1) What radio stations were offered by the BBC before 1967? The British Broadcasting Company, as the BBC was originally called, was formed on October 18, 1922 , by a group of wireless manufacturers in London. It ran its first-ever radio broadcast from 2LO, a famous London studio, on November 14 that year. 2) How was BBC radio reorganised in September 1967? What were the new stations that launched? Forty-nine years ago, on 30 September 1967, the BBC launched Radio 1. ... Radio Luxembourg was the first of a number of stations which grew up to feed this demand. 3) What was pirate radio and why was it popular? Many of the pirate station broadcasters then were then employed by BBC Radio 1, thus bringing many of the their loyal listeners with them. Commercial radio didn’t broadcast until 1973 so it had no competition. Radio 1 also developed better content more suitable to the target audience as it became more popular. In the 1970s and 1980s, Radio 1 became the most listened to station