Pirates are repeatedly returning to the airwaves only days after being fined, according to the Radiocommunications Agency, with seven illegal stations in London alone being raided more than 30 times. And so desperate are pirate DJs to avoid detection that they will base their studio several miles away from their transmitter, which will be positioned on the top of a high rise building. The number of raids on illegal broadcasters has virtually doubled in the past 10 years, from 127 in 1991 to 222 last year. There are now an estimated 400 pirates operating in the London area alone, with stations also setting up in Birmingham and Bristol. A new factor in the the pirate boom are dance clubs sponsoring the stations' illegal airtime to promote themselves.
Hard evidence is, however, difficult to collect.
Andy Roberts, programme director of Kiss FM, which started out as a pirate radio station, said illegal stations earn considerable respect from record companies and are seen as the training ground for DJs. There is also a respect from the mainstream, including from record companies. The pirates are well organised now and have commercial breaks to sell space to the clubs. Raided numerous times, the DJ once shared a house with another pirate with one broadcasting from the kitchen and the other from the front room. It's more the underground clubs which advertise.