Author: Benjamin Zenner

The Junglinster broadcasting site in 2015. When it was built, it was already had some of the most powerful transmitters in the world. They were upgraded multiple times over the years to improve signal strength and quality even further (Image Source: https://goo.gl/tSufGe).
The Junglinster broadcasting site in 2015. When it was built, it already featured some of the most powerful transmitters in the world. They were upgraded multiple times over the years to improve signal strength and quality even further (Image Source: https://goo.gl/tSufGe).

While Sir Walter Raleigh, and more recently, Captain Jack Sparrow have featured frequently on British television screens, pirates of the ether have been met with considerbly less enthusiasm by the BBC. Who were these pirates? They were private radio stations without an international broadcasting license that could be received all over Europe, effectively undermining the state monopoly on broadcasting that the BBC held in Britain.

The biggest thorn in the flesh of the BBC was Radio Luxembourg, which started broadcasting an English-language program in early 1933. For the decades to come, there was constant conflict between the two stations, which even resulted in diplomatic quarrels between the British and Luxembourgish governments . One exceptional instance of cooperation took place in 1938, when Radio Luxembourg broadcast German translations of speeches by a few British politicians towards German territory, with the aim of swaying German public opinion against the Nazi regime.

When the American army left the Junglinster broadcasting station after the end of World War Two, the British saw an opportunity to eliminate the unwanted competition. However, the topic was still contentious: negotiations between the governments failed again and the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion – the company behind Radio Luxembourg – kept its independence. It soon became the Compagnie luxembourgeoise de télédiffusion (CLT) and later Radio Télévision Luxembourg (RTL).

 

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Sources:

Tubes like these were used to generate powerful signals, which were then broadcast using giant antennas. ©Steve Engel
Tubes like these were used to generate powerful signals, which were then broadcast using giant antennas. Image © Steve Engel

 

Two giant diesel engines of this type (they were originally designed for use in ships!) kept the station ‘on air’ even if there was a power outage. Like with the tube above, this gives you an idea of the scale of resources needed to operate a powerful broadcasting station. Image © Steve Engel

Further Reading:

David Dominguez Muller. Radio-Luxembourg: Histoire d’un média privé d’envergure européenne. PhD diss., University Paris IV, 2001.

Denis Maréchal. RTL, 1933-1993: Un média au coeur de l’Europe. Paris: Editions Serpenoise, 1994.

Robert Chapman. Selling the Sixties: The Pirates and Pop Music Radio. London: Routledge, 1992.

 

David Dominguez Muller also wrote two interesting articles for the magazine ‘Ons Stad’, published in Luxembourg City. They are available online:

RTL: station périphérique au rôle central

(A)politiquement vôtre