I have been through my logs to see how many European shortwave pirates I heard during the past 12 months. The grand total was 183 - which is almost the same as in 2018, when the total number was 179.
So it looks like the SW pirate scene is pretty stable with hardly any difference in the numbers heard in 2019 & 2018. A few disappeared while a few new names took to the airwaves, plus the regulars who keep the free radio flag flying year after year.
The top country (no surprise) was the Netherlands with 95 shortwave pirates - again almost the same as in 2018 when its total was 99. Second was Germany with 15, Italy and the UK had nine each while Ireland had six.
Some stations were regulars, heard practically daily during the year, like Laser Hot Hits and Charleston Radio, while others made just one or two broadcasts.
Some operators may have used more than one name so the final figure is only a rough guide. There are quite a few unknowns, which are mainly stations playing music and jingles. It is not always easy to tell where they are broadcasting from.
The list doesn't include relays of internet and FM stations, such as Coast FM.
Some stations may not be on the list although they did broadcast last year, but I didn't hear them.
Country breakdown (2018 number in brackets)
The Netherlands 95 (99)
Unknown 40 (31)
Germany 15 (13)
Italy 9 (8)
United Kingdom 9 (10)
Ireland 6 (9)
Belgium 2 (1)
Finland 2 (1)
Greece, Hungary, Ukraine, Norway, Sweden - all 1 each
The UK stations I logged in 2019 were: Bogusman/The Ghoul, Radio Focus Int, Laser Hot Hits, Radio Merlin Int, Radio Pamela, Radio Pandora, Radio Parade Int, Rock Radio Network, XTC.
Not heard in 2019 were Central Radio Int, Empire Radio, Little Feat Radio and Radio Underground.
For my list of shortwave pirates heard in 2019, click here
The MW Free Radio blog has done his annual survey of the Dutch medium wave pirates heard last year. You can see his list on his blog which he updated a few days ago:
https://mwfreeradio.blogspot.com/2020/01/welcome-to-new-decade.html
3 comments:
It is good see stations like Merlin, Pamela, Pandora & XTC still going after all these years. I wonder what happened to Radio Underground?
This month is the 40th anniversary of the launch of Weekend Music Radio which started in January 1980. It would be great if Jack came back this year with a special broadcast to celebrate this anniversary.
I agree, it would be good if WMR returned - even for just one broadcast to mark his 40th anniversary, like Empire Radio did in 2018.
You can read about WMR's history at http://www.wmrscotland.com/wmr_history_part_1.html
I didn't hear Underground at all last year.
Come on Jack, you know it makes sense!
Post a Comment