Job Roles within the Radio Industry

By Josh Rothwell

Different Job RolesThere are many different job roles within the radio industry, here are some examples:You have the Radio Broadcast Journalist. Their role is to look out for and identify national and international news stories to broadcast over the radio. You also have the Radio Commercials Producer. Their role is to create advertisements to promote and advertise their radio station. You also have the Radio Presenter. This is the most well known role as their role is to present the radio show. The presenters voice is the main voice heard over the radio, so people do know them. You also have the Radio Producer. Their role is to overlook the whole radio station and manage the content for the live radio show as well as recorded shows.

Radio Broadcast JournalistTo summarise what a Radio Broadcast Journalist does, they look for the biggest and the most recent news stories within the world, to broadcast to the public. In order to be successful within this job, you will need good written skills as well as good vocal skills. You will also need to be good at creating your own as well as original ideas for the Radio show. You will need to be calm at all times under a lot of pressure, you will also need to keep calm whilst broadcasting to millions of people listening to the radio. You will have to have good IT skills to handle word documents as well as data. Also, you will need good general knowledge as this is real news stories you’ll be dealing with.You don’t necessarily need a degree to become a RBJ, but the majority of them are graduates. This works better in your favour if you have any qualifications in politics, business, science or languages as these are big talking points in the real world. The best way into this business is by either accepting a traineeship from a big employer or first working as a print journalist before moving on to radio. This job can take you to becoming a specialist correspondent or even an actual radio presenter for the radio show.

Radio Commercials Producer To basically summarise what a Radio Commercials Producer does, they come up with various advertisements to promote and tell people about their radio station.In order to be successful within this job, you will need a keen interest in advertising and you will also need to understand that the radio is a good place to promote various products. You will also need to learn about all different types of demographics and geo-demographics to know exactly what to advertise, where to advertise and to advertise to the correct target audience. You will also need to be able to handle an advertising budget in order to not lose money. You can work your way up from an entry level role into a Radio Commercials Producer without needing a degree, but some employers would prefer it if you had a degree in either business management, radio production, marketing or communications. There is no easy way into this industry, but in order to get into the industry, you will need experience within either the radio industry or some sort of experience in marketing. This role can take you up the radio chain, so you can start from a local radio station and make your way up to a regional or even a national radio station.

Radio PresenterTo summarise what a Radio Presenter does, they present the radio show and they have to create a good relationship with the audience in order to keep the audience listening as well as keeping them interested.In order to be successful within this job, you will need a lot of confidence as this job involves speaking to masses of people. You will also need good general knowledge as your voice is being broadcast to lots of people across the county and possibly country. You also need to be smart as you will have to use different recording studios as well as performing under a lot of pressure.In order to be a radio presenter, you do not need a degree. Employers will be looking for people with hands on experience instead of learning about it. Employers will also be looking for someone who’s confident as well as their personality be outstanding and different from the rest. The best way into this job role is to start out as at entry level and begin to take every opportunity until you have the confidence to do a full show by yourself.This role can take you to bigger companies with wider audiences, this makes you more famous. Or this role could take you into working in TV and you could end up working in both Radio and TV, like Nick Grimshaw or Chris Evans.

Radio ProducerTo summarise what a Radio Producer does, they create and organise content for the whole radio shows, both recorded and live shows. They have to create original ideas to put in their show in order to capture the audience. In order to be successful within this job, you will need an excellent communication skills as this job requires key communication and clear instructions. You will also need to remain calm at all times under a lot of pressure as if you mess up the content, the show will fail and will not run smoothly. You also need to be very organised a because you will be running a big radio show which broadcasts to a lot of people, if you’re unorganised, the show could mess up and fail.You do not necessary need a degree to be a Radio Producer, but most Radio Producers are graduates. If however you do have a degree, most employers don’t expect it to be in a media related subject. Employers especially like it when you have a post graduate qualification in Radio Production.This role just like the Radio Commercials Producer, can take you up through the radio chain and you can end up from a local station to a regional or a national station. As well as this, this job can lead into presenting or into management roles within the radio station world.