Summary

In this section we look at the scope of employment in UK radio. What has to be managed and who does the managing? Taking typical jobs in BBC, commercial and community radio we outline work areas that need to be managed: Programming, news and sport, sales, marketing, commercial production, sales traffic, engineering, compliance, liaison with outside bodies, house maintenance, accounts and finance, administration and human resources. We look at job areas specific to the new Community Radio sector - volunteer management and community development and training.

Introduction

Over 22,000 people work in the UK broadcast radio, a workforce bigger than that of terrestrial TV (Skillset 2007). Radio management is no longer the preserve of a few senior managers in the BBC and the larger commercial radio groups. The boom in small-scale radio stations and community and independent radio production has changed the way new entrants see jobs in radio. It is no longer the case that someone is solely a radio presenter, reporter or producer: new entrants to radio are becoming aware of a wider range of skills that are needed to be a multi-skilled employee and aspirant radio manager. Nowadays people have a chance to participate in running small-scale stations at an early stage in their career or even, in the case of hospital and community radio, as an adjunct to other work. University, college and school students may get a taste of what it's like work on a student radio station and take some management responsibilities alongside their studies or on a paid sabbatical post. Most student and community broadcasters and many commercial and BBC managers have learnt how to manage radio stations 'on the job' and through their experience in production, sales and on the few in-house courses provided by stations. However courses in media, radio and business studies are beginning to reflect a wider range of job roles in radio including the multi-skilled role of the radio manager. Ofcom, the radio regulator, requires all radio stations to state their commitment to training: this indicates the wider responsibility this part of the radio industry now has towards identifying skills gaps and promoting best practice. Media graduates are increasingly using radio as entry point to the media industries. They no longer see radio as a job focussing only in presentation or journalism but are becoming aware of wider opportunities in production and management.

Employment patterns and practices

Radio industry employment patterns and practices have changed rapidly over the past twenty years and the introduction of new technologies for production and control are now embedded in radio management. Managers now expect employees to be multi-skilled and flexible (Marjoribanks 2003: 69). Multi-tasking has been identified as a core skill by the industry training body, Skillset, and in practice most people prefer to be involved across a wider front, not just one specialist role (Skillset 2001).

(Author's note: Skillset use the term 'multi-tasking' here. It may however be more consistent and precise to say 'multi-skilling' as this involves job enrichment whilst traditionally 'multi-tasking' involves increased task loading and the fragmentation of work - i.e. a 'deskilling' (cf Braverman 1974. Arguably modern proponents for deskilling and multi-tasking owe much to the early work of F.W. Taylor (1911))

Simon Cottle argues in innovative production projects, during the 'processes of multi-skilling' the boundaries between different production roles become blurred and require the team to understand each other's roles and the nature of the production in more depth. (2003:135) In 2005 Skillset identified that there is a current or emerging shortage of management skills in the areas of communication and team working skills, project management, commercial awareness (independent radio), legal knowledge, knowledge of IT networking systems (among engineers) and financial skills (Skillset 2005b).

Of the 22,400 people working in the UK radio industry in 2007, the Skillset employment census (2007) estimated that 10,800, 48 per cent of the total, were employed by the BBC. 9,600 (43 per cent) were working in commercial radio and a further 2,000 in community and voluntary radio. The Skillset figure for the community sector does not include the far greater number of volunteers working on these projects, which they estimate could make it the biggest sector in radio.

About a quarter of the workforce is freelance or employed on contracts of less than a year but this varies considerably between the sectors. The BBC recorded a freelance workforce of some 19 per cent, while commercial radio's freelance workforce stood at about 38 per cent (Skillset 2007). The largest proportions of freelance staff are among those involved in presentation and production and this may explain the higher proportion of commercial radio's workers being employed in this fashion.

Community Radio

As we saw in the previous chapter the UK Community Radio sector has also developed rapidly over the past decade. Anthony Everitt observed: 'The Access Radio Projects have matured with surprising speed. One dimension of this is the personal development of station workers, many of whom a year ago were inexperienced in both in radio and in management, and are now battle hardened.' (2003b: 41)

(Community stations were named Access stations by Ofcom before being officially recognised as a legal community radio sector)

There is no research yet to say who is being employed in this sector but from observation of some of the first wave of stations we see a mixture of individuals from outside the industry with long experience of particular projects, submitting licence applications and subsequently becoming paid managers as well as some transfer of experienced senior producers and managers from BBC and commercial local radio taking the helm at community stations. Hundreds of short-term 'restricted service' stations (RSLs) are licensed every year providing a valuable training ground for would be commercial and community radio managers. And of course community radio stations have always acted as a training ground and springboard for work in BBC and commercial radio (Lewis 1994).

In community radio volunteers may well come to the station with a diverse range of skills that can be utilised for the station's benefit and their own. We argue that community stations are unique in this ability to attract volunteers and create alliances with people who have a very wide range of skills and professional experience.

Independent Production

The Independent Production sector is growing although, with few opportunities for commissions outside the BBC networks, progress is slow. Independent producers range from multi-national commercial giants to one-person companies. Essentially independent producers manage the whole production process delivering agreed programming for an agreed price. The Radio Independents Group is a non-profit making trade body that represents the interests and needs of the UK's independent radio production industry. The RIG (2007) claims to represent two-thirds of the sector, and in 2007 had 90 companies in membership. BBC Radio 4 operates a list of registered independent production suppliers (BBC 2008a) that, at the time of writing, lists 121 companies, 70 of which (58 per cent) give London addresses.

Increasingly, independent producers are able to run their own internet radio services and podcasts independent of the established broadcasting hierarchy and the commercial sector is starting to recognise the benefits of independent production. Until financial pressures forced the cancellation of their radio plans, Channel 4 proposed to invest substantially in digital radio programming and during 2007 Guardian Media Group Radio announced it was making the biggest single investment in independent commercial radio programming by creating a £1m programming fund for GMG's range of Smooth, Real, Century and Rock Radio networks.

Simon Cole, chief executive of independent producers UBC Media, and part of the Channel 4 radio consortium, welcomed GMG taking a lead in making a commitment to the independent production sector on behalf of commercial radio: 'Independent productions were responsible for almost a quarter of the 110 Sony nominations and 6 out of the BBC's 20 Gold Awards this year so GMG can be very confident that this move will lead to some quality programming.' (Media Guardian 2007).

While regarded by the independent sector as inadequate, the BBC's independent quota does at least guarantee a minimum number of opportunities for independent companies to get their work onto the national networks.

The minimum proportion of BBC network output being independent productions (currently 10 per cent) is determined by the BBC Trust in accordance with Clause 58 of the agreement between the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport and the BBC of July 2006. There is no requirement for BBC Local Radio or the World Service to broadcast Independent Productions although they may do so if they wish. In calculating the independent contribution to their schedules the BBC do not include programming such as news programmes, repeats and continuity announcements.

With the addition of the digital networks, the BBC expected the hours produced to meet the quota to increase from approximately 2,600 to 7,300 hours per year from April 2008 (BBC 2007).

The BBC has set up a system of commissioners who can select from in-house productions and independent productions with an element of competition between the two sectors, commissioning decisions supposedly being based solely on the creative merit of the proposal and the value for money offered to the licence fee payer. Details of how to pitch ideas for independent productions, a guide to who's who in commissioning, full details of the BBC's terms of trade for independent commissions and details of BBC guidelines and policies are available at www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning.

Typical management roles

Job titles vary from station to station, even within the same group. Often the subtle changes in title reflect the structure of the organisation and the relative seniority of the post holder within a company framework.

A Managing Editor has overall responsibility for a BBC local radio station while the equivalent post in a commercial station is often a Managing Director. Many community radio stations are under the day-to-day control of a Station Manager, a title increasingly used in smaller commercial radio stations where directors sit at a higher level in a group structure.

In smaller operations an individual may cover a number of functions which would correspond to separate posts in a larger organisation. The Managing Director or Station Manager may well also present some programmes or sell advertising to their own list of key clients and may double as the head of programmes or sales. Nevertheless, certain identifiable job functions always exist in some form and, while many roles will cross these boundaries, they are best described under the headings of separate departments.

Programmes

Conventionally under the control of the Programme Controller, the department includes all programme production and presentation staff and freelance presenters. The head of department is also variously referred to as Programme Director (particularly if they are also a director of the company), Head of Programmes, or Station Manager. In BBC Local Radio this is part of the role of the Managing Editor, supported by one or two Assistant Editors.

Only on very large stations will a producer be responsible for the production of an individual show or strand of programmes. In some cases the breakfast programme may be produced by a team including perhaps a producer, a presenter or two and a production assistant but elsewhere on the schedule a self-operating presenter will be expected to prepare, produce and present the programme entirely on their own.

Replacing the traditional tier of programme producers a number of roles have developed which control elements of programming across the schedule. For example a Head of Music may be responsible not only for the station's overall music policy and playlists but also, using specialist music scheduling software, for selecting the individual tracks to be played in each show. Others may prepare, for example, community or what's on information, promotions of competitions for use in all shows. In all but the largest stations these roles will be added to the duties of a regular programme presenter and increasingly programmes staff are responsible not only for the on-air broadcasts but adapting material for other streams, websites, podcasts, video and text services.

The department is usually regarded as including news and sport preparation and presentation, typically placed under the control of the News Editor or Head of News. Only rarely is the News Editor separately responsible to the senior level in the company, usually this would only be the case in an all-news operation. Otherwise it is regarded as important for the Programme Controller to exercise control over all the elements which contribute to the listener's experience, including news and information coverage, music scheduling and so on. The programmes department will also retain control of station imaging production, which is frequently contracted out to a specialist production studio or a group production unit, and those elements of station marketing which are not sales promotions (see below).

Sales

In commercial radio the Sales Manager (or Sales Director) is responsible for revenue from commercials, sponsorship and co-promotions. The sales area usually includes separate departments for commercial production, sales promotions and sales traffic. In most commercial radio stations the majority of employees work in a sales-related role.

Advertising sales are undertaken by a team of sales executives (a term preferred as sounding more impressive than 'sales representative'). Larger commercial stations may have over a dozen sales executives, each with a list of potential clients and a monthly sales target to achieve. Specific individuals may be tasked with selling sponsorship and promotion opportunities, commonly known as 'S&P executives'. The sales team is often supported by a dedicated administrator or secretary.

The proportion of revenue expected from national advertisers varies with the size of station and any parent group. In the case of a small, very local, station only a few per cent of the total revenue may come from national brands while on a big city or national service they may account for the majority of income. National advertising is usually contracted to one of a handful of national sales houses, for example First Radio Sales or a group's own national sales team, who will be answerable to the Sales Manager on a small station or at a more senior level in a larger group operation.

In a community radio station commercial revenue provides a smaller proportion of the total income, the community radio legislation limits it to a maximum of 50%. Some stations may elect to carry no commercial material at all, others may choose to do so only in a limited form. As a result commercial sales may be the responsibility of a single individual who may have a general fundraising brief, also attracting financial support through other sources.

Smaller stations usually find it is not cost-effective to maintain their own in-house commercial production department, there are simply not enough new productions required to cover the costs of a dedicated studio, copywriter, producer and engineer. In such stations, commercials are scripted and produced to the client's brief by specialist external companies or by a central facility within a larger group of stations. Similarly scheduling the transmission of advertisements is a crucially important task and on a large commercial station can be deceptively complex. One or two staff members, generally known as the traffic department, will be responsible to the Sales Manager for this work, although again it may be undertaken by a central facility in a larger group.

Some formats lend themselves to a high level of off-air promotional activity funded by sales clients, in such cases stations may employ a promotions team, possibly under a Promotions Manager, to deliver the events effectively.

Engineering

Once, when studio equipment had many more moving parts and transmitters had glowing valves, there was a constant need for engineering supervision and maintenance. Radio station engineers today spend more time dealing with IT and software issues and less with a soldering iron in their hands and, as a result, there is no longer a need for each station to have its own resident engineer. Within larger radio groups one engineer may be responsible for maintenance across a number of stations, installing new facilities and being on-call for emergencies. Many smaller stations contract the work to an outside company or a local freelance. The engineering department is usually responsible for the provision of Internet services and web sites, although this would be delegated to a separate team of IT specialists within a group.

Transmitter engineering is a specialised area often contracted to one of a handful of broadcast transmission suppliers such as Arqiva, although a simple low-power transmitter for a single station may be maintained by the local engineer.

As in most cases the station will operate without continuous technical support on-site, the station manager needs to possess at least sufficient technical understanding to oversee these outside suppliers effectively.

Administration, Finance, Human Resources

It is easy to forget that most radio operations, even those within a larger group, must conduct themselves like any other individual commercial company. In a small station a Head of Administration may be responsible for all routine personnel matters, accounts, book-keeping, invoicing, general secretarial support, office cleaning and building maintenance and security. A larger station might well have additional staff specialising, for example, in accountancy or human resources.

Community radio services have a particular additional need for individuals to recruit, co-ordinate and support volunteers, to provide training and to liaise with other organisations in the community.

Unlike many of the more specialised broadcasting skills unique to a radio station, in these administrative fields many well-trained and experienced people are often readily available locally for part-time and casual work.

The Station Manager

The various department heads will report to a Station Manager, Managing Editor or Managing Director who will in turn be answerable to the Board of Directors, group management or a management committee for the day-to-day running of the organisation. Often the Station Manager will double as one of the department heads, typically being Sales Manager or Programme Controller as well as Managing Director. Not only does such an arrangement save one high-level salary, a substantial step towards profitability for some small commercial stations, but it makes the most use of the skills and talents available in an industry where relevant management skills are regarded as being in short supply.

The overall station management often takes responsibility for other matters which straddle both programming and sales, such as station marketing and public relations, and will usually be responsible for maintaining good relations with outside bodies, for example local authorities, major sponsors, industry bodies and regulators. Most importantly the Station Manager is responsible for the efficiency and morale of the whole team, for the development of an overall vision, brand values and corporate culture. Within a larger groups of commercial or BBC stations the manager is usually expected to allocate tasks and spending according to the parent company's priorities and an agreed local budget. No two radio stations need be structured in exactly the same way, even carrying the same brands within the same group. The effective manager will modify the structure to make the most of the skills and talents available locally.

In Community Radio where many tasks are taken on by volunteers the Station Manager is often the only paid role in the station. Here one community station talks about how vital the funding (in this case from Ofcom's Access fund) is:

The appointment of a person to undertake the role of Station Manager has been the catalyst for the development of Radio Teesdale into an important community social enterprise. This would not have been possible without a full time paid manager. Should we not be able to continue the funding of this position the sustainability and continued growth of the station will be in serious jeopardy.

(Ofcom 2008)

Consultants

The arrival of consultants, particularly programming consultants, is usually greeted with dismay by staff who may see them as having been brought in as "hatchet-men" by a management too scared to do the dirty work themselves. Few seasoned radio broadcasters who have worked for any of the major groups since the late 1970s do not have a collection of stories about Australian, Canadian or American consultants brought in to change their stations. It is hardly surprising that much of this expertise came from developed radio markets like the US where there are now some 12,000 radio stations and where commercial radio was established some 50 years earlier than legal UK commercial stations in the early 1920's.

A continuing loss of audience or funding demands rapid and often dramatic changes in station operation, while a change of ownership usually brings with it a new set of objectives and priorities. A good consultant, well briefed, can achieve a great deal by bringing additional expertise, new ideas and a cool objectivity to a station's situation. Often only an outside person has the objectivity and lack of personal involvement in the history of the station needed to analyse the current position and impartially recommend new policies.

The UK radio sector has now grown to the point where it can support a fair number of home-grown consultants. Some are small companies, often effectively one individual, specialising in a particular field, from programming and music selection, through transmission planning, studio design, research analysis, presentation skills and voice coaching to sales and management training. Other consultancy firms offer a range of services under one roof including everything needed for a successful licence application or station launch.

An article in the Harvard Business Review (Turner 1982) set out eight fundamental objectives of effective management consulting:

1. Responding to a client's request for information.
2. Providing solutions to specific problems.
3. Making a diagnosis, which may involve a redefinition of the problem.
4. Making recommendations based on the diagnosis.
5. Assisting with implementation of recommended changes.
6. Building a consensus and commitment.
7. Facilitating client learning.
8. Enhancing organisational effectiveness.

Shane Media Services has been in the US radio consulting business for more than thirty years, founder Ed Shane (1991: 148) feels that while the consultant should not be feared by station staff neither should they be worshipped by station management:

The greater the understanding of the abilities of the station, the greater the results from the consulting relationship. The station must define the problem before outside expertise can be called in. The consultant will likely offer a new perspective on the problem. He may even re-define it. However it cannot be re-defined by an outsider until those inside are convinced that the problem exists and needs solution. The ideal station-consultant relationship stems from a clear concept of what needs to be done and why the client cannot do it without help.

Ed Shane advises that, before spending money on a consultant, it is crucial that all members of the management team accept there is a problem, that the station cannot solve it internally and that an outside objective ear is needed. He stresses that the consultant should not be used as a referee to resolve internal conflict but rather that any philosophical differences should be settled before the outside expert is brought in. Everyone should be a partner in the decision making process, clear goals must be established and the management team should all feel ownership of the process. The consultant should seem like as additional member of staff brought in to handle a project or to provide a "second set of ears".

Future employment in radio

Radio is often seen as a stepping stone to work in the apparently more glamorous, prestigious and better paid area of television. However it seems clear that people who choose to work in radio, in whatever capacity or at whichever level, can find a very wide range of jobs and roles in the industry. Our experience with students on media production courses is, even if they come to us to learn about video production, once they experience the flexibility of radio - and the ease at which it's possible to make programmes and get them on air quickly - they are 'turned on' to how things are done in radio. Although there a many specialist roles that require specific training and expertise radio is still a work area where people who are multi skilled will survive longest in the market place. The new community sector is evidence that radio is also an area into which people can transfer skills and experience learnt in other jobs. A community worker for instance can apply their experience of involving 'hard to reach' groups of people to using community radio as a tool to help prevent social exclusion. In Section 2.8 we will look in more detail at the whole business of employing, developing and managing employees and volunteers. We will explore how to gain employment in different sectors of radio and discuss some of the problems people have had in the past with being stereotyped in particular roles.


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