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URB is the student radio station for the University of Bath, England.
History URB (University Radio Bath), previously URB 963, and currently 1449AM URB launched on May 16, 1973 and is a student-run radio station at the University of Bath. It was launched by Annie Nightingale & Pete Murray from Radio 1. In 1994 and 2003 URB also broadcast under short-term Restricted Service Licences across the city of Bath on the FM band. In summer 1995 Torch FM 106.2 used URB studios and presenters to provide a city-wide radio service for the European Youth Olympics in Bath. The station was originally broadcast from a cupboard in the Electrical Engineering Department and carried by induction loops in all of the campus residences. A year after launch the station moved the current studios in Norwood house but still retained the induction loop transmitters, which were updated and expanded as new residences were built on campus. Over the years loudspeakers playing URB were added to the campus laundrettes and the students' union coffee shop. In summer 1994 renovations to the Westwood blocks severed the wires to the loops there and after that URB 963 could only be heard in Eastwood, Wessex and Norwood. On 8 February 2001 at 14:49 1449AM URB launched as a low powered AM service covering the whole campus and the remaining induction loops on 963 were switched off. The addition of internet streaming has also given the station a significant boost. Neil Fox - better known as Dr Fox - and Richard Evans of Radio 1 Newsbeat both started their careers at URB. In 1987 three URB presenters (Graham Hutkins, Ben Ramsden & Andrew Wiseman) broadcast a special 24-hour show, raising money for local charities. In March 2008 presenters broadcast 60 hours of continuous live shows to raise money for the charity Hearing Aid. In March 2008 URB hosted the National Student Radio Conference[1] on behalf of the Student Radio Association the conference between the 17th and 19 March featured talks from a variety of speakers from the world of radio including Radio 1's Greg James.[2] URB Today  The URB Studio - Norwood House, University of Bath The station broadcasts live shows from 9 am into the night, with shows ranging from daytime entertainment shows to specialist music. When there's not a live presenter in the studio, an interactive "non-stop" service fills in the gaps. URB also informs the campus with hourly news bulletins and Campus Minute ; a brief run-down of local and student-related news. Additionally, every evening URB programmes a talk based or specialist show, this has varied from Culture Shows and Sports Shows through to Faith and News Shows, with URB's Flagship news programme, Buzz, traditionally airing every Wednesday from 6PM. Student Radio Association Awards - 2011 4 nominations including Best Marketing and Station Sound, Best Journalistic Programming Bronze award for coverage of the 2010 National Student Fees Demo, Best Student Radio Chart Show Bronze award and Best Student Radio Station Bronze award (the first Best Station award since 2002), [3]
- 2010 Best Student Radio Chart Show Gold award and Best Specialist Music Programming Gold Award [4]
- 2009 Best Marketing & Branding Bronze award (along with 4 other nominations; Best station, Best Entertainment Programming, Best Live Event or Outside Broadcast and Best Journalistic Programming)[5]
- 2008 Best Marketing & Branding Bronze award, and Best Technical Achievement Bronze award for URB non-stop: the continuous-play computer system used during non-personal playout.
- 2007 Best Marketing & Branding for the second consecutive time.[6]
- 2006 Best Marketing & Branding judge Mark Goodier commented "there was something about the winning entry [URB] that really stood out."
- 2005 URB received six nominations (the most nominations they'd received so far) including Student Station of the Year; which they failed to win. They won two silver awards for Station Sound and Best Male Presenter (Chris Day) and one bronze award for Best Entertainment Programming (Paul Kiernan and David Boddington).
- 2004 Gareth Gwynn won Gold for the Best Comedy and Drama for his one-off comedy show Component Parts.
- 2003 The comedy Because Fish Are Funny won second place for Best Speech Based Non-Factual category.
- 2002 Station Manager Ben Vane won Best Male Presenter, URB came second in the Best Marketing category, and URB also came third in Best Station.
Neighbours URB has sister stations at other universities in the area: Committee 40th Anniversary Celebrations In 2013, URB will celebrate its 40th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the current committee, in association with the University of Bath Alumni Office and the Students' Union are organising a reunion event which will take place on 2nd February 2013. In addition to a reunion dinner, the URB schedule for the weekend will reflect 40 years of broadcasting as former members will be encouraged to revive their old shows on-air. As such, the current committee are keen to hear from all former members of the station, whatever their level of involvement. All those interested in attending are encouraged to email the current station manager with their contact details in order to be kept up-to-date with the schedule of events. References - ↑
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