Final Broadcast
Despite all the pro-Veronica campaigning, the Dutch government passed its anti-pirate legislation and announced that the law was to come into effect on September 1, 1974. Veronica chose to close down at 6 PM on August 31. The final hour was, like most of Veronica's programmes, pre-recorded in the station's studios in Hilversum. However the station's final news bulletin was read live from the news studio on board the MV Norderney. A number of the station's directors, including Bull Verweij and his brother Jaap, were on board the ship during the final hour, as were many of the staff. In his final speech DJ Rob Out said "Part of the democracy in the Netherlands is dying with the closure of Radio Veronica and that is a tragedy for the country". Following the Dutch National Anthem, a Veronica jingle was played and the transmitter was switched off halfway through. Photos of the scene in the studio show grown men openly weeping.
Radio Atlantis and RNI also closed on the evening of August 31. Radio Caroline had already decided to continue, as it had in 1967 (although as a precaution the ship moved to a new anchorage to reduce the likelihood of a "raid" by Dutch authorities), and after some debate Radio Mi Amigo also decided to stay on the air. After Veronica's closure Radio Mi Amigo "borrowed" many of Veronica's programming formats.
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Norderney - Antwerp, 2011
Read more about this topic: Radio Veronica
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