Northampton radio station breaks away from town’s university and goes independent
NLive radio has launched a crowdfunder to support it into the future
Northampton’s community radio station NLive Radio has split from its long term academic funder and will become independent.
After being funded by the University of Northampton for the past decade, the station, which covers all aspects of the town’s life, will now go it alone.
It comes as the university battles to cut costs amid a national downturn in overseas students coupled with an economic hangover of the new £330m Waterside campus which opened in 2018. Recently it announced another wave or redundancies, following on from two voluntary redundancy rounds last year.
A statement issued by the station said:
“The challenging and changing times in the Higher Education sector has meant that the University has regularly been reviewing all its financial expenditure and whilst it recognised the civic value of NLive Radio, it has chosen to prioritise spending on educational delivery and the student experience.
“The University has welcomed plans for NLive Radio to continue independently and remain on air for the community and have agreed to support this transition.”
To support the transition, NLive Radio has today launched a major fundraising campaign and is appealing for support from listeners, local businesses and community organisations.
The fundraising campaign aims to raise the money needed to establish the station in its new structure, including securing new studio premises, moving equipment, maintaining broadcasting licences, upgrading ageing technology and covering essential operating costs.
Alongside one-off donations, NLive Radio is encouraging supporters to consider making small monthly contributions to help create a sustainable future for the station.
The station, currently based at the university’s St John Hall’s of Residence in Swan Street, is on air seven days a week and has a number of much loved regular programmes covering topics such as culture, business and politics, all DJed by volunteers.
Rebecca Steers, station manager of NLive Radio, said:
“It’s been a pleasure to lead NLive Radio for the past seven years, helping to grow as a station and across the area, winning awards and supporting Northampton.
“We’ve been at the heart of local communities. Not only promoting local charities, celebrating local achievements, supporting community events and playing local musicians; but we’ve also given hundreds of people the opportunity to get involved in broadcasting and journalism.”
“Now we need Northampton’s help. We’re asking listeners, businesses and organisations across the town to stand with us and help secure the future of truly local radio. Whether it’s a donation, an advertising campaign, volunteering your time or simply spreading the word, every bit of support matters.”
“NLive Radio loves Northampton. We’re now asking Northampton to love NLive Radio and help us continue serving the town for many years to come.”
Rebecca will lead the transition after many years as the full time station manager, during which time the station has grown to more than 17,000 regular listeners. However the station says Rebecca will have to leave her role in the coming months without a successful fundraising appeal.
As part of the appeal, the station, which first broadcast in 2016, is asking local businesses to consider advertising on NLive Radio. To mark the launch of the campaign, the station is introducing a special offer giving businesses the opportunity to secure a 12-month advertising campaign for half price.
All NLive Radio presenters are volunteers, and the station hopes to become a fully volunteer-run organisation in the future. To help this the station is also recruiting new volunteers to help behind the scenes, support fundraising and operations, produce content, and present programmes.
The station was recently given a five-year licence extension meaning it can broadcast until 2031.
Anyone wishing to support the fundraising appeal should visit for more details www.nliveradio.com/loveus or contact the studio station via WhatsApp on 07955 311069 or call 01604 452511.
