SMART SKILLS
Radio activity & channels of work
Uusha Albuquerque

Do you love meeting new people? Listening to them tell you the story of their lives? Do you regularly watch TV and wish you could do a programme too?

Radio and television are together the most powerful communication media. No wonder, so many young people are so gung-ho about joining this profession.

Today, there are hundreds of television networks and many private television companies that produce programmes for a wide audience in the country and abroad.

Professionals who join this industry can choose to work on a variety of programmes — entertainment, news and current affairs programmes, educational programmes on specific subjects for school and college broadcasts; specific-interest programmes, and documentaries, which make an in-depth study of a variety of topics.

There’s a little something for everyone here. For those with starry dreams of being in the limelight, acting in television serials or anchoring talk shows or being an RJ might just be their calling.

The other work areas include:

Planning or pre-production involves selecting programmes, commissioning programmes —getting producers to prepare suitable programmes for the network, as well as other jobs such as controlling finances, marketing air time to advertisers, or programmes to other networks. Once the programme is decided upon, you need to do the investigation and compiling of information, working on a format and writing out a script. This is mainly handled by researchers and scriptwriters.

Production involves putting together the entire programme, from visualising and conceptualising the programme, which is handled by the director, to selecting the artists, arranging the location and conducting the filming, presenting or anchoring programmes, news reading or newscasting , or recording for radio.

There are also production assistants, production executives, and a team of technical professionals — cameramen, sound recordists, set designers, etc. that collectively handle the production work.

Post-production involves editing the filmed material and giving the programme a final touch along with the animations, graphics and special effects and transmission of the programmes.

Most non-technical jobs in radio and television broadcasting, particularly in planning, production and direction, do not require any special training except for graduation in any discipline. Often, production skills are gained through hands-on experience. But it is advisable to get formal training in this area.

However, for technical posts appropriate skills and qualifications are necessary.

Besides academic requirements, it is also important to posses certain intrinsic qualities to be successful in this field.

For production jobs:`A0Strong organisational and administrative skills; good communication skills; ability to handle people; and work under stress.

For direction: Strong visual sense, creative skills, good communication skills and an ability to handle people.

Radio: All India Radio, the national radio network covers almost the entire population, with 160 stations spread across the country. Special broadcasts also go to listeners overseas around the world. FM stations of AIR and private channels have become immensely popular over the last couple of years. Most stations broadcast mainly music entertainment programmes. There are also some foreign radio stations, like the British Broadcasting Corporation and Voice of America that have representative officers in India, mainly for news.

Most openings in All India Radio and Doordarshan are filled through the Union Public Service Commission, or through admission to the Indian Information Service, while announcers, music instrumentalists and newsreaders are selected through auditions

Television : India’s nationalised television network Doordarshan currently reaches approximately 84 per cent of the population, with a national channel, a metro channel covering several metro cities, and a regional network of local language channels .

There are also hundreds of private TV channels which broadcast programmes produced in-house, as well as private production companies providing a variety of programmes from documentary and current affairs to music, entertainment and soap operas for national or international networks. This has also resulted in the mushrooming of video studios with sophisticated equipment providing a range of services, and consequently career opportunities for those with technical training in this field.

Other jobs in this field could include recording of music in audio and video format, specialisations in sound and / or lighting for live and recorded programmes, design, manufacture and sales of hardware and software for home entertainment, such as video games, compact discs, etc, production of advertising commercials as well as numerous new areas such as interactive videos and tele-conferencing.

While jobs and opportunities are many, those with starry-eyed dreams of making it big or radio or TV, must be prepared to work long, and often very odd working hours, work on holidays, travel at the drop of a hat and coping with insane deadlines.

Technology in radio and television broadcasting is developing at a phenomenal pace, a new channel is launched almost every week and job opportunities are multiplying faster than eggs. Forget the crorepatis that KBC has made; get inspired by the fact that TV itself has made several crorepatis among those who work in this field. So, if you have an interest in what comes on the box, and are willing to spend months and years behind the camera, then this could just be your dream calling!