Radio Veronica

Radio Veronica

"This article refers to a historical Dutch radio station, not the current oldies station with the same name."

Radio Veronica was a pirate radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and has the distinction of having broadcast from offshore for the longest continuous period - more than fourteen years.

(Radio Caroline broadcast offshore over a longer period - more than twenty-six and a half years - but this included non-consecutive periods totalling around eight and a half years off the air.)

Radio Veronica was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands. They hoped to stimulate the sales of radio receivers in the country by broadcasting more popular programmes than the established and state-licensed stations in Hilversum.

Broadcasts began on 21 April 1960. The station announced itself as VRON (Vrije Radio Omroep Nederland; Free Radio Station [of the] Netherlands) but changed to Radio Veronica, after the poem "Het Zwarte Schaap Veronica" - The Black Sheep Veronica - by the children's poet Annie M. G. Schmidt.

After the closure of the radio station some of its staff applied for a broadcasting licence and continued as a legal organisation with the same name.

The original Radio Veronica became the most popular station in the Netherlands, broadcasting from a former lightship "Borkum Riff" anchored off the Dutch coastline. The ship was fitted with a horizontal antenna between the fore and aft masts, fed by a one-kilowatt transmitter. The majority of programmes were recorded in a studio on the Zeedijk in Hilversum. At the end of the 1960s the studios and offices moved to bigger premises on the Utrechseweg in Hilversum.

For a short time the station also ran an English language service under the call letters CNBC (Commercial Neutral Broadcasting Company.)

Later the "Borkum Riff" was replaced by a former trawler, the MV Norderney.

Expansion and competition

The station faced its first serious competition in 1964 when Radio Noordzee and "TV Noordzee" began broadcasting from the REM Island, an artificial structure. The Dutch government passed a law banning broadcasts from such structures and raided the REM Island, but left Veronica alone because of its popularity.

In august 1964 the station acquired a new ship, a converted fishing trawler named "MV Norderney", and equipped it with a more efficient antenna and a 10-kilowatt transmitter, as well as an anchor designed to keep it correctly oriented. The "Norderney" took over Veronica's broadcasts in May that year and the "Borkum Riff" was sold for scrap.

During the 1960s the station was influenced by English-language pirates like Radio London and adopted a faster format with jingles. When another UK pirate, Swinging Radio England, went bankrupt it was briefly replaced by two Dutch-language successors, Radio Dolfijn and then Radio 227, which targeted Veronica's audiences, but competition was short-lived because of the British Marine Offences Act which closed most of the British stations by August 1967.

Veronica versus RNI

The arrival of a more powerful rival was to cause repercussions for Veronica. Radio Nordsee International (RNI), owned by two Swiss businessmen, initially broadcast German and English programmes from its ship "MV Mebo II" anchored off the Dutch Coast, but later moved to the British coast in early 1970 but was jammed by the British government. The jamming stopped when the ship returned to the Netherlands, taking up position just one mile from the "Norderney". The German programmes were subsequently replaced by all English programmes.

The "Mebo II" was equipped with a 100kw AM transmitter as well as FM and shortwave equipment. Although power did not guarantee RNI an audience, Radio Veronica's management were sufficiently worried about loss of advertising revenue that they planned to put RNI off the air.

On September 24 1970 RNI closed, claiming it was trying to stop the Dutch government from passing legislation that might force Veronica, "so dearly loved by the peoples of the Netherlands", to close. In fact Veronica had paid RNI 1 million guilders to go off the air for two months, and to enforce this agreement Veronica replaced the "Mebo II's" crew with their own staff.

RNI's management became unhappy with this arrangement, and once the two months were up one of RNI's Swiss directors, Erwin Bollier, attempted to refund the money. Veronica refused, claiming the right to renew the contract. On January 5 1971 Bollier boarded the "Mebo II", dismissed the Veronica-appointed captain, and took command himself. It was claimed that Veronica's staff had sabotaged RNI's equipment, but by February 1971 RNI was back on the air, with a Dutch as well as an English service. In March Veronica sued RNI for breach of contract. The court found in favour of RNI and the case tarnished Veronica's reputation.

Worse was to come. On the night of May 15 three men in a rubber dinghy started a fire on the "Mebo II" which damaged the stern. RNI broadcast mayday calls. All on board were rescued and the fire was extinguished. The studios and transmitters were undamaged and RNI went back on the air the following morning.

On May 17 Veronica's advertising director Norbert Jurgens was arrested and the following day Veronica's director Bull Verweij was also arrested. In a television interview Verweij claimed he had paid a man to tow the "Mebo II" into Dutch waters so that the ship be seized. Verweij denied any intention to endanger the lives of RNI's crew but was found guilty together with Jurgens and the crew of the dinghy and all five were sentenced to a year in prison.

Tha damage to Veronica's reputation was incalculable, and just as the 1966 Radio City shooting had motivated the British government to pass anti-pirate legislation, the RNI fire similarly motivated the Dutch.

Both Veronica and RNI continued to broadcast without further incident, but as the Government began to draw up plans for anti-pirate legislation so the two stations began to campaign against it.

In September 1972 the two radio ships were joined by Radio Caroline's "MV Mi Amigo", which anchored between the "Norderney" and "Mebo II".

Frequency change and RNI2

Veronica had been experiencing interference on 1562 kHz (192m) from the Beromünster transmitter in Switzerland. Originally allocated 10kW on 1562 kHz, Beromünster had upgraded to 160kW and was planning 300kW. Veronica had been considering a new frequency since the late 1960s, and the threat of increased interference made it imperative.

At noon on September 30 1972 Veronica broadcast a half-hour retrospective documentary. The station then closed at 12:30pm, a time chosen to symbolise the station's 12½ years on the air, announcing it would reopen at 1pm on its new frequency of 557kHz (539m, announced as 538).

A moment after Veronica went off the air, listeners heard RNI's theme tune on 1562kHz. RNI DJ Tony Allan, in Dutch, thanked Veronica for its 12½ years of broadcasting and reminded listeners of Veronica's new frequency, then welcomed them to the new sound of "RNI2". RNI's management claimed the new service had been launched to prove that RNI could broadcast additional frequencies in case of emergency, but it was widely seen by listeners as a tongue-in-cheek rivalry aimed at poaching Veronica's listeners.

Veronica returned to the air on 557 kHz as scheduled. Listeners in the Netherlands and Belgium reported improved reception, but not in Britain.

September 30 was an eventful day for offshore radio enthusiasts. That day also saw the "Mi Amigo" began test transmissions in preparation for Radio Caroline's return.

Radio Veronica broadcast a top 40 format during the daytime, but in the evenings and late at night some specialist shows were aired. Especially following its move to 538 metres Veronica became famous for its superbly crafted jingles and commercials. News summaries were broadcast each hour, at 2 minutes to the hour.

Meanwhile RNI2 broadcast for a few weeks and then went off the air.

1973-4 : Co-operation and rivalry

As the Government drew up its legislation Veronica organised a major rally that was due to take place in The Hague on April 18 1973, and planned to broadcast special programmes in support. Unfortunately on April 2 the "Norderney" lost its anchor in a storm and ran aground on Scheveningen beach. The ship suffered no serious damage and the crew were taken ashore safely, but it seemed unlikely that the ship could be refloated in time for the rally. RNI offered its facilities, but Veronica refused because of the bad blood between them. Caroline, although off the air with technical problems, also made an offer and Veronica accepted.

Working around the clock, Caroline's technicians put the "Mi Amigo" back on the air on April 11, transmitting Radio Veronica programmes on Caroline's frequency of 1187 kHz (253 metres, announced as 259). Meanwhile work on refloating the "Norderney" continued. This took several days, but the ship was in fact back at sea on the 18th and soon returned to the air. Thereafter the "Mi Amigo" relayed Veronica programmes from the "Norderney" for a few days.

In the summer of 1973 Britain's Independent Broadcasting Authority began test transmissions on 557 kHz from an antenna at Lots Road Power Station in West London. In October that year Capital Radio was launched on the same frequency. These broadcasts caused serious interference to Veronica in Britain and Belgium, although Dutch listeners were largely unaffected.

Meanwhile Caroline, which had helped Veronica in April, offered it new rivalry in July, in the form of Belgian millionaire Adriaan van Landschoot's Radio Atlantis which had hired airtime on the "Mi Amigo". This lasted until October. Radio Atlantis subsequently resumed broadcasting from its own ship, while from the "Mi Amigo" a new Dutch/Flemish station Radio Mi Amigo was launched on January 1 1974.

Final broadcast

Despite all of the pro-Veronica campaigning, the Dutch Government passed its anti-pirate legislation and announced that the law was to come into effect on September 1 1974. Veronica chose to close down at 6 PM on August 31. The final hour was, like most of Veronica's programmes, pre-recorded in the station's studios in Hilversum. However the station's final news bulletin "was" read live from the news studio on board the MV Norderney. A number of the station's directors, including Bull Verweij and his brother Jaap, were on board the ship during the final hour, as were many of the staff. In his final speech DJ Rob Out said "Part of the democracy in the Netherlands is dying with the closure of Radio Veronica and that is a tragedy for the country". Following the Dutch National Anthem, a Veronica jingle was played and the transmitter was switched off halfway through. Photos of the scene in the studio show grown men openly weeping.

Radio Atlantis and RNI also closed on the evening of August 31. Radio Caroline had already decided to continue, as it had in 1967, and after some debate Radio Mi Amigo also decided to stay on the air. After Veronica's closure Radio Mi Amigo "borrowed" many of Veronica's programming formats.

Veronica applies for legal status

After 1974 some of Veronica's staff set up the VOO (a Dutch abbreviation for Veronica Broadcasting Company) in the hopes of applying for a broadcasting licence. After some bureaucratic obstruction, which one critic described as a mini-Watergate, the VOO was finally granted a licence and was invited to open the new Hilversum 4 radio network on December 28 1975. Hilversum 4 was a classical music service, and the irony was not lost on Veronica, which began its first legal programme by "accidentally" playing a snatch of Beatles music at the start.

The VOO was part of the Dutch State broadcasting System, but during the 1990's Veronica became an independent broadcasting station in the Netherlands.

For further information see Veronica (television channel).

ee also

* List of radio stations in the Netherlands

External links

* [http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/VOLUME02/Years_of_Veronica.shtml History of Veronica in English (soundscapes)]
* [http://www.webcamsue.nl/ Radio Veronica Reunion, recorded August 31, 1996, Video Menu]


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