Editing BBC Radio (section)

===Commercial radio influence===

Beginning in March 1964, [[Radio Caroline]] became the first of what would become ten offshore [[UK pirate radio|pirate radio]] stations that began to ring the British coastline, mostly along the south-east coast. By 1966 millions were tuning into these commercial stations, and the BBC was rapidly losing its radio listening audience.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2939411 | work = H2G2 | title = The Offshore Radio Revolution in Britain 1964–2004 | date = 31 August 2004 | access-date = 22 July 2007 | archive-date = 9 July 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070709131405/http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2939411 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/09/27/bvradio127.xml&page=1 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071018203739/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/09/27/bvradio127.xml&page=1 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 18 October 2007 | work = Daily Telegraph | title = The day we woke up to pop music on Radio 1| date = 27 September 2007 | author = Imogen Carter | access-date =30 September 2007}}</ref> This was largely due to the fact that even though they were fully aware of the problem, the BBC still only played a few hours of pop music records a week, as opposed to the pirates which broadcast chart music and new releases every day.

The British government reacted by passing the [[Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967]], which virtually wiped out all of the pirate stations at midnight on 14 August 1967, by banning any British citizen from working for a pirate station. Only [[Radio Caroline]] survived, and continues to broadcast today, though the last original offshore broadcast was in 1989.

One of the stations, [[Wonderful Radio London|Radio London]] (also known as "Big L"), was so successful that the BBC was told to copy it as best they could. This led to a complete overhaul by [[Frank Gillard]], the BBC's director of radio output, creating the four analogue channels that still form the basis of its broadcasting today. The creator of Radio 1 told the press that his family had been fans of Radio London.

The BBC hired many out-of-work broadcasting staff who had come from the former offshore stations. [[Kenny Everett]] was asked for input in how to run the new pop station due to his popularity with both listeners and fellow presenters. [[Tony Blackburn]], who presented the first ''[[Radio 1 Breakfast]]'' show, had previously presented the morning show on Radio Caroline and later on Radio London. He attempted to duplicate the same sound for Radio 1. Among the other DJs hired was [[John Peel]], who had presented the overnight show on Radio London, called ''The Perfumed Garden''. Though it only ran for a few months prior to Radio London's closure, ''The Perfumed Garden'' got more fan mail than the rest of the pop DJs on Radio London combined, so much that staff wondered what to do with it all. The reason it got so much mail was that it played different music and was the beginning of the "album rock" genre. On Everett's suggestion, Radio London's [[PAMS]] [[jingles]] were commissioned to be re-recorded in [[Dallas]], [[Texas]], so that "''Wonderful Radio London''" became "''Wonderful Radio One on BBC''".

The BBC's more popular stations have encountered pressure from the commercial sector.<ref name="tel-nov2010">{{cite news |first=Amanda |last=Andrews |date=28 November 2010 |title=BBC enlists commercial sector help to shake up radio |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/8164936/BBC-enlists-commercial-sector-help-to-shake-up-radio.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/8164936/BBC-enlists-commercial-sector-help-to-shake-up-radio.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Telegraph |access-date=12 March 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[John Myers (radio executive)|John Myers]], who had developed commercial brands such as [[Century Network|Century Radio]] and [[Real Radio]], was asked in the first quarter of 2011 to conduct a review into the efficiencies of Radios 1, 2, 1Xtra and 6 Music. His role, according to Andrew Harrison, the chief executive of RadioCentre, was "to identify both areas of best practice and possible savings."<ref name="tel-nov2010"/>