Radio Caroline rules the waves once more, but still has a sinking feeling

Tim Luckhurst

Forty years after it changed the way Britons listened to the wireless, Radio Caroline, the offshore pirate station, hopes to make a comeback as a force in internet radio.

In the 1960s, broadcasting from storm-tossed ships to circumvent laws banning commercial stations, Radio Caroline was a catalyst for the spread of Sixties culture. Millions listened beneath their bedclothes. Caroline's demotic success was thrilling compared to the schoolmasterly tones of the BBC.

But now the station is hoping to take advantage of music fans' growing willingness to tune in from their PCs. Internet radio was launched in the UK as the online version of existing services and is becoming an important outlet for commercial and BBC stations. A recent poll reveals that 30 per cent of radio fans now listen online.

But alongside its function as a new outlet for traditional radio, the internet has spawned stations that are opening up a world of consumer choice.

"There are no rules at the moment," says Peter Moore, station manager of the new Radio Caroline. "There is an economy of scale involved. Anyone can afford to build a radio station in their back bedroom."

And four decades after the original Radio Caroline was killed off, its modern incarnation www.radiocaroline.co.uk is playing a part in another radio revolution.

The Independent