How can I become a Radio Broadcaster?

Radio broadcasters present news, sports, gossip, music and currents events over the airways
to an audience. They may also interview guests and promote local events and festivals. Radio
stations often focus their content on a certain subject or area. For example, some stations will
play rock or country music, while others will broadcast sporting events or news shows.
In addition to working on the radio, broadcasters may also make promotional appearances.
Some of these workers are self-employed, which allows them to set their schedules and
possibly work from home. However, the radio industry can be stressful, with plenty of deadlines.
Many radio stations run 24 hours a day, which might require some late hours.

Career Requirements
Requirements for this career vary by employer; however, applicants can anticipate they'll be
expected to possess strong speaking, research, reading, and writing skills. Radio broadcasters
are skilled in interviewing and moderating guests and providing commentary alongside callers
and news stories. They perform technical skills on broadcast automation systems, control and
mixer boards, and CD players. Radio broadcasters generally work flexible schedules.

Degree
Bachelor's degree
Level
Journalism, communications or broadcast communication may include
Degree
courses in speech, news reporting, broadcast writing, sound production and
Field
interpersonal communication
Key Skills Speaking, research, reading, and writing
Salary
£33,220/year
(May 2019)
Steps to Be a Radio Broadcaster- training needs and
opportunities
Radio broadcasters generally have a combination of education and experience.

Step 1: Complete Training

I will start my career in the media industry, particularly in becoming a Radio

Broadcaster/Presenter, by following these steps:

1. I will study in order to gain a bachelors degree in a media-related subject such

as radio broadcasting, The BA (Hons) degree I have discovered, is Radio and

Audio. This degree would give me the the broadcasting and journalistic skills

required in order for me to work at a high-quality in the radio industry. This

degree would also give me an understanding in media theory and history.

2. The second option for training I could do is doing a media apprenticeship in

radio. This media apprenticeship would give help me understanding of working in

the radio industry and the benefit of earning money, whilst learning on the job.

3. A third option could be creating a portfolio of work which would sell my myself

to employers by exhibiting my skills, talent and capability.

Step 2: Gain Work Experience

I will gain work experience by putting myself out into the public sphere of the
radio industry. I will do this by volunteering in local radio stations in my
geographical area.

The role I could take up in a local radio station at first, would most likely involve
working behind the scenes as the technician as part of the crew. This role may not
be a top job such as being a presenter/broadcaster, but will gift me the experience
and skill I would need to become a Radio broadcaster.

The role I could take up to begin work experience in the radio industry could be by
me volunteering for my local college radio station at Priestley College called Radio
Wave. Doing voluntary work for the college radio could involve eme hosting a
weekly show, discussing topics with other people and broadcasting the show
across the whole college. This would give me the basic, required skills to enable
me to be employable in the radio industry.

I could then progress my work experience, by volunteering for a community radio

station e.g Radio General (Warrington Hospital Radio) where I could present my
portflolio of work I did at the college radio station to the target audience, listening
in to the hospital radio station which has a larger, more diverse audience.

Finally, I could volunteer for a well-known, commercial radio station in my local

area of Warrington such as Wire FM, where I could start off by working at least
once a week on a voluntary basis (without pay) and possibly progress into a more
permanent position, being payed a regular income. Taking advantage of this
opportunity, would give me the expertise, charisma and skills in order to work
masterfully in the radio industry.

Step 3: Begin Entry-Level Work

I will complete a relevant degree programme that will help me improve my

suitability as a candidate when applying for radio jobs. Education requirements
may vary amongst radio stations, as some don't require a degree. Some radio
hosts may enter the radio industry with a General Certificate of Secondary
Education (GCSE) certificate with sufficient work experience to supplement their
skills. I will complete a degree course broadcasting that may provide me with a
firm foundation and help me learn the skills to work in the radio industry.

By me having the certifications, like BTEC Level 2 Extended Certificate in Creative

Media Skills and BTEC Level 3 Certificate in Creative Media Production will help
me increase my competitiveness.
Below is an advert for a entry-level job I could consider taking up in order to
follow my career aspiration in Radio Broadcasting;

Trainee Broadcast Assistant, talkSPORT

talkSPORT – From World Cups & European Championships to the Premier League
and the Champions League through to Test Match Cricket and World Class Boxing,
the talkSPORT Network is at the heart of the world’s major sporting events.

Throw in our flagship programmes shows such as GameDay Exclusive, talkSPORT

Breakfast, and Drivetime with Andy Goldstein & Darren Bent and we truly have a
radio station to shout about.

talkSPORT isn’t just a radio station, though. Our website is viewed by millions of
people a month, while we have over 1.4 million followers on Twitter, a Facebook
page with 3 million likes and a YouTube channel with more than 750k subscribers.
The Apprenticeship

Being a talkSPORT Apprentice is a gateway to a great career into sports media and
broadcasting. During your time with us you will earn a living wage, get full
training, 4 days a week with talkSPORT doing the job and 1 day a week studying –
including an NCTJ Diploma in Journalism – with all your course fees paid.

You will spend time with our audio, social media, and live shows; you’ll learn
everything we can teach you about how to create content, tell and share stories,
and attract, grow and capture an audience.

You will receive mentoring and coaching bespoke to you and delivered by some of
the most experienced and talented staff in the sports media and broadcasting
industry.

At the end of the programme you’ll graduate with a qualification in journalism and
be well on your way to your chosen career. There is no better way to start your
sports media and broadcasting career than an apprenticeship with us.
What We’re Looking For From You:
• You are passionate about sports journalism and creating content
• You turn new and imaginative ideas into reality and can help us create a fresh
tone that will resonate with a more diverse audience
• You excite people by the way you tell stories
• You make the complex simple
• Creative mind and ability to think differently
• You are a good storyteller and know what makes a story interesting

More than anything you have a passion for learning and will grab this opportunity
with both hands with the aspiration of being a creative force.
Day To Day You Will:
• Support producers with research and idea creation
• Run social media content for a social, ensuring clips and behind-the-scenes
content is created across a variety of platforms
• Learn from the gallery crew on how to put shows together, supporting wherever
needed
• Help with guests and talent to ensure output is best it can be
About News UK

We are News UK: One of the leading media businesses in the UK and Ireland, our
news brands include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday
and The TLS.

Our national broadcast brands include talkSPORT, Times Radio, talkRADIO and
Virgin Radio, and we have market-leading local radio stations across Ireland. In
2022 we launched TalkTV, a major new TV channel available to everyone across
the UK, delivering a schedule of news, current affairs, entertainment and sport.

Our world-famous brands provide news, analysis, opinion and entertainment to

almost 40 million people each month. Spanning digital and print, audio and video,
events and experiences, our brands are home to a plurality of opinion,
representing the diverse communities we serve. News UK is wholly owned by
News Corp.
Benefits & How To Apply

At News UK our people are our heartbeat — they are the driving force behind our
brands and we want to enable people to thrive. Some of us work flexibly, in many
different ways. We encourage you to talk to us about the flexibility you would like.
Many of us work in a hybrid way between one of the News UK & Ireland offices
and remotely.

We champion diversity and inclusion, we strive to maximise and encourage every

individual’s potential and ensure everyone feels valued. We support this through
our Diversity Board, D&I strategy & training, creating more diverse content and
our intern and apprenticeship programmes. We also have 11 employee-led
networks.
We take pride in looking after our amazing talent at News UK supporting the
Health and Wellbeing of our staff. Some of what we offer includes:
• Private medical insurance covering pre-existing conditions
• Discounted gym memberships, ClassPass at Home, weekly virtual HIIT, yoga and
run club classes
• ‘Bikes for Work’ scheme
• Physio/massage,
• Counselling
• A generous pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 5%;
• 25 days holiday and up to 4 volunteering days per year;
• Maternity leave up to 18 weeks full basic salary & paternity leave up to 2 weeks;
• Wide range of training available, plus full LinkedIn Learning access.

We want to ensure that everyone we meet has the opportunity to perform to

their best when interviewing. Please let us know, at any stage, whether you
require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, and we will
do our best to accommodate.

News UK is an official partner of the Journalism Diversity Fund, founder of the

Journalism and Disability Forum, and a proud member of the Valuable 500. At
News UK, we will continue to promote an inclusive and diverse workplace, to help
people with visible and non-visible disabilities create careers in media and aim to
make our content accessible to all.

Recruitment practices for radio jobs

Recruitment practices include practices that are creative and unique that makes a
candidate for a radio role e.g Radio Broadcaster stand out from the rest of the
crowd. The perfect candidate must demonstrate a great quantity of knowledge,
positive attitude to learning new skills in order to meet the demands of the radio
industry and must concentrate by focusing on the brand and look of the radio
brand which will attract audiences.
Identify short middle and long terms goals
Short term goals

My short-term goal is to complete my OCR Level 2 Cambridge Technical Diploma

in Media course, alongside the two other qualifications linked to the course which
are the NCFE Level 2 Award in preparing to work in the Film industry qualification
and the NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Radio Production qualification. The main goal
for me is to achieve the best grades possible which allow me to move to the Level
3 UAL Media course next academic year. The grades I would like to ideally achieve
are either Distinctions or Distinction Stars in my photography, magazine, radio and
film units of work. I would also like to pass my GCSE Maths this year by achieving
the pass grade which is grade 4 as functional numeracy skills will be required
when working in the radio industry with tasks such as reading out statistics i.e
fractions, percentages when undertaking news segments in a radio show.

Medium term goals

My medium-term goal is to progress onto the Level 3 programme next academic

year, studying the Creative Media Production and Technology (UAL Level 3) course
for two years, which would then open up various career opportunities as long as I
achieve the best grades and work as hard as possible. During my time at college, I
will continue to gain new experience and skills by getting involved with the
College Radio enrichment, or any other media related enrichment which would
help me get closer to completing my medium term goals. I will also look to
progressing onto University, by undertaking a degree themed around Radio
Broadcasting and then eventually securing a job working for a radio station in the
future.
Long term goals

My long-term goal is to become a Breakfast Radio Show Presenter for a radio

station, and then progress by hopefully securing a job in a well known company
e.g BBC by working for one of their local radio stations e.g BBC Radio Merseyside.

Keeping up to date with the industry

I will keep up to date with the Radio industry by adapting to the new technology
arising and moving radio shows to online platforms in order to attract a new
generation of radio listeners who listen to the radio digitally. I will also keep up
with the radio industry, by attending regular radio conferences such as Radio
TechCon which allows me to be aware of the new radio age, and the reform
occurring in the radio industry.

https://www.radiotechcon.com/ - RadioTechCon

https://radio.co/blog/radio-news-providers-for-broadcasters - Radio.co