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CAREERS IN

RADIO

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ...... 3

Your Future in Radio ...... 3

Education ...... 4

The Typical Station & Jobs ...... 5

Copywriters ...... 5

Engineers ...... 5

On Air Announcers & Journalists ...... 6

Production ...... 6

Programming ...... 6

Promotions ...... 8

Sales ...... 8

Management and Administration ...... 9

Traffic ...... 9

Training For a Career ...... 10

Australian Film, Television & Radio School ...... 10

Edith Cowan University - Western Australia ...... 10

Charles Sturt University ...... 10

Applying For The Job ...... 11

Contact ...... 12

CAREERS IN RADIO

Commercial Radio Australia (CRA), the industry association representing the interests of commercial radio broadcasters, produces this booklet. CRA is committed to the development of the broadcasting arts and through education and training projects, it will continue to promote practices designed to strengthen the commercial radio industry’s ability to serve the Australian public.

YOUR FUTURE IN RADIO

Radio is a challenging field. It is Australia’s greatest round-the-clock medium. A trip across the dial brings news, music, weather, sports and entertainment to millions of people every hour. Radio is fresh and constantly changing: it is immediate, mobile and portable. People who work in radio are not just observers; they are very active participants. Radio needs thinking people; people with ingenuity, vision and boldness who are prepared to act; people who can help produce programmes which will meet the demands of an increasingly sophisticated audience. This booklet is designed to help you sort out whether you should be seeking a career in radio and, if you are, to show you how you might go about finding a place in this exciting field.

Most newcomers’ start in small stations where experience requirements are not as high as those expected of staff working in the large capital city stations. Small stations offer opportunities to be involved in all aspects of broadcasting because job responsibilities often overlap. For example, a traffic manager may write commercials or an announcer may double as a salesperson. The experience acquired in a small station often leads to a job in a larger station in a larger city.

If you have an interest in radio and feel you have skills, the right background and the commitment to interest management, you should write to the station where you would like to work. You should include a summary listing your educational qualifications and experience, being careful to highlight any work experience related to broadcasting. If you are seeking an on-air position, you should send along an audition tape/an air check, ie. a three-minute sample of your voice on tape. A personal visit to the station, arranged well in advance, is also a good idea.

Career opportunities also occur in fields related to commercial radio, which could lead to actual jobs in radio. Some of these, however, represent satisfying careers in their own right.

You should be on the look-out for vacant positions with such organisations as program production companies, advertising agencies, station sales representative firms, broadcasting trade publications, universities and colleges (which offer radio courses) and various branches of the State and Federal governments.

7

Careers in Radio

EDUCATION

There is no doubt that people wishing to follow a career in commercial radio do require certain aptitudes and qualities, backed up by education and training. There is a certain spark that is needed, a willingness to work unusual hours and a very real ability, to relate to people - all sorts of people!

A sound general education is the basic need, with recruitment normally taking place following the Higher School Certificate or its equivalent at the end of Year 12, then should follow additional study and specific training in the area of special interest.

Today, leaders in business, commerce and industry are being drawn more and more from the ranks of those who have undertaken advanced studies in their special fields. Thus young people commencing a career in radio should carefully consider the value of University education or other professional training, which will give them a broader vision and specialised knowledge of their chosen field.

Those who work in capital cities and large centres will have the advantage of being able to attend universities or technical colleges as part-time students. Staff, however, in country stations can also enrol as external students with some universities or colleges or undertake correspondence courses in advertising, sales and sales management, accountancy, journalism or qualifying examinations for admission to the appropriate professional institute, such as the Advertising Institute of Australia, the Australian Institute of Sales Management, the Institute of Sales Management or the Institute of Radio and Electronics Engineers (Aust).

The availability of training facilities varies from State to State, and the question of appropriate courses to follow for advanced training should be talked over, in the first instance, with a station manager. However, institutions currently offering courses which are relevant to the commercial radio industry and which have been designed in association with CRA are listed on page 10.

THE TYPICAL STATION AND ITS JOBS

A commercial radio station is a business, which has a special role to play in serving its community but at the same time providing a profit to the shareholders who have invested in the company. It therefore has to be an efficient operation.

In most stations the main areas of activity – include production, programming, on-air broadcast, engineering, sales, promotions, traffic, station management and general administration. There are substantial differences in job requirements, approach and working conditions between large and small stations.

Small radio stations may only employ around ten or twelve people while larger stations can have 60 or more employees on staff. This means that in a small station one person might be responsible for a combination of several jobs, which would be approached as separate

jobs in a large station. For this reason, small stations offer a beginner the opportunity to learn about many facets of broadcasting before he or she chooses a speciality.

Copywriters

Radio copywriters write the advertisements that you hear. Radio is often referred to as ”word of mouth” and copywriters develop unique combinations of words that aim to build brands and achieve advertising objectives.

A copywriter receives a creative brief from an account executive or sales executive. The brief is information received from the client about the marketing, advertising and campaign objectives of the product. The copywriter works under time restrictions, client requirements, deadlines and, sometimes, government regulations. He or she aims to write exciting and fresh radio commercials that observe a clients’ advertising objectives and appeal to listeners.

Engineering

A commercial radio station relies on its engineers and technicians to ensure the station is continually on-air. Sound engineers are technicians who work closely with producers to broadcast and record programmes and commercials. They are specialists in a station’s audio equipment and are responsible for its working operation.

A radio station’s chief engineer is also responsible for the maintenance of the equipment that broadcasts the programmes, called the transmitter, and other technical operations such as maintaining the sound studio equipment.

This department also sets up the technical facilities for outside broadcasts (OBs), which are run for a station or sales promotion. Engineering also keeps the mobile facilities in broadcast working order.

On Air Announcers & Journalists

Radio listeners tune-in to hear music, news, announcers and journalists. This can put announcers and journalists in the hot seat.

As the voice of the station announcers are responsible for developing a close relationship with listeners. Love them or hate them announcers create the personality of a radio station and can be a big reason why listeners continue to tune in. Meanwhile journalists report the news on the radio, sometimes they will compile the news bulletins as well.

The closer the relationship announcers and journalists build with listeners, the higher the loyalty and the longer the audience listens to the commercial radio station. Announcers and journalists do more than just turn up at the station and talk to their listeners to achieve listener loyalty and long listening times. They work closely with the programme director to develop the types of programmes that their listeners want to hear. The success of this team effort is measured by independent radio audience surveys. The results of these surveys assist presenters and programme directors to evaluate their performance.

Production

A radio station’s producers ensure the smooth running of a programme or production of

a commercial. They oversee the recording and/or broadcasting to ensure that all the elements required for the programme/commercial are included and run in accordance

with instructions. In compiling the programme or commercial, producers utilise the station’s resources and sometimes call in outside sources if needed such as a voice over professional.

A producer will use audio and technical equipment to do their job. A producer might also: use music, accessed from a station’s music library; historical tapes from news archives; original and pre-recorded sound effects; and voice talent. The search for voice talent often sees a station’s staff limbering up their vocal chords for this job!

Programming

Unless a radio station delivers the programming that listeners want to hear, AM or FM

radio waves have all the communications’ characteristics of a blank sheet of paper. Radio has value for advertisers and listeners as a communications medium. A station’s listeners are the most important factor from an advertiser’s viewpoint. A commercial station’s listeners’ are an advertiser’s potential customers. With this in mind, a radio station’s programme director (PD) is really the product or brand manager and is responsible for a station’s brand including its sound, voice and tone.

The key to programming is the development of a format that delivers a specific target audience. That means selecting programming content/material that is relevant to the target audiences wants and needs. This includes relevant promotional and marketing strategies and an acceptable level of advertising content. Programming a radio station requires a mixture of skills, including staff management, audience research, marketing and gut feel.

With more diversified formats than ever before, the challenge for a radio station PD is to secure target listeners that are attractive to potential advertisers. This ensures that a radio station remains profitable. Radio stations have two basic types of formats, talk and music.

At a talk station programming is mostly news, current affairs and listener involvement. Listeners get involved through talk back sessions. Presenters give listeners an opportunity to air their viewpoint on current issues. There are various types of talk radio formats. Some of the current successful commercial radio talk formats in Australia include personality talk, news talk and sport talk. The ABC and community radio sectors have also developed various talk formats.

Commercial talk formats generally appeal to listeners aged more than 40, while music formats more often appeal to younger listeners. When listeners tune in to talk formats they are generally seeking information to make sense of the world around them.

A music station provides less opportunities for listener interaction. Music stations focus on providing the type of music their listeners want to hear. Some stations in regional areas may provide a mix of both talk and music formats. Listeners often tune in to music stations when they are seeking relaxation and escape.

A typical programming day for both types of stations often includes the latest breaking news. This becomes crucial during times of crisis such as bushfires or cyclones when the radio becomes a vital communications link between listeners and the emergency services network. Programming might also include traffic information during peak hours such as breakfast time or drive time.

A radio station PD will usually have programming control of all on-air product, including

news and music. While major market stations will employ a separate music director to select and program the station’s music, many smaller stations have merged these two roles and the PD might also select music.

The PD ensures that radio commercials suit the station’s programming format and generally appeal to the station’s listeners. A typical day also includes programming public service announcements from organisations such as the Australian Red Cross, the Salvation Army or the Road and Traffic Authority. These organisations often rely on radio to reach a mass audience in their appeals for blood donations, charity donations or road safety.

Promotions

Promotions are an essential part of the marketing mix of a radio station. They provide

interest, excitement and entertainment, both on-air and in outside activities.

The promotion department is responsible for developing and producing new and effective ways to promote the station and/or client advertisers’ products, known as sales promotion. Promotions have many requirements to meet before going to air.

These might include a requirement that a promotion complements the station’s format

and image and that is complies with any legislative and/or regulatory restrictions.

Promotions are used to achieve specific objectives. The objectives of a station promotion may include: encourage new listeners; increase time spent listening; create on-air excitement; relate to target audience and their aspirations; be used as a fun programming element; reward loyal listeners; and generate publicity. Objectives for a client’s sales promotion might include: heighten awareness of the client’s name; increase store traffic in busy and slack periods; celebrate store openings and anniversaries; launch new products on the market; and increase usage of a product.

Sales

The sales department services the commercial radio station’s advertising clients. The department, made up of account executives, is the direct link between the station and the advertiser or their advertising agency. Account executives work to achieve their clients’ advertising objectives and meet their station’s revenue target. Account executives work closely with their clients in order to understand their business. They help them reach listeners that are most likely to buy their products and services.

The sales team is supported by the general sales manager who ensures the overall revenue targets are achieved for the whole team. The general sales manager also acts as liaison between the programme director and the sales team to ensure that advertisers’ commercials appeal to the station’s audience. No-one is served when a commercial’s style encourages a listener to tune-out, or turn off, their radio.