Interview with Tune!FM’s Kimberly Ralph

For those who regularly tune into UNE’s student powered radio station, Tune!FM, you may have heard  Kimberly Ralph counting down the top 30 songs of the week in their Weekly Review every Friday evening. But there’s so much that Kimberly does behind the scenes that you may not be aware of.

We recently caught up with Kimberly to chat about her time at Tune, and what she gets up to when she isn’t on air, and how other students can join the team!

Tell us about you and your role at Tune!FM – how did you get involved, how long have you been a part of the team?

I first got involved with Tune!FM as a volunteer. I discovered that UNE had a radio station in 2019 when I had just switched from studying a Bachelor of Business to a Bachelor of Media and Communications.

I put in a lot of time and effort into my volunteer role, and I was soon promoted to a paid position, which is the Radio Broadcast Assistant Role.

I loved every moment of being a volunteer, and even won the Volunteer of the Year Award in 2019!
In all, I have been involved for around 3 years now, and is the best decision I have ever made.

What does a regular day at Tune!FM entail for you?

My role involves is spread across two different days. No one day is the same in the studio but my weekly shifts consist  of the following:

Monday usually includes announcing on-air, buying and uploading new music, creating the new music blog post, creating/scheduling new music scheduling on Facebook and Instagram, I help out any volunteers that are in the studio, complete any extra admin stuff that is asked of me, by the Station Manager, Tania Court.

My administration shifts usually involved tax invoices, picking winners for the Mixtape Comp, answering emails, running the stations social media accounts and data Entry, and anything else Tania asked me to do of course!

Who produces all of Tune’s content and who decided its direction?

I tend to produce most of the social media content that gets pushed out to students on Instagram and Facebook. It is a team effort and as a team, we generally decide what information will be more suitable for socials vs what is more acceptable to announce on air.

Tune!FMs audience consists of students from across the globe. How has your content changed/evolved since COVID lockdowns have become “the (unfortunate) norm”?

Not much has actually changed with us as far as the audience base goes – we mostly talk to students via our socials, podcast, websites, and on air. The main thing that has changed is keeping up on the NSW Health/ UNE Covid-Safe operations and making sure all our students are up to date with this information.

Tune!FM hosts a variety of shows that cover so many different themes and topics! Can you clue us in on some of the radio show you’re currently producing and how students can listen in?

Students can tune in to us from the live stream on any browser, check out our podcasts via our website, stream for Spotify, tuning in at 106.9 on the radio in Armidale, follow our socials – we cover most bases. We have many different radio shows that run live throughout the week. I am even involved with one myself, called The Weekly Review. My co-host and I count down the top 30 songs on the charts each week. Fridays (6-9 pm).

Besides broadcasting, you also have a blog! What sorts of topics do you guys’ cover?

Our blog covers Science, Music, Student Life, and sometimes even movie reviews! There’s a lot of content, because we’re run by students – and we have very varied interests!

How would you recommend students stay connected in these tricky times?

I would recommend joining the Bunker Down Group on Facebook! You get to connect with other students, staff, share fun content, as well as get updates from the University where necessary, also remember you can tune in and listen to us from anywhere in the world via our live stream!