Student media network Shock bags seven national awards

On Wednesday 8 November, Shock TV, the television component of Shock Network, won five out of the nine awards on offer at The National Student Television Association’s (NASTA) Student Television Choice Awards at the University of Leeds.

There were wins in the following categories; Best Interview, for ‘Shock and the Cheeky Girls’, The Impact Award, for ‘Shock X Mind in Salford’, Rising Star Award to David Evans, Unsung Hero Award to Joe Lander and Best Freshers Coverage.

Alongside Shock TV, the network is also home to Shock Radio, which had a successful night at the annual Student Radio Awards.

Branded the ‘biggest night in student radio’ and held at the Indigo at the O2 in London, station members and industry professionals from across the UK gathered for an evening of celebration and recognition.

Hosted by Dean McCullough of BBC Radio 1 and Aimee Vivian of Capital FM, our Salford students came away with two awards – Gold for ‘Best Station Sound’ and Bronze for ‘Chart Show Programming.’

Matthew Green, former Shock Radio Station Manager said: “When I took over as station manager in the summer of 2022, I decided I wanted a new sound of Shock Radio. It was so nice to know the hard work I put into the project got nominated but it was a great surprise to win gold!”

This award, supported by WizzFX, comes hand in hand with a year’s worth of mentoring and training resources for the radio station.

Matthew continued: “It’s a great opportunity to know that Shock has professional mentoring coming for the station sound team, which ultimately is a great experience for all Shock Radio members.”

The Bronze Award for ‘Chart Show Programming’ was a great achievement considering the station competed against 90 stations within the national Student Radio Network.

Matthew added: “This was an amazing achievement for a team that put so much hard work into its production”.

James Crompton, co-producer of the Chart Show, said: “It was a stressful experience but so worth doing. To be selected out of so many stations was a great achievement. Everyone involved in the show did really well.”

One of the presenters, Matthew McGettrick, added: “I grew up listening to chart shows and used to pretend to host them from my bedroom as a child.

“When I heard we were nominated I was over the moon! It was great to have our efforts recognised, especially following our win for Best Contribution to the Region at the Amplify Awards earlier in the year.”

Adam Clark, current station manager of Shock Network, added: “I’m delighted that Shock managed to collect these awards, it means a great deal to everyone at the station. We are looking forward to working with WizzFX, and hope to pick up more awards for our outputs this year.