Source Radio

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Source Radio
City of license Coventry, England
Broadcast area Coventry University
Slogan It's All About The Music
Frequency 1431 kHz[1]
Format Hot CHR
Power 1 watt[1][2]
Class LPAM[1][2]
Former callsigns Phoenix Radio, Source FM
Owner Coventry University Students' Union
(Coventry University Students' Union[1])
Website http://www.sourceradio.co.uk

Source Radio is a radio station operating from Coventry, England. It is a division of the Coventry University Students' Union[3], and broadcasts to the Campus and surrounding area on 1431AM. It has in the past operated for short periods on FM, but currently offers a near CD-quality version of the output via the Internet.[4]

Known as "Source FM" from 2001 to 2005[5], and "Phoenix Radio"[6] before that, the station changed its name as part of a rebrand to eliminate confusion over the fact that it does not broadcast on FM for the majority of the year, and was moving to a permanent AM license.

The station opened on Monday January 9, 2006 at 8am with Dan & James at Breakfast, the station's morning-show of that era.

Contents

[edit] Music

The station provides a unique blend of music to the city, uncatered for by the other stations in Coventry. Current "youth" favourites and upfront music are complemented by the best tracks of the past four years, and the biggest songs of the 1990s. The breaking of new acts forms an important part of the music policy.

[edit] Notable alumni

The station has many talented presenters, a number of whom have gone on to enjoy success in the professional arena.

Its alumni includes the likes of Nick Arkell (Trafficlink), Roopa Rajani (BBC Radio Leeds and BBC television), Chris Nash, who regularly freelances throughout the CN Group's Touch Radio network, ex-Virgin Radio presenter Kelly-Anne Smith,[7] James Martin who has worked at a number of stations but is now heard throughout the Lincs FM Group, (namely Oak FM and Rutland Radio), Bill Bennett (who went on to work at BBC Somerset until late 2007), and Dan Doubleday, who left radio to pursue a career at Alton Towers. Some of the other stations they have collectively worked for include BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, as well as the now-defunct stations Kix 96.2 FM, Passion 107.9, Centre FM, The Bear, Oak 107 FM and Fosseway Radio.

[edit] Current Presenters

The station currently has many talented presenters keeping the airways full of great music and talented talking. The present-day lineup can be seen at http://www.sourceradio.co.uk/content/view/3/37/. The station members meet weekly on Tuesdays at 6pm in The Junction of CUSU's Priory Street building, and remains open to any new members who are at the University.

[edit] Production values

Source Radio's current jingle package was produced by ex-Station Manager Chris Nash, and the station voices are the late Dave Barker (Mercury FM, KM-FM, 107.1 Rugby FM) and Anna Harding (107.1 Rugby FM, Fly FM)

[edit] Becoming Source Radio and going to AM

The rebrand came about as the station rarely broadcast on FM, and with the (later-fulfilled) possibility of an AM license on the way it was felt it was time to strengthen the brand.

Around the same time the CN Group controversially closed down its youth station in the city, Kix 96.2,[8] and flipped it into an adult contemporary station, Touch FM,[9] which made it part of a network of six stations in the Midlands - however both Source Radio, and indeed many of Kix's competitors, felt that the audience simply wasn't there for an adult-contemporary station; unusually, Radio 1 is the number one station in the city (in most areas of the UK, this accolade goes to Radio 2.)

The new-sounding Source Radio intended to remedy this, as due to the loss of Kix 96.2, the replacing Touch FM did not offer a particularly strong crossover musically with Source Radio (Touch targeting the over-30s, Source targeting those under.) As a result, its placing in the market is far more distinctive.

The station launched to the city on 1431AM on Monday, March 5, 2007[10][11] under the management of Kat Page, with a special programme presented live from the Student's Union nightclub, FiftyFour.

[edit] Technology

The station has one studio, with a 12-channel Soundcraft sound desk. The playout system used is BC Software's Sound Box, with music scheduled by RCS Selector & Linker. It is anticipated that the station will move to a more technologically-advanced playout system, when funds allow. This upgrade is currently being co-ordinated by the station's technical team, and assisted by former presenter and Head of IT, Bill Bennett.

In addition to this, the DJ can play music from 2 CD decks, 2 turntables or a PC, as well as any device they may choose to connect via 3.5mm cable input such as an iPod.

Source Radio actively develops bespoke software for it's own use, releasing some as opensource.[12]

[edit] Flirt! and Source Radio

Students Unions across the country participate in a national event called "Flirt!", a franchise for an evening entertainment event[13]. CUSU became the first union in the country to have its radio station simulcast the event live on its radio station throughout the 2004-5 academic year.

[edit] Achievements of note

 This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)
  • For the first time ever, September 2006's Fresher's week saw Source Radio's entire daytime broadcasting come live from the Fresher's Fayre.
  • Source Radio now provide indepth coverage of the university's Varsity Day, with 2006 being a major milestone in which 12 hours of programming was given over to covering the sporting events of Coventry University as they took on local rivals Warwick University.
  • In January 2005, the then Source FM, were recognised with an honorary Sony Award for their participation in Tsunami Relief radio telethon UK Radio Aid.[14][15][16]
  • On the back of Radio Aid, Source FM (as was!) helped out a team doing a Tsunami Relief 24-hour sponsored stay-awake by doing a "24 Hour Takeover." During this unprecedented 24 hours of live broadcasting (including 6 hours live from the university's nightclub) students were encouraged to donate, in return they could have absoloutely anything played. Other highlights included a special programme from James Martin and Bill Bennett, the Wind Up Call Masterclass, broadcast between 2am and 4am. James had been at Flirt! in the Student's Union, which was broadcast live as part of the takeover. Upon returning to the studio James was evidently not sober, meanwhile Bill managed to drag down the then Kix 96.2 presenter (and now Nuts TV frontman) OJ Borg for a live interview - during which time they wound up a large number of shopping centres and radio stations in the United States! A gallery of photos from the event [17] is available online.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d UK Radio Licensees - Long Term RSLs. Ofcom. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  2. ^ a b LPAM - Low Power AM. DX Radio. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  3. ^ Coventry University's Sport and Societies (HTML). Coventry University Students Union. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  4. ^ Source Radio Online Streaming. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  5. ^ Source Radio's "Legacy" Site About Page. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  6. ^ OnCampusUK - Source Radio. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  7. ^ "Phoenix rises from the flames", Coventry Evening Telegraph, 2001-03-02. Retrieved on 2007-12-22. 
  8. ^ Ofcom statement about Kix 96's change of format. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  9. ^ Kix 96.2 renamed on Ofcom. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  10. ^ Source Radio AM Launch in Coventry University's FOCUS newsletter. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  11. ^ Lucy Lynch. "Student radio will reach more ears", Coventry Evening Telegraph, 2007-03-07. Retrieved on 2007-12-22. 
  12. ^ Source Radio Development. Retrieved on 2008-01-04.
  13. ^ Flirt! Official Site. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.
  14. ^ "Student radio stations support tsunami appeal day", The Rundown, 2005-01-14. Retrieved on 2007-12-23. Archived from the original on 2005-02-18. 
  15. ^ Radiowaves News (January 2005). Retrieved on 2007-12-23.
  16. ^ The Special Award. Sony Radio Academy Awards (2005). Retrieved on 2007-12-23.
  17. ^ 24 Hour Takeover Photo Gallery. Retrieved on 2008-06-05.

[edit] External links