12 March 2010
Newport
23 November 2009
News Editor
Radio Noize, the student radio station run by and for students at the University of Wales, Newport is getting ready to embark on ‘the biggest step for the station since its inception’ as it teams up with community station Newport City Radio to broadcast on FM across the Newport area.
Since its launch in September 2007 Radio Noize has been broadcasting solely online via the Students’ Union website. Newport City Radio (NCR) is itself an online community station, run by Urban Circle, a youth culture group based in the city, only broadcasting on FM for short periods per year due to the prohibitive cost of FM broadcast (it would cost £5,000 just to apply for a permanent FM license across Newport, that’s even if Ofcom allowed it due to the proximity of services from Red Dragon in Cardiff and GWR in Bristol).
The landmark deal agreed between the stations, by station manager Sam Forde and Students’ Union Vice-President (Communications) Jennifer Moran, last week means Radio Noize DJ’s will take a 3pm-5pm slot every weekday from the 30th November until Christmas Eve giving the best presenters from the student station a platform to reach out for new listeners from across the city via the 87.9FM frequency.
Station manager Forde called the agreement “the biggest step for the station since its inception” and is excited about the prospect of promoting Radio Noize; “Getting the on the FM will let the Noize and its DJ's send out some positive waves to the whole of Newport 's population. Plus there is also a special secret show on the cards... the new FM slots, 3-5PM weekdays, will see a legendary Noize show re-forming for a one off special! So make sure you stay tuned!".
This isn’t the only development the station is planning, nor is it the first development this year. Radio Noize was launched in September 2007 by, then SU President, Andrew Cargill after years of talks and plans from Union and University which had led to nothing. Despite high success in its first year the station was a beset by technical problems in the second year only solved late on in March last year when John Richardson and Sam Forde agreed to take on the role of joint station manager alongside their accounting course at Allt-yr-yn. Over the summer the pair revamped the station’s Caerleon studio making it more accommodating for student DJ’s and guests alike as well as investing in outside broadcast equipment allowing them to run ‘on the road’ events. They also joined the Student Radio Association meaning presenters can now enter and compete at the Radio 1-sponsored Student Radio Awards at the O2 Arena in November each year.
Manager Forde (now sole manager since Richardson’s recent respectful departure from the joint role) is still looking to the future. A possible link-up with Coleg Gwent’s Students’ Union, that would see the college’s students able to have shows, has been raised and Forde is tracking developments of the BBC’s new online service, the UK Radio Player, which was announced last week. The UK Radio Player will host every UK radio station – BBC, commercial, community and student (should they apply to be listed) in one player allowing users to easily browse through over 400 stations from their desktop as well as searching via postcode, ironically meaning if Noize was listed it would be vying with NCR to be Newport’s number 1 radio station in near future.
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