12/8 The BBC Radio Blog

The BBC Radio Blog         Radio Manchester takeover - 151 candidates so far December 7, 2010 at 5:53 PM   Editor's note: the BBC Radio Manchester Takeover is an ambitious plan to put twenty-four new voices on the air across one day - 3 January 2011. The Takeover Taxi is currently touring locations across Greater Manchester to audition candidates - SB I'm often asked how radio stations find presenters. My two favourite metaphors are the football team, and the teaching hospital. Like a football manager, you're constantly juggling your star players (big local established presenters), your youth team (the star players of the future) and looking to talent-scout from elsewhere (prospective presenters on other stations). A big part of the station management team's job is to establish the culture and personality of the station in which all of those different breeds work effectively together. And like a teaching hospital, BBC Local Radio stations are often where talented young broadcasters gain experience and learn the techniques of speech broadcasting on a deadline - and on a budget. A good hunting ground for new voices is community, student and hospital radio. That's where I started. Promising work experience alumni often build on their relationship with a station and get paid casual shifts. We will always need these people, for whom radio is a career goal and whose ambitions in pro-broadcasting were often nurtured from their teenage years. But increasingly, we're also looking for something else. People with a unique take on the world, with life experience, with authentic local voices. To help us better reflect the communities we serve, to be part of it. The radio techniques, we can teach. That's what The Takeover aims to find. Up to 24 individuals, in 42 locations across Greater Manchester. We're halfway through and have 151 auditions recorded. December 14th is blocked in my diary to listen to every single minute-long audition. The winners will get a one-off pre-recorded show on 3 January - and I'm hopeful some will go on to be regular contributors on our side of the microphone. I'll let you know how we get on. John Ryan is Managing Editor of BBC Radio Manchester More about the takeover, including the schedule of visits, on the BBC Manchester web site. The picture shows the BBC's Manchester headquarters in Oxford Road.         Tim Davie on DAB's 'ambitious target' November 26, 2010 at 6:55 PM   Editor's note: Tim Davie was interviewed on today's Feedback, Radio 4's weekly accountability programme - SB. "The BBC should be ashamed of themselves for running this ad. They are telling their listeners to buy something they know isn't ready for us yet." That was William Rogers, Chief Executive of the commercial radio station UKRD. He was talking about the Digital Radio UK Christmas campaign featuring David Mitchell and Arthur Smith, launched this week (November 22) and running until Christmas Eve. BBC TV and Radio is running its own companion advertisments but some commercial radio stations are holding off. Mr Rogers isn't finished. He says it was "fundamentally immoral and dishonest" to run the campaign "knowing that the DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) infrastructure is not good enough and knowing full well that when people buy a DAB radio it may not work when they get it home". This week on Feedback I talked about these claims with the BBC's head of radio Tim Davie. Fifteen per cent of listening is currently on DAB radio and that figure rises to nearly 25 per cent for listening on all digital platforms - online etc. Many of us have lots of analogue radios which we have no desire to see become redundant. The Government"s target date for digital switchover (which means analogue switch-off) is still 2015, though it is now called an "aspiration" by the Coalition, "ambitious" by tactful radio executives, and "impossible" by some others. Hear what Tim Davie has to say about Britain's digital future: PS On a personal note it is difficult to talk to the whippet thin Tim Davie without wondering about his obsession with running marathons, and the fact that this year he ran the 48 miles from home to work nonstop for charity. I really must go to the gym again. Roger Bolton is presenter of Feedback on BBC Radio 4 Listen again to this week's Feedback, produced by Karen Pirie, get in touch with Feedback, find out how to join the listener panel or subscribe to the podcast on the Feedback web page. Ford Ennals, Chief Executive of DRUK (Digital Radio UK) was interviewed by Evan Davis on Today and the programme followed up on his numbers a few days later. Former BBC Radio executive James Cridland took on the issue of listener numbers on his blog. Feedback is now on Twitter. Follow @BBCFeedback. The picture shows DAB radios in a shop. It's by Salim Fadhley. Some rights reserved.             This email was sent to asad.ali2.mirjat@blogger.com. Delivered by Feed My Inbox PO Box 682532 Franklin, TN 37068 Account Login Unsubscribe Here