Big L (Radio London International)
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| First air date | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Frequency | 1395 kHz AM (East Anglia) |
| Format | 1950s – present day |
| Owner | Big L Limited |
Big L is the name of a broadcasting company registered by the British licencing authority Ofcom from June 11, 2002 to June 10, 2100 for a satellite radio service known as Big L. The licence states that the station "… will provide an eclectic mix of rock and pop, both modern and classic. News and weather will be broadcast hourly. The service will be in English language and will be free to air." The station is owned by Big L Limited, 1–3 Colmore Crescent, Moseley, Birmingham, and its directors are Ian MacGregor and Adam Barwell. When this station began transmissions in 2005 on 1395 kHz AM (215 m Medium Wave) from a transmitter leased from Nozema Services in Holland, it used the names: Radio London, Big L and Radio London International under the management of Ray Anderson of Frinton-on-Sea, Essex. (See UK Companies House official reference link below for further details.) The Internet service appears to be streaming from servers owned by a Les Plock who is located in a government subsidized house in Chelmsford, Essex.
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[edit] Current Status
The station began broadcasting on 1395 kHz AM (215 m Medium Wave) from a transmitter leased from Nozema Services in Holland, but the station claimed that because the coverage was poor due to the services provided by Nozema it had terminated its on air transmissions. Nozema reported that it had terminated its services because the station had given the company a worthless cheque in payment. (For details and a picture of the cheque, see Pied Piper link under external sources.) The station continues to broadcast 24 hours per day from the same studio as Radio London International in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, on 1395 kHz AM, satellite and the Internet. Ray Anderson reported on the station's information site during June 2006, that the station would return from a new 50 kW transmitter in Holland on the same frequency as before, and these broadcasts commenced on 19th September 2006. According to WHOIS sources, the station's Internet service is registered to an individual named Les Plock who appears to be operating his business from servers located at a Chelmsford Housing Authority house on Dorset Avenue in Great Baddow, Chelmsford in Essex.
[edit] Ownership
During its very brief history this station which was founded by Ray Anderson who continues to participate in its operation, the station has used several corporate names including: Radio London International, Big L and Radlon Media. When the Nozema transmissions were terminated, Nozema claimed that it was due to non-payment, although the station claimed that it had withheld payment due to poor service. However, Radlon Media Limited did present Nozema Services with a cheque for 30,000 Euros in July 2005, but that cheque subsequently bounced. At the time of writing, Nozema are still pursuing their claim for monies owed. The Ofcom licence states the station has always been under the ownership of Big L Limited, but it is unclear whether the other companies that have been involved were its subsidiaries.
In addition to the financial dispute over the transmitter lease, TM Century in Dallas, Texas, claim that they have not been paid the jingle package 'Big Time Radio (Studio Dragonfly series)', which was custom-sung for the radio station upon an order subitted by Ray Anderson. Similar complaints have been made by other companies for their services provided to the station.
[edit] Personnel
Personnel of Radio London International and Big L include Ray Anderson, Ian Damon (who was also a disc jockey on the offshore station in the 1960s), Mike Read, Roger Davis, Garry Williams, and Randall Lee Rose, Steve Garlick, Opal Bonfante, Tony Fox, Julian Bright, Todd Slaughter, Chris Byland, Toby Opperman, former Big Brother contestant Becki Seddiki, Steve James, Paul Graham, Trevor John, Susie Quinell, Charlie Davy, Barry Everitt, Bex Marshall, Michelle Stephens, Ben Gamblin, Dan Bransby — with Chris Opperman, Toby Opperman, and Amanda Burt as news readers. The latest member is David Hamilton who joined the station from the 26th June 2006, presenting the weekday afternoon show. Apart from this, his syndicated "Million Sellers" show can be heard on the station each weeknight at 21:00.
[edit] Troubled brief corporate history of Radio London International
The station was initially launched in May 2005 by Radio London International Limited, a company run by Ray Anderson. Beginning in 1997, Ray Anderson of Frinton-on-Sea, Essex teamed up with Christopher Gaydon (also known as Chris Elliot) of Kent, England, to produce a history of Wonderful Radio London in both printed book and audio CD formats, and to accompany this promotion with a restricted service license for a 1 watt station operating for less than a month. This promotion was tainted with controversy due to the origin of the printed and audio copyrighted works being claimed by Chris Elliot as his own property that were subsequently published by Ray Anderson's East Anglia Productions. (See Wonderful Radio London Copyrights for further details. East Anglia Productions was absorbed by East Anglia Productions, Ltd., following the personal bankruptcy of Ray Anderson, East Anglia Productions, Ltd., soon found itself in financial difficulties.
Following a series of further restricted service license broadcasts also using 1 watt, Ray Anderson attempted to create a full time station using a leased transmitter in Holland. The name of the new station was Radio London International (which borrowed from the name of the station Wonderful Radio London International (WRLI), which had been formed in 1983 with the help of Don Pierson who had created the original offshore station of the 1960s. Chris Elliot had been engaged to produce syndicated programs for WRLI and as a result he had come into possession of files, notes and recordings that belonged to others involved in the WRLI project. By the time Ray Anderson launched his own Radio London International on Saturday, 14 May 2005, he had already parted company with Chris Elliot who, at the time of writing, is still one of many of Ray Anderson's unpaid creditors.
[edit] Name and logo dispute
Radio London International Ltd, was put into compulsory liquidation on 10 February 2006. The assets of the station were bought in September 2005 by Big L Limited which was registered four days before Radio London International went on the air. This new company with registered offices in Birmingham, England, is in fact a reregistation of a company name that had just previously been deleted from the Companies House registry. However, due to a trade mark dispute with another British (and non-broadcasting station) company called Radio London, Ltd., which had registered a variation on the original "rl" logo belonging to the original Wonderful Radio London of Texas, the new Big L, Limited, decided to rebrand its own station as Big L. (The original 1960s logo was never registered as a trade mark since the station was classified as a pirate radio operation and the logo of "rl" was in fact a mere alteration of the logo "li" once owned by the American manufacturing company Litton Industries (which has since allowed its own logo to lapse as a registered trade mark. The unique design of the "li" logo had been painted on the funnels of Litton ships and the variation of "rl" was painted on the funnel of the ship that served as the home of Wonderful Radio London.)
[edit] References
- Big L Limited status according to British Government Companies House records is that the company owning Big L Limited was incorporated on 5th October 2005 using a registered office Birmingham, England. No report is due until November of 2006.
- Big L official website also linked to various sites by Ray Anderson.
- Wonderful Radio London International Press news story about WRLI.
- The Pied Piper The Pied Piper has details of Ray Anderson and his alleged dodgy dealings.
- Chris and Mary Payne's Radio London, Ltd., with notice of the legal dispute with Ray Anderson's Radio London International. It is not clear from this site what their specific 2005 logo registration consists of, since several variations are shown and the original non-registered version from 1964 is in the public domain having been pirated from the registered logo of Litton Industries which predated the pirate version by many years.
- Copyright dispute over the Wonderful Radio London story.
