About

Background

About Centreforce

When Centreforce joined the pirate airwaves on a Sunday in May 1989, the management, DJs or those listening couldn’t have imagined the far-reaching legacy it would have.

The pioneering 24-7 house music station was a short, sharp shock to the radio system, appearing five months after Kiss FM closed down in pursuit of a coveted legal licence. 

When Kiss returned in the autumn of 1990, Centreforce had been and gone. But its impact and influence became immeasurable over the following decades.

Seventeen years and one clubbing generation later, the iconic pirate made a surprise comeback in the summer of 2007, broadcasting from a shipping container in Barking. A successful collaboration with legal Essex station Time FM also followed.

In 2018, Centreforce was finally able to broadcast legally in its own right, without having to watch (or reinforce) the studio door. A coveted DAB licence for London and Essex had been secured. 

Now 33 years after its first broadcast, Centreforce’s reach and influence continues to go from strength to strength. 

The station still has roots in its spiritual home of East London, but now broadcasts online and via its app in 190+ countries to a listenership of more than ten million members of ‘The Centreforce Family’, with many more views and followers on social media. 

And Centreforce’s DAB network has also expanded in the UK to Liverpool, Cheshire and North Wales, with further expansion to follow.