Originally, when I applied to be the Demon Chart Show producer, I did it no way think that I would be successful in securing the role, but to my utter delight I did and I am loving every second of it.
The week after Freshers Week all of the strand producers had to attend a programming meeting in which we were told that we needed to recruit freshers for our shows. I was both excited and anxious to have the opportunity to recruit people.
I wanted to express my attitude towards Demon FM and what positive influence it’s had on my life since I started at De Montfort University. I wanted to include in my presentation the facts that I presented on two different strands in my past two years at the University. Both the afternoon show and the Home Run show have given me immense experience and skills which I have now taken forward into my life and my role as a producer on Demon FM.
Before the meeting when we were to recruit freshers to join our strands, I met with the two presenters who presented the Demon Chart Show last year and we spoke about their thoughts and discussed their position on the show and whether they still wanted to have a show.
These presenters had the strong experience and were confident about the show and through the way we started to discuss the show that is currently standing, I really began to feel confident and excited about the current show and our plans to enhance it further. Already having two presenters in the team, I looked to build a strong team which would assist me with the organisation and production of the show as it broadcast live on a Friday night from 6-8pm.
I was looking for researcher who would assist with the preparation of the chart, finding out all of the 40 tracks that feature in the chart and any content related to the music featured in the week’s chart which the presenters can be related to in the show, including social media trends that will relate to that week’s chart and whether there any concerts that the artists in the chart have planned. They also need to research general entertainment news for the presents to talk about the show. Researchers also are responsible for ensuring that the artists that are in the chart are completely clean of scandals on the week leading up to that week’s chart show. If an artist is caught saying or doing anything that is unacceptable and it has been raised on the news, then they cannot be featured in that week’s chart and this must be flagged to the presenters, so they know to not feature this artist on the show, bumping other tracks up as a result. Researches need to be aware that things change on a weekly basis and need to make sure content is up to date, so we all are able to produce the best show possible.
Another role I am needing for the show is a broadcast assistant. This role is vital and the person who has it and to have the technical knowledge and know how to source and upload tracks that are featured in that week’s chart. Also, producing audio sounds bites to be placed at the start of the show, in front and in between tracks, so the show is very clean and it runs smooth as it broadcasts live on air. The broadcast assistant must communicate with all members of the team, making sure everyone is up to date. This person also must ensure that all audio elements such as sons and audio sound bites are pre-recorded and uploaded to the system ready for each week’s show.
One of the last roles I requested to fill was a social media assistant. I needed this person to communicate with all the team and be mindful of the trends related to artists featured in the chart on a weekly basis. Then they are to attend each show and tweet updates related to the artists and the content that is being aired to encourage listeners to interact with the presenters of the show. Alongside the tweets, the social media assistant will be required to set up polls on Twitter to allow listening to supply their opinions and views on what is being broadcast in that week’s show. I expressed that gifs may be effective and eye-catching to potential and current listeners, so the social media assistant needs to create gifs related to that week’s show. I requested for our social media assistant to have a basic understanding of Adobe Audition and iMovie to be able to create and upload videos to go with that week’s content, to ensure the show is visually interactive as well as the original tweets which will encourage interaction.
During the pitch to freshers, I expressed my passion for the Demon Chart Show and why I applied for this strand in particular. I think a chart show which features the top 40 music tracks is a great show to broadcast live on a Friday night, it is a good show for listeners to be able to use to wind down after a long week at work/university.
My aim is to create a team which is as passionate about chart music as I am and can bring new fresh ideas to the table to help enhance and expand our current show to reach more listeners and so we are able to stand strong beside the big chart shows that have been standing for a long time.
Since I made the pitch to new freshers and posted the pitch on social media, I have found myself an assistant producer which will help me with organising all elements of the show and managing the overall logistics and they will also bring new and fresh ideas along which we can use for the show. As regards to the other three roles, I have had people contact me requesting to join and now I have a strong team behind me as we take the Demon Chart Show into the next level!!
The Life of Sophie 