Red Radio was a student radio station of the
University of Essex.
RED, as it is called in short, was part of the University of
Essex Media Guild, along with newspaper
The Rabbit and television station
SX:TV. RED is a member of the
Student Radio Association
The Student Radio Association (SRA) is a representative body which supports and acts on behalf of the UK student radio community, comprising radio stations that are associated with or linked to a place of education. It is a not-for-profit organi ...
(SRA), and was nominated for best show in November 2007.
History
The station was originally called
University Radio Essex
University Radio Essex is a campus radio station at the University of Essex serving Wivenhoe Park in Colchester. It was one of the original university radio stations in the United Kingdom and with the other pioneering campus radio stations at Yor ...
(URE), and was founded in 1971, making it one of the first student radio stations in the UK.
It was broadcast on 998 kHz (301 metres) using a "leaky cable" system which ran through ducting in the 'six towers' of student residences and was designed to ensure it could not be heard off-campus.
The frequency changed to 999 kHz with the realignment of medium wave broadcasting to 9 kHz spacing and in the 1980s it moved to 963 kHz (312 metres). After
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Alan Crawford initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly. ...
re-commenced broadcasting on the same wavelength, URE moved back to 999.
It was renamed "RED AM 1404" in 2001 (by the station committee), renamed to "RED - 1404 AM" in 2007, and simplified to RED Radio in 2008, when it stopped transmitting in AM.
The station originally had three studios, and in 1998 transmitted on FM for a month, this number was reduced to two in 2004, and then to only one, renovated in 2007.
RED organises many events throughout term, including "The End": a
BYOB
BYOB or BYO is an initialism and acronym concerning alcohol that means "bring your own bottle" or "bring your own booze" or "bring your own beer".
BYOB is stated on an invitation to indicate that the host will not be providing alcohol and that gu ...
and live music semi "rave", that occupies all 3 of the main squares of the
University of Essex.
Red Radio broadcasts during term time across the university campus and parts of
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...
on 1404AM/MW and over the internet. It was one of the first student radio stations in the UK to be licensed to broadcast on LPAM (instead of induction loops). It runs solely on the voluntary efforts of students, who dedicate their free time to keep it running, and the efforts of a part-time Station Manager, appointed by the
University of Essex Students' Union
The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...
. The decision to appoint a Station Manager was part of a process to have the UoE SU's Media Heads all be paid.
The station had a partial rebranding again in 2008 to overcome the problems with students not knowing what 'RED' was. The idea was to "bring it into age", dropping the 1404am and promoting the online aspects of the station, by marketing with the name and logo of 'RED Radio'. It is now called Rebel Radio.
References
External links
Official Website!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20111125052407/http://www.essexstudent.com/student_media/red/ -->
{{Student radio in the United Kingdom
University of Essex
Student radio in the United Kingdom
Radio stations established in 1971