By Pedro Sabino
Broadcast Radio is one of the most fascinating media ever invented, one that brings great satisfaction. In the 22 years span of my career, I've had the opportunity to share the studio with radio personalities of the highest caliber, such as former Fox Sports commentator Juan Baez. Other highlights were the honor to interview on my program some of my colleagues at CNN en Espanol, where I served as a freelance reporter for eight years, such as news anchor Jorge Gestoso, CNN reporter Jose Levy, CNN en Espanol General Manager Chris Crommet, and former Miss USA Susie Castillo.
Though the Internet has created a massive expansion and Television has the advantage that "a picture is worth a thousand words", the Radio is undoubtedly the most penetrating medium.
Just think about this. You can cook, wash the clothes or do any home task, even go to bed and perfectly continue to listen to the radio; most drivers have their radios as their companion through their daily commute, especially as a relief to the rush hour jams.
Being that radio is so penetrating, it is also a medium suitable to make money, make yourself famous, or just have fun and make hundreds of friends. Here I will explain how to become a radio producer.
Something to Communicate with Passion
One thing that characterizes successful radio personalities is their passion for the job or hobby. They love talking to people, entertaining others, or just keeping them informed.
Before you even consider having a radio production, think and make sure you have something important to communicate: It could be your enthusiasm for life, which you can transmit through a musical program; your career knowledge, which you can share in a talk show; your passion for a hobby, social, and political issues, on specialized productions. You need to have something that is of common interest to a vast audience and will help you make a connection with them.
The Production Profile
Now that you have something to communicate, there are many things you need to define. The next step is to sit down and plan your radio show production. Define the following topics:
Once you locate the station and hours available, start making a budget including all the costs associated with the production:
1. Weekly airtime rental.
Broadcast Radio is one of the most fascinating media ever invented, one that brings great satisfaction. In the 22 years span of my career, I've had the opportunity to share the studio with radio personalities of the highest caliber, such as former Fox Sports commentator Juan Baez. Other highlights were the honor to interview on my program some of my colleagues at CNN en Espanol, where I served as a freelance reporter for eight years, such as news anchor Jorge Gestoso, CNN reporter Jose Levy, CNN en Espanol General Manager Chris Crommet, and former Miss USA Susie Castillo.
Though the Internet has created a massive expansion and Television has the advantage that "a picture is worth a thousand words", the Radio is undoubtedly the most penetrating medium.
Just think about this. You can cook, wash the clothes or do any home task, even go to bed and perfectly continue to listen to the radio; most drivers have their radios as their companion through their daily commute, especially as a relief to the rush hour jams.
Being that radio is so penetrating, it is also a medium suitable to make money, make yourself famous, or just have fun and make hundreds of friends. Here I will explain how to become a radio producer.
Something to Communicate with Passion
One thing that characterizes successful radio personalities is their passion for the job or hobby. They love talking to people, entertaining others, or just keeping them informed.
Before you even consider having a radio production, think and make sure you have something important to communicate: It could be your enthusiasm for life, which you can transmit through a musical program; your career knowledge, which you can share in a talk show; your passion for a hobby, social, and political issues, on specialized productions. You need to have something that is of common interest to a vast audience and will help you make a connection with them.
The Production Profile
Now that you have something to communicate, there are many things you need to define. The next step is to sit down and plan your radio show production. Define the following topics:
- Target Audience: Define who you want to reach with your production.
- Frequency: Once daily, multiple times a day, weekly, or more than once a week.
- Length: How long will each broadcast be? Half an hour, one hour, two, etc.
- Genre: Musical, News and Information, Talk Show, Specialized Topic Production.
- Format: How you plan to present this product to your audience... is it going to be news reports with a news anchor, interactive news talk and comments, interactive humor talk show, musical with a DJ animation, Interview or presentation of a topic with a single host and no interaction? You decide.
- Appeal: Whatever format you choose, you need to make sure that the product is going to be appealing to your target audience.
- The brand name: The name has to be catchy, easy to pronounce and remember for even the least educated portion of your audience. Be creative.
Once you locate the station and hours available, start making a budget including all the costs associated with the production:
1. Weekly airtime rental.
2. Music albums, if it's going to be a musical.
3. Transportation.
4. Personnel, if any.
5. Background music theme.
6. Any other miscellaneous expenses.
Now, you need to find sponsors to whom you can sell advertising spots that can help you offset the costs of the production and make some benefit for you. You need to make a budget that includes a salary for you, the producer. You are going to be spending time, which is money. Additionally, work to double the budget estimate because even if you are a good sales executive your ad sales proposals return should be between 10 and 30 percent of the total submitted.
Pre-Production and On-the-Air
Finally, you have almost everything done to have your radio show on the air, but still, you haven't organized the product you are going to present on the air. This is what you need:
1. A bumper: Have a professional voiceover talent. Do not be cheap on this, since this will be the image of your program. You should have one for the identification and another for commercial breaks.
2. A theme: Buy a library theme or a music and effect production software on the Internet, according to your program genre, but regardless of the genre, the music bed must be a dynamic rhythm that can keep the audience active, not something that invites them to sleep.
3. The content: You need to write a sketch with the content you are going to bring to your audience, then write down data and relevant information to read them on the air. If you are going to have interviews, I recommend you to write the questions beforehand. These are the basics: Who is doing what and why, where, when and how are they doing it?
4. Now, before you rent the air space and go on the air, rent a studio or make your own home recording studio and record a pilot of your first program. If you haven't had any broadcast communication training, you probably will find out that you need some help, probably from a voice coach that can help you communicate your message more effectively.
Universe Multimedia offers private coaching that will put more than 20 years of experience at your fingertips. You can send us a message at info@universemultimedia.com. If you can't afford that at this moment, don't break the bank! In the next article, I will explain the basic steps to be an excellent communicator.
In order to be an effective radio producer you will need your own recording studio. Here is a good way to start. Click here start your own home recording studio that will allow you to record commercials and make your own music beats and sound effects. http://psrmultimedia.com/About_the_Artist.html Copyright @ Pedro Sabino 2009
Now, you need to find sponsors to whom you can sell advertising spots that can help you offset the costs of the production and make some benefit for you. You need to make a budget that includes a salary for you, the producer. You are going to be spending time, which is money. Additionally, work to double the budget estimate because even if you are a good sales executive your ad sales proposals return should be between 10 and 30 percent of the total submitted.
Pre-Production and On-the-Air
Finally, you have almost everything done to have your radio show on the air, but still, you haven't organized the product you are going to present on the air. This is what you need:
1. A bumper: Have a professional voiceover talent. Do not be cheap on this, since this will be the image of your program. You should have one for the identification and another for commercial breaks.
2. A theme: Buy a library theme or a music and effect production software on the Internet, according to your program genre, but regardless of the genre, the music bed must be a dynamic rhythm that can keep the audience active, not something that invites them to sleep.
3. The content: You need to write a sketch with the content you are going to bring to your audience, then write down data and relevant information to read them on the air. If you are going to have interviews, I recommend you to write the questions beforehand. These are the basics: Who is doing what and why, where, when and how are they doing it?
4. Now, before you rent the air space and go on the air, rent a studio or make your own home recording studio and record a pilot of your first program. If you haven't had any broadcast communication training, you probably will find out that you need some help, probably from a voice coach that can help you communicate your message more effectively.
Universe Multimedia offers private coaching that will put more than 20 years of experience at your fingertips. You can send us a message at info@universemultimedia.com. If you can't afford that at this moment, don't break the bank! In the next article, I will explain the basic steps to be an excellent communicator.
In order to be an effective radio producer you will need your own recording studio. Here is a good way to start. Click here start your own home recording studio that will allow you to record commercials and make your own music beats and sound effects. http://psrmultimedia.com/About_the_Artist.html Copyright @ Pedro Sabino 2009
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