1. Internet Rock Radio Show Review
Daniel Hopkins
As part of my assignment on music based programming, I created three music-based
shows: one internet, one commercial and one in-store. The second show I created and
recorded was for an online music-based rock radio show, local to Salford. In my
analysis of the show I will be reviewing it in depth through means of looking at my
strengths and weaknesses while presenting and controlling the radio equipment.
I believe the music choices for the show were suited to its style. The plan was for the
show to have many different types of rock songs, spanning the entire genre and its
years. Some of our songs include ‘We Will Rock You’ – Queen (1977,general rock),
‘Best Of You’ – Foo Fighters (2005, hard rock) and Do I Wanna Know – Arctic
Monkeys (2013, Indie Rock). We wanted to cater for a variety of people who
generally enjoy all types of rock as we didn’t want to specialize in just one area of the
genre and I think our song choices justified this. All of the songs we played were
generally mainstream and were extremely popular at their time of original release,
with many being chart-toppers in the UK top 40. Their lasting legacy makes them
more appealing to a listening audience, as many are timeless classics.
I presented the show along with Daniel Harrison and we took turns announcing songs,
engaged in conversation with each other and spoke about the songs we played. To
match the theme of the show we presented in a very laid back fashion, rarely going
off our script to make us sound more fluid and relaxed. We followed our script too
closely for our in-store radio show, which meant if we slipped up we would panic
while sounding robotic for reading lines word for word. Due to our presenting style
and more planning beforehand we were very confident and I think this was reflected
in our show. I have previously looked at an internet radio show for one of my college
assignments and they acted fun and jokey to suit their style of show. The show was
named ‘Three’s a crowd’ on North Manchester FM and the genre of music they were
playing was house and dance. They used slang words such as ‘sick’, ‘tune’ and
‘banger’. We too used slang words suited to our target audience such as ‘awesome’
and ‘rocking’. We tried to sound enthusiastic as possible as to match the energetic feel
of the songs that we were playing.
Many of our conversations were music-orientated, where we would talk about the
songs we played or the singer/s of it. These include where Daniel talked about the
upcoming McBusted tour and how he plans to get tickets for it. He then told the
details of the nearest concert to Salford, including the date and place. A lot of times
we would have a small basic discussion about the songs and how we both loved it,
and saying directly to the audience: “You gotta admit, that was pretty awesome”. We
talked about how earlier in the year we went to see the auditions for The Voice and
telling the audience to “look for us in the audience”. We then spoke about how we
thought Ricky, one of the judges, was cool and used phrases such as “oozes
awesomeness”. I believe the use of opinions by me and Daniel, along with out own
stories, added depth to our personalities and gave us our own unique personas.

2. Daniel and I also discussed our favourite rock songs and then talking a bit about them.
I talked about a song we played earlier (We Will Rock You by Queen) and talked
about how it is a ‘classic’ and is ‘awesome’. I also talked about some of the other
bands songs and how they remain classics. When we talked we were laid back and
relaxed, with our conversations sounding fluid and as if we were having a casual
conversation without being on-air.
As well as talking to each other we often interacted with the listening audience. These
include directly talking to them, such as when I was talking about the Rock and Roll
hall of fame inductees. Though I was also talking to Daniel I was talking in a manner
directed at the audience also. I was talking about Nirvana being inducted, Kurt
Cobain’s death and the subsequent forming of the Foo Fighters by Dave Grohl, jus
before I played one of their songs. I think this shows that as a presenter I have basic
knowledge about the songs I am playing and I believe this to be important to show I
am comfortable in the rock music environment. I also asked the audience to tweet in
to the show to tell us what their favourite rock song was. This basic audience
interaction welcomes the listener to engage with the radio station and its synergy’s
more, which is important for the widening of its media outlets. It also gives the radio
show a welcoming, pleasant feel.
There was virtually no dead air during our recording, with the only minor incidents
happening after music/jingles as we would typically not speak for around a couple of
seconds after we had finished playing. However the pauses seemed natural as
engaging in conversation or talking immediately after the audio has finished would
seem rushed. There was also some occasions where we would have to be prompted by
each other to finish off the speaking segment, which resulted in a small amount of
dead air. It only happened a few times and never lasted more than a couple of seconds
but, in the next show I would like to eliminate these silences, by communicating with
Daniel more and planning ahead during the playing of a song. Previous to this show
Daniel and I recorded an hour long in-store radio show for JD sports. On this show,
one problem we had was that we were reading off a script too much, which meant we
sounded robotic and not natural while we were talking. We learnt from this for the
Internet radio show as we made sure too not follow the script too closely, electing
instead to use it as a reference guide for facts we had wrote about each songs and to
follow the running order. We changed our speech a lot, changing and adding to it
where we deemed necessary. We ad-libbed much of our show, which resulted in it
sounding much more realistic and less scripted. I think that we should carry on this
method of presenting for our final, commercial radio show.
Technically, I believe we performed to professional standards, as we were able to play
songs, jingles and activate the mics effectively. Sometimes the mic was turned on too
late leaving a small pause but, we carried on as if nothing happened. Also, the songs
were sometimes turned off prematurely to make way for the next song but, I was
overall very good transitioning.
There were some instances where we stuttered and panicked, resulting in quick word
adjustments that didn’t seem natural. For example before I announced the rock news
Daniel said: “Now here’s Dan with the rock news… so why don’t you check that
out”. A jingle was then played. I feel that if Daniel had finished the line with “Coming
up in just a sec” or “in just a moment” it would seem more professional. Though he is

3. speaking to the listener I think this instance of interaction was unneeded. Also, saying
“check that out” seems like he is instructing the listener to do something else, rather
than telling them about a news segment coming up a mere 15 seconds later.
During the hour, I presented a short segment of rock news. I compiled this in the
morning before the show, to make sure the news was as new as possible and was in
the listener’s interest. I didn’t report on much but, I had two main stories: the list of
winners from the rock category at the Grammys and the 2014 Rock and Roll hall of
fame inductees. I started off enthusiastically by saying “Here’s all your latest rock
news” which is directly speaking to the listener. I stuttered a lot during the
announcement of the rock winners as I was reading it off a piece of paper and I was
cautious about slipping up. However these incidents were only minor and though I
sounded a bit jittery it went more or less very smoothly. I also listed the rock and roll
hall of fame inductees for 2014. As I only had brief notes on the inductees, I read it
very easily. I think this news segment could use improvement as it lasted a very short
time (approx. 45 seconds) and only featured two major rock news stories. It also ends
abruptly and there is no jingle or song to separate the next speech from Daniel. I say
“So that is your rock news” with Daniel not realizing to follow on from that, which
led to a brief pause of around 2 seconds. I think this shows that we should
communicate better while recording, to ensure there are no mishaps of this nature and
we are fully aware of what we are supposed to do and when. I also commented on the
best album winner (Celebration Day- Led Zeppelin) while presenting by remarking
“Brilliant, absolutely album there”. This is because I didn’t want the news to be too
serious as it wouldn’t fit the enthusiastic, fun vibe of the show.
Towards the end of the show I also presented local Salford news. The segment
contained just three news stories and I communicated with the listener throughout. I
did this to fit the laid back stereotypical rock persona that would appeal to the
audience and to match the style of the previously presented rock news. The 3 news
stories were: A man who had been spotted shooting birds near a Salford Royal
Hospital, a parrot mistaken for a severed hand floating in Salford Quays and the view
on Salford Red Devils owner Marwan Koukash from Martin Vickers perspective. I
commented on the bird stories by saying “really, two bird stories already what is
everyone’s obsession with killing birds”. I thought this added humour to the stories as
I didn’t want the mood of the show to change. However, to make it more professional
I believe I could have commented on it after rather than during, as it seemed
unnatural. The stories were short but informative however, I think I should have got
more stories to add variety to the selection.
Overall, I believe the show was very good and was a vast improvement on my
previous in-store radio show. We presented enthusiastically and made very few flaws.
The only way I believe we could improve is if we communicated with each other
more and knew when to speak and what we were doing exactly. This is because we
had a few blips of dead air when we were mixed up when we were both supposed to
speak. However, I believe the show to be a success and I think we should carry on our
laid-back, enthusiastic style of presenting for our final Commercial Radio Show.