Level 2 Media Radio

Ok, you've analysed a station and a show , then  conceived ,  planned  and  produced  your radio show The final touch is to hand it in, and evidence what you've done. Do this in the following way. 1. Open up a new blogpost. Call it 'My Talk & Music Radio Reflection'. 2. Answer, in a few paragraphs the following questions.Actually paste the bolded questions into your post and then add a paragraph answer to each. a)  How happy am I with my finished show?  Have you achieved what you set out to achieve? What are you particularly proud of in your final product? Do you think it will appeal to the target audience you've identified? b)  What could be improved with my finished show?  What would you change or improve about your finished product? How could those improvements be made? Is it a question of having more time, or practicing more with the software you used? If you could make the show again what would you do differently?...

Hopefully you've SAVED your links properly as mp3s or wavs and can open them up in Adobe Audition. You now need to lace together your links with your music, as well as create jingles/stabs. You also need to leave me some EVIDENCE of this process so every now and then please screenshot what you're doing and save images in a folder (I'll figure out how to turn this into a production diary). REMEMBER - you can EDIT individual tracks in 'Edit View', you can put together various tracks in 'Multitrack' view. Have a play with effects and see what occurs. If you need help editing tell me and I'll come and help. These videos will be helpful also. (Editing Audio With Audition)  (How to Make Your Voice Sound Better With Audition)  (how to mix music + speech) 

OK - IF you have completed ALL the planning necessary, it's now time for you to start your radio production by actually recording the links you're going to use between tracks in your half-hour shows. No-one gets in a studio without a script. In previous years students who've gone into the studios saying they're going to 'freestyle' it and have then spent entire sessions dicking about have failed. Students who go in and record JUST what they need and have spent more time EDITING have ended up with tight, well-edited shows. The longer you give yourself in the classroom to edit what you record together with the music tracks the better. This doesn't mean that if you're in a position to go into the studio you should rush through the actual recording- take your time in the studio getting relaxed and comfortable, making sure your voice is coming through loudly and clearly (check your fader levels) - keep having a go until you get links you're happy wi...

 I'm sure most of you want to get in the studio and start freestyling your links. Sorry but you can't. The criteria EXPLICITLY STATES that all dialogue has to be scripted. It says it in the criteria (look at part e of criteria 3) and also states it in the teaching guidance later in the spec. WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT without a script that you stick to your show, no matter how hilarious/great YOU might think it is, is going to fail this criteria and you'll fail the unit. YOU HAVE TO GENERATE SCRIPTED LINKS FOR AT LEAST A HALF-HOUR OF YOUR SHOW. SO - every time you've indicated in your RUNNING ORDER that you're going to say something or have a  link between tracks, you will have to script that link.  I don't want you necessarily to write a script that you then read nervously in the studio. But I do want some hint as to what you're going to say. What might be ideal is scripting the links for now, recording them with a little bit of relaxed freedo...

A couple of things I've noticed that will fully wrap up your planning.  1. DON'T OPEN A NEW POST FOR THIS, GO BACK TO YOUR LAST POST ABOUT OFCOM AND ADD IT TO THE BOTTOM OF THAT.  Add the heading 'LICENSING'  Go to both of the following links http://www.ppluk.com/I-Play-Music/Radio-Broadcasting/ http://www.ppluk.com/I-Play-Music/Radio-Broadcasting/Why-do-I-need-a-licence/ Give me in your own words, basic answers to the following questions. You can use the questions as subheadings if you wish. . . Who are PPL?  Why do I need a radio broadcasting license? What two licenses do I need to play music on the radio? Who gets paid by each type of license?

The final part of most planning for the media units you are doing usually entails looking at the legal and ethical side of the media - i.e what you can and can't get away with on-air or in print, and what 'trade-body' or organisation regulates the media. You know that IPSO are the regulator of the press. You might know that Ofgen regulate the energy industry. Ofsted regulate education. Who regulates the radio industry? Ofcom. Recently a few people have fallen foul of Ofcom's rules. Have a look at these stories. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/28/ofcom-bans-iman-fm-radio-station-al-qaida-anwar-al-awlaki https://radiotoday.co.uk/2017/08/russell-brand-puts-radio-x-in-ofcom-breach/ I want you to tell me about Ofcom, and what strictures/rules you should obey when putting together your show. Do this as follows. 1. Open up a new blogpost. Call it 'RADIO PLANNING: OFCOM'. Add the heading 'Who are Ofcom?' Find the Ofcom site, and see if...

Although you're going to present your show, in a sense you're also going to be the producer too, cos it's you that's taking charge of the planning , recording and editing as well. With your producers hat on you need to create a list of all the equipment you're going to need to create your show as well as the health and safety issues associated with working in a studio. This is a really quick part of the planning documentation and you should complete it as follows. 1. CREATE A NEW BLOGPOST AND CALL IT 'RADIO PLANNING - Equipment & Safety' 2. Add the heading 'HARDWARE & SOFTWARE' and give me a full list of the equipment you're going to use to create your show. Have a think about EVERYTHING you're going to need. Your list should at a bare minimum include the following HARDWARE Microphones A pop shield. Headphones Radio Studio Mixing Desk Computers (both in the studio during production, and in the classroom during editing/pos...

The penultimate part of your planning documentation will tell me what's the ideal time-slot for your show and also what kind of music you'll be playing. Obviously the two are related - if you're broadcasting in the daytime you're not going to be able to play music with adult-content or swearing in it - if you're broadcasting at night your music choices can depart from the daytime playlist for your suggested station, and include songs that are more specialist/obscure. Complete this part as follows.  1. Open up a new Blogpost. Call it 'RADIO PLANNING: TIMESLOT AND MUSIC'  2. Add the heading. 'SCHEDULING' and tell me, even if you have already - what time of the day will your show be broadcast and why? How will that timeslot reach your target audience? What will your target audience be doing at that time - will they be able to hear your show? 3. Add the heading 'PLAYLIST ' and give me a list of at least 5, and anything ...

Trevor Nelson, Adele Roberts, Charlie Sloth       OK, so you’ve decided on the name of your show, and told me the CONCEPT behind it, the INTENDED STATION and about your TARGET AUDIENCE. You'll also have created a RUNNING ORDER and a CONTENT PLAN for your proposed show.     Obviously you’re going to present it but have a look at the criteria you're aiming at. You'll notice that in the merit column it says " Appropriate  suggestions are made  for presenters / DJs that  relate to the proposed  production". Obviously, if you wanted a station to carry your show they'd want to know who would be presenting it - by completing this session you'll give yourself a chance of hitting that Merit criteria by demonstrating that you're aware of the radio DJs/broadcasters who are out there and have made an informed decision, based on the planning documentation you've created so far, as to which of them would be ideal for your show.  ...

If you're this far in your plan for your show should be coming together nicely. You now need to give me, as the spec requires, a running order for at least half an hour of the show. A running order is a plan for the show you are doing. Running orders are used throughout the radio industry and differ in format from station to station. The 'running order' might seem a bit daunting but basically - remember when you analysed a half-hour of a show and listed everything that occured? You're going to do similar for the show you're planning, mapping out how half an hour of the show would unfold and adding timings to it so it's tight. Do this as follows 1. Have a look at the following sites  - there's sample running orders, each different.  Give yourself a flavour of what running orders contain and what they look like. You're going to create one for a half-hour of YOUR show. As you can see they all contain different things depending on how detailed they ...

OK, so you've told me about the basic concept behind your show and the audience your show will try and reach. Now time to tell me (and remember, think of all these planning posts as if you're getting together a proposal pack for a station) what your show is actually going to contain. The more detail you go into throughout the planning the more likely you are to not only hit merit-indicators but also focus your show when it comes to producing and editing it. Do this part of your planning in the following way.  1. Open up a new blogpost - call it 'CONTENT PLAN'  2. Add the subheading 'INTERVIEWS'  Who would be your ideal GUESTS for the show and why would they appeal to your audience? Name a few names and suggest WHY they would be ideal for your target audience. Can you think of a couple of questions you'd ask and put them into your planning as well? 3. Add the heading 'OTHER CONTENT'  JINGLES/STABS/IDENTS - are you goi...

You're probably sick of the idea of 'target audience' (I know I am) but in radio there's no denying that it's particularly important. Why do radio stations care so much about target audience? Well, if they're a BBC station they need to be able to prove they're catering for a part of the UK population that isn't being catered for elsewhere on the BBC network. The BBC has to provide programming for the whole nation or it won't get its license fee. So each BBC station will be keen to establish its own unique audience - the BBC annual reports always contain a firm statement of each station's target audience because having that unique audience is each station's justification for existing. If a BBC station started that basically had the same audience as say, Radio 1, the board of governers would ask why it's getting a bit of the license-fee and probably close it down. If they're a commercial radio station  they need advertise...

Imagine you were going to a radio station or even a bank manager with an idea for a radio show you want them to back. Obviously they’re going to want to see - that you’ve got a good concept for a show - that you’ve planned for what it’s going to contain - they’ll want to hear a snippet/sample of what your show would be like. That last bit will come when you've actually finished PRODUCING the show (recording, editing it) but before then, as you should be used to by now, you need to ensure your PRE-PRODUCTION stuff is in place i.e your planning . As ever, when these units go beyond the analytical into the creative you get more opportunities to get merit/distinction grades. Here's the criteria in the Radio unit associated with planning. As you can see there's a LOT of things to do & the more detail you can go into in your planning, the better your chances of hitting the merit criteria. In your first planning post I want you to deal with P3 part (a) , i.e...

OK, we're nearly done with the analysis part of this unit. You should have already analysed a station in terms of its programme types, genres and audience, as well as a single show from that station in terms of its running order, presenters and content. Just need to slot in an analysis of the specific audience for that show and you're done. Do it in the following way.  1. Open up a new post - called it 'The Show's Audience'.  2. You've already identified the target audience for the station as a whole. Have a look at the post you've written about that and remind yourself who the target audience for the station as a whole is. Then tell me . . .  do you think the audience for this particular show is any different /more specific ?  Do you think the TIME the show is broadcast means it attracts a certain listener (eg a breakfast show might be heard by older/younger people than the station's target audience, a late-night show might not be heard by a...

OK, you've analysed a station in terms of its programme types, genre and audience/listeners. Now time to pick a show from the station and analyse that in order to achieve criteria P2. Remember, every criteria has to be achieved in order to complete the unit. AND MAKE SURE THAT THE SHOW YOU ANALYSE IS FROM THE SAME STATION YOU'VE ALREADY ANALYSED. Get your analysis together as follows.  1. OPEN UP A NEW POST. Call it 'SHOW ANALYSIS'.  2. Listen to at least half-an-hour of a show from the station you've written about. Use the following subheadings in bold and do what I've asked for in italics to complete your analysis.   Programme Name: Give me the full name of the show.  Station: give me the name of the station it appears on.  Date/Time/Duration: give me the date the show was broadcast, the time it was on and how long the show lasts in hrs & minutes.  Presenter(s) : Give me the name(s) of the main presenter(s)...

As I mentioned in the last Radio post, I'd like all the 'Analysis' elements of the radio unit wrapped up by the new year so we can move on to you actually being in the studio and creating your shows. These analysis elements won't be assessed for a while but it'd be great to have them all done so next term's sessions can purely focus on you developing and finessing your presentation skills. Last week you'll have told me about a Radio station in terms of what kind of station it is (local/national/commercial/public/community) and what kind of shows they broadcast. The final part of analysing the station is telling me what the 'audience profile' for the station is, as you can see from the spec. I remember people predicting about 20 years ago that by now radio would be dead/over. It seemed like the most old-fashioned type of media and with the internet it was assumed that people would get information and music online and stop tuning into radi...

What you might have noticed with the units that you've started so far is that they tend to follow a pattern - first you have to analyse the industry behind things, then you have to plan your own product, and then you have to create. The radio unit you'll be doing with me this year is called TALK AND MUSIC RADIO PRODUCTION and follows this process.  In this unit you're going to analyse a radio station, then analyse ONE of the shows broadcast on that station and finally plan, record and edit your own radio show. You will be assessed on your analysis, the planning you put into your show , and the final show you'll make. Again, good planning makes for a good finished product. Stay on top of it and you'll be creating great entertaining shows. Here as ever is the spec - I recommend having a glance at it to give yourself an idea of the way this unit will unfold over coming months. Because I'm not actually going to be assessing this unit until Easter 2018, t...