How to report pirate radio interference

Try listening to FM radio in many large cities of the UK, and you'll find pirate radio popping up between the 'proper' radio broadcasters.

Pirate radio has a long history here: from the pirate ships of the 1960s, which eventually led to the BBC launching Radio 1 and government allowing commercial radio (which started in 1973), pirate radio offers additional choice that you don't always get from the official radio stations.

However, pirate radio sometimes also doesn't get it right. Their transmitters are sometimes badly set up, and interfere with existing radio broadcasters. Some stations, like BBC Radio 3 and speech radio (Radio 4 or LBC, to give just two examples) are particularly badly affected by pirate radio broadcasts nearby. Whatever the rights or wrongs of unlicensed broadcasting, it's clearly not right to interfere with other broadcasters.

Ofcom, the media regulator, does operate a small pirate radio unit, which can get badly-run radio stations shut down: normally with help from the police. On its website, Ofcom recommend that you check whether the radio station you're trying to listen to is actually supposed to cover your area; then to make a report that will assist their officers in investigating further. Ofcom, and their predecessors, have closed down many broadcasters throughout the years - I once listened, enthralled, to a radio broadcaster being closed down in West Yorkshire (the station's on-air presenter blaming the engineer for the local licensed service).

However, almost everyone can broadcast on a DAB Digital Radio multiplex if you have the money and the inclination - though you'll need to also abide by Ofcom content regulations. Contact your local multiplex operator to discover more.

The audience for pirate radio appears small: "other listening" for RAJAR, which includes every station who aren't members, is less than 3% of all radio listening. In the absence of other figures, pirate radio therefore very rarely worries licensed broadcasters, other than interference issues: and they're unlikely to be reported if they're operating their transmitters sensibly.

And, dare we say it, digitalisation of radio also brings new, interesting, opportunities to pirate broadcasters. The software you need to run a pirate radio station on DAB is freely available, after all. The UK has yet to see a 'proper' pirate radio station on DAB: but some people believe it's only a matter of time.