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Any pirates received special tratement from DTI/Ofcom ?

Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2024 11:08 am
by FMEnjoyer
In many raids of big pirates DTI/Ofcom seems fairly reasonable. Did anyone suspect specific stations got special treatment being left alone, in frequent raids, tip offs, or got of lightly, and why, they liked the music :lol: in the annals of time ?

Re: Any pirates received special tratement from DTI/Ofcom ?

Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2024 12:21 pm
by shuffy
In the North West where I'm from, I'd say definitely not. I was a lot closer to the scene in the 80's/90's and the fight between the pirates and the authorities was pretty personal, bordering on obsessive. There were more complaints from legals in those days too, and even allegedly interference from engineers working for those legals. From what I hear, the situation in London was similar.

I've spent a lot of time in London over the years and noticed stations which were always on when I went down and seemed to stay on for long periods, but wouldn't like to speculate as I wasn't there continuously after the mid 90s. I know lots of the big pirates could be back on in record time after a raid.

These days they don't have the resource to go chasing pirates and RF "issues" need prioritising. I reckon the rule of thumb is just to keep the number/frequency of people you're pissing off to a minimum, so no splattering of 80's/90's/00's chart music across the whole band with huge power please. Oh hold on, wait a minute... :-?

Re: Any pirates received special tratement from DTI/Ofcom ?

Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2025 12:24 pm
by Persona Non Grata
There's been a few rumors of stations down through the years of stations being deliberately overlooked (or even receiving police protection) from the GPO/DTI/Ofcom because of how rarely (if ever) they got raided however there are alternative explanations:
  • Some stations were located in parts of town where the authorities were reluctant/hesitant to tread

    Some stations had unusually clean transmitters on well chosen frequencies which the authorities had no reason to act against :lol:

    Some stations were just.....lucky ?

Re: Any pirates received special tratement from DTI/Ofcom ?

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2025 2:34 pm
by LeeCavanagh
shuffy wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 12:21 pm keep the number/frequency of people you're pissing off to a minimum, so no splattering of 80's/90's/00's chart music across the whole band with huge power please. Oh hold on, wait a minute... :-?
lol , nothing wrong with 80s music… but if you sprog then no sympathy.

Re: Any pirates received special tratement from DTI/Ofcom ?

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2025 2:41 pm
by LeeCavanagh
Your right about engineers at stations , I’ve also been sat in a room of presenters all talking about the station I was on, and they jokingly said I bet your on it, I just laughed it off. I’ve heard of the same happening at Sunset Radio (back before it changed name in Manchester).

Re: Any pirates received special tratement from DTI/Ofcom ?

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2025 4:44 pm
by shuffy
LeeCavanagh wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 2:41 pmYour right about engineers at stations , I’ve also been sat in a room of presenters all talking about the station I was on, and they jokingly said I bet your on it, I just laughed it off. I’ve heard of the same happening at Sunset Radio (back before it changed name in Manchester).
Specifically - KFM had their link jammed repeatedly for long periods in mid 1984. This contributed to the studio move later in the year, to co-locate with the TX. I'm sure the rumour at the time was that it was BBC engineers jamming, but decades later I was told by an ex KFM'er that it was actually someone on the IBA side. Could have been time dimming the memories, who knows.

Incidentally, Southside was jammed around the same time - actually it might have still been Small Town Radio at that point - but allegedly that was hams. Ditto the Superstation around 93.

Re: Any pirates received special tratement from DTI/Ofcom ?

Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2025 4:45 pm
by shuffy
LeeCavanagh wrote: Sat Jan 18, 2025 2:34 pmlol , nothing wrong with 80s music… but if you sprog then no sympathy.
You know we agree on that! It occurred to me when writing, that I could be describing GRT S*HITS or similar (barring the sprogging of course!)

Re: Any pirates received special tratement from DTI/Ofcom ?

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 9:44 pm
by Albert H
I am aware of one North London station who had their gear removed during the afternoon, and returned a couple of hours later to their block with a note to "get back on quick" - Broadwater Farm (notorious estate for those outside London) was going mad! The riots were viscious.