BBC Academy Podcast

Preparation:
The BBC 1 Breakfast show will always be 'sketched' out, a basic structure is there, but its not strictly followed. Guests, competitions and interviews have to be planned out and revised before hand, and this changes daily for different shows. The intention of the show is to always make it 100% brilliant, to be entertaining, play great new music and be informative and to set up listeners for a great morning. Regarding guests, it works both ways. The BBC contact them and they contact the radio station. Or the production team may see them in the newspaper and know that they're 'in town'. Or the team will looking ahead into upcoming TV shows and films and invite guests onto the show who feature in those shows/films. If the guests are difficult, they simply wont be on for long.

Responsibilities of the presenters and producers:
Producers - need to have the ability to get on and understand each other and their needs. Thinking ahead of the show e.g going into a link after the next song, so for example a caller. Assistant producer will get the caller prepared, make sure they know what they're going to talk about and sound good. Also guests need briefing, telling them not to swear and not to mention specific brands. Another responsibility would be to make sure sound is good, so the person speaking has the correct volume. During the show, the team don't really talk to each other, they mostly check on what everyone's doing and making sure things run smoothly.

Team Dynamics:
They sit together in a small room, very close together, so team cohesion is very important. Getting on with each other as a team is really important to create a good vibe. Trust is also key. Because everyone's friends, they have a WhatsApp group to talk about what guests they want, and always share with each other what's trending, e.g the Grammy's.

How can you break into radio?
Get into a local radio station- working for free. Exposure to how radio works. Directly approach people in the industry and ask to get involved. Keep being persistent. There's many sectors in radio. Get as much experience as possible. Student radio. You don't have to be technically gifted. Finding topics that you like and that you like to talk about.