By John Isherwood, Presenter, Weekend Breakfast 2BR Sat/Sun 8am-12pm
It’s ok, don’t panic! The Hoff, Piers Morgan and Simon Cowell aren’t taking over the recruitment of talent for radio stations, but still nice title isn’t it? Consolidation in radio has become pretty commonplace. We are all well aware of the recent changes with certain stations and brands and a variety of thoughts on these changes are well documented. We could all debate the merits and disadvantages of such networking and rebranding until the cows come home (if cows actually do turn up at your house, I’d say you had a problem somewhere) but despite the obvious commercial impact that such practises make, they also make an impact on talent. Not just the talent that is there now, but also future talent.
Consolidation and networking affects talent in a few different ways. First of all, the talent pool gets diluted. This is the most obvious thing that happens. There are a lot of good presenters out there right now who are not currently on air. Scores of talented daytime and specialist presenters are finding it difficult to find a solid gig simply because the amount of jobs has decreased. If you were to imagine a set of scales with presenters on one side and jobs on the other, the presenter’s side would be heavily weight down. Ashley Tabor’s famous quote of “I’m afraid to say there are not 33 good mid-morning presenters in this country and there are not another 33 good afternoon presenters. I wish there were, but there aren’t.” must still cut deep with a lot of those who are now looking for a show. The talent is there and yes they are good! That comment is both arrogant and naïve. Those 33 mid morning presenters are all hungry for a new show to prove Mr. Tabor wrong.
Specialist shows have been reduced and are seemingly being driven underground again. Internet radio stations such as Manchester Global are becoming the home of former networked talent like David Dunne and Greame Park (Park’s show is syndicated on community stations too). Maybe specialist radio is heading this way, is there a future here? Who knows? At least there is still specialist radio out there. Radio 1, Kiss, 6 Music and Choice (to an extent) are all offering something special, kudos to them.
So now we’ve covered off the current talent, what about the future? Radio is still an extremely attractive career path for many and the passion that I have seen in many people who want to get into the industry is amazing and so it should be. Radio is damn good fun and there’s a reason why we all love it. Despite the lack of jobs right now, this should not put you off. Radio consultant, Paul Chantler once said to me “talent shines through” if you have the talent, you have as good a chance as anyone else of getting that show.
Recently The Pips took a trip to a Student Radio Association event in Scotland where they held a session on making a great demo and working towards getting a career in radio. I even sent up some demo tips and an insight into what commercial programmers are going to be looking for. They all want more than just a voice on a stick. They want you to be able to sell promotions well on air, be able to understand your TSA and not just be “That was…. This is….”
Student Radio is a fine starting point for people looking to get into the industry. It’s a good point to start to learn how to make things sound great on air. A great place to explore creativity without all the major commercial boundaries. From there there’s opportunites for placements and more at stations across the country and applying for these is definitely recommended. Also to continue your training path, get yourself on community radio. It can have a stigma attached to it, but in the current climate, community radio is growing and is one of the best ‘real’ training grounds. It’s on FM, fully licensed and is structured like an ILR station. Get involved and as one PD said to me “get the air miles under your belt”. From there you can begin to put all that training and demo tips into action and put together a great MP3. Get a tech-op gig too if a show isn’t there immediately. Gives you studio access and also access to the PD! Tips over!
Despite the current talent pool being diluted with those who have lost their jobs, the future is bright. Programmers are always looking for fresh talent and keeping yourself in the game by doing the kind of things I mentioned above will help. But also there are a few other things happening which are helping unearth and nurture new talent. The Bauer group are the leaders on this front at the moment and for this they should be applauded. First up Kiss are currently running something called ‘The Chosen One’. They’re running auditions for a new presenter who will appear on the network. If you check out the stations site, you can see videos of the auditions and the process. It looks like a great process and from the looks of it, they’re finding some new female talent, something the industry lacks. Also Bauer’s digital station, The Hits are teaming up with the Student Radio Association to launch a competition to find so new young talent, one of which will get a very cool on air prize. Bauer should be extremely proud of what they’re doing. Not only are they offering that prize but also there’s coaching available, something which talent needs. New talent needs coaching. I still want constant coaching. My desire to improve permanently fuels this. If you can get the gig and get the coaching, you’re onto a winner.
GMG recently ran their first ‘radio school’ called Futures Factory, a 12 week course covering every aspect of radio from presenting to production. One of those who took the course is now the brand imaging producer for 106.1 Rock Radio. Take every opportunity you can, you never know where it may lead.
So future talent, don’t fear about the current state of the industry. Your opportunity is there, start the journey and get there.
P.S. Whereas I’ve written about presenting, this also applies to producers and journalists. J