Week 1
The role I have been assigned for the music radio project is studio producer. This role involves conceptualising and creating competitions and features for the radio show. The role also involves overseeing the studio whilst the live show takes place.
Once we had our first meeting, I was able to begin conceptualising different ideas for both features, competitions, and the competition giveaway. The station theme/sound we decided on was Britpop, featuring both classic and forgotten hits from bands such as Pulp, Blur, Oasis, and many more.
Whilst most of the competition and features ideas are still in the early stages of development, we did speak about potentially creating a BBC Radio 2 Pop Master style competition. We have a production meeting in the next few days, in which ideas will be fleshed out and built upon.
Week 2
Week 2 featured a large leap in the amount of work being produced for our music radio live show, with each member of the team working hard within their respective areas.
We had multiple meetings throughout the week in which we built upon our ideas from the first week and finalised them.
This week I did a multitude of different things for the live show. Firstly, I created a prototype radio clock for the show, as well as a prototype studio sheet for Joe P & Riya (Presenters) and myself (Producer). The studio sheet is a detailed time sheet that explains what is coming up when and features exact timings and lengths of segments. The radio clock is a colour-coded clock that shows what is happening in the radio show in slightly less detail than the studio sheet. It is colour coded so it is easier to follow and so that segments can easily be identifiable, e.g. news is pink, features are blue, advertisements are green.
I also spent some time with Harriet this week in which I helped give advice/shadow her create a prototype advertisement for the radio show.
Furthermore, I spent time with both Joe P and Riya this week, discussing various aspects of the show in detail and ironing out any kinks with the studio sheet timings and ensuring they felt comfortable with it.
Finally, we have finalised the feature ‘Britpop Master’, which will be in the vein of BBC Radio 2’s ‘Pop Master’ and will feature two contestants going head to head, answering questions on 90’s music. The winner will receive a yet to be confirmed prize. We have also been discussing our second feature, which may revolve around the game of “who tweeted this?”, where the contestant has to guess out of two people, which one tweeted it.
Over the next coming week, I will be meeting with the Head of Music, Joe Hockley, to finalise the playlist and put the finalised songs into the studio sheet, where any timing discrepancies can be ironed out. I am also meeting with the rest of the team on Monday the 20th November for a production meeting.
Week 3
This week was a fairly hectic week for myself and my production group.
We had two group meetings this week, in which a multitude of things were cleared up, refined, and reworked.
This week I worked with Joe P and Riya to create more features for the show, including a new smaller quiz which will feature a ticket giveaway. I also worked with Joe to rework and refine both the studio sheet and the radio clock for both hours. During the rework we also added in songs from the a-list, b-list, and c-list from the music playlist.
I also spent time this week creating the questions for the Britpop Master feature/competition. There are 5 questions per contestant and are all fairly simple as difficult questions defeat the enjoyable aspect of the game.
We’re currently planning multiple meetings this week to ensure we are prepped for our first pilot show. This week myself and Riya will be continuing to refine the ticket giveaway segment, as well as ironing out any kinks that appear when we attempt to do a run through of the studio sheet with Joe P
Week 4
This week we had multiple meetings which mostly revolved around ensuring everything was ready for our pilot show on Thursday 30th November. I continued to improve upon the production elements of the show, including the studio sheet and the radio clock.
After our pilot show took place and feedback was given, we were informed that we needed to boost the amount of content in the show, as well as changing some of the music playlist to incorporate mostly songs from 1993-1997, which was the height of Britpop. Due to the playlist change, myself and Joe P updated the studio sheet and the radio clock to show these changes and ensure timings stayed correct.
We will be pre-recording our feature/competition ‘Britpop Master’ next week, along with increasing the amount of content throughout the show.
Week 5
This week was our two-hour live show, which thankfully was successful. I worked as the studio producer throughout the two hours, assisting Joe P (presenter) with whatever he needed, including: taking note of social media shout outs and writing them out for Joe to read out live, organising the studio sheets, counting down before going on air and general timekeeping to ensure we stuck to both the studio sheet and the radio clock. I also assisted Gabriel (Editor) with communication throughout the outside broadcast (OB), giving advice and suggestions to Gabriel and Rhys.
The show was a great success and I am very pleased to have had the chance to help achieve what we have achieved.