the radio spoke with similar accents and pronunciation, representing a small proportion of the country. This is a small but important detail when understanding the landscape of British radio. The accents heard on the radio for many years all signify wealth, power, and patriotism.
References:
- An illustrated history of pirate radio
- The internet archive
- https://www.radiorewind.co.uk/radio1/listings1960s.htm