The document provides an overview of the structure and job roles within the radio media sector in the UK. It discusses the different types of radio including commercial, public service, not-for-profit, and independent. It also outlines the organizational structure of radio stations, describing roles such as the station manager, operations manager, programme director, sales manager, office manager, chief engineer, and on-air personalities. The document then discusses career opportunities and challenges in the radio industry before covering ethical and legal issues that media sector employees must consider.

1. Learning Aim B: Understand the structure and job roles in a media sector
Structure of a media sector
In the media industry, radio is one of the fastest growing parts. The development of digital,
community and internet radio means that there are more opportunities than ever before to enter
the industry as there are hundreds of radio stations in the UK providing a wide variety of every
type of radio. The commercial radio sector is driven by income generated from radio advertising
and knowing the importance of the funding stream is essential to understanding how the
industry is financed. On the other hand, community radio is required to create a ‘social gain’
through what it produces by the broadcasting regulator and create an understanding of what the
social gain means as it is vital to those who want to work in that area of the industry. In the
broadcast industry, personnel officers often observe initial applications to work within the
industry and make sure that they aren’t backed up by a commitment to the medium. Successful
employees should make sure that they are familiar with the range of programming that their
target station puts out due to the fact that the understanding of how one output from one radio
station differs from the output of another radio station - this is essential. Furthermore, this also
involves the employee knowing about their target audience and how their audience is identified -
this could link to the social gain to gain more information.
The structure of a radio station consists of:
- Station Manager:
At the very top of the radio structure is the station manager, who is responsible for day to
day operations. They enforce the owners standards whilst making sure the employees
are doing what they need to do and meeting the expectations. As well as this, the station
manager also maintains the finances (budgets), hiring and firing people, training
personnel and reviews employee performance. It is key that they ensure that operations
comply with Federal Commissions regulations.
- Operations Manager:
The operations manager is the second highest of the structure within a radio station and
usually focuses on co-ordinating, scheduling and promoting on air programming.
Closely, they work with disc jockeys, anchors and hosts to make sure that they represent
the station's branding correctly. In addition to this, the operations manager is usually in
charge of doing the detective work when new programming options are found.
- Programme Director
The role of a programme director is to create and plan the daily broadcast schedule. By
doing this, they will have to locate and provide the news, music or entertainment that
should be covered whilst monitoring on-air activity to ensure that content is shared
properly. Usually, there is a programme director for each individual broadcast and they
work with the same staff everyday and report to the operations manager.
- Sales Manager

2. It is key to have a sales manager working with a team that constantly generates revenue by
selling air time to advertisers. Some of their charges research potential accounts, do some cold
calling and generate sales leads. On the other hand, others tend to sell airtime to meet a quota
whilst negotiating prices and payment schedules. They must often designate employees to
perform collections on past-due accounts.
- Office Manager
Typically, the office manager works within the administration team and finance
employees to handle logistics, payroll, taxes, bills, audits and legal matters. Phone calls
and messages are also taken for the office director and stations manager by the
administrative employees. In addition to this, they also book any outside business travel
for station employees as well as rooms for guests.
- Chief Engineer
The chief engineer manages a team that handles all technical matters. This consists of
supervising, regularly inspecting equipment, maintaining and repairing equipment when
necessary and purchasing new equipment when merited and abiding by FCC
regulations. They are often directly involved with broadcasts by editing tracks, managing
sound effects and monitoring the stations signal for strength, quality and overall clarity.
- On-Air Personalities
Transmitting the station's voice to the public falls to on-air personalities. This involves
disc jockeys, anchors and hosts. The role of a disc jockey is to play music, take requests
and provide information. On the other hand, the role of an anchor is to deliver the news,
weather and traffic announcements. As well as this, hosts often conduct interviews and
allow listeners to call in and become part of the show. Collectively, they all must align
with the station branding.
There are 4 areas within the radio sector - commercial radio, public service radio, not for profit
radio and independent radio. Radio advertising stretches beyond a 30 second advertisement,
with longer adverts, sponsorships, branded content and digital solutions which help companies
provide new and creative ways to get their message to potential customers. Commercial radio is
also known as private broadcasting as it is the broadcasting of tv programs and radio
programming by privately owned corporate media. It is primarily based on the practice of airing
radio and television adverts for profit. This is in contrast to public broadcasting which receives
government subsidies and tends to not have any paid advertising interrupting the show.
Commercial radio broadcasting overlaps with paid services such as cable television, radio and
satellite television. These are generally partially or wholly paid for by local subscribers which is
known as leased access. Independent radio indicates a radio station that is run in a different
manner from usual for the country it broadcasts in. In countries where there are existing
government-run radio stations which serve as primary or the only variety of licensed
broadcasters, the term generally means commercial radio stations which aren’t operated by the
government. An example of an independent radio station is BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra,
which is a national digital radio station in the United Kingdom, operated by the BBC, and

3. specialising only in extended additional sports coverage. Public Service Broadcasting (PSB)
refers to the broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve purely commercial
interests. The communications regulator OFCOM requires that certain television and radio
broadcasters fulfill certain requirements as part of their license to broadcast. The PSB has a
long tradition in the UK, delivering impartial and trusted news, UK originated programmes and
distinctive content. The PSB are those providing Channel 3, 4 and 5, S4C and the BBC. All of
the BBC channels are PSB channels however only the main channels of each of the other
public service broadcasters have this status. Lastly, not for profit radio (non-commercial)
includes college radio and community based radio stations - including National Public Radio
affiliates. With this type of radio, the advertising is widely spaced out as it is not the main source
of station funding as they mostly rely on either subsidies from a non-profit such as a University
or listener contributions for their income. They tend to have a lot more flexibility compared to
commercial radio as it doesn’t rely on advertising to find money and isn’t dependent on ratings.
By playing new or non-traditional artists, non-commercial stations are usually giving their
audiences exactly what they want. In addition to this, it is especially true of community radio
stations as well as being a self-reinforcing cycle non-commercial radio stations may also focus
on niche genres of music - giving musicians a great entry point as there is less competition
compared to major labels.
Career Opportunities in a Media Sector
The nature of the radio industry is that it can be easily used by anyone - even by the poorest of
countries. In addition to this, radio receivers are known to be cheap and can be afforded by
many people. Due to the high majority of radios being powered by batteries, this can be a
problem to most countries as batteries can be expensive therefore they may struggle to gather
money to buy any, however with the ever growing technology nowadays, this may not be a
problem in the upcoming months / years as technology is always developing for people to
access easily. The role of the radio is to inform, educate and entertain. It is about
companionship with the listeners as it provides real-time information which is sometimes
broadcasted 24 hours a day so that they can provide the most recent updates to listeners as it
has the ability to reach worldwide, making it a reliable source of information. An example of
where radios are handy is when there is no electricity and battery powered radios will be able to
keep everyone updated on the latest news and what is happening. Furthermore, the radio is
easy to use and a very popular use of media.
The BBC runs ten national radio services and a further 40 regional ones as some are located in
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The BBC consists of multiple radio stations: Radio 1 (a
great top 40 station) and Radio 2 (Europe’s mostly listened to radio station). The BBC’s radio
stations run no commercials and are paid for by a mandatory license fee which is currently
(2021) £147 per household. The boss of a nation BBC station and the boss of a local BBC
station have a 53% market share. Commercial radio is made up of two large groups (Global &
Bauer Media) and a few smaller groups. The two larger groups have approximately 75% of all
commercial radio listening - these commercial radios cost £590 million per year. 90% of all
adults listen to the radio once a week and this figure hasn’t decreased at all over the last ten
years - possibly because of the high usage of people driving cars.

4. In addition to this, there is also a community radio which broadcasts mostly very low-power FM
stations, many of which are forbidden from carrying radio commercials. These types of services
have less than 5% of all radio listening due to people being more interested in mainstream radio
stations such as younger demographics. The UK is a multiplatform radio environment with the
most advanced radio types possible. 53% of radio listening all together is to AM/FM, 33% of
listening is to DAB and internet radio / radios on the TV has a listening of 7%. Generally, DAB
radio has three times as many radio stations for a listener to choose from. As well as battery
operated radios, you can also access radio stations on televisions.
Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services that people use and rely on each day. It
regulates both TV and radio sectors. In the UK, in order to use any radio transmitting devices, it
is required to be either licensed or exempted from licensing under the Wireless Telegraphy Act
2006. If radio equipment is used without these, it is considered as illegal. The Wireless
Telegraphy Act is an act of Parliament. The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 had as its purpose to
"consolidate enactments about wireless telegraphy". It was successful as cited in the Office of
Communications to show that in the absence of a license or an exemption granted or made
under Section 8 of the Act, the use of Global System for Mobile Communications gateways
(including Commercial Multi-User Gateways) for the purpose of providing a telecommunications
service by business to another person is illegal.
Parliament has put a few rules in place in respect of the ownership of media enterprises and
broadcast licenses. Some of the rules consist of:
- The national cross-media ownership rule which prevents large newspaper groups
from owning a Channel 3 license.
- The Channel 3 appointed news provider rule which requires regional Channel 3
licensees to appoint a single news provider.
- The Media Public Interest Test allows the Secretary of State to intervene in media
mergers to determine whether the merger might result in harm to the public interest.
- The Disqualified Persons Restrictions prevents certain bodies or people from holding
broadcast licenses, others from holding certain types of broadcasting licenses and
others who hold broadcast licenses unless Ofcom has determined whether it is fine for
them to do so.
The rules were set out as they were intended to protect the public interest by promoting
plurality and preventing undue influence by anyone. Ofcom has a statutory duty to
review at least every three years and when these rules are followed out the Secretary of
State should use any of its specific powers to change them through any
recommendations made. The internet has transformed the way the news is provided and
consumed as things escalate in many different ways which can lead to terror. In addition
to this, there is now a broad range of news sources available across different platforms
which everyone is able to access on different devices as technology is ever growing and
constantly developing alongside apps - this has led to a breakdown of audiences and a
shift of revenue online. In the radio sector, it is an increasingly competitive environment

5. as traditional news providers are following a range of approaches to try and ensure that
they are sustainable.
An organisational structure helps define the roles of, and the relationships between, the different
people, departments and functions within an organisation and helps specify the division of work
and the hierarchy, authority and formal lines of communication and is designed so that
departments such as sales, public relations, finance, technology, management and creative
services are adequately staffed.
In the executive suite, a broadcasting company is usually run by a chief executive or an
operations officer who is also known as a general manager. The general manager has large
responsibilities on a day-to-day basis including any budget issues, legal compliance and liaising
with the creative and production teams. As well as this, the general manager also works closely
with any community relations and marketing executives. The general manager may also have
assistants that head up the organisation's various subdivisions, depending on the size of the
organisation. In addition to this, there are also a team of administrators and human resource
professionals who answer phone calls, emails, pay any bills and help in the recruitment of staff.
Typically, broadcasters sell advertising (such as commercial slots) to organisations and
companies who are wishing to promote their products and services. The sales, marketing and
relations teams are usually headed up by a director or advertising who has the role to set the
company’s strategy for bringing in new clients and keeping existing advertisers happy. On the
other hand, account executives and any marketing specialists work under the advertising
director as some might sell advert slots directly to businesses whilst others are working on the
company’s social media. The role of the marketing and PR staff is to connect the broadcaster
with community organisations and potential business partners. For example, if a TV station
wants to align with a local non-profit group, it is the role of anyone working in the marketing and
PR sector to help make this happen.
Engineers and information technologists are essential to the radio sector as they make sure that
the broadcast signal is distributed properly. Engineering and technology departments are
normally led by a chief engineer or director of broadcast operations. In the departments, they
have staff who are able to operate cameras and sound equipment, perform maintenance and
repair tasks and archive material.
The creative team tends to be the face of any broadcasting company. The creative team
includes things such as newscasters, sports announcers and on-air personalities - for example
a DJ. As well as these, the team also includes producers, writers and editors, makeup and
graphic artists and art directors who help give the station personality. This team is often guided
by the day’s top stories or playlist and any messages that affect anyone and everything -
conveyed by the general manager. These can include catering to the company’s target market
and also incorporating advertising and communicating in the tone that the listeners expect to
hear.
Ethical Issues For Employees in the Media Sector.

6. In the radio sector, when journalists are writing stories etc, they must consider both ethical
issues. Ofcom has put laws in place to restrict people such as journalists from reporting things
which could cause damage or harm to people or organisations. Ethics is a system of moral
principles which is concerned with what is good for individuals and society.
Journalists follow codes of conduct which aim to set out good, ethical practice. This can include
things such as:
- Double checking sources
- Giving those criticised a ‘right of reply’
- Respecting people's privacy, especially in times of grief, illness or shock.
- Protecting the vulnerable i.e children.
- Avoiding using things such as hidden recording devices.
Journalists are entitled to breach these guidelines in certain circumstances such as cases of
overwhelming public interest (strong ethical principle). The public interests include:
- Detecting or exposing crime or serious impropriety.
- Protecting health and safety.
- Preventing the public from being misled or by an action or a statement from an individual
or organisation.
In addition to these things, there are a variety of things that need to be considered in the radio
sector, the rules and constraints help to prevent viewers and members of the public from taking
offence to sensitive material. This will cover topics such as discrimination, offensive stereotypes,
privacy and other issues that are not enforced by the law.
It is key that the media sector in general as well as the radio sector don’t generalise any
particular group, race or stereotype. This is because it can influence people's thoughts and
feelings towards certain groups of people which the media companies and corporations are
trying not to encourage. By doing this, it includes not giving across any stereotypical views and
not including any factors of discrimination that give across the wrong idea about a particular
group of people. These issues could cause an individual or a particular group of people to feel
uncomfortable. As a result of these issues, it could cause complaints by viewers and critics
which means that action will need to be taken. It is also important that media sectors don’t
display any information that may be insulting and harmful to different groups. This can include
groups of different genders, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, ethnic groups, disabilities etc.
These ethical issues are moral issues rather than legal issues, meaning that they are not
enforced by law. They are simply just seen as being wrong and will make the audience feel
uncomfortable or upset, angered etc if committed.
Legal Issues For Employees in the Media Sector.

7. Any restrictions that are considered are enforced by the law. These restrictions will often be
things that are considered harmful, wrongly influential or unpleasant for the audience. In
addition to this, legal issues also contain copyright, slander or libel.
The Broadcasting Act 1990 made it illegal for the newspaper companies to own more than 20%
of any television companies. As well as this, this also applies to cross-ownership between
sectors such as radio and TV. Furthermore, the act introduced Channel 5, which was set up as
a channel with a structure meaning that specific programs could be shown at the same time, on
the same day, every week.
The Race regulations act of 1976 helped create race equality and made discrimination and
victimisation illegal throughout the UK. This also includes positive discrimination. Positive
discrimination is when a person may be given better roles or opportunities based on the colour
of their skin or ethnicity. The act ensures that it is important that any media sector doesn’t
portray different ethnic groups differently due to their appearance or race.
There are also laws that protect music, images, videos etc. The law includes copyright, trade
rights and patent laws each of which protects creative property with a number of laws. Copyright
helps to protect property whilst trademarks prevent property and content from being stolen - for
example if a company uses a slogan, they will trademark and copyright the slogan so that no
other companies can use it. On the other hand, in terms of copyright, the media can come under
fire from these laws if they use video footage, photos, pictures, music etc without any
permission from the owners who placed the copyright. Copyright and other laws can result in
serious cases if they’re not followed properly, for example: shows being stopped from airing,
products being removed, fines etc.
Ofcom likes to ensure that everyone’s privacy is respected and will not disclose any information
unless they have permission to, this can be for secret recordings, CCTV, reporting deaths,
dealing with personal things etc. Linking to this, Ofcom ensures that they are fair to the public
and audience as well as this, they also have contributors and informed consent, Anonymity,
Deception, Intimidation and Humiliation, the portrayal of real people in Drama, Safety and
Welfare of contributors. For under 18’s there is safeguarding of the welfare which includes
informed consent for children and young people.