Radio Mi Amigo History 3

Radio Mi Amigo - History (3)

1976

In May 1976 Radio Mi Amigo introduced a summertime schedule, but there were initial supply difficulties and for a few weeks taped programmes failed to arrive from Spain. DJs, and news readers on board the Mi Amigo (including some from Radio Caroline) had to fill in these gaps with live programmes. A new regular live programme "Baken 16" (Buoy 16) was also introduced in July 1976 which, as well as music, included news, traffic and weather reports.

Authorities in Britain, Holland and Belgium seemed determined at this time to prosecute, sometimes on a very petty level, anyone remotely connected with either of the radio stations aboard the MV Mi Amigo, making life as difficult as possible for these individuals and the station operators in the hope that eventually the transmissions would cease.

In May 1976 the Dutch Public Prosecutor announced his Department's policy towards any Dutch companies advertising on Radio Mi Amigo. Once a commercial had been broadcast the company concerned would receive a visit from the police warning of the consequences of buying further advertising time on the station. If the firm concerned continued to advertise then it was liable to prosecution without further warning. As a result of this policy announcement the Dutch press reported on 12th May 1976 that some twenty companies in Holland had cancelled their advertising contracts with the offshore station.

There followed a series of prosecutions in the Netherlands, Belgium and Britain of people and advertisers involved with Radio Mi Amigo. The cases resulted in fines and suspended prison sentences being imposed on those found guilty.

As 1976 came to a close a number of technical changes took place on board the Mi Amigo. Despite using the 50Kw transmitter Radio Mi Amigo's signal on 259m had never been satisfactory during the daytime in its primary target area of Belgium and the Netherlands because of interference from a station in Budapest. The station's owners, who held a considerable control over what happened on board the Mi Amigo, made it clear to those behind Radio Caroline that something must be done to improve the signal. It was decided therefore that both stations on the Mi Amigo should swap frequencies and at 12 noon on 10th December 1976 both 259m and 192m closed so that the crystals could be exchanged.

The following morning test transmissions, using the 50Kw transmitter, were heard on 1562kHz (192m) and regular Radio Mi Amigo programmes were broadcast on this frequency from 11.00am. However, the change of Radio Mi Amigo's wavelength to 192m was not a success - listeners in Brussels reported the signal to be much weaker and in Amsterdam it was said to be inaudible for most of the day. This problem was caused by two unexpected factors - interference from a Swiss transmitter in Beromunstrer and the fact that the transmitter used by Radio Mi Amigo, although supposedly capable of 50Kw was often only running at 15Kw at this time.

1977

On 22nd January 1977 Radio Mi Amigo started transmitting French language programmes between 8.00am and 12 noon on Saturdays. Programmes included an hour of English and French records followed by a French Top 30 with flashbacks and new releases. Advertising during the programmes consisted mostly of promotions for French artists and their albums. However, this service was discontinued after only two weeks because of the number of complaints from regular listeners in Belgium and Holland - these programmes in particular were blamed for a huge drop in Radio Mi Amigo's popularity in Belgium at that time. Reception of the station's broadcasts in France was also reported to be poor with the signal repeatedly fading, so there seemed little prospect of attracting regular advertisers from that country.

Another French connection with the station came to light at the end of February 1977 when a Court in Boulogne found five French businessmen men guilty of supplying goods and carrying people to the MV Mi Amigo. There were also further prosecutions in the French courts during 1977 of more people accused of being involved with the supply of food and fuel to the radio ship.