Laser Hot Hits History 2

Laser Hot Hits - History (2)

The detention order was finally lifted by the Department of Transport on 14th November 1986 and early on Sunday 16th November the Communicator sailed to the Cork Anchorage, off Felixstowe. She still had her two masts in position but the aerial array, which would normally have been strung between them, was lowered to deck level.

In the days following her departure from Harwich there was some confusion about the ship's precise location and her ultimate destination. Ray Anderson told press reporters that he understood the ship was going to Gibraltar to broadcast to the Mediterranean, but as of 16th November 1986 he had nothing to do with ownership of the vessel. The Communicator at that time was in fact owned by a Panamanian registered company, Kabo SA, which had been formed by East Anglian Productions and sold to the new owners with its major asset, the radio ship. Meanwhile Harwich Harbour officials monitored the ship heading north before she eventually left the range of their radar area. The Department of Transport were said to be 'keeping a close eye on the situation'.

On 20th November 1986 Department of Transport officials established that the Communicator was in fact still off the Essex coast, close to her former anchorage about 10 miles from Walton-on-the-Naze. Whilst the vessel had been at this anchorage the crew had rebuilt the aerial array which the British authorities had insisted be dismantled before the Communicator left Harwich.

Once her position had been established and confirmed speculation began to intensify about whether the Communicator would be used as a base to resume broadcasts to Britain once again. The Independent Broadcasting authority (IBA), acting on behalf of local commercial (ILR) stations, issued a statement criticising the Government for allowing the ship to set sail while still fully equipped as a radio station. The Department of Transport explained that they had no powers to detain the ship any longer on safety or seaworthiness grounds, but said it would 'swiftly and effectively' deal with the situation if a radio station attempted to broadcast from the Communicator once again.

On 1st December 1986 this actually happened. At 5.40pm a carrier signal appeared on 576kHz for a few minutes, returning again at 7.20pm, with music and announcements. These test transmissions, which were for a new offshore radio station - Laser Hot Hits, co Laser Hot Hits sticker ntinued until midnight and resumed again at 6.00am the following morning. Laser Hot Hits announced that it only intended to occupy 576kHz as a temporary frequency and planned to change later, probably to 531Khz. Transmitter power was about 12Kw at this time and although there were frequent breaks for equipment modification during the day one American DJ on board the Communicator, John Anthony, attempted to present a number of live programmes.

A press release issued from a Madison Avenue, New York address announced that Laser Hot Hits, would broadcast for 20 hours a day and be staffed by American DJs presenting a Contemporary Hit Radio (CHR) format. Four records a week were sold as Power Plays - one featured every hour in rotation, while spot advertising was restricted to a maximum of six minutes each hour. According to the press release all supplies for the new station would come from 'legal European sources' and, as the vessel was in international waters and staffed wholly by American DJs, Laser Hot Hits was claimed to be a perfectly legal operation.

A Dallas based sales company, Radio Waves Inc., represented in Europe by Rob Day (who also operated the Laser Hot Hits Roadshow Disco) claimed to have secured contracts for advertising during the station's first three months of operation. These contracts came mainly from major US film and entertainment corporations, international holiday companies and a leading Japanese car manufacturer. The station also had plans to promote its own anti-drugs, Aids and Christmas drink/drive campaigns.

The way in which commercials were to be featured in programmes on the new station differed from Laser 558. Laser Hot Hits proposed to air three two minute commercial breaks each hour (as opposed to Laser 558's six one minute breaks) to give listeners an opportunity to hear longer segments of uninterrupted music. However, both of these commercial formatting styles remained largely theoretical as far as the Laser stations were concerned because little real advertising was attracted by either station.

When it went on air many of the commercial spots on Laser Hot Hits were for the station’s own promotional offers (baseball caps, sweatshirts, jumpers, record compilations etc) Laser Hot Hits also planned to sell particular shows (a Mowtown Sounds Show or an Elvis Presley Show for example) to sponsors. The new station also launched a club for listeners to join - the Communicator Club - offering discounts on promotional items and admission to the Laser Hit Hits Roadshow venues.