{"id":6148,"date":"2025-05-13T12:20:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T12:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/?p=6148"},"modified":"2025-05-14T09:43:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T09:43:48","slug":"making-waves-a-digital-radio-renaissance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/making-waves-a-digital-radio-renaissance\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Waves: A Digital Radio Renaissance"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Smoke Radio<\/a> is the University of Westminster\u2019s award-winning, student-run radio station, broadcasting from dedicated studios on our Harrow campus. More than just a platform for live shows, it offers students the chance to amplify their voices, share their views, and spark conversations that reach across campus and into the wider community. It\u2019s also a powerful tool for student-led campaigning and creative expression.<\/p>\n

Involvement in Smoke Radio goes far beyond being behind the mic. Students gain hands-on experience with industry-standard equipment, learning technical and creative skills in audio and video production, podcasting, event organising, social media content creation, and more, all of which enhance employability in the media and creative industries. Thanks to a successful \u00a3130,000 funding bid secured by the School of Media and Communications<\/a> in partnership with CETI (Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation)<\/a>, Smoke Radio is entering a new era. Led by Senior Lecturer Eleanor Roseblade<\/a> and co-created with students, the bid combined written and video elements to capture the collaborative energy driving the station\u2019s revival.<\/p>\n

This transformative two-year development plan includes paid student internships, the appointment of a professional Station Manager, and an ambitious relaunch of Westminster\u2019s flagship student station \u2014 ensuring Smoke Radio continues to be a bold and innovative space for student media.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Smoke Radio: A Respected Legacy Reimagined<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Smoke Radio, originally launched by Rev. Matthew Linfoot<\/a> (Principal Lecturer), built a legacy of excellence, winning over 20 national Student Radio Awards and twice claiming the title of Best Student Radio Station in the UK. While the pandemic caused a temporary pause, the revival of this celebrated station is now underway, bringing with it a new parent name, a new vision, and new potential.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Enter Westminster Waves<\/i>, a next-generation digital station with the infrastructure to grow into a DAB-licensed broadcaster with potential reach of over two million people across West London. Having recently secured rights on City West Digital\u2019s (CWD) multiplex network, an Ofcom Community Licence application is now in development.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"Launching Westminster Waves is a once in a lifetime opportunity. A university broadcasting to the City, while sharing it's ideas, thoughts and research? What a wonderful thing that could be!\"<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Andy Pitchford<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Head of CETI<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Quentin Hogg Trust<\/a>\u00a0funding provided by a Trading Places initiative being run through CETI will enable the full refurbishment of the Smoke Radio studio in Harrow\u2019s Forum. This professional-grade facility will serve as the nerve centre of\u00a0Westminster Waves<\/i>, providing broadcast-quality equipment and a home for broadcast content creation across all university campuses.<\/p>

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With the launch of\u00a0Zone 29<\/a>\u00a0next academic year, providing a space for podcast training and recording in their new digital suite,\u00a0Westminster Waves<\/i>\u00a0will offer opportunities for Westminster students to develop and showcase their media and production skills, supported by training in Ofcom compliance and digital communication.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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As part of a second QHT initiative, students from\u00a0BA Television Production<\/a>,\u00a0MA Film, Television and Moving Image<\/a>,\u00a0BA Digital Media Production<\/a>, and\u00a0BA Music Production<\/a>\u00a0are already deeply involved in the preparation for the station\u2019s launch. The team recently visited\u00a0Riverside Radio<\/a>, an award-winning community station in Battersea, where they received hands-on training in Ofcom compliance and community radio operations. A subsequent visit to the\u00a0RSGB National Radio Centre<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0Bletchley Park<\/a>, home of the WWII codebreakers, brought the project team together to explore the science of radio communications.<\/p>

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Riverside Radio will play a key role in building\u00a0Westminster Waves<\/i>\u00a0next year as their involvement will continue throughout the next academic year, providing coaching and guidance to students via the Smoke Radio Student Union Society. This collaboration will help students synthesise and apply the transferable skills they\u2019ve gained across all degree programmes (regardless of subject) to their involvement in the radio station. \u00a0With student co-creators over this summer, they will create an online course in Ofcom compliance, which will be made available to all in the autumn.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\"Bringing together student societies, academics, and community voices is exciting, offering a unique opportunity to build a impactful digital community aligned with our values of community, collaboration, and inclusion, where everyone can feel they belong.\"<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Eleanor Roseblade<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Senior Lecturer in Media<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The station isn\u2019t just about radio. It\u2019s about creating a digital community and launchpad for storytelling, education, and cultural exchange. Collaborations are already in motion: a pilot podcast programme with\u00a0Migrant Voice<\/a>\u00a0(a UK-wide charity amplifying the voices of migrants) will take place this June; students from the MA Film Television and Moving Image are working with staff to deliver this two-day course.\u00a0<\/p>

This project aligns with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.<\/p>

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\u00a0<\/p>

About University of Westminster<\/b><\/p>

As one of the most diverse universities in the UK, we are a global university with London energy, with more than 19,000 students from 169 countries. To find out more about our\u00a0Media and Communication courses,<\/a>\u00a0visit\u202four website.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The School of Media and Communications in tandem with CETI (Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation) has managed to secure \u00a3130,000 funding to reinvigorate the University\u2019s student-led radio presence across all campuses and into the wider community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":914,"featured_media":6152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86,9,82,11],"tags":[224,226,164,222,229,220,227,228,27],"class_list":["post-6148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-london-life","category-societies","category-student-experience","category-undergraduate","tag-ceti","tag-media-and","tag-media-and-communication","tag-radio","tag-radio-station","tag-smoke-radio","tag-student-societies","tag-student-society","tag-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/914"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6148"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6207,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6148\/revisions\/6207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}