Radio City (pirate radio station)

Radio City
Shivering Sands Army Fort. A recent photo, taken many years after the catwalks connecting the towers were removed as a safety hazard, and showing the towers in far rustier condition than they were in the 1960s.
  • Thames Estuary
  • United Kingdom
Frequency194 metres (197) (initially), 1542 kHz (later), 290 metres (1034 kHz), 299 metres (1003 kHz)
Programming
FormatPirate radio
Ownership
OwnerScreaming Lord Sutch (founder), Reginald Calvert (later owner)
OperatorReginald Calvert
History
First air date
27 May 1964 (as Radio Sutch)
Last air date
8 February 1967
Technical information
Power2 kW (claimed 10 kW)

Radio City was a British pirate radio station that operated from the Shivering Sands Army Fort, one of the abandoned Second World War Maunsell Sea Forts in the Thames Estuary. Originally launched as Radio Sutch by Screaming Lord Sutch on 27 May 1964, the station was part of the wave of offshore pirate stations that revolutionized British radio in the 1960s. Initially a low-powered, low-budget operation, it was later expanded by Reginald Calvert, who renamed it Radio City.