University Radio Nottingham is the university

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting 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 rad ...

of the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where it is part of the

Students' Union A students' union or student union, 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, organizat ...

. During term-time it broadcasts locally on University Park Campus on 1350 AM and worldwide via its website. It is run by 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. 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 loops were set up over the next few years in other halls on campus. A fifth induction loop was installed on Sutton Bonington 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 format. The station started broadcasting in the Ogg Vorbis format in 2002. The station was one of the first to broadcast using an LPAM long-term restricted service licence 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. 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 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 07:00 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 accomplished a 40-hour continuous broadcast in November 2005 for

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

. In 2016, four teams walked 50 miles in under 24 hours in aid of

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, 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 Dire ...

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

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

' to Christmas number 1, gaining endorsements from Paul Chuckle, Scott Muslin and Alistair Griffin. All proceeds were to go to charity with

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

and his family fully behind the campaign.

Famous alumni

The former head of music for URN presented BBC 6 Music's weekly chart show. Philippa Treverton-Jones graduated in 2007. She is now a TV producer.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 Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. 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 contemporary hit radio stations in the United Kingdom, broadcasting a mix of local and networked programming. Ten of the stations are owned and operated by Global, while the other two are owned and op ...

Breakfasts.

Awards

Student Radio Awards Best Station 2010 Student Radio Awards Best Station 2011 Student Radio Awards Best Station 2012 Student Radio Awards Best Station 2013 Student Radio Awards Best Station 2014 Student Radio Awards Best Station 2016 Student Radio Awards Best Station 2017 Student Radio Awards Best Station 2018 Student Radio Awards 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