A radio station for Oxford
Almost a year and a half after the demise of Oxygen FM, Oxford may finally get its own official university radio station.
The station's successor, Fusion Radio, launched efusionradio.com last year as a wholly student-run station to be broadcast over the web. It was fully funded and backed by Fusion Radio 107.9 FM.
However, efusionradio.com have turned to OUSU for support owing to unhappiness with their relationship with Fusion because it would only let them broadcast for four hours a day.
It is intended for efusion to take up residence in a cupboard within the depths of the offices on Little Clarendon Street. Funding should be available from the Oxford Radio Trust.
It was agreed at last Friday's OUSU Council to allow President Ruth Hunt and VP-Finance Eleanor Fletcher to negotiate moving the station's equipment to the OUSU offices. Fletcher hopes that the station will become part of OUSU itself, but will retain editorial independence.
The station will remain web-based and will broadcast for longer than the four-hour duration currently afforded by Fusion.
Hunt believes lessons have been learnt from the Oxygen FM fiasco, where it became apparent that 24-hour broadcasting and student volunteers do not mix.
Fletcher supports Oxford having its own radio station: "I think it would be a nice thing to have. There are enough students who want to get involved in student radio and it could become very popular."
24th Jan 2002