Radio Caroline claims world first in US launch
By James Cridland for media.info
Posted 20 January 2015, 6.00am gmt
Famous pirate radio station Radio Caroline launches in the US today, with an intruiging world first: automatic timezone detection.
Listeners to internet radio are hampered by timezones, meaning that they often wake up to radio shows intended for drivetime or evening listening. However, with a new app, listeners on the East Coast and the West Coast of the US will get delayed versions of the station, enabling fans to wake up to the breakfast show and go home with drivetime. Listeners via the Radioplayer on the Radio Caroline website also automatically get versions of the station tailored for their timezone.
Tony Paul presents the Radio Caroline breakfast show live from Los Angeles every morning, and will therefore have the interesting experience of waking up to himself on the radio!
In 2005, BBC Radio 1 started broadcasting a time-delayed version of the station on US satellite service Sirius, which continued until 2011. It was only time-delayed for listeners on the East Coast, however. In 2013, we highlighted a DIY piece of work: the Radio-4-Matic, which delayed BBC Radio 4's output to Pacific Time for one hacker.
You'll find both apps on the Radio Caroline website.
Press Release
Los Angeles, Calif. - Legendary music station Radio Caroline that defied the British government to bring rock and roll to the UK and sparked the Swinging Sixties launches in the U.S.A. today.
Still leading the way in innovation, in an industry first, Radio Caroline is rolling out new apps on Tuesday Jan. 20 that remove the time difference and enable American fans to listen to the station's output from breakfast throughout the day and into the evening in either Eastern Standard Time or Pacific Standard Time.
It's the first time that a British radio station has synched its output for the East Coast and the West Coast of America with its flagship breakfast show originating in Los Angeles. Now listeners on both coasts can start their day with the breakfast show with Tony Paul from 7 to 9 a.m and hear the rest of the station's output from the U.K. around the clock.
After 50 years on the air, Caroline remains true to its heritage with real personalities playing the music of the rock and roll generations up to the present day and helping break the best new artists.
Apps for iOS and Android are now available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play and the apps are free!
“The British station with the American name soon became recognized as a symbol of rebellion the world over.” New York Times, April 3, 2011.
Named after President John F. Kennedy's daughter, Radio Caroline began broadcasting in 1964 from two ships anchored off the coast of Britain in international waters.
At a time when Britain's official broadcaster the BBC refused to play the music young people were clamoring to hear, pirate DJs lived on board the boats and rocked and rolled in defiance of The Establishment, playing songs by The Who, the Rolling Stones, The Beatles and other now iconic bands.
Endorsing the book “The Ship That Rocked the World,” Pete Townshend of The Who is quoted as saying: “Without Caroline, we would not have sold a single record.”
The story inspired the Hollywood movie “Pirate Radio,” starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhys Ifans, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, which was written and directed by Richard Curtis, a longtime Radio Caroline fan.
The station still has one of the “boats that rocked,” the “Ross Revenge,” now restored and anchored just off the coast of southeastern England.
A feature documentary about the history of Radio Caroline is currently in production in the U.S. and U.K. and features interviews with Roger Daltrey, Mick Fleetwood, Donovan, Olivia Harrison, Richard Branson and original DJs including Johnnie Walker and Tom Lodge.