Radio Report Elliott Causer c33442933

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Elliott Causer
Radio Production Report
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LS6 Radio / Absolute Radio
Absolute Radio (Formerly Virgin Radio) has been running for several years
and is one of three of the UK’s independent national radio stations. They focus
on non commercialised music from every decade since the 60s, and have in
place a ‘no repeats policy’. They have a fun style of broadcasting by using a
few ‘in jokes’, and by having their idents read out by comedian and writer Matt
Berry. (Absolute Radio, 2016). It is important in radio for people to generate
and research ideas for programmes and pitch for commissions, I have created
a radio show and chopped it down to 5 minuets to send to any stations that are
hiring radio presenters. Here I will compare and contrast my show, LS6 Radio,
against the already established Absolute Radio.
My radio show featured 2 main presenters and a technician who also
contributed to the show. Radio presenter Thomas Geiger believes this to be
important. “While a dysfunctional team could be a unique selling proposition, it
usually works better to have sidekicks who are or could be your friends.” (n.d.).
During the recording it was clear to understand that we were friends, however
it was evident we needed some work talking on air. Absolute Radios Geoff
Lloyd and Annabel Port seem to ‘bounce off’ each other and keep the show
moving smoothly, something we could have perfected if we had practiced more
before hand. One thing I believe did work is that we all clearly had different
opinions on topics when faced with questions about Christmas, Geiger agrees:
“let each connect with a specific part of your audience by talking about the
same topic from their own viewpoint.” (n.d.). Heart 106.2’s Jamie Theakston
and Harriet Scott concur, “'you want to perk people up. We have so much fun,
it’s infectious.” (2009).
Radio needs to be entertaining and interesting enough to grab attention and
maintain it. Long running radio presenter Terry Wogan tells us, “You have to
create this little club, we’re not talking to an audience. You're talking to one
person and they're only half-listening. It's a mistake to think that everybody's
clinging to your every word.” (2012). It was therefore key for me to make the
demo enjoyable, entertaining and relatable. I did this by creating a number of
opportunities for the listeners to think and engage. We asked questions such
as ‘what is your favourite part about christmas’, and we also shared stories of
previous christmas stories with each other. If it were a real show we could
have given listeners the opportunity to call or text in, further creating more
opportunities for the listener to engage and relate to the other listeners, or
members in their radio ‘club’.
One thing that was very clear when listening back over my radio show, was
that the way my fellow presenters and I spoke didn’t really conform with the
pace that you can hear in Absolute Radio’s shows. BBC’s Charlotte Green
believe it is important to sound “engaged” (Kellaway, 2015). Absolute’s

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presenters manage to clearly project their voices quickly and make it sound
smooth and audible, using this technique they manage to fit all their desired (or
requested) music into their one hour or two hour long shows. This however
isn't necessarily the correct way to come across. Radio consultant Philip Hilton
suggests “station personality can be as outgoing or discreet as your format
and desired place in the market dictates.” (2015). I do however think that for a
‘chirpy’ Christmas show like I believe mine to have been, this demeanour could
have helped the flow. If I had practiced this presenting technique I could have
fit more content into my shows to later chop down and give a broader example
of my presenting style. This extra content could have been in many forms:
Competitions: Absolute Radio have a number of opportunities for listeners to
win things such as tickets to live shows, vouchers for shops or packages for
television. Competitions like this could have given me the opportunity to link
the show to a made up Twitter account, that I then could have used to read out
a variety of Tweets from listeners.
Texts and Phone calls: These are a good way to generate audience
interaction, and could have given me the opportunity to demonstrate how I
interact with listeners contacting the show. One of the Absolute Radio
presenters read out a text from someone at home ‘doing some paint stripping’,
followed by “you chance to come to our show with Hoizer, you cant buy the
tickets, you can only win them”(No Repeat Guarantee, 2016). She used a text
to the show to connect with an individual listener, and in turn everyone else
who was tuned in because the competition was for everyone. Something I
could have demonstrated in my demo to demonstrate good on air skills, and
quick thinking.
News: Broadcasting the news on radio is a perfect way to gain listeners and
create additional content. Professor of Radio-TV-Film School of Journalism
Ernie Martin believes “Radio news is considered to be a vitally important
aspect of most radio station’s formats.” (1976). You are never going to be short
of news because there are always developments happening in the local area,
nationwide or worldwide. We did contain in our show news about the Leeds
Christmas Market, however because there were three presenters it made it
difficult to chop up and put into my promo, perhaps I should have dedicated
more time to presenting this section so I could have chopped it later.
Weather/Travel Information: There are a number of websites that allow you
to discover weather or travel information, such as the AA Website and BBC
Weather. Absolute Radio do quick 30 second snippets of traffic updates during
drive time after work and use a fast paced sound bed underneath, I could have
added a section such as this to demonstrate a more serious presenting style.

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Absolute radio uses two voices for idents. One is a female voice, and one is
the voice of Matt Berry. I deduct this is how they can relate to both male and
female listeners. I created 4 long and short idents for LS6 Radio, however
Absolute radio use multiple idents for different parts of the show. After listening
for only a few minuets I spotted separate idents for:
• ‘Three songs from the 90’s’
• News
• Weather
• Traffic
• Presenter
• Absolute Radio
Hilton says “station identification across your output is key for recognition and
memorability.” (2015). I could have created multiple idents using multiple
voices to link parts of the show and create a smooth flow in the audio. As well
as showing proof of promotion and station identity. He does however tell us to
“avoid jingles for everything”(2015), nonetheless after listening to Matt Berry’s
‘jingles’ I don't believe that this can relate, due to their important comedic
value. The BBC agrees: “Liven up your reports with lots of interviews and
sound or video clips. Long sections of script, containing only the presenter's
words, can become boring.” (2008). Absolute radio also have a variety of
adverts from their sponsors; it appears that most of the adverts are for
personal sponsors unlike other radio shows, that have a large amount of
advertisements that swamp the air and create large gaps in between the
music. I could have pre recorded advertisements using my own voice on
behalf of a fictitious sponsor to present my variety of on air skills. Something I
liked was the way Absolute Radio used the ident voices to advertise their
sponsors, instead of playing pre recorded advertisements given to them. It
created a much more personal feel, so I never felt out of touch with the station.
Radio advertising agency Radio Airtime Media Limited believe “It is important
to create clutter breaking radio advertising to stand out against your
competitors, but while standing out your advert must be easy on the ear and
relevant to your product or service.” (2012). There are plenty of brands in
Leeds that I could have made an advertisement for to put in my show, this
would display my ability to sell as well as to entertain. Radio has to make its
money from advertising, so this is a skill that employers may find essential.
There was a section broadcast by Absolute Radio that included a variety of the
elements previously mentioned in the report. It involved music, a competition
and audience participation on Twitter. It was a ‘battle of the tracks’. This is
when a track by Blondie was put up against a track by Jimi Hendrix, and the
audience was left to vote for the track they wanted to hear later on in the show.
This intern made sure that people stayed tuned to the show, increasing their
viewing figures, and breaking up the narrative. It is forward thinking ideas like
this that I could have used to give an example of my creative skills on air to

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impress clients.
Scripting is something I didn't do but could have helped me speed up
information and narrative in my radio show. The BBC has some tools for
scriptwriting for teaching purposes. They believe the first step is working out
the desired length of your shows ‘sections’. “Having allocated the total length
of your programme, decide on the length of each report. Most people speak at
three words a second, so the script for a 30-second report contains about 90
words. This worksheet will help you.” (2008). Listening back to my show there
are short pauses and drawn out sections of ‘dead air’, a script would have
made it easier for me to keep the show moving and information flowing. Radio
presenter Chris Arnold agrees: “I have to plan out the show. It’s not exactly
scripting, but I have to know roughly the direction the show is going to
take.” (n.d.).
When editing my piece down to 5 minuets there were a few occasions where I
created gaps in the show by pauses or other faults like this. There were times
where due to the fact I didn't have a script or preparation for my show I was
stuttering. Radio presenters must have excellent oral communication and
presentation skills (MyJobSearch, n.d.), by leaving all the ‘err’s’ and ‘um’s’ in
the demo I was showing myself to be inarticulate to any respectable employer.
This is something that I missed in post production, however some of them I
couldn't have removed due to the fact I have a sound bed for most of the
show, which makes it impossible to edit without hearing sonic faults and
leaving clear signs of editing. In hindsight I would have recorded my voice
without a sound bed so as to provide a higher quality product for any employer
looking to hire me.
Whilst I was presenting I was also acting as a radio technician. This involved
playing all the sound beds, tracks and idents out of the software Myriad.
Alongside this I was controlling the volume of my microphone, as well as my
two co presenters microphones. On listening back to the show it was evident
that my studio microphone was providing a much clearer and louder volume
than the other presenters headset microphones. This is something I should
have tested before and fixed before I started broadcasting. I did manage to fix
this issue in post production, however whilst live on air this could create
problems due to everything being streamed in real time.

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Recommendations and conclusions
After listening back to my radio piece it is evident that I do not make much of
an impact as soon as I could have. The first 30 seconds is taken up by Adam
introducing the show, and you only hear me say hello and introduce a track. In
hindsight I would have pre recorded all of the above points separately to the
two 40 minute sessions we had in the radio room, and edited them together
instead. A working radio presenter would have a lot of sound to cut up. So to
have made a better demo, further recordings would have helped.
It is evident that I am competent at editing, however it is clear that my
presenting skills and grasp of radio as an art needs to improve. My 5 minute
clip wasn't of good quality due to my lack of understanding of the radio
industry’s demands. It lacked quick timing and sharpness of delivery, and
wasn't in-keeping with other stations such as Absolute’s engaging energy. The
Guardians Radio critic Elizabeth Mahoney thinks the important part of radio is
“the knack of creating a real sense of connection and listener identification in
radio that glues audiences to certain shows and presenters.” (2012). I do
believe that the elements that we included in our show did create a platform for
listener interaction, and that this might be a strength that I could focus on if I
ever do look on getting a job in radio. All in all I believe that I although my skill
base is focused on technology, I need to focus on developing my production
skills in the future to make me a more desirable media practitioner to
employers.

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Bibliography
Absolute Radio (2016) Absolute Radio: About Us. [Online](Accessed on 5th
January 2016) Available from: http://absoluteradio.co.uk/about/hello/index.html
BBC (2008) Script-writing tips and real examples. [Online] (Accessed on 6th
January 2006) Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/
6180944.stm
Giger, T. (n.d.) 10 Ways To Produce A Successful Radio Morning Show.
[Online] (Accessed on 7th January 2016) Available from: http://
www.radioiloveit.com/radio-personality-radio-personalities/radio-personalityedwin-evers-538-on-morning-show-success/
Hilton, P. (2015) Creating a distinctive radio station sound: Establishing your
radio station's distinct voice. [Online](Accessed on 6th January 2016) Available
from: http://www.mediahelpingmedia.org/training-resources/journalism-basics/
280-creating-a-station-sound
Kellaway, K. (2015) The 10 Best Radio Voices. [Online] (Accessed on 7th
January 2016) Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/
nov/13/10-best-radio-voices
Mahoney, E. (2012) Radio head: What makes a good radio presenter? [Online]
(Accessed on 8th January 2016) Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/
tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/jan/03/what-makes-good-radio-presenter
Martin, E. (1976) The Importance Of Radio News To Listeners, A.E.J.
Broadcast Journalism Session. University of Kansas. 3rd August 1976.
[Online](Accessed on 6th January 2016) Available from: http://files.eric.ed.gov/
fulltext/ED132591.pdf
MyJobSearch (n.d.) Radio Presenter. [Online] (Acessed on 7th January 2006)
Available from: http://myjobsearch.com/careers/radio-presenter.html
No Repeat Guarantee (2016) [Radio] Absolute Radio, Monday 4th January.
Radio Airtime Media Limited (2012) Make a noise â The importance of
creativity in Radio Advertising. [Online] (Accessed on 7th January 2016)
Available from: http://www.radioairtimemedia.co.uk/radio-airtime-media-news/
radio-airtime-media-insights/make-a-noise-the-importance-of-creativity-inradio-advertising/2975

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Reading List
http://www.theaa.com/traffic-news/index.jsp
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/
http://www.prospects.ac.uk