Radio Jackie

Radio Jackie is South West London's original pirate radio station. The first broadcast was in March 1969 from a studio in Sutton and lasted for just 30 minutes. Within a short while Radio Jackie was on the air every Sunday giving a growing band of listeners their first taste of truly local radio. On 7 March 1972 a cassette recording of Radio Jackie was played in Parliament, during the committee stage of the Sound Broadcasting Bill, as an example of what local radio could be like.

As new London wide radio stations were licensed in the early seventies Radio Jackie stayed true to the ideal of local radio based in South West London. Community events and charity fund raising were a key part of the station's output. Sutton Eye Hospital, Queen Mary's Hospital for Children in Carshalton and the Royal Marsden Hospital were all beneficiaries of Jackie's on-air fundraising efforts. For the first time local businesses were able to advertise on the radio to a relevant audience in a cost-effective way.

In 1983 Radio Jackie launched a full 24 hours a day service. During this period Dave Pearce (now BBC Radio 1) and Paul McKenna (TV perfomer and hypnotist) first cut their teeth in the media. A Radio Jackie shop was opened, the studios were in Worcester Park with the transmitter in North Cheam. Radio Jackie was VAT registered and listed in the phone book. Full time staff were employed to work from Radio Jackie's office and shop - initially in Morden and later in Central Road, Worcester Park. Kingston and Sutton Councils passed motions supporting Radio Jackie's bid to be licensed to serve South West London. In 1984 a petition, calling for the station to be given a licence, was signed by over 55,000 people and supported by many local councillors and the MP for Mitcham and Morden. Independent surveys at the time showed that Radio Jackie was one of the most popular radio stations in South West London. As the station's campaign for a radio licence grew so the regional and national media took notice. BBC TV, Channel 4 and ITV all covered the campaign for the station to be awarded a licence to serve South West London.

Sadly, Radio Jackie was forced to close in February 1985 following a series of much publicised raids by the radio regulatory authorities. Hundreds of people filled the Radio Jackie studios and offices in Worcester Park for the emotional final programme. The station vowed then to continue campaigning for a local radio licence for South West London. However, the opportunity to return legally didn't arise until 1996 when a new FM licence for South West London on 107.8MHz was advertised. Radio Jackie's hopes of a return to the airwaves of South West London were dashed though, when the licence was awarded to another applicant: Thames Radio. So, it looked as though Radio Jackie would become simply a piece of British broadcasting history.

However, the subsequent misfortunes of Thames Radio turned out to be an opportunity for Radio Jackie to prove the 1996 licence decision wrong. Thames 107.8 was put up for sale in February 2003 and the original management team behind Radio Jackie re-formed to purchase the loss-making station. Following the acquisition of Thames in March 2003, the station's output was completely revamped to include live local presentation around the clock and local news every hour. In July 2003 the station moved to new studios in Tolworth and on Sunday 19 October 2003 the station re-launched as Radio Jackie - the Sound of South West London.