Working in Radio
Radio is seen by some as the ‘little brother’ of television. Don’t let anyone in the industry hear you say such a thing! Radio is unique and proud of its special skills, and the intimate, direct service it provides. A radio person will often take their programme from idea to air completely on their own. The reporter or producer will be able to record sound, mix it, put it into a whole programme that lasts the required time and hand it over for broadcast.
Much of radio is live. This requires very different talents from those needed on TV, which is mostly pre-recorded. As an on-air presenter, announcer or DJ, you must be able to think fast, speak clearly and express yourself well. You will need a formidable general knowledge and an easy manner because you never know who you might meet today - it could be the Prime Minister or it could be a young musician taking his/her first steps on their way to the top.
Work breaks down into three main areas, and your training should be geared towards which of these areas you wish to enter in Radio.
RADIO JOBS:
(Station Manager, Programme Controllers, Producer, Journalist, Reporter, DJ, Presenter, News Reader, News Editor etc... Station Managers are commercial and local radio’s Programme Controllers. They decide the day to day schedules and liaise with the other key players. The broadcaster and their production teams decide on the daily content of their shows and they are backed up by the library staff, the runners and researchers. In the BBC’s nationally networked stations, non-topical programming is largely decided on a longer timescale, of weeks or months ahead of transmission, in consultation with editorial managers in London)
Content production subdivides into two main areas - music radio presentation and production, and speech radio.
To become a regular presenter on a music station you must know your subject from top to bottom, you have to be articulate and you have to be easy to work with. A sense of humour, a sense of fun and yet a willingness to play within the rules are essential. The same goes for producers in music stations; you need the specialist knowledge and the skills to put it into practice, working alongside your presenters.
In speech radio, particularly news journalism, you will either be a presenter, a producer, reporter or broadcast assistant. The teams that make up the production staff for speech shows are often surprisingly small. The Radio 4 Today programme may have 30 or more people on it but it’s the exception, not the rule. Most speech shows will have a presenter, a producer, a researcher and a broadcast assistant (who may also fulfil a technical support role in studio and location recording)- if you’re lucky! Those people, plus a studio manager or engineer, will be expected to create a three hour topical or news show on a daily basis. It’s hard work and it can be a treadmill, but it can also be very rewarding.
Drama has different rules, in terms of staffing and the demands of the schedule, but it is very limited on radio - confined almost purely to BBC Radios 3 and 4.
Sports journalism follows the same rules as news journalism. Sports presentation these days is increasingly the preserve of former sports stars of the Gary Lineker, and Jonathan Agnew variety.
Another area of speech radio is feature-making and documentary production. These are almost exclusively found on the BBC’s local and national networks; most are produced by in-house BBC staff, but because BBC radio operates a voluntary quota of programmes to be made outside the Corporation, there are also opportunities for freelancers and independent production companies.
There are two possible educational routes into radio: a degree in any subject, and a post-graduate Diploma or MA in Radio Production, or a degree in Radio or Media Production, including radio. There are also short courses in Radio Production. You should be doing all of this, whilst demonstrating your desire to get into radio through gaining as much experience as possible of radio production on whatever stations you can. You will find many stations are very welcoming of people interested in entering the industry. Contact your local stations and ask how you can get involved.
Engineers are the key here, and are usually multi-purpose across a host of engineering roles, particularly in local and commercial stations. The engineers make the radio station tick. They ensure that all the equipment is always in peak condition and that the signal gets to the transmitter in perfect order. In the BBC, Studio Managers combine technical and creative skills; they look after the running of the studios, handle all live output, and are also involved in the final stages of mixing the overall sound of pre-recorded programmes.
Station engineers will maintain equipment and monitor the signal output. They will also get involved at a more hands-on level, for example when a major outside broadcast is planned or large scale in-studio discussion is under way with a number of guests and calls coming in from outside.
Training for these roles is through recognised courses and qualifications.
The core support teams are the Finance team, Personnel, Promotions and Reception. In commercial radio, it crucially also includes the Sales Team, who sell the airtime and co-ordinate the advertising content and playout.
Every radio station needs its back-up team. The Personnel department, the Finance department, the Record Librarian and the Receptionist all play key roles. In the commercial sector, you will also come across the Sales Team. Led by a Sales Manager they will consist of a number of Sales Executives who will meet the clients, set up recording sessions for the local advertisements and log them in for transmission. National advertising comes from whichever National Sales House has been taken on by the station.
All of these roles will train in the normal way, and then come into radio through job vacancies advertised in the press. Sales people will normally shadow and learn the ropes on the job.
