Evaluation

For this assignment we were asked to produce and record two, one hour radio shows. One of the radio shows we were asked to produce was a morning show which would be pre record and an afternoon show which would be recorded live on the day.
My job role for the morning show was to be a guest presenter, so I had to talk when asked a question and to take part in group discussions. We decided to base our morning show on a typical type of morning show such as the Chris Moyle’s show. We did this because when we researched what audiences liked in these types of shows, we found that a show like Chris Moyle’s fitted all the requirements as it is a show that is light hearted, funny, up to date and it contained relevant news updates.
I believe our morning show was a success as we filled our one hour slot to the second. This was due to our meticulous and careful planning. Planning proved vital as without it the show would not have been fluent and it would not have run as successfully as it did. Within this morning show we played various features and each of these features were played at the correct time. When we first considered doing this we doubted whether we would be able to do it as it required huge amounts of communication and team work. However, on the day it worked very well as we all communicated with each other and we found that we could work successfully and effectively as a team. Both John Wills and Brett Holwell’s presenting skills were excellent as they worked very well together. Both individuals have a great sense of humor which, I feel, is essential on a radio show as it is one of the few ways in which the presenter can engage with the audience especially as there are no visuals. However, when needed, both were very serious and professional very much like the BBC radio 1’s morning show.
I believe we only incurred a few faults within our morning show and these faults could have been easily avoided and could have been improved. Faults and weaknesses consisted of bad timings and a lack of communication in some areas. The Alice desk worker sometimes was delayed in fading in and out of features and music. This could be put down to a lack of communication between the team. However, I feel with more experience, practice and communication, this can easily be resolved and improved upon. Additionally, we ran out of subjects to talk about in between our songs and features. I do not feel this was due to poor planning because when we practiced we did not encounter this problem. Instead I feel that the pressure which we faced when we actually recorded affected us and therefore we didn’t perform to our best. However, again, with more practice and experience I feel we will be more confident and therefore we will have the ability and confidence to improvise and use our initiative, so, when we are faced with similar situations we will be able to overcome them. Overall, in order to have eliminated theses small faults we could of spent more time with the radio equipment and learnt the timings of the songs and features so we would know exactly when to fade in and out. Also to have avoided running out of subjects we could have wrote down an expansive list of subject areas we could have talked about and therefore we would not have encountered the problems we did as we would have had a contingency plan. Finally, before we were about to start we looked over the play list and noticed a few songs which were, what I believed, a little inappropriate for our show, not in the way that they were insulting or offensive but in the way that we set out to follow the same kind of codes and conventions as the BBC Radio 1. BBC Radio 1’s music theme is modern and contemporary music to get the listeners in the right mood for the day but on our play list we had a few songs which really weren’t appropriate. It was I who decided that our play list needed changing which was then agreed by the rest of the group. In order to avoid the last minute change, we should have looked over everything carefully to ensure that everything was correct. Additionally, throughout the planning we could have had ‘focus groups’. For example, after we made our first play list we could have all come together to review it to ensure that the play list remained focused and compatible with the Radio 1 theme.
Our second one hour show was broadcasted live on the 18th November so there was a lot of pressure to get it right. My job role on this show was to be the main presenter with Craig Smith as my co presenter as a group we decided for Craig and I to present this is because I believe the way we speak to, address and act towards a particular person will differ according to who we think they are so as we no our target audience as we are confident individuals the use of mode of address came easily to us. This role was very enjoyable and exciting as it was a very different experience for me. Being a presenter, I had to present the show and talk to the guests and introduce songs , this role consisted of a lot of planning as Craig and I needed to know what we were saying and what was being played at what times. Therefore, this role required Craig and myself to work closely and as part of a team in order to ensure the broadcast was fluent and professional. For this show I decided I didn’t want a script to follow and wanted to improvise the show which I believe was very effective. The reason why I felt I didn’t want a script was because I wanted the show to be as realistic as possible and I felt that if I had used a script it would have sounded very rehearsed and unprofessional. Although this placed a lot of pressure on me I feel that presenting and speaking publicly is a area in which I thrive in and it is something that I feel I can confidently do and therefore I felt it went successfully.
As a group running up to this live show we were very worried as were not given the play list until the day before so we were unsure of what we were playing at what times so we had a mad rush to sort it all out for the next day but with huge amounts of communication and team work we had it all sorted for the day of the live show and although our producer wasn’t present for personal reasons we managed to pull it all together. In having a set play list to follow I believe it was a huge help as it was all in order on Myriad so all we as the group had to do was to fit in our features and speech between the songs and this worked really well. If I had to make a criticism about our show it would be again about the topics we spoke about as we didn’t have enough information. But that would be my only criticism. I believe if I had to re-do this task I would apply a lot more thought and research so that our first show would be as good and successful as our live show.