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Purple Radio

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Purple Radio
Broadcast areaThe World
FrequencyInternet
Programming
FormatMP3, Real and Flash Player
Ownership
Owner Durham Students' Union
History
First air date
October - June
Links
Websitewww.purpleradio.co.uk

Purple Radio is Durham University's student radio station. Purple broadcasts online at purpleradio.co.uk 24 hours a day [1] during term time, from October until June each year.

History

Purple FM (1980s-2005)

Purple Radio was previously known as 107 Purple FM. The station is believed to have launched in the 1980s and was based in a small studio at Van Mildert College. It is known to have operated a number of 4 week 'Restricted Service Licence' broadcasts from there in the late 1990s on 107MHz. In the summer of 2002 the station moved into Dunelm House, the home of Durham Students Union. This move was made to the make the station more accessible and open to students from all parts of the university. The first broadcast to be made from the new studio was another 4 week FM broadcast in October of that year on the same frequency as previous licences. A further such FM broadcast followed in November to December 2003.

Purple Radio (2005- Present)

The station re-branded itself as Purple Radio in late 2004 in order to launch a 24 hour internet service via its website; this decision was taken due to the increasing popularity of the internet as a broadcast medium for student radio, the very high costs of broadcasting on FM, and the unfeasibility of broadcasting on AM in Durham[citation needed]. The first internet-based broadcast began on the first day of Epiphany term 2005, but was forced off air in late February after heavy snow storms leaked into the studio and damaged much of the station's equipment. After a studio re-build and a change of executive, the station was re-launched a year later on January 16th 2006 and successfully completed its longest period of continuous broadcasting on Friday 23rd June. At the end of the Easter Term, two presenters undertook a 24-hour show in order to raise money for charity[citation needed].

It is currently controlled by Seb Payne[2] who was appointed in February 2008 to run the station for the forthcoming year. Purple hosted the Student Radio Chart Show on Sunday 11th May 2008[3].

Station Managers

  • 2001 - 2002 - John Hart
  • 2002 - 2003 - Nick Jeffery
  • 2003 - 2004 - Nick Jeffery
  • 2004 - 2005 - Mike Hanson
  • 2005 - 2006 - Mike Hanson
  • 2006 - 2007 - Tim Hoy
  • 2007 - 2008 - Matt Hancock and Matt Gibson
  • 2008 - Present - Seb Payne

Shows

The station features a mixture of music and talk shows. Talk programmes generally air from 5.30pm to 6pm on weekdays, and at breakfast and lunch during weekends. They cover news, sports and current affairs, as well as a selection of comedy shows and light entertainment. Specialist music shows cover a wide range of genres including blues, electronic, indie, rock, folk, dance, and house music - these air every evening from about 6pm onwards. During the daytime a playlist (composed of around twenty five songs on an 'A', 'B', and 'C' list) is rotated and presenters are also free to play their own choice of new and old music. Tracks from the week's playlist are voted for by listeners via the website and these votes are announced on the station's Chart Show on Sunday afternoons from 5pm-6.

Management

A Station Manager that is appointed by the general counsel of Durham Students’ Union during Epiphany Term runs the station. The manager select an executive committee (exec) whose job it is to assist the manager run the station. The term for Station Manager runs from Easter Term (April) till the end of Epiphany Term (March) each year. The 2008 - 2009 exec includes the following posts - Head Of Music, Programme Controller, Marketing Manager, Speech Controller, Chief Engineer, Head of IT & Systems, Webmaster, Sales and Sponsorship, Administrator and Deputy Head of Music[4]. Weekly meetings are held to discuss matters relating the stations

Membership and Finance

Purple is a Recognised Media Organisation, along with Palatinate and Durham21. The station is expected to be self financed and it is not provided any financial help from the union. However the union provides the office and studio space for the station to run on Level C of Dunelm House. One of the sources of finance is membership fees - members of the radio station pay a nominal fee in order to pay for studio maintenance, promotions and projects. All presenters must be members of the station, and all members are encouraged to present shows.

There is also a Sales and Sponsorship Manager who is responsible for finding sponsorship for the station. Recent sponsors have included 3 and Centrica. The manager is also responsible for the Schools Project where local school children visit the station every summer for a work experience project. They learn how the station works and the technique of producing a good radio show.

The number of DJs involved in broadcasting has increased vastly in recent years and is now in excess of 170 students. In addition to presenters, the station has a dedicated music team, which writes comprehensive reviews for the many CDs that are sent from record companies. The station's website is updated regularly with these, in addition to gig reviews.

Notes

  1. ^ Schedule for Easter Term 2008 - http://purple.dur.ac.uk/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=58
  2. ^ Sebastian Early Anthony Payne - http://www.sebpayne.com
  3. ^ UNLIMITED / Student Radio Chart
  4. ^ Purple Radio - Exec 2008-2009
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