Want to be on air?
Tuesday 24 July 2007
Ever wondered how radio is made and what happens behind the scenes at a radio station? n2k speaks to Ruby Mulraine, Executive Producer at 1Xtra about the route she took to get where she is now.
UK Radio
Radio in the UK is some of the best in the world with a huge diversity of stations, from pure speech to nothing but non stop music, catering for every kind of audience imaginable. Youth and music stations such as Kiss, Radio1, 1Xtra and Choice feature the biggest of current music as well as lesser known acts that are breaking through. But who is behind actually making the shows?
The presenter
A presenter or DJ’s s role is to be the voice of the show. Presenters have to be chatty and upbeat and always have something to say!
On music radio presenters must also know a lot about music and be able to sound really knowledgeable on air. A lot of presenters are also club DJ’s or take an active role in the music industry.
There’s no real age limit to becoming a presenter. Ayesha from1Xtra started at 16, check out her profile.
If your interest is with talk radio then you will need to have expertise in the style that the station represents. If you want to present on a sports radio station for example, you will need to have in-depth knowledge of the sports world. If you want to be a sports of news presenter you will also have to train as a broadcast journalist.
The producer
If you’re more of a behind-the-scenes person then you might want to get into production.
The producer is in charge of guiding the direction of the show and coming up with new ideas all the time to make sure that the show stays fresh and listeners don’t get bored. The producer often has a small team behind them and together they will research information for the show, book guests, decides on competitions to run, carry out interviews and edit them and be the creative backbone of the show.
Other jobs
There are many other jobs at a radio station from engineers who will run and fix the studios to the people who make jingles and adverts.
Ever fancied choosing which tracks will be played at a radio station? All stations have a Music Department who will research and select new tracks to put on the playlist. There are also roles in admin, events, marketing, sales and tea makers are always needed!
Getting in
A good route for experience are “RSLs” – or Restricted Service Licence stations. These are temporary radio stations that usually run between two weeks to one month. These work on a volunteer basis and will give you the freedom to try a few different roles. This can be a good way to decide what you really want to do in radio or if you want to work in radio at all. They are also a great way to meet other people in radio, both established and future producers and presenters.
You can also volunteer at local Community Radio, Hospital Radio and Local Radio. The BBC also runs work experience schemes but competition is tough even for this so it’s best to get experience with RSLs first.
Listen!
Whether you want to be a present or producer there are three essential things you need to land the job you want - experience, perseverance and knowledge.
Finally, if you want to work in radio it's important to listen to radio whenever and wherever you can!
