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57-542: MRIB was founded in 1981, by Luke Crampton, and Dafydd Rees. In December 1984, data from MRIB showed that pirate radio station Laser 558 had an audience of nearly five million people. MRIB's Network Chart was a rival competitor to the "official" UK chart that was compiled by Gallup and that is now published by the Official Charts Company (OCC). MRIB's Network Chart was broadcast by more than 40 commercial and Independent Local Radio stations. It

114-618: A wireless license issued by the British General Post Office (GPO). However, under terms of that wireless license, it was an offence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act to listen to unauthorised broadcasts, which possibly included those transmitted by Radio Luxembourg. Therefore, as far as the British authorities were concerned, Radio Luxembourg was a "pirate radio station" and British listeners to

171-558: A 1940 British comedy about an unauthorized TV broadcaster, Band Waggon , uses the phrase "pirate station" several times. A good example of this kind of activity was Radio Luxembourg located in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg . The English language evening broadcasts from Radio Luxembourg were beamed by Luxembourg-licensed transmitters. The audience in the United Kingdom originally listened to their radio sets by permission of

228-626: A new ship, a converted fishing trawler named MV Norderney . In the 1960s in the UK, the term referred to not only a perceived unauthorized use of the state-run spectrum by the unlicensed broadcasters but also the risk-taking nature of offshore radio stations that actually operated on anchored ships or marine platforms. The term had been used previously in Britain and the US to describe unlicensed land-based broadcasters and even border blasters . For example,

285-544: A new website for all three Kiss stations , replacing the previous website. The relaunch was implemented simultaneously with the rebranding of Kiss 100's sister dance stations, Vibe 101 and Vibe 105–108 as Kiss 101 and Kiss 105-108 respectively. Changes at Kiss 100 were introduced to address falling listener figures and to keep the station competitive in the highly contested London market. Roberts became its Group Programme Director. A year later, EMAP sold its radio division to Bauer Radio . In December 2010, Ofcom approved

342-590: A result of the AT&;T interpretation, a landmark case was heard in court, which even prompted comments from Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover when he took a public stand in the station's defense. Although AT&T won its case, the furor created was such that those restrictive provisions of the transmitter license were never enforced. In 1926, WJAZ in Chicago changed its frequency to one previously reserved for Canadian stations without getting permission to make

399-468: A small local licence instead of a regional one. The change was approved despite opposition from Nation Broadcasting and Star EMAP took full control of Kiss 100 as early as 1992, but with Mac having left the station in March 1998, EMAP would embark on a rebranding of the station and to align it with the rest of its radio operations. In December 1998, one of the station's most popular DJs, Steve Jackson,

456-571: A successful London club promoter, Guy Wingate, to discuss ways of improving the Kiss FM profile. As a result, Wingate launched the very successful Kiss nights at the Wag Club (which included the first ever UK acid house party – an idea put forward by Colin Faver and Danny Rampling ), both DJs on the station. These nights increased the station's credibility with its target audience and Wingate joined

513-581: A vessel in international waters without permission from the authorities in the country to which it broadcast (Denmark in this case). The station was named Radio Mercur and began transmission on August 2, 1958. In the Danish newspapers it was soon called a "pirate radio". In the Netherlands in 1964, Radio Noordzee and TV Noordzee began broadcasting from the REM Island and Radio Veronica acquired

570-411: Is not technically illegal (such as an amateur radio transmission). Pirate radio is sometimes called bootleg radio (a term especially associated with two-way radio ), clandestine radio (associated with heavily politically motivated operations) or free radio . Radio "piracy" began with the advent of regulations of the airwaves at the dawn of the age of radio . Initially, radio, or wireless as it

627-658: The Newcastle Evening Chronicle . In the 1980s MRIB compiled the disco charts for the UK that were published in Record Business (which was later absorbed into Music Week and published as the Disco and Dance chart). From 1982 through the 1990s the UK rock charts that were published in Kerrang! magazine were also compiled by MRIB. In the early 90s, MRIB compiled BSkyb 's UK Top 40 chart which

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684-514: The Bam Bam breakfast show where consent was not sought from the "victims" and controversial material aired when children were likely to be listening. Kiss 100 said it accepted the findings and apologised for any offence EMAP introduced a second major revamp of the Kiss brand on 6 September 2006. This included a new logo designed by oddlondon, a renewed focus on dance music, more specialist shows and

741-521: The Network Chart was taken over by other companies and re-branded a number of times, until it was relaunched in January, 2019 as The Official Big Top 40 , again as a rival to BBC Radio 1's The Official Chart that is compiled by OCC. Pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where

798-530: The UK's first legal black and dance music specialist radio station in 1990. As of June 2024, the station has a weekly audience of 2 million listeners according to RAJAR . Kiss FM first broadcast 7 October 1985 as a pirate radio station, initially to South London then across the whole city, on 94FM. Kiss FM was founded by Gordon "Mac" McNamee, George Power (of London Greek Radio ), and Tosca Jackson, with its engineer Pyers Easton. Transmitting seven-days from

855-517: The east coast of the United States in the 1890s. Before the advent of vacuum tube technology, early radio enthusiasts used (electronically) noisy spark-gap transmitters . The Navy soon began complaining to a sympathetic press that amateurs were disrupting naval transmissions. The May 25, 1907, edition of Electrical World',' in an article called "Wireless and Lawless," reported authorities were unable to prevent an amateur from interfering with

912-623: The "continued marginalisation of reggae music" on the station. Under Roberts, Kiss extended its stations, launching Kisstory in May 2013. On 26 February 2016, Kiss was launched in Norway rebranded from The Voice Hiphop & RnB Norway and Finland. In January 2023, station owners Bauer submitted plans to Ofcom to change the format of the FM frequencies held by Kiss on 105.6 MHz (Cambridge), 106.4 MHz (Suffolk) and 107.7 MHz (Peterborough). The application

969-472: The Kiss team, followed shortly thereafter by Lindsay Wesker. Kiss would also run its own night at Dingwalls and adopted the slogan Radical Radio . Mac and ten of the DJs on the station including Norman Jay , Jonathan More , Colin Faver , Trevor Nelson , and Tim Westwood would become "shareholders" in a company called Goodfoot Promotions, with Mac heading up the station as its majority holder. By 1988, Kiss

1026-641: The TV transmissions of TV Martí , which are directed at Cuba (the Cuban government jams the signals). Military broadcasting aircraft have been flown over Vietnam , Iraq , and many other nations by the United States Air Force . Illegal use of licensed radio spectrum (also known as bootlegging in CB circles) is fairly common and takes several forms. The films The Boat That Rocked (2009), Pump Up

1083-467: The US, but there were doubts they had the authority to issue such an order even in war time. The ban on radio was lifted in the US in late 1919. In 1924, New York City station WHN was accused by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) of being an "outlaw station" for violating trade licenses which permitted only AT&T stations to sell airtime on their transmitters. As

1140-615: The US, the 1912 "Act to Regulate Radio Communication" assigned amateurs and experimenters their own frequency spectrum, and introduced licensing and call-signs . A federal agency, the Federal Radio Commission , was formed in 1927 and succeeded in 1934 by the Federal Communications Commission . These agencies would enforce rules on call-signs, assigned frequencies, licensing, and acceptable content for broadcast. The Radio Act of 1912 gave

1197-671: The Volume (1990), and On the Air Live with Captain Midnight (1979), as well as the TV series People Just Do Nothing (2014-2018), are set in the world of pirate radio, while Born in Flames (1983) features pirate radio stations as being part of an underground political movement. Pirate radio is also a central plot point of the video game Jet Set Radio and its sequel Jet Set Radio Future . The video game Reverse: 1999 features

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1254-532: The backing and majority investment of media group EMAP . On 17 December 1989, the IBA announced that Kiss had been awarded a licence on their second attempt. Kiss established its new studios and office on Holloway Road , and on 1 September 1990, Kiss began legal broadcasting as Kiss 100 . Gordon Mac led a countdown in the studio to the official launch at 12pm; the first tune played being "Pirates Anthem" by Cocoa Tea and Shabba Ranks , followed by Norman Jay hosting

1311-520: The change, and was charged by the federal government with "wave piracy". The resulting legal battle found that the Radio Act of 1912 did not allow the US government to require stations to operate on specific frequencies, and the result was the passage of the Radio Act of 1927 to strengthen the government's regulatory authority. While Mexico issued radio station XERF with a license to broadcast,

1368-477: The character Regulus, the captain of the pirate radio station "APPLe." Kiss (UK radio station) Kiss is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Kiss Network . Kiss broadcasts nationally to the UK via DAB Digital Radio , as well as on Bauer's Rayo platform. The station started in 1985 as a pirate radio station , Kiss FM , before becoming

1425-729: The commercial station Radio North Sea International , which was based aboard the motor vessel (MV) Mebo II anchored off southeast England in the North Sea . Other examples of this type of unusual broadcasting include the USCGC Courier (WAGR-410) , a United States Coast Guard cutter which both originated and relayed broadcasts of the Voice of America from an anchorage at the Greek island of Rhodes to Soviet bloc countries. Balloons have been flown above Key West, Florida , to support

1482-489: The content of many of their programs could not have been aired by a US-regulated broadcaster. Predecessors to XERF, for instance, had originally broadcast in Kansas , advocating " goat-gland surgery " for improved masculinity, but moved to Mexico to evade US laws about advertising medical treatments, particularly unproven ones. In Europe, Denmark had the first known radio station in the world to broadcast commercial radio from

1539-552: The final broadcast went out with an outside broadcast at Dingwalls. Kiss would submit a strong application with widespread support from listeners, clubs, record labels and music magazines, however on 12 July 1989, the IBA instead awarded the licence to Jazz FM . Despite the temptation to return to the air again illegally, Kiss held off as the IBA had said they would make more licences available, which they did in September 1989. Kiss re-prepared their application, but this time got

1596-774: The final song played on FM. Programming is produced and broadcast from Bauer's London headquarters at The Lantern. Kiss broadcasts nationally via DAB on the 11D Digital One multiplex. It also broadcasts on the London 1 multiplex on channel 12C. From 1985, DJs and presenters have included: Norman Jay , Coldcut ( Matt Black & Jonathan More), Paul Trouble Anderson , Colin Faver , Judge Jules , Tim Westwood , Jazzie B , Trevor Nelson , Lisa I'Anson , Danny Rampling , and Richie Rich . At its legal launch and early 1990s, this would also include Graham Gold , Dave Pearce , David Rodigan , Patrick Forge , Somethin' Else (Chris Phillips & Jez Nelson ), and Gilles Peterson . In

1653-507: The former placed Whitney Houston 's single " I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) " at number 10 while the latter placed it at number 2 in the same week. MRIB's Network Chart was published in music publications NME , Melody Maker , and Sounds , as well as on ITV 's Teletext service. MRIB's Network Chart used sales data starting from different days of the week from those Gallup used for its Radio 1 chart. However, in July 1993 it

1710-527: The interests of other national governments has created radio jamming stations transmitting noises on the same frequency to prevent reception of the incoming signal. While the United States transmitted its programs towards the Soviet Union , which attempted to jam them, in 1970 the government of the United Kingdom decided to employ a jamming transmitter to drown out the incoming transmissions from

1767-409: The miniaturization of transmitters and the fact that they can be put together by amateurs, 'encounters' a collective aspiration for some new means of expression. Propaganda broadcasting may be authorized by the government at the transmitting site, but may be considered unwanted or illegal by the government of the intended reception area. Propaganda broadcasting conducted by national governments against

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1824-755: The operation of a government station at the Washington, D.C. Navy Yard using legal means. In the run-up to the London Radiotelegraph Convention in 1912, and amid concerns about the safety of marine radio following the sinking of the RMS ; Titanic on April 15 of that year, the New York Herald of April 17, 1912, headlined President William Howard Taft 's initiative to regulate the public airwaves in an article titled "President Moves to Stop Mob Rule of Wireless." In

1881-458: The power of its 250 kW transmitter was far greater than the maximum of 50 kW authorized for commercial use by the government of the United States of America. Consequently, XERF and many other radio stations in Mexico, which sold their broadcasting time to sponsors of English-language commercial and religious programs, were labelled as " border blasters ", but not "pirate radio stations", even though

1938-458: The president legal permission to shut down radio stations "in time of war". During the first two and a half years of World War I , before US entry, President Wilson tasked the US Navy with monitoring US radio stations, nominally to "ensure neutrality." The US was divided into two civilian radio "districts" with corresponding call-signs, beginning with "K" in the west and "W" in the east. The Navy

1995-545: The request from Bauer to drop local programming content from the three Kiss stations, creating a national service on the condition that Kiss would be available on 35 DAB multiplexes around the UK on the day local information is dropped, rising to 38 within three months of the changes. On 27 December 2012, Kiss 100 appeared nationally on Digital One's national DAB multiplex. David Rodigan , who had been with Kiss since its legal launch in 1990, resigned in November 2012, citing

2052-404: The signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially when the signals cross a national boundary. In other cases, a broadcast may be considered "pirate" due to the nature of its content, its transmission format (especially a failure to transmit a station identification according to regulations), or the transmit power (wattage) of the station, even if the transmission

2109-459: The start, it would be regularly taken off-air by the authorities and so became a weekend operation shortly afterwards. The station developed a cult and committed following across Greater London , with figures in the press at the time stating that the station commanded some 500,000 listeners while operating as an unlicensed pirate station, and an Evening Standard readers' poll in 1987 put Kiss second, behind Capital Radio . Gordon Mac approached

2166-424: The station were breaking the law (although as the term 'unauthorised' was never properly defined it was somewhat of a legal grey area ). This did not stop British newspapers from printing programme schedules for the station, or a British weekly magazine aimed at teenage girls, Fab 208 , from promoting the DJs and their lifestyle. (Radio Luxembourg's wavelength was 208 metres (1439, then 1440 kHz)). Radio Luxembourg

2223-581: The station. Over ten DJs have parted company with the station, including Steve Jackson, who won the Sony breakfast show award this year. In the words of Mr Cox [EMAP marketing director], the music on the station has been "smoothed out"." In June 2006, Kiss 100 was fined £175,000 by media regulator Ofcom, a record fee for any UK commercial radio station. Ofcom punished Kiss 100 for "numerous and serious breaches" of broadcasting codes after receiving ten complaints from April to November 2005. They involved prank calls on

2280-606: The stations from Scottish Radio Holdings in August 2005, and rebranded them in September 2006. In July 2023, Ofcom approved Bauer's request to the change the format of Kiss in the East of England. This meant that from the 12th September 2023, Kiss on 105.6 (Cambridge), 106.4 (Ipswich and Suffolk) and 107.7 (Peterborough) would have its format changed and carry Greatest Hits Radio instead. Kiss would however continue to broadcast on FM to Norwich and Norfolk across 106.1 effectively becoming

2337-514: The switch will take place on 23 September, sooner than expected as it was believed that Bauer would wait until the new Media Act became law, eliminating the need to make a format change request to Ofcom. It was also announced that the 97.2 frequency in Bristol will also carry Hits Radio. On 22 September 2024, at 10 pm, Kiss became digital only, with " One Kiss " by Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa being

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2394-565: The very first full show. The Channel 4 documentary Radical Radio followed Kiss as it came off air as a pirate station, gained its licence, built its new studios, and commenced legal broadcasting. Starting out as a Bristol pirate radio station, it became part of the Galaxy Radio network broadcasting to South Wales and the West of England , playing pop , dance , hip hop , urban , R&B and electronic music as Galaxy 101. It

2451-490: Was announced that the Top 10 of the Network Chart would use the same sales data as Gallup's chart for CIN and Radio 1, when Pepsi took over sponsorship from Nescafé , but that the lower 11-40 positions would still combine sales with radio airplay data. This new Network Chart was compiled by Spotlight Publications who beat MRIB to the contract. Although MRIB's chart was no longer broadcast on commercial and independent radio, it

2508-459: Was appointed as the new Director of Music Programming, along with moving the Kiss studios and office to EMAPs main premises at Mappin House, Central London , and creating a new logo. Andy Roberts became Kiss Programme Director. In July 1999, The Independent reported: "In preparation for the new ad campaign, the biggest in the station's history, EMAP has spent twelve months changing the output of

2565-479: Was approved in July 2023, with the frequencies becoming relays of Greatest Hits Radio , leaving Kiss on 100 MHz (London), 97.2 MHz (Bristol), 101 MHz (Severn Estuary) and 106.1 MHz (Norwich). In August 2024, Bauer announced that Kiss would be replaced on FM in London, the Severn Estuary and Norwich by Hits Radio , with Kiss retaining its frequency in Bristol. Then on 20 September 2024, Bauer announced that

2622-400: Was assigned call-signs beginning with "N". The Navy used this authority to shut down amateur radio in the western part of the US. When Wilson declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, he also issued an executive order closing most radio stations not needed by the US government. The Navy took it a step further and declared it was illegal to listen to radio or possess a receiver or transmitter in

2679-604: Was at its strongest with a DJ line-up which had become the cream of London's clubland, and in that December, Mac and the other shareholders would announce that they would decide to close down in order to apply for a legal licence. This was in response to the UK Government and Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) announcement that twenty new " incremental radio " licences would be advertised, including one for London. Stations were told that they would have to voluntarily closedown when applying, and so on New Year's Eve 1988,

2736-453: Was dismissed resulting in a high-profile court case, whilst the changes led to criticism from both former presenters and listeners alike, concerned that Kiss 100 was losing its musical direction. DJs Coldcut , Bob Jones, and Manasseh quit the station in January 1999 in protest at the changes being implemented. Other DJs at this time were being lured away by the increasingly dance-oriented BBC Radio 1 . Mark Story (previously of Magic 105.4 )

2793-663: Was eventually bought by EMAP and became Kiss 101 in September 2006 and part of the Kiss network. The Faze FM group licensed the name and logo from Kiss 100 to launch Kiss 102 in Manchester in October 1994. In February 1997, it expanded into Yorkshire launching Kiss 105 . The group was later sold to Chrysalis Radio , and by September 1997 both stations became part of the Galaxy Radio network. The East Anglian and Severn Estuary versions of Kiss were previously known as Vibe FM with DJs Nikki Elise and Ric Groves. EMAP bought

2850-469: Was later joined by other well-known pirate stations received in the UK in violation of UK licensing, including Radio Caroline and Radio Atlanta (subsequently Radio Carolines North and South respectively, following their merger and the original ship's relocation), Radio London , and Laser 558 , all of which broadcast from vessels anchored outside of territorial limits and were therefore legitimate. Radio Jackie , for instance, although transmitting illegally

2907-464: Was later reported on 29 April 1995 that CIN would be taking over compiling the chart from MRIB. From 1998 to 2001, MRIB also compiled the World Beat album chart show for CNN International . In 2002, Emap announced that they would be launching their own Smash Hits chart for its FM radio stations such as Kiss and that it would be compiled using sales data from MRIB. MRIB closed in 2008, but

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2964-429: Was more commonly called at the time, was an open field of hobbyists and early inventors and experimenters. The degree of state control varied by country. For example, in the UK, Marconi 's work was supported by the post office, but in an era of weak regulation, a music hall magician Nevil Maskelyne deliberately hijacked a demonstration. The United States Navy began using radio for time signals and weather reports on

3021-581: Was registered for VAT and even had its address and telephone number in local telephone directories. By the 1970s, pirate radio in the UK had mostly moved to land-based broadcasting, transmitting from tower blocks in towns and cities. Another variation on the term pirate radio came about during the " Summer of Love " in San Francisco during the 1960s. "Free radio" usually referred to secret and unlicensed land-based transmissions. These were also tagged as being pirate radio transmissions. Free Radio

3078-754: Was reported in March 1991 that the Network Chart compiled by MRIB had a radio audience size that was gaining on the BBC Radio 1 chart show which broadcast the chart that was compiled by Gallup for the OCC (then CIN). Later that month Music & Media magazine reported that they were switching to publishing the MRIB charts for the UK which they would also use to compile the European Hot 100 Singles and European Top 100 Albums charts. There were sometimes public disputes over accuracy between Gallup and MRIB such as when

3135-531: Was shown on Sky One . Although MRIB's Network Chart was a direct rival to the chart that was compiled by Gallup for CIN/OCC and broadcast by BBC Radio 1, the same radio station announced in 1995 that it was launching the 1FM Artist Chart that combined album and singles sales and would be compiled by MRIB. This had apparently disappointed CIN, and the British Phonographic Industry as reported by Music Week on 14 January 1995. However, it

3192-731: Was still used in publications such as NME and Melody Maker . MRIB also compiled the UK Independent Singles and Albums Charts that were published in many newspapers and magazines such as Melody Maker . Alongside the Network Chart, they also compiled regional charts for ILR stations such as the London chart used on Alan Freeman 's Pick of the Pops Take Two on Capital Radio and the North East England chart used on Metro Radio and published in

3249-503: Was used only to refer to radio transmissions that were beyond government control , as was offshore radio in the UK and Europe. The term free radio was adopted by the Free Radio Association of listeners who defended the rights of the offshore radio stations broadcasting from ships and marine structures off the coastline of the United Kingdom . Félix Guattari points out: Technological development, and in particular

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