• Corona , The University

TU/e Community Radio stops after ten weeks

On June 1st, the broadcasters of the TU/e Community Radio will pull the plug themselves. What started as a nice idea to have a radio channel live for a week to support every TU/e student and employee who was forced to stay at home due to Corona, has turned into a long period with more broadcast hours than they ever imagined. "It has been great fun, but it is enough now."

by
photo Bart van Overbeeke

 

"So far, 261 hours of live radio have been broadcast," says community manager Erik de Jong on the day he announces that TU/e Community Radio is going to stop. There are still two weeks to go and then they will have reached a nice exact ten weeks of radio. "Never thought we would," the initiator says, "especially that it would remain this much fun for so long."

Thomas Wiepking, Wout de Ruiter and Melvin Williams form the permanent team, assisted by specialists in the field of programming and technology. They offer students, employees and associations the opportunity to provide a program for an afternoon or to join as a guest.

Feel-good was the original goal, but over time, many hours were devoted to informative content as well. Chairman of the Executive Board Robert-Jan Smits was interviewed, there was a live Q&A with Ludo van Meeuwen and a member of the TU/e proctoring team. On April 16th, TINT helped to deal with unhealthy thoughts and to gain self-confidence.

Vieze Veur

On other moments there were programs purely for entertainment. For example by Vieze Veur, Tiny Tinus and Big Bressers who launched ‘De Dolle Donderdag show’ for Industria. And a radio show became an alternative to the canceled lustrum party of Demos-fraternity Drago, like last Thursday.

Erik de Jong is surprised by the enthusiasm with which student associations host broadcasts. “They had their own supporters in mind - and on the phone – which created a lot of interaction with apps and photos and request songs. It really gave a community feeling. That was great fun.”

Nice beat

De Jong noticed that each association had its own vibe and sound. He associates Industrial Design with “very hip music with a really nice beat and a female voice that repeats something all the time that you can hardly understand, if you know what I mean.”

Quitting on June 1st is well thought out. "At GEWIS they like round numbers: finalizing this month brings the number of broadcast weeks to ten," De Jong says. Just because the light in the radio studio will be switched off doesn't mean it's all over. "It may be restarted during the Intro."

But it is not yet June 1st. Those who want can quickly use the last opportunity to fill a block of three hours on the radio. To sign up, you can contact them by email.

 

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