Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly.[1] Unlicensed by any government for most of its early life, it was a pirate radio station that never actually became illegal, although after the Marine Offences Act (1967) it became illegal for a British subject to associate with it.

The Radio Caroline name was used to broadcast from international waters, using five different ships of three different owners, from 1964 to 1990, and via satellite from 1998 to 2013. Radio Caroline currently broadcasts 24 hours a day via the internet and by occasional restricted service licence, they also broadcast on DAB radio in certain areas of the UK. These services are part of theOfcom small-scale DAB trials. Caroline can be heard on DAB in AldershotBirminghamBrightonGlasgowNorwichPortsmouth andWoking. In May 2017 Ofcom awarded the station an AM community licence to broadcast in Suffolk and north Essex.[2]

Radio Caroline broadcasts music from the 1960s to contemporary, with an emphasis on album-oriented rock (AOR).