SURGE 1287AM

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Surge Radio

Broadcast area	South of England
Frequency	1287 AM, 87.7 and online
Format	Student Radio
Owner	University of Southampton Students' Union

Surge (Southampton University Radio) is a British student radio station broadcasted from the University of Southampton. The station had previously been known as Radio Glen prior to Christmas 2000.

1 History
2 Awards
3 Notable contributors
4 External links

[edit] History

In its previous incarnation as Radio Glen the station was legal for about 20 years and existed in some form even before then known as Radio Heffalump. The station was broadcast by a series of antenna in every block in Glen Eyre Halls connected by bits of coaxial cable which where draped all over the place.

In 1999, the station manager David Holroyd (know to some as Wiggy) championed getting a new license being offered by the Radio Authority. This license allowed low-powered AM broadcasting over a strictly limited area: Glen Eyre Halls. This license was great for the station, which began to take news, adverts and programming from SBN to provide a source of income. The coaxial cables were rendered unnecessary, and a new age of Radio Glen was born.

In Christmas 2000, the station was renamed SURGE (an acronym of Southampton University Radio from Glen Eyre), due to the increased involvement of the station with the rest of the university and not just the Glen Eyre Halls of residence where the studio and transmitter are based.

2001 was another big year for the station, Ed Waugh worked in conjunction with the Students' union to receive the opportunity to do an FM RSL which allowed them to broadcast on FM for one month. This was across the whole of Southampton and allowed them to reach many more students and get a lot more people involved.

In 2004, following the liquidation of SBN it became a department of the Students' Union as the costs and benefits had outgrown it's Glen Eyre Halls roots. Southampton University Students' Union provided the necessary funding to continue broadcasting whilst adding to its media portfolio. At this time the station dropped the acronym from its name, as it was no longer accurate.

2005 saw the station move to a £25,000 purpose-built studio within the Union building on campus, from where it continues to broadcast on Medium Wave (1287AM) and for selected one-month periods on 87.7FM. It also provides a streaming radio service from its website. Guests on Surge include Phil Jupitus (who co-hosted a one-off show), The Subways and Richard Ashcroft.

[edit] Awards

In recent years the station has performed well at the national Student Radio Awards, most recently winning the Gold award in 2006 for Best Entertainment, with the Nick and Mogs show. In addition the station also usually picks up a number of other nominations and bronze and silver awards across the board in all areas of the station - from news, to programming, to technical, to promotions.