{"id":2196,"date":"2020-05-14T12:26:47","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T02:26:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bprworld.com\/?p=2196"},"modified":"2020-05-14T12:26:49","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T02:26:49","slug":"the-secret-to-planning-a-great-radio-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/news\/the-secret-to-planning-a-great-radio-show\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret to Planning a Great Radio Show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By David Kidd, BPR<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Great radio takes not only great talent but planning and\npreparation. True masters of radio plan meticulously, but they make it sound\nseamless, casual and easy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The role of Executive Producer is crucial to the success or\nfailure of any show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nic\nMcClure is acknowledged as one of the greatest Executive Producers in\nAustralian radio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until\nthe end of 2019, she was the EP for the #1 Drive show in the country, Kate, Tim\n& Marty on the Nova network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last\nyear, I spoke with Nic about the role of the EP and what it takes to put\ntogether a great show five days a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nic, please outline\nthe role of an EP?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nRole of an EP is to oversee all aspects of a show and manage the team\naccordingly. It\u2019s not unlike a conductor of an orchestra, you\u2019re there to guide\nand direct, making sure everyone in the team shines in their roles, and also\ncollectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\ndiffers from show to show, but essentially you\u2019re there to create a road map\nfor the show, communicate that to the team, and lead and assist them to make it\nhappen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nis also a strategic side to the role, looking at a show long term and planning\nits direction alongside the Content Director and Talent. For me the key to\ngreat execution is good planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Who else is in your team and what are their\nroles.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re\na small team in comparison to the big juggernaut breakfast radio teams these\ndays. We have a team of 3 producers, myself and a Senior Producer in Sydney,\nthen in Melbourne we have a part time junior producer who not only works on\nshow content, but also assists Marty each afternoon as he does the show from\nour Melbourne studio. We keep a skype screen active in both offices to stay\nconnected and feel like we\u2019re working in the one office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As EP, how does your\nday start?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EP\u2019ing\na drive show is a completely difference experience to waking to a 3.15am alarm\nwith that surge of adrenalin pumping through you from the moment you jump out\nof bed to go and do breakfast radio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before\nI think about the show or work, I will meditate for 20 mins to clear the mind ready\nfor the day ahead. I\u2019ll then browse the headlines, check my email and send KTM\ntheir schedule for the day. After that Kate & Marty\u2019s content ideas begin\nto flow in on email. I also check in with our Brand & Promotions team to\nsee if there are any client briefs we need to work on responses for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\nthe great technology we have at hand these days, I\u2019m able to do so much more\nfrom home these days, even remotely with my phone, so I love the flexibility\nthis gives me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nshow works in a different way to most where you\u2019d usually pick the content,\nthen prep for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nthis show I\u2019ll read and prep for all stories that are sent in, considering\naudio grabs and time codes, potential reflection on socials etc. This way I\u2019m\nacross everything when Tim Blackwell arrives at 1pm to do \u2018the board\u2019 together\nand map out the strongest stories that Kate and Marty have sent in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll\nthen finesse and polish those stories up with any additional audio needed and\nsend a first draft runsheet out to the wider team. Then it\u2019s all systems go\ngetting ready for show time at 4pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where do you find\ncontent for each day\u2019s show?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kate\nand Marty have their favourite go-to websites for the style of content this\nshow does. The guys particularly have a lot of fun around quirky international\nstories. I will also keep an eye on some of the big news sites for any breaking\nstories the team needs to be across.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At what stage do you\nbring the talent into the planning stage?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim\nand I plan the show together at 1pm, Kate will arrive around 2.30\/3 and run her\neyes over the show plan, and Marty will usually see what we\u2019ve planned when he\npicks up the runsheet at the 4pm show TOH, it\u2019s great to hear him react to\nwhich of his stories we\u2019ve selected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve got what you and\nyour team think is a fantastic segment for the show but the talent aren\u2019t\nbuying it\u2026 what do you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s\na winning formula to the Kate, Tim and Marty show which they don\u2019t deviate from\nmuch. So each day of the week has its signature benchmarks and outside of this,\nit\u2019s really only the big trips the team might take once a year e.g.\nbroadcasting the Royal Wedding live from London where there is space to do\nsomething different on the show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nsaying that, I think a good EP should be great at pitching in ideas, you\u2019ve got\nto sell the sizzle and believe in what you\u2019re selling in for anyone to engage\nin your ideas. This applies to everything from segment ideas, solutions for\nclient briefs and pretty much everything you present to talent. They can sniff out\ndoubt a mile off, so you have to present all ideas with confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the other challenges\nyou face as an EP on a day to day basis?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\nall a big juggling act really, balancing the needs of the business, with\nkeeping the talent and team feeling supported and facilitating their ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Managing\nstress levels is important, you\u2019re always juggling many balls in the air so you\nneed to ensure you have that under control. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nrole has really evolved since I started 23 years ago \u2013 what began as 1\nproducer, grew into a producer and phone assistant, now it\u2019s usually an EP,\nSenior Producer junior producer, digital producer etc. So, the teams are much\nbigger and the role of EP has become that of a people manager now too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matching\nthe needs of our clients with the style of the show and parameters around that\ncan be a challenge, but I love it, it keeps the creative juices flowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think are\nthe qualities that it takes to become a great EP?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be a GOOD producer you need to be\norganised, a great planner, and ability to juggle multiple balls in the air\nwithout losing your cool<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, to be a GREAT producer I\nthink you need to be a beacon of positivity for the entire team, come with\nsolutions and options\u2026. not problems\u2026. and not only have a plan B, but a plan\nC, D, E and F.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A great EP plays to the strengths of their team, helping to\nmanage the talents\u2019 workload and handling all\nthe details to ensure they have nothing else to think about except what they\u2019re\ngoing to say on air<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A great EP picks their battles, leaves\ntheir ego at the door, and really knows how to work with talent, really\nunderstanding them and their unique needs and differences\u2026. it\u2019s certainly not\na case of one size fits all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks Nic!

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By David Kidd, BPR Great radio takes not only great talent but planning and preparation. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bprworld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/mic-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2196"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2212,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2196\/revisions\/2212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bprworld.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}