Radio LaB
Radio LaB, formally Luton FM is a student radio station, managed, produced and presented by students at the Luton town centre campus of the University of Bedfordshire in Luton, Bedfordshire (formerly known as the University of Luton). Radio LaB stands for Radio Luton and Bedfordshire. Radio LaB is now a full-time radio station with a community license.
Introduction
Radio LaB started its initial broadcast on 1 May 1997. When the station started it was called Luton FM and each year throughout May, the station broadcast on 87.9FM from a transmitter in Farley Hill, Luton. The studio and production area was based in the School of Media, Art and Design within the Luton campus of the University of Bedfordshire. Luton FM also broadcast on the internet from the station's website.
In 2010, the station name was changed to Radio LaB, and broadcast on the internet from http://radiolab.beds.ac.uk . Since then, the station holds a community licenece and broadcasts to Luton and across Bedfordshire.
In 2011, after the new Campus Centre was completed, the studio was moved to a brand new state-of-the-art studio. We now broadcast from here 24/7.
Personnel
The station is managed each year by final-year students, and their final university grade based on their performance organising, promoting and running Radio LaB. Final responsibility for the running of the station, however, rests with senior radio lecturer at the university, Janey Gordon.
A lecturer in Radio and Senior Fellow of the University of Bedfordshire, Janey Gordon is the overall Licencee for Radio LaB.
The current management team consists of Danny Fullbrook, Sophie Lee, Matt Bass, Calum Steel and George Powell.
Output each year
Radio LaB 2011
Going through a transitional period, Radio LaB 97.1FM moved to new premises at the start of the 2011/12 academic year. This is located in the new Student Centre at the Luton campus of the University of Bedfordshire. The new studio boasts state of the art equipment after a £330,000 face-lift. Shows are currently being broadcast across Luton and its surrounding areas on 97.1FM. The station is also available online at www.beds.ac.uk/radiolab.
Radio LaB 2010
In April 2010 Radio LaB got its full community license and began broadcasting 24/7. The management team for 2010 was: Connor Hallin, Jade Nuttall, Katie Boyle, Matt Hill, Mimoza Abazi, and Sadie Pettitt.
Radio LaB 2009
In 2009 the station has changed its name once more to Radio LaB and underwent major rebranding. The station was sponsored by Luton Borough Council with an emphasis on recycling in the borough. The station rebranded the logo and tagline to, 'Radio LaB... Experimenting with Music,' which also saw an overhaul of the music on the station, changing from pop and rock, to indie, hip-hop, dance and R'n'B. The station also saw an increased number of specialist shows including 'The LaB' an experimental music show, 'Cloudless Sky' a drum and base music show, 'Sports LaB' a topical sports show and 'Local LaB' a news and topical interest show. Due to the success of the station this year, 2009 was the last of the stations twelve-year stretch as an RSL cease as Ofcom awarded the station with a five-year full-time community license starting in January 2010. 2009s management team was composed of Kurtis Maharajh, Pooja Kumar, Jack Cornell, Kerry Magorian, Rick Kitson, Amanda Ukaegbu and Tom Kerridge.
Luton FM 2008
In 2008, Luton FM changed its name to LAB Radio (Luton and Bedfordshire Radio), which incorporates Luton and Bedfordshire.
Luton FM 2007
In May 2007, Luton FM celebrated its 10th anniversary. To reflect the birthday celebrations, Luton FM played music from the last decade, along with cutting-edge new music, chat and a bigger dedication to national and local news from its brand-new current affairs and news studio.
Luton FM 2006
Throughout 2006, Luton FM broadcast 24/7 on the internet.
Luton FM 2004/5
In September 2004, Luton FM broadcast online for the first time outside of its usual May remit, and did so throughout periods of the 04/05 management. The station was once again managed by final year students – in 2005 Jade Orsmond, Alan Pilkington, Cyrella McGreevy, Jessica Jackson and Dan Prior (now at NME Radio).
In an effort to give the station a revamp Luton FM 2004/5 moved away from the previous two years pop/RnB output and instead made alternative music its priority, playing the likes of The White Stripes, The Strokes and Queens of the Stoneage. Despite its new radical change in image and branding, Luton FM continued the traditional chat, national and local news and current affairs of its previous incumbents.
Luton FM 2003
In 2003 the Luton FM management decided that the station would promote new music. To coincide with this the station's brand had a total redesign by then student Dale Martin. 2003 was the first year that a Media production/ Multimedia student worked alongside the radio management team to design new promotional tools such as fliers, a new logo and interactive website.
The Luton FM website in 2003 became a major tool in the promotion of the station as it was the second year that the station was streamed online for the duration of the stations 28-day Restricted Service License (RSL). Additionally, 2003 was the first year the website contained an archive of previous broadcasts which could be downloaded in MP3s. The website's design reflected the station's 2003 urban image by having graffiti styled navigational links. The website was also search engine optimised using natural SEO techniques so that the site appears at number 1 in Google's search results for Luton FM.
2003 still remains one of Luton FM most successful years as the website had over 300,000 hits and the station attracted acts such as the classical boys and flute family to perform live on the station.
The 2003 Management team included: Matt Fisher (Now Head of Production for BBC Radio 1 & 1Xtra), Marie Kemp, Johnathan Baker and Aelina Antona
Luton FM 2001
The 2001 Luton FM is often heralded as the turningpoint for Luton FM.
It was the first to stream via shoutCAST online with listeners all over the world and the first to incorporate the use of a webcam, as well as being broadcast in and around Luton on FM radio.
The station launched the careers of Rickie and Melvin (Kiss 100), Matt Fisher (Radio 1), Marie Copley (née Kemp) (BBC Radio Berkshire), and Charlie George (Max TV).
The Station was run by Managers/presenters Pete Gardner, Claire Bacon and Richard Whitehouse, and ran throughout May as part of their degree.
Alumni
Past Luton FM Managers/Presenters include Tim Humphries – now at Ten 17 FM; Matt Fisher & Dellessa James both at (Radio 1); You can also currently hear Dellessa alongside Fabio and Grooverider on Radio 1's Drum and Bass Show, but on air she is referred to as Delisha. Dan Prior at NME Radio (sound imaging); and Melvin Odoom and Rickie Haywood Williams who both are the morning presenters of Kiss 100 London. Kerry Magorian who is at Absolute Radio
See also
External links
Coordinates: 51°52′40″N 0°24′41″W / 51.87777°N 0.41138°W