Pirate Radio

This paper aims to follow the development of radio broadcasting piracy. We focused on two main and very different media landscapes - the United Kingdom and the United States of America. In the beginning, the concept of piracy differed locally. The United Kingdom's pirates were people who received radio broadcasting of the British Broadcasting Company without paying an annual license for listening. In the media landscape of America, piracy was connected with the broadcasting of their own signal. US pirates were broadcasters who caused an interference with any other licensed station. This concept of piracy developed in British media landscape too. Later, it was primarily associated with offshore broadcasters who anchored their floating studios in international waters. This kind of radio piracy was the most popular in the United Kingdom because of a radio broadcasting monopoly of the BBC. Piracy in the United States of America is associated with efforts of amateur radio experimenters. When their signals strengthened, all their activities became illegal. In both cases, piracy was a strong stimulus for a change. In the United Kingdom, the BBC formed new channels with diverse content and in the United Stated of America the position of micro- broadcasters has been strengthened