Marine Broadcasting Offences Act
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The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 (c. 41), shortened to Marine Broadcasting Offences Act or "Marine offences Act", became law in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
at midnight on Monday 14 August 1967. It was subsequently amended by the
Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 (c 36) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act repealed the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949. The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 had as its purpose to "consolidate enactments about wireless telegra ...
and the
Broadcasting Act 1990 The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...
. Its purpose was to extend the powers of the
Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the telecommunication, transfer of information between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transmission med ...
(which was incorporated by this Act), beyond the territorial land area and
territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potenti ...
of the UK to cover airspace and external bodies of water. The Act represented the UK's ratification of the 1965 "European Agreement for the Prevention of Broadcasts Transmitted from Stations outside National Territories" (sometimes referred to as the "
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Strasbourg Convention" or "Strasbourg Treaty"). At the time that the Bill was introduced in
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
in 1966, there were radio stations and proposals for television stations outside British licensing jurisdiction with signals aimed at Britain. These stations were anchored at sea but there were press reports of stations broadcasting from aircraft – Caroline TV, and from a ship – Radex TV. The Act extended to the
Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
and the
Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...
(despite the protests of the Governments there). The Act meant that the operation of offshore,
pirate radio stations Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...
became illegal if they were operated or assisted by persons subject to UK law. It prohibited "carrying by water or air goods or persons to or from it" which made tendering illegal. Station operators thought they could continue if they were staffed, supplied and funded by non-British citizens, but this largely proved impractical.


Origins

In 1966, broadcasting in the UK was controlled by the British
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, which had granted exclusive radio broadcasting licences to the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
and television licences to the BBC and 16 regional Independent Television companies. The power of the GPO covered letters delivered by the
Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...
, newspapers, books and their printing presses, the encoding of messages on lines used to supply electricity; the electric telegraph, the electric telephone (which was originally deemed an electronic post office); the electric wireless telegraph and the electric wireless telephone which became known as "telephony" and later wireless broadcasting. In the 1920s the GPO had been circumvented by broadcasting from transmitters in countries close to British listeners.
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
terminated these broadcasts except for Radio Luxembourg.


Broadcasting pressure groups

In the 1950s a pressure group campaigned with the help of
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
to pass the
Television Act 1954 The Television Act 1954 was a British law which permitted the creation of the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom, ITV. Until the early 1950s, the only television service in Britain was operated as a monopoly by the Britis ...
that broke the BBC television monopoly by creating
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
. Some members wanted commercial competition to radio but were thwarted by a succession of governments. By the 1960s several companies formed in the hope that radio licences would be issued. Radio monopolies in adjoining nations had been broken by transmitters on ships in international waters. The first attempt to broadcast offshore to Britain was by
CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
, an English-language station from the same ship as
Radio Veronica Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales ...
broadcasting in Dutch to the
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. CNBC ended transmissions but press reports followed that GBLN, ''The Voice of Slough'', would transmit from a ship with sponsored programming already booked and advertised by
Herbert W. Armstrong Herbert W. Armstrong (July 31, 1892 – January 16, 1986) was an American evangelism, evangelist who founded the Worldwide Church of God (WCG). An early pioneer of radio evangelism, radio and television evangelism, Armstrong preached what he c ...
. GBLN was followed by reports that GBOK was attempting to get on the air from another ship, both ships to be anchored off south-east England. Many in these early ventures were known to each other. Some of the commercial television group members had registered broadcasting companies and were working to create offshore radio. The first venture was "Project Atlanta" in 1963, which had ties to British political leaders, bankers, the music industry and to Gordon McLendon, who had helped
Radio Nord Radio Nord was a Swedish offshore commercial station that operated briefly from 8 March 1961 to 30 June 1962 from a ship anchored in international waters of the Baltic Sea off Stockholm, Sweden. While the station was dubbed as a pirate radio sta ...
broadcast from a ship off Sweden. When that was put off the air by Swedish law it became available to British entrepreneurs. Before Radio Atlanta got on the air,
Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...
began broadcasting in March 1964. Texas connections to British stations led Don Pierson of Eastland, Texas to promote three American-radio format stations off Britain: Wonderful Radio London or Big L, Swinging Radio England and Britain Radio. By 1966 other stations had come on the air transmitting to
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, northern and southern England, or were in the process of doing so. Press reports included rumours of offshore television stations and the brief success of the Dutch
REM Island REM Island is a platform built in the Republic of Ireland and towed off the Dutch coast in 1964 as the pirate broadcasting home of ''Radio and TV Noordzee''. Both stations were dismantled by the Netherlands Armed Forces. It was 10 km off Noordw ...
operation called Radio and TV Noordzee heightened the fear of the authorities that de facto unregulated broadcasting was becoming so entrenched due to its popularity that it would not be possible to stop it.


Existing laws

Although these stations maintained sales and management offices in Britain, the transmitters were not under British law. In many instances, the ships were registered in other countries.


Claims of piracy

Parliamentary debates listed several reasons why unlicensed broadcasting should be stopped. Opponents referred to "pirate radio stations". Allegations of piracy included misappropriation of World War II military installations; wavelengths allocated to others and the unauthorised playing of recorded music. Other claims said the vessels were a danger to shipping and that signals could interfere with aircraft and police, fire and ambulance services.


Timing

In 1966, a dispute among offshore radio operators brought the issue of unlicensed radio stations to the fore.
Reginald Calvert Pearce Reginald Hartley CalvertNational Probate Calendar, 1966 (1928 – 21 June 1966) was an English artist manager, born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England. He was the manager of The Fortunes, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, Screaming Lor ...
, operator of Radio City, had refused to pay
Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...
's operator Oliver Smedley for a substandard transmitter. Smedley hired some riggers to occupy the Radio City facility (on Shivering Sands, a disused offshore defence fort), and in an altercation at Smedley's house, Smedley killed Calvert. This incident strengthened the position of the Labour government of
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
, who wanted to bring the pirate stations under control, enough to see the passage of the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act on 15 August 1967.


Results

The offshore stations fell into four groups: *Local operators of small stations such as Radio Essex and Radio City who conducted their businesses with limited budgets primarily from disused forts on offshore sandbars, plus the similarly based larger operation, Radio 390. The UK silenced these stations by bringing the sandbars within UK waters. * Regional operators such as Radio 270 and Radio Scotland who lacked the resources to relocate to other countries and staff their operations with non-British personnel. * The ship based stations of Wonderful Radio London, Swinging Radio England and Britain Radio. While Wonderful Radio London made money, the others had lost so they closed ahead of the law to save further expense. Radio London continued broadcasting until its last transmission on the eve of the new law. * The Radio Caroline ships announced they would move to Holland, with an advertising office in
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. The reality was felt in early 1968 when two tugs representing the company supplying the ships with food, fuel, water, and spares towed the vessels away to satisfy debts.


Continuing challenges

Although challenges began with
Radio North Sea International Radio North Sea International (RNI; ; ) was a European offshore radio station run by the Swiss firm Mebo Telecommunications, jointly owned by Swiss engineer Edwin Bollier and his business partner, Erwin Meister.. The company, registered in Switz ...
in 1970, the British governments (both Labour, then Conservative) jammed it until it moved to a position off the Netherlands. There was no Dutch equivalent of the Act until 1974; upon its introduction, RNI closed. Radio Caroline returned through the 1970s using the , a vessel that sank in 1980, then returned with a new ship, the , in 1983, primarily conducted with volunteer help. For much of this period Caroline's ships also hosted Dutch-language stations whose revenue, along with that of American evangelical broadcasts, kept the station on the air. In 1984 Caroline was joined by
Laser 558 Laser 558 was an offshore pirate radio station launched in May 1984 using disc jockeys from the US. It broadcast from the Panama-registered ship MV Communicator in international waters in the North Sea. Within months the station had a large audi ...
another station with American backing, and while the latter gained a huge audience, the legislation plus a sea embargo monitoring supplies out to its ship, MV ''Communicator'', drove its operators into insolvency as well as putting additional pressure on Caroline. An attempt to revive Laser under new management only lasted a few months from 1986 to 1987. The arrival of Laser had increased knowledge of Caroline's presence, and its closure plus a change in Caroline's music policy resulted in an increase in their younger audience. Further amendments to the act had resulted in Radio Caroline having to move its operations into wilder water, and the Great Storm of 1987 damaged their antenna tower, which collapsed a few weeks later. A smaller antenna system was built but was less efficient. The Dutch and British governments then raided the Radio Caroline ship and removed much of its equipment, but again it limped back onto the air until late 1990 when, with its funding running low, the final amendment to the act, instigating a 200-mile limit, came into effect. Attempts to secure more funding proved futile, and thereafter it pursued legal means of broadcasting.


Apparent conclusion of unlicensed British offshore radio

The end of the offshore
Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...
came when the
Broadcasting Act 1990 The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...
, which built on all similar and related legislation, together with a storm that caused its staff temporarily to abandon the ship, caused the station to come ashore in 1991, where enthusiasts continue to build a broadcasting business using the new licensing system available to British broadcasters.


Similar legislation in other countries

Denmark 1962, Belgium 1962, Ireland 1968, France 1969, Netherlands 1974


See also

* Wireless Telegraphy Act * '' The Boat That Rocked''


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marine, andc., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1967 Telecommunications in the United Kingdom Radio in the United Kingdom Offshore radio Pirate radio Media legislation 1967 in radio History of mass media in the United Kingdom