To understand pirate radio today, it is necessary to engage with it hands-on. I began researching the laws on listening to pirate radio and Ofcom’s (government-authorised authority for broadcast and telecommunications) website was rather ambivalent. They state that “anyone involved with illegal broadcasting is committing a criminal offence and may be arrested by police.”(1). This makes it clear that those broadcasting are committing a crime, however, the term “anyone involved” leaves me questioning what it means to be involved. Does include the listener? This led me to question; can listening be criminalised?

In video one there is dance music playing on the radio, I believe this to be from pirate radio station S-Dance on 96.1 FM, I can infer this from where the dial is on the radio and the genre playing which are both in reference to the two websites linked to this post.

Since doing this primary research I have found an obvious yet fatal flaw within pirate radio, it can be almost impossible to pick up clear signals from a pirate radio station. Unlike radios such as the BBC which broadcast one show on multiple frequencies pirate radio stations usually only broadcast on one very specific frequency. This is because the BBC has the financial means to buy these frequencies. Of course, by making this point I am not comparing pirate radio with the BBC because that would not be an equal comparison to make, one is legal the other very illegal. Depending on the quality of your radio it can be very difficult to pick up such specific frequencies, such as 96.1 FM in this case. The frequencies are less reliable, sometimes the sound comes through clearly sometimes it does not.

Websites helpful when identifying pirate radio stations:

• https://www.transmissionzero.co.uk/radio/london-pirate-radio/
• https://radionecks.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=11

References 

(1)https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/advice-for-consumers/radio/tackling-pirate-radio