Caroline goes legit

The seminal pirate station of the sixties will launch a new legit radio service via the media company WorldSpace. Caroline was the flagship offshore radio station that made stars of Tony Blackburn and Johnnie Walker, and which encouraged the BBC to set up Radio One. It was outlawed in 1967 but amazingly continued to broadcast illegally until 1990 when its studio ship was destroyed in a storm. More recently it has broadcast on restricted service licences from towns along the Thames and Medway. Now the station will broadcast online and digitally playing a mixture of contemporary and classic album music. The service will be initially free, but the station hopes to go on to charge a £4.99 a month fee.