Campus radio

Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced by students, or may include program contributions from the local community in which the radio station is based. Sometimes campus radio stations are operated for the purpose of training professional radio personnel, sometimes with the aim of broadcasting educational programming, while other radio stations exist to provide alternative to commercial broadcasting or government broadcasters.

Campus radio stations are generally licensed and regulated by national governments, and have very different characteristics from one country to the next. One commonality between many radio stations regardless of their physical location is a willingness—or, in some countries, even a licensing requirement—to broadcast musical selections that are not categorized as commercial hits. Because of this, campus radio has come to be associated with emerging musical trends, including genres such as punk and new wave, alternative rock, indie rock, underground metal and hip hop, long before those genres become part of the musical mainstream. Campus radio stations also often provide airplay and promotional exposure to new and emerging local artists.

Many campus radio stations carry a variety of programming including news (often local), sports (often relating to the campus), and spoken word programming as well as general music. Often the radio format is best described as a freeform, with much creativity and individualism among the disc jockeys and show hosts. Some of these radio stations have gained critical acclaim for their programming and are considered by the community in which they are embedded to be an essential media outlet.

While the term campus radio implies full-power AM or FM transmission, a significant number of stations transmit with low-power broadcasting, closed circuit, and carrier current systems, in some cases to on-campus listeners only. Many universities and college stations today also broadcast via the internet, either as an additional outlet for their licensed stations or in lieu of obtaining a government-issued license. In addition, college programming is distributed through local cable television systems on cable FM or on the second audio programs of TV radio stations.

The first (and one of the most popular) campus radio in Argentina's history is LR11 Radio Universidad Nacional de La Plata, which belongs to the Universidad Nacional de La Plata. It was inaugurated on 5 April 1924 as an element of scientific dissemination and university extension, and it is the first university radio station in the world.

The most famous campus/college radio in the country, FM Radio Universidad ("University Radio"), is an Argentine radio station based in the city of Rosario, belonging to the National University of Rosario (UNR). It was created in 1994, and it has a strong focus on programs covering national/international news and current political topics of discussion, as well as AOR musical segments. The station transmits on 103.3 MHz.

Student radio stations generally operate under a community broadcasting licence. Some services, such as 87.8 UCFM Canberra, operate under a narrowcast license, while others broadcast exclusively online.

Australia also once had two radio stations that were operated by universities and dedicated to delivery of course content: