Surge Radio

Surge Radio
City Southampton, United Kingdom
Broadcast area Worldwide (online)
Southampton (FM, limited)
Slogan Your Student Soundtrack
Frequency 87.7 FM (limited)
First air date February 1976 (February 1976)
Format Student radio, internet radio
Language(s) English
Callsign meaning Previous acronym for "Southampton University Radio from Glen Eyre"
Former callsigns Radio Heffalump (1976–1977)
Radio Glen (1977–2000)
Former frequencies 1287 AM (1999–2010)
Affiliations UK Student Radio Association
Owner University of Southampton Students' Union
Website www.surgeradio.co.uk

Surge Radio is an English student radio station based at the University of Southampton. 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 complex.

The station was re-branded as Surge in 2001, and in 2005 was relocated to the Students' Union building on the University's Highfield Campus. Surge is now owned and funded by the University of Southampton Students' Union, and celebrated its 40th birthday in February 2016.

Surge Radio is currently led by Station Manager, Xavier Voigt-Hill, and is supported by Katie Duke who acts as Assistant Station Manager.

History

Surge Radio began broadcasting in the autumn term of 1976 as a pirate station, before it was agreed in March 1977 to form a legal radio station at Glen Eyre.[1] 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.[2] 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.[2] Also in 2001, Radio Glen was renamed Surge, which initially stood for "Southampton University Radio from Glen Eyre".

In 2003 the station won its first Student Radio Award, awarded by the UK Student Radio Association: 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.[3] Surge News was founded in February 2004 by James Laidler,[4] 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.[5] In June 2005, Surge successfully received funding of £25,000 from SUSU for construction of a new studio, which was completed and launched in October.[6] In April 2006 the station hosted the Student Radio Conference, and in June hosted the BBC 6 Music Breakfast Show with Phill Jupitus.[7] 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".[8]

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;[9] he won the silver award at the ceremony for his work on the Surge Facebook application.

In February 2017, a rare BTR-3 tape recorder, previously used at Abbey Road Studios in the 1960s, was found by members of the Surge committee in their old Glen Eyre Halls studio. 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.[10] 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 Thursday 13 April 2017.

Committee members

Surge Radio is run on a day-to-day basis by the committee of fourteen members elected at the AGM. All committee members are current students at the University of Southampton. Xavier Voigt-Hill and Katie Duke currently lead the committee as Station Manager and Assistant Station Manager respectively. The committee is also joined in the running of the station by the Student Union's Vice-President Democracy and Creative Industries, currently Evie Reilly, who oversees their work as Director-general.

The remaining members of the Surge Radio committee for 2017-18 are as follows:

Role Member
Programme Controller Polly Marquis
Technical Manager Will Hough
Systems Manager Devashish Dixit
Head of Show Development Tommy Morgan
Head of Music Cécile Howard
Head of Marketing Jenny Pagliuca
Head of Station Sound Patrik Toobe
Head of News Jake Willis
Head of Design Ben Jeffries
Head of Events Louise Bailey
Head of Sport Chris McDermont
Head of Features Jonny Banks

Student Radio Awards

Year Nominated work Category Award Notes Ref.
2003 Total Request System Technical Innovation Award Gold Awarded to Nicholas Humfrey [3][11]
surgeradio.co.uk Website of the Year Silver Awarded to Sven Latham and Nicholas Humfrey
Matty in the Morning Best Entertainment Show Nominated Awarded to Matt Treacy and Charlotte Scarbourgh [11][12]
2004 Nicholas Humfrey Best Technical Achievement Silver [12][13]
University Swap Best News and Talk Nominated Awarded to Matt Treacy and Val Mellon
Matt Treacy Best Male Nominated
Surge Station of the Year Nominated
2005 Nick Bevan Newcomer of the Year Gold [5][14]
Surge News News & Talk Gold
Alex Duffy Best Male Nominated [12][14]
Surge Mobile Phone Request System Best Technical Achievement Nominated Awarded to Nicholas Humfrey
Surge Best Off-air Promotion and Imaging Nominated
2006 The Nick & Mogs Show Best Entertainment Show Gold Awarded to Nick Bevan, Thomas Morgan and Zander Bell [8][12]
Elections Night Live Best Live Event/Outside Broadcast Bronze
Surge Newsweek Best Journalistic Programme Bronze Awarded to James Laidler and Kate Jowett
Surge Best Technical Innovation Nominated [12]
2007 Surge Newsweek Best Journalistic Programming Silver [15][16]
surgeradio.co.uk Best Technical Innovation Silver
Surge Best Marketing & Branding Silver
2008 The Student Soundtrack Best Entertainment Nominated [12]
2009 SurgeCart and Podcast Generator Best Technical Achievement Bronze Awarded to Jason Allen [17]
Kate Harrington and Jason Allen Best Student Radio Chart Show Nominated [18]
Surge Newsweek Best Journalistic Programming Nominated
2010 Surge Newsweek Best Journalistic Programming Nominated [12]
2011 Total Request Facebook Application Best Technical Achievement Silver Awarded to Ben Morton [19]
Outside Broadcast System Best Technical Achievement Nominated
2012 Emma Real-Davies Best Female Nominated [20]
2013 Emma Real-Davies Best Female Bronze [20]
2014 Emma Real-Davies Best Female Nominated [21]
Surge Best Marketing & Station Sound Nominated [21]
Surge’s Online Redevelopment Best Technical Achievement Nominated Awarded to Ben Morton [21]
2015 Toby Leveson Best Newcomer Nominated [22]
48 Hour Marathon Best Live Event or Outside Broadcast Nominated [22]
2016 Don't Touch Me I'm Famous Best Entertainment Programme Nominated Awarded to Toby Leveson and Cameron Meldrum [23][24]
The Lowdown with Tom Cross Best Entertainment Programme Gold Awarded to Tom Cross [25][26]
Tom Cross Best Male Silver [25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Radio Heffalump". Station History. Surge. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Station History". About Surge. Surge. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  3. 1 2 "Who won what!". Student Radio Awards. UK Student Radio Association. 24 November 2003. Archived from the original on 23 December 2003. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "2003-2004 Year Book". Station History. Surge. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  5. 1 2 "2005 Winners". Student Radio Awards. UK Student Radio Association. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  6. ↑ "2005-2006 Year Book" (PDF). Station History. Surge. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "2006-2007 Year Book". Station History. Surge. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  8. 1 2 "2006 Winners". Student Radio Awards. UK Student Radio Association. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "2011 Student Radio Awards: Nominations Announced". UK Student Radio Association. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "A Welcome Return For Lost Tape Machine". Abbey Road Studios. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
  11. 1 2 "SURGE-ing ahead!". Wessex Scene. 25 November 2003. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Award winning radio station". Surge. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  13. ↑ Fewell, Laura (23 November 2004). "Surge Scoops!". Wessex Scene. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  14. 1 2 Fewell, Laura (13 December 2005). "Surging to Victory". Wessex Scene. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  15. ↑ "2007 Winners". Student Radio Awards. UK Student Radio Association. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  16. ↑ Hornsby, Liam (7 December 2007). "Success for Surge". Wessex Scene. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  17. ↑ Mark Farrington (25 November 2009). "Student Radio Awards Winners Announced". UK Student Radio Association. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  18. ↑ Bradman, Carla (17 November 2009). "Diary". Wessex Scene. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  19. ↑ Palser, Thom (11 October 2011). "2011 Student Radio Awards: Nominations Announced". Student Radio Association. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  20. 1 2 Bradshaw, Emma (8 October 2012). "And the nominations are...". Student Radio Association. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  21. 1 2 3 Manton, Stu (5 May 2014). "And the winners are...". Student Radio Association. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  22. 1 2 "The nominations for the Student Radio Awards 2015 are IN!". Student Radio Association. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  23. ↑ "The Student Radio Awards 2016: NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED….". Student Radio Association. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  24. ↑ "Don't Touch Me I'm Famous". Surge Radio. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  25. 1 2 "Student Radio Awards 2016 Winners!". Student Radio Association. 10 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  26. ↑ "The Lowdown - with Tom Cross". Surge Radio. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2016.

Coordinates: 50°54′22.57″N 1°23′45.64″W / 50.9062694°N 1.3960111°W / 50.9062694; -1.3960111

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