Surge Radio is an English

student radio station Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produce ...

based at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. Founded in 1976 as Radio Heffalump, the station was renamed Radio Glen the following year and originally broadcast from the university's

Glen Eyre Halls , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

complex.

History

Surge Radio began broadcasting in the autumn term of 1976 as a

pirate station Pirate Station (russian: Пиратская станция) is the world's biggest drum and bass music festival. The station was founded as Radio Glen and initially broadcast from a studio in Glen Eyre "F-Block", transmitting on AM by means of induction-loop systems installed on building rooftops on 963, and later on 1602, KHz. The early 1980s brought major developments, including the station's first regular service of student news, a consistent programme schedule, the construction of a second studio and new music library, refurbishment of the main studio with cartridge machines and a new student-built mixer, and a sung jingle package. The station relocated to larger premises in New Terrace in 1998. In 2000 the station began broadcasting on 1287AM, having before only reached Glen Eyre tenants, and in 2001 it commenced FM transmissions for one week per year. Also in 2001, the station was re-branded as SURGE, an acronym of Southampton University Radio from Glen Eyre. In 2003 the station won its first Student Radio Award, awarded by the

UK 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 ...

: station Webmaster Nicholas Humfrey picked up the Technical Innovation Award for his "Total Request" system, while the website was awarded silver in the Website of the Year category. Surge News was founded in February 2004 by James Laidler, and in 2005 won first place in the SRA News & Talk category, with Nick Bevan picking up Surge's third award, for Newcomer of the Year. In June 2005, Surge successfully received funding of £25,000 from SUSU for construction of a new studio in the Students' Union building on the University's

Highfield Campus Highfield Campus is the main campus of the University of Southampton and is located in Southampton, southern England. It is the largest of the University's campuses with most of the students studying there. The campus is also the location of the ...

, which was completed and launched in October. In April 2006 the station hosted the Student Radio Conference, and in June hosted the BBC 6 Music Breakfast Show with

Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is an English stand-up and improv comedian, actor, performance poet, cartoonist and podcaster. Jupitus was a team captain on all but one BBC Two-broadcast episode of music quiz ''N ...

. Surge picked up an award for Best Entertainment Show in November 2006, when Nick Bevan, Thomas Morgan and Zander Bell won with "The Nick & Mogs Show". In the 2011 Student Radio Awards Surge's Technical Manager Ben Morton received two nominations for the station, both in the category of Best Technical Achievement; he won the silver award at the ceremony for his work on the Surge Facebook application. Surge celebrated its 40th birthday in 2016. In February 2017, a rare EMI

BTR-3 The BTR-3 is an Eight-wheel drive armored personnel carrier developed in 2000–2001 by an international consortium. The companies involved in the project include the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau of Ukraine, the ADCOM MANUFACT ...

tape recorder, previously used at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

in the 1960s, was recovered by members of the Surge committee from the old Glen Eyre Halls studio after information on its whereabouts was provided by former Radio Glen Technical Manager Henry Walmsley, who had used the machine at the premises throughout the 1990s. The BTR-3 was donated to Abbey Road in April 2017, and in exchange, Surge were invited to broadcast from their new 'Front Room' studio. This made Surge the first group to use the Front Room studio, and the first student radio station to ever broadcast from Abbey Road Studios; the broadcast took place on April 13, 2017. The station was heavily affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and the ensuing lockdowns; its final broadcast was on the evening of the March 13th, 2020, which coincided with the Southampton Student Film Festival. While the station was originally expected to begin broadcasting again during the 2021-2022 academic year, permanent broadcasting resumed in an online-only format in July 2022. Like many university societies, Surge saw both its membership and funding decrease during the pandemic, however membership has now returned to pre-pandemic levels. Surge Television & Radio are now also run as a single, unitary committee.

Committee

The Surge Radio committee are in charge of running the station and are elected at the end of each academic year for the following academic year by current members of the station.

Studios

Surge Radio, along with SURGEtv, operate from two main studios and various facilities through the University of Southampton.

Radio Studio

The Radio Studio is Surge Radio's

live broadcast A live broadcast, also called a live transmission, generally refers to various types of media that are broadcast without a significant delay. The most common seen media example of the live transmission is a news program or a news broadcasting. Ot ...

studio. Studio 1 has four microphones and a mixing desk, and the majority of shows on the schedule take place within Studio 1. Studio 1 is also used for live music sessions.

Podcast Studio

The Podcast Studio is Surge Radio's podcast studio; it is primarily used as a recording suite for podcasts, news bulletins, station sound and original music.

Student Radio Awards

Surge Radio has been nominated for, and won, many Student Radio Awards since they were launched in 1995.

I Love Student Radio Awards

The I Love Student Radio Awards are a separate awards ceremony held every year at th
Student Radio Conference
that aim to celebrate and reward the commitment of individuals and teams that work in student radio.

References

External links

*
Surge - University of Southampton
at the Student Radio Association. {{Coord, 50, 54, 22.57, N, 1, 23, 45.64, W, region:GB, display=title Radio stations established in 1976 Radio stations in Hampshire Student radio in the United Kingdom University of Southampton