Originally Posted by Driver
No, mate. Radio Caroline was a ship, anchored just off the Isle of Man and just outside British territorial waters. This enabled the crew to broadcast pop and rock music (and commercials) 24/7 into the UK. Had they been inside British waters, they would have been contravening the broadcasting laws of the time.
They operated very successfully for a few years and built up a big following. Then the British government bowed to popular demand, changed the regs and the BBC started to broadcast pop and rock full time. This was the start of Radio One and a rash of smaller regional radio stations. Most of the DJs who had been working for Caroline (and a couple of other pirate stations) were employed by the Beeb to host their new music broadcasts.