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Record Mirror Poll 1973

Record Mirror  on 29th September 1973 published the results of a poll to determine the most popular radio station in Britain. Radio North Sea International (RNI )came first with 51% of the votes, Caroline second with 15%, Radio Veronica third with 9%, while BBC Radio One received only 5%.

 However, the poll was not truly representative and reflected only the votes of those supporters willing to respond to the invitation to take part in the first place- RNI listeners were clearly more willing to do so than those of BBC Radio One, which in reality had a far larger audience in Britain.

Nevertheless Record Mirror stated "Today the BBC stands condemned by Britain's pop-rock listeners who have passed a massive vote of no confidence in Radio One and the policy of government-controlled broadcasting. An overwhelming number of voters in Record Mirror's Radio Referendum urge the legalisation of the so called 'pirate' stations and the introduction of free radio."

The introduction of local commercial radio in Britain was in fact just over a month away at the time of Record Mirror's poll. As a direct result of the poll's findings the paper changed its name for a few months to Record and Radio Mirror, and during that time carried articles and features in support of the offshore stations.

HOLD Noun - cavity in a ship below deck where cargo is stowed. Also the area used to house transmitters on many radio ships.

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