On a glorious Good Friday I braved a bus packed with families to head to the Sydney Royal Easter Show. I wasn’t there to see the animals, eat the food or ride the Kyle and Jackie O merry-go-round. I was there for the Australian Film Television and Radio School first student broadcast of the year, Show Radio.
While other broadcasters like 2UE and 2GB and the previously mentioned KIIS Network‘s Kyle and Jackie O are present and / or broadcasting live at some point, the Graduation Diploma of Radio and Podcasting students of AFTRS have a radio program going the whole time with live broadcasts from 10am – 4pm each day and country music scheduled 24 hours playing out on iHeart Radio.
In the aftermath of Covid, I’ve had people assume Show Radio had stopped, but the experience is so important and positive for the budding broadcaster. Every component (except the music scheduling now – done by 2023 alumni Johnathan Pearson) is created by the students with the time, organisational, unexpected and professional pressures associated. They are also given the gift of being airchecked by industry professionals, something that Anthony Dockrill commented recently on Radioinfo, is not happening enough, or effectively.
I met students Mark, Karl, Annabelle, Barb, Dylan, Kwame, with Sunshine Wood (pictured) on air this morning. Everyone plays their part, with those roles adapting as needed. There are live crosses, live and pre-recorded interviews (as soon as I mention the word alpaca every single alumni past and present will know EXACTLY what I mean), live reads and, of course, the live shows. There is nothing really like it for people who wish to enter the industry.
What has changed post-pandemic is that some of these are online students who have never met their colleagues in person before. Air checking is done remotely. Podcasts and social content have significantly increased too.
Karl Svikis and Sunshine Wood
The students are being guided today by broadcaster and educator Dani Torresan. Dani was my compatriot bringing you all the winners and their interviews at the last two Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs). Yesterday we discovered that the awards won’t be going ahead in 2025 due, in part to ‘cost pressures incurred from ongoing legal matters with the PPCA.’
I’m saddened for broadcasters regional, provincial and metro as well as for advertisers who see their products and services acknowledged through the hard work of sales and promotional teams. But as soon as I walked into Show Radio, the enthusiasm, excitement, willingness to learn and collaborate made me put that down for today and focus on the future of the industry in front of me.
“What do you need from me to make your day easier today?”
I heard producer Karl say the above to Sunny on air and that he couldn’t believe two and a half hours had passed as they’d had so much fun. A shout out to Mark the podcast producer for the speed and brilliance of his online output. Dylan (DJ Shark) taking on the Kyle and Jackie O Haunted House and the visceral reaction Sunny had to hearing his experiences and Barb sharing how her Zoom had unexpectedly failed during a prerecord, but she’d thought to press the record on her phone too and her back up had worked a treat! Barb, by the way, is studying at AFTRS online while also doing a journalism PhD at Deakin University. Sunshine has come up from Tasmania and her full-time role with ABC Radio Northern Tasmania to be part of Show Radio. Mark was telling me about doing his community radio program Babyface Broadcast on 2RRR (covering professional wrestling and so much more) the night before. These students have such active and busy lives outside their studies.
I hope this brings back happy (and probably stressful) memories of the first days on the job.
These students could be you.
For many, they once were you.
I needed that reminder. If you can, over the Easter break, listen in to the AFTRS Graduate Diploma of Radio and Podcasting School’s Show Radio. The future of audio comes from all ages, genders and experience. The love for the medium here is abundant.
Show Radio: https://www.iheart.com/live/show-radio-6335/
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster. Email: [email protected]