Radio Programming
Radio programs are produced by following
specific format
Music Format
When the staff of a local station puts their
program, the first step is generally to lay out a
format wheel
Music is structured to flow from one segment to
another. Album cuts and hits from the past are
spread around the wheel. Additional wheels would
be constructed for the various parts of broadcast day
Talk Format
Most of the content of the talk format is
produced by local stations. As in case with
music format the makeup of the audience is
taken into account
During drive time , talk segments are
relatively short and liberally interspersed with
news, weather and traffic reports
The audience from 10 A.M to 4 P.M are primarily female
and therefore topic of discussion should reflect interest
of that group. The early evening audience is generally
younger and contains more males
Producing a talk show requires more equipment
than does producing a simple DJ program.
Speaker telephones and extra telephone lines are
needed, as well as delay system
Another important part of the talk show is the telephone
screener. The screener ranks the waiting calls for
importance, letting the most interesting callers go first
and filter out the callers who call very often
All-News Format
All news format is most difficult to produce. A
large staff , consisting of anchor persons,
managing editor . Local reporters, editors ,
rewriter people and a free lance reporter is needed.
The all news station also work with programming
wheel, similar to that of the music format. Instead
of music the news wheel shows spacing between
headlines, sports and other news segments
Writing for radio
Learning how to write a radio script is critical
for proper execution of a radio performance.
The script must include various cues for dialogue, music,
and sound effects and be able to quickly and clearly
communicate the writer's objectives to the cast and crew.
Here is a guide on how to write a radio script.
STEPS
Formulate a story idea. Outline your
characters, plot, setting, conflict and
resolution.
Write a narrative of the story. Put the "meat" of
the story on the bones of your outline. Always
keep the limitations of radio in mind. You are
writing for listeners, not viewers.
Divide the narrative into scenes, with good
descriptions of setting, character, and sound
effects
Write the dialogue based on your narrative. Let
your characters and sound effects give the
listener a clear picture of the action in their
mind.
Put the story into radio script format This
includes:
Write a page heading
This is used to specify what program or episode
you're working on and what page you are on in
the script. It should be placed across the top of
the page.
Write a scene heading
This specifies the scene number, description
of the scene's location, and time of day.
Include script cues
There are three things a listener mainly retains
from a radio drama: dialogue, music, and sound
effects. Each of these audio components is
identified as a Cue
Insert music cues
Varying emotions can be achieved through the
choice of music. Clearly written instructions
regarding music cues will greatly assist the cast
and crew in influencing the mood of a given scene.
Include the dialogue cues
This helps the director and the actors prepare
themselves for proper timing and execution.
Insert the sound effect cues
Sound effects help to establish the scene or
depict action. Sound effect cues are always
underlined
Compose your production notes:
Engineers cast or crew requires specific instructions
that are handled as production notes--comments
from the writer on how to coordinate cues or achieve
particular effects. These need to be clear and precise
Edit your radio script after letting it sit for a few
hours or days. A fresh set of eyes will help you
catch any mistakes in grammar or plot. Consider
having a third-party scrutinize the script for you.
Producer checks the final version of script and
make necessary changes
