Radio LaB 97.1FM, formerly Luton FM is a student radio station, managed, produced and presented by students at the Luton town centre campus of the

University of Bedfordshire The University of Bedfordshire is a public research university with campuses in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England. The University has roots from 1882, however, it gained university status in 1993 as the University of Luton. The Universi ...

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

(formerly known as the University of Luton). Radio LaB stands for Radio Luton and Bedfordshire. Radio LaB is now a full-time radio station with a community licence.

History

Radio LaB started its initial broadcast on 1 May 1997. When the station started it was called Luton FM and each year throughout May, the station broadcast on 87.9FM from a transmitter in Farley Hill, Luton. The studio and production area was based in the School of Media, Art and Design within the Luton campus of the University of Bedfordshire. Luton FM also broadcast on the internet from the station's website. In 2001, the station was broadcast online for the first time, and started the careers of many radio professionals of today. The Luton FM website in 2003 became a major tool in the promotion of the station as it was the second year that the station was streamed online for the duration of the stations 28-day

Restricted Service Licence A UK Restricted Service Licence (often called an RSL), is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event. Licences are granted by the broadcasting authority Ofc ...

(RSL). In September 2004, Luton FM broadcast online for the first time outside of its usual May remit. In 2008, Luton FM changed its name and relaunched as LaB Radio (Luton and Bedfordshire Radio), which incorporates Luton and Bedfordshire. In 2009 the station has changed its name once more to Radio LaB and underwent major rebranding. Due to the success of the station this year, 2009 was the last year of the stations twelve-year stretch as an RSL station, as

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...

awarded the station with a five-year full-time community licence starting in January 2010. In 2010, the station name was changed to Radio LaB, and broadcast on the internet. Since then, the station holds a community licence and broadcasts to Luton and across Bedfordshire. In 2011, after the new Campus Centre was completed, the studio was moved to a new studio in the Student Centre at the Luton campus of the University of Bedfordshire. Radio LaB now broadcasts from here 24/7. In October 2014, Radio LaB was granted a five-year community radio licence extension by Ofcom, allowing the station to continue to broadcast on 97.1FM until April 2020. In March 2020 this was further extended by Ofcom until April 2025.

Personnel

The station is managed each year by final-year students, and their final university grade based on their performance organising, promoting and running Radio LaB. Final responsibility for the running of the station, however, rests with Radio LaB Coordinator Terry Lee, who is the overall licensee for Radio LaB.

Alumni

Past Luton FM Managers/Presenters include: *

Melvin Odoom Melvin Odoom is a British radio DJ and television presenter. He is best known for presenting on BBC Radio 1 alongside Rickie Haywood-Williams and Charlie Hedges. Education Odoom attended the University of Bedfordshire and studied a Media Per ...

and

Rickie Haywood Williams Richard Haywood-Williams is a British radio DJ and television presenter best known for his work with Melvin Odoom and Charlie Hedges on Kiss FM, later BBC Radio 1 and the 2016 TV series ''Bang on the Money'' on ITV. Early life He attended th ...

who both are the award winning Morning presenters of

Kiss 100 London Kiss is a British digital radio station owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Kiss Network. It is primarily aimed at the 15-34 age group and broadcasts nationally to the UK on DAB Digital Radio, as well as on FM in London, Bristol and ...

Recognition

Radio LaB won

Community Radio Awards The Community Radio Awards are an accolade bestowed upon creatives in the community sector of broadcast radio in the United Kingdom. The awards showcase the work of community radio volunteers. History The Community Radio Awards were founded ...

in 2017, 2019, and two in 2020.

References

External links