Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Scott Gamble, who writes:
[I was in Amsterdam recently] and was in a meeting over at the NDSM Wharf, and I happened to stumble upon Radio Veronica next to the office where I was meeting.
Never though I’d be so close to it. Such a cool piece of history.
Wow! What a fantastic opportunity to catch a glimpse of the legendary Radio Veronica! Thank you for sharing your photos, Scott.
Check out more info about Radio Veronica on Wikipedia:
Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast from offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales of radio receivers by providing an alternative to the Netherlands state-licensed stations in Hilversum.
Broadcasts began on 21 April 1960. The station announced itself as VRON (Vrije Radio Omroep Nederland; Free Radio Station [of the] Netherlands) but changed to Radio Veronica, after the poem “Het Zwarte Schaap Veronica” — The Black Sheep Veronica — by the children’s poet Annie M. G. Schmidt.
After the station’s closure, some of its staff applied for a broadcasting licence and continued as a legal organisation with the same name.
The original Radio Veronica became the most popular station in the Netherlands. It broadcast from a former lightship Borkum Riff anchored off the Dutch coastline. The ship was fitted with a horizontal antenna between the fore and aft masts, fed by a one-kilowatt transmitter. Most of its programmes were recorded in a studio on the Zeedijk in Hilversum. At the end of the 1960s the studios and offices moved to bigger premises on the Utrechtseweg in Hilversum. Initially advertisers were reluctant to buy airtime, but those that did reported increases in sales and gradually the station’s revenue improved.
For a short time the station also ran an English language service under the call letters CNBC (Commercial Neutral Broadcasting Company). Although short-lived, CNBC was presented by professional broadcasters who were able to give invaluable technical advice to Veronica’s Dutch staff.
I remember Radio Veronica since 1960´s. One night there was a Shocking Blue lady singer on the studio ! RNI was a stronger signal than a Radio Veronica over here in Oulu, Finland.
More information on the return of the ship to sea for transmissions in Summer here:
https://WorldofRadio.co.uk/Veronica.html
You could get onto the ship when I was in Amsterdam four or five years ago for an annual offshore radio conference. I went to the bar downstairs and found several others who had come for the same conference there. They had a small display on Radio Veronica on one of the walls. On the opposite side of the river is the REM island which is now a restaurant. This was an artificial island set up to broadcast commercial radio and television to the Netherlands which the Dutch Government raided. The information on their website only mentions the television station but Radio Noordzee was also broadcast on 1400. https://www.remeiland.com/en/history/