University Radio Nottingham is the university

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

of the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where it is part of the

Students' Union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

. During term-time it broadcasts locally on University Park Campus on 1350 AM and worldwide via its website. It is a multi-award winning station run by the student volunteers from the

History

URN was established from the University's Radio Broadcasting Club, who, in the late 1970s had an hour's slot on

BBC Radio Nottingham BBC Radio Nottingham is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving the county of Nottinghamshire. It broadcasts on frequency modulation, FM, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on London Road ...

. The station set up its first studio in the Cherry Tree buildings in 1978 and "University Radio Nottingham" started broadcasting to Hugh Stewart Hall and Cripps Hall of residence on 963 kHz (312m) in November 1979. Additional

induction loop An induction or inductive loop is an electromagnetic communication or detection system which uses a moving magnet or an alternating current to induce an electric current in a nearby wire. Induction loops are used for transmission and reception of ...

s were set up over the next few years in other halls on campus. A fifth induction loop was installed on

Sutton Bonington Sutton Bonington () is a village and civil parish lying along the valley of the River Soar in the Borough of Rushcliffe, south-west Nottinghamshire, England. The University of Nottingham has a site just to the north of the village: Sutton Boni ...

Campus in 1990, financed by their Guild. In 1997, URN became one of the first radio stations to broadcast on the internet using the

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format. The station started broadcasting in the

Ogg Vorbis Vorbis is a free and open-source software project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The project produces an audio coding format and software reference encoder/decoder (codec) for lossy audio compression. Vorbis is most commonly used in conjun ...

format in 2002. The station was one of the first to broadcast using an

LPAM Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly " ...

long-term

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 ...

to the whole of University Park on 1350AM in 2001. In 2004, URN moved into new purpose build studios located in the University's

Portland Building The Portland Building, alternatively referenced as the Portland Municipal Services Building, is a 15-story municipal office building located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland, Oregon. Built at a cost of US$29 million, it opened in 1982 ...

. This was due to the demolition of the Cherry Tree buildings in 2003. URNStudio2

During the summer of 2012 the whole station was refitted to use a

Studer Studer is a designer and manufacturer of professional audio equipment for recording studios and broadcasters. The company was founded in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1948 by Willi Studer. It initially became known in the 1950s for its professiona ...

digital system for audio routing and mixing. In 2014 the station won the Student Radio Awards Best Station for a record breaking fifth year in a row and still holds the record for the most consecutive Best Station awards to this day. URN Studio 1

In the Summer of 2018 the station was relocated in the Students' Union Building to the new MediaZone. A brand new AoIP Studio was installed in Spring 2020.

Programming

URN broadcasts twenty-four hours a day during Nottingham term time, with shows from 09:00 a.m to 3:00 a.m. The station is split into three sections: Daytime, After Dark, and Speech shows. URN's programming includes news-show The Pulse, feature-based speech programming, including sport and a large variety of other topics, daytime personality-based programming and evening specialist music shows. URN has a strong focus on Nottingham University students in all areas of its programming.

Stunts

Steve Doran Steve Doran is an English community organiser, activist and former radio DJ from the University of Nottingham. She is currently fronting a campaign against payday lenders in the UK in conjunction with Movement For Change. She has discussed the is ...

accomplished a 40-hour continuous broadcast in November 2005 for Children in Need. In 2016, four teams walked 50 miles in under 24 hours in aid of

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educati ...

. During December 2020, presenters George Scotland and Damian Stephen attempted to get Russ Abbot's novelty track '

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A s ...

' to Christmas number 1, gaining endorsements from

Paul Chuckle The Chuckle Brothers were an English comedy double act comprising Barry David Elliott (24 December 1944 – 5 August 2018) and Paul Harman Elliott (born 18 October 1947). They were known for their BBC children's programme ''ChuckleVision'', w ...

, Scott Muslin and

Alistair Griffin Alistair Richard Griffin (born 1 November 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Already an established songwriter, he first became famous as a solo artist through his appearances on the BBC television show ''Fame Academy 2'' in 2 ...

. All proceeds were to go to charity with

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

and his family fully behind the campaign.

Famous alumni

The former head of music for URN presented

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...

's weekly chart show. Philippa Treverton-Jones graduated in 2007.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6522857.stm BBC News Another former presenter on the station; Ian Chaloner is the current producer of the Greg James Show on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. Katie Baxter was a previous member of URN and now produces the Happy Hour Podcast. Rob Howard was another former presents; he now hosts

Capital (radio network) Capital is a network of twelve Independent Local Radio, independent contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Nine of the stations are owned and operated by Global Media & Ente ...

Breakfasts.

Awards

Student Radio Awards 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 ...

Best Station 2010

Best Station 2011

Best Station 2012

Best Station 2013

Best Station 2014

Best Station 2016

Best Station 2017

Best Station 2018

Best Station 2021

References

External links

Introduction to URN

URN History Project
{{Student radio in the United Kingdom

Farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

Student radio in the United Kingdom Music in Nottinghamshire Radio stations established in 1979 Mass media in Nottingham Radio stations in Nottinghamshire