As one of the first student radios to broadcast on FM radio in the UK, Lancaster’s student radio has a lot to live up to. But with dozens of shows running all week there’s little chance there’s not going to be something for you. Whilst there’s really too many interesting and worthwhile shows to fit on one page, here’s a sample of what you can find on 87.7 Bailrigg FM.
At 4pm week days the station broadcasts a two hour Home-time Show, featuring music and individual features from the presenter of the evening, including funny personal anecdotes and running jokes between radio members. They’re designed to provide entertainment at the end of a tough day, and showcase much of what the station has to offer
On Tuesdays The Back Pages runs from 7-9pm, and covers the latest news from sports teams and societies. They interview members from sports societies across campus – covering the upcoming events and general set-up of each team. If you’re unsure whether or not a team is for you, it’s a good place to look.
No radio station would be complete without music, and Bailrigg has a wide range of shows to choose from. Thursdays in particular have much to offer, starting with Tansy’s Throwback Thursdays. At 10am every week this show chooses a random year and covers some of the best known songs to come out of it. Featuring episodes covering the eighties and the noughties, it’s an hour that really can’t ever run out of content.
It’s followed at 2pm by Old but Gold, which covers a mix of classic songs from at least a decade into the past. It has many week-on-week features – last year it introduced ‘Kazoo that Tune’, and has recently introduced ‘Gold bars’. In this segment the presenters turn a well-known song into a rap, and guess which song each has chosen.
1095, a new show running later in the day at 8pm, is themed around university life. This means that the presenters highlight the general theme for the music each week, and the title itself is based around the number of days in the three years it takes to finish most degrees.
The following day at 2pm is J Smooth, an hour of calmer music with features such as quick-fire question rounds and guest members joining in with conversations between songs.
And of course, this wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the Story Hour, which runs at 8pm on Mondays. For students interested in radio scripts and creative writing in general, this show offers a range of short stories, poetry, and radio dramas. Recently they produced a Halloween Special of the works of Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, and have covered the works of Arthur Conan Doyle in short Sherlock Holmes tales. For a blend of student writing and classic literary works this show really can’t be beaten.
With new content appearing every term, it’s another example of how broad the options in Lancaster’s student media really are. With podcasts making shows available at any hour, it’s a case of listening in and finding a show for you.
