History Main / BuccaneerBroadcaster

* ''TheBoatThatRocked'' ([[MarketBasedTitle known as]] ''PirateRadio'' in the US[[hottip:*:which is the reason why this trope is called BuccaneerBroadcaster instead of that]]) is [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory extremely loosely based]] on the experience of Radio Caroline (some studio props used in the movie were actually loaned from Caroline's last ship ''Ross Revenge'').
* In ''{{Born in Flames}}'', two different [[StrawFeminist radical feminist]] groups voice their concerns to the public with pirate radio stations. One group, led by an outspoken white lesbian, operates "Radio Ragazza". The other group, led by a soft-spoken African-American, operates "Phoenix Radio".

* ''{{On the Rocks}}'' was an obscure British kids' show from the 70s about a pirate TV station operating from a remote lighthouse.

[[AC:Music]]
* The remix album of CowboyBebop's soundtrack was "broadcast" by Radio Free Mars, a pirate station operated from a satellite of the red planet.

* [[GTARadio Wildstyle]] in ''[[GrandTheftAutoViceCity Grand Theft Auto: Vice City]]'' purports to be a pirate radio station.

* Luxembourg wasn't fussy who or what it broadcast as long as they paid up. Prior to the pop shows starting in the early evenings, 208 was the home of a particularly repugnant American televangelist (British broadcasting law refused any sort of airtime for these people in Britain. Despite their hatred of pop and rock music as being a tainted and ungodly thing of Satan, Garner Ted Armstrong and his church had no choice but to rent airspace from the Satan-worshippers in Luxembourg to get their message into Britain.
* Luxy also cheerfully advertised businesses banned from advertising in Britain, or in extreme cases banned altogether, such as get-rich-quick-through-beating-the-bookies scams based in Keynsham. It still advertised cigarettes long after all radio and TV advertising for fags and cigars had been banned in Britain.

* Sometimes, legitimate radio stations will call themselves "pirate radio" in order to emphasize that they're "edgier" than the competition. An example is WSOU in northern [[{{Joisey}} New Jersey]], which goes by "Seton Hall's Pirate Radio" but is actually just a normal {{college radio}} station (albeit a very large and popular one).

* ''PumpUpTheVolume'' is about a teenage boy who uses a pirate radio station to take on the injustices at his high school.

* In the Midwest during the late 70s and early 80s, it was Bruce Quinn's ''Jolly Roger Radio''. They played the pirate trope to the hilt. Avast, matey, here be some Pentangle and Steeleye Span fer ye! They also had a number of promos joking about how they knew they were going to get busted. They did. Quinn later [[http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld4026.txt owned WKLU Indianapolis]] and sold it for something like six million dollars.

* During the Cold War, people in Estonia (which was under Soviet rule) could easily pick up radio waves drom Finland. Since Finland allowed commercial TV broadcasting, Soviet officials tried to prevent Estonians from watching capitalistic TV with interference and intimidation.

Pirate radio dates back to the first time governments tried to regulate radio broadcasts. It gets its name from the fact that many early unlicensed radio stations were based on boats (such as the famous Radio Caroline off the coast of Britain in TheSixties). Since then, the term has been applied to any radio station that operates without a government license. This usually annoys government regulators, licensed radio stations and radio listeners alike, as pirate radio stations operating on a close enough frequency to licensed ones can cause interference that screws with radio reception.

* The English-language Radio Luxembourg is a borderline case. While it was most definitely licensed to its country of origin (it was ''run by that country's government''), its transmissions were also of dubious legality in Britain (the country its transmitters were pointed towards), where TheBBC enjoyed a near-monopoly on radio and listening to unauthorised radio broadcasts was illegal. Before WorldWarII Luxembourg was just one of many European cross-border commercial stations. During the war some of them, including Luxembourg, were taken over and used to broadcast Nazi propaganda; after the war Luxembourg was the only one that resumed commercial operations. In TheFifties Luxembourg broadcast lots of {{GameShow}}s, most of which defected to television as soon as {{ITV}} went on the air, leaving Luxembourg as solely a music station. TheBBC developed a rivalry with Radio Luxembourg for much of TheFifties and TheSixties, especially in the arena of pop music. In fact, many BBC DJs also braodcast on Luxembourg - clearly contracts were more lenient in those days. In 1989 a partnership between Luxembourg and RTE resulted in Atlantic 252, which broadcast to the British Isles from Ireland until 2002.

* The English-language Radio Luxembourg is a borderline case. While it was most definitely licensed to its country of origin (it was ''run by that country's government''), its transmissions were also of dubious legality in Britain (the country its transmitters were pointed towards), where TheBBC enjoyed a near-monopoly on radio and listening to unauthorised radio broadcasts was illegal. Before WorldWarII Luxembourg was just one of many European cross-border commercial stations. During the war some of them, including Luxembourg, were taken over and used to broadcast Nazi propaganda; after the war Luxembourg was the only one that resumed commercial operations. TheBBC developed a rivalry with Radio Luxembourg for much of TheFifties and TheSixties, especially in the arena of pop music. In 1989 a partnership between Luxembourg and RTE resulted in Atlantic 252, which broadcast to the British Isles from Ireland until 2002.

** Also ''many'' others from the 1950s to the 1980s, notably Radio Mercur (broadcasting to Denmark and part of Sweden), Radio Veronica (Netherlands), Radio London (Britain), Radio North Sea International (Netherlands and Britain) and Laser 558 (Britain and Northern Europe). And let's not forget Radio Hauraki (New Zealand), which was actually granted a licence by the New Zealand Government after three and a half years as a pirate.

* ''TheGoodies'' start a pirate radio station in "Radio Goodies". Inspired, Graeme starts a pirate post office, then goes DrunkWithPower and tries to start a pirate nation by dragging England out of its own five-mile limit. It is highly amusing.
* ''BoyMeetsWorld'' had an episode where Cory and Shawn form their own pirate radio station after Mr. Feeny kicks them off the school's station for turning their show from a dull Q&A session into the much more inappropriate "Lunchtime Lust." They only get to enjoy their success for a few minutes before Shawn accidentally gives away their location on air and Feeny busts them.

* The ''[[TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' episode "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" has Bart, Lisa and Milhouse setting up a pirate radio station, using it to spread gossip about Springfield's adults while speaking in [[BritishAccents the Queen's English]].

* ''TheGoodies'' start a pirate radio station in "Radio Goodies". Inspired, Graeme starts a pirate post office, then goes DrunkWithPower and tries to start a pirate nation by dragging England out of it's own five-mile limit. It is highly amusing.

* Radio Caroline, described in the opening section. Also ''many'' others from the 1950s to the 1980s, notably Radio Mercur (broadcasting to Denmark and part of Sweden), Radio Veronica (Netherlands), Radio London (Britain), Radio North Sea International (Netherlands and Britain) and Laser 558 (Britain and Northern Europe). And let's not forget Radio Hauraki (New Zealand), which was actually granted a licence by the New Zealand Government after three and a half years as a pirate.

* ''TheGoodies'' start a pirate radio station (and a pirate post office) in "Radio Goodies".

* In ''Born in Flames'', two different [[StrawFeminist radical feminist]] groups voice their concerns to the public with pirate radio stations. One group, led by an outspoken white lesbian, operates "Radio Ragazza". The other group, led by a soft-spoken African-American, operates "Phoenix Radio".

* ''On the Rocks'' was an obscure British kids' show from the 70s about a pirate TV station operating from a remote lighthouse.

** Of course, the Pirates are Seton Hall University's mascot...

* Inspired by the pirates broadcasting to Britain in the 60s, the ''{{Thunderbirds}}'' episode "Ricochet" features a pirate station operating from a small satellite - which naturally gets into trouble. (Why the owners didn't think to use an ''unmanned'' satellite is never explained.)

* ''TheBoatThatRocked'' ([[MarketBasedTitle known as]] ''PirateRadio'' in the US[[hottip:*:which is the reason why this trope is called BuccaneerBroadcaster instead of that]]) is [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely based]] on the experience of Radio Caroline.

* Radio Caroline, described in the opening section. Also ''many'' others from the 1950s to the 1980s, notably Radio Mercur (broadcasting to Denmark and part of Sweden), Radio Veronica (Netherlands), Radio London (Britain), Radio North Sea International (Netherlands and Britain) and Laser 558 (Britain and Northern Europe).

* Radio Caroline, described in the opening section.
* The English-language Radio Luxembourg is a borderline case. While it was most definitely licensed to its country of origin (it was ''run by that country's government''), its transmissions were also of dubious legality in Britain (the country its transmitters were pointed towards), where TheBBC enjoyed a near-monopoly on radio and listening to unauthorised radio broadcasts was illegal. TheBBC developed a rivalry with Radio Luxembourg for much of TheFifties and TheSixties, especially in the arena of pop music.

* ''TheBoatThatRocked'' ([[MarketBasedTitle known as]] ''PirateRadio'' in the US, which is the reason why this trope is called BuccaneerBroadcaster instead of that) is [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely based]] on the experience of Radio Caroline.