North West Branch

News & updates

Tony Livesey in Conversation with Sam Walker – MediaCityUK

Posted by North West at 27 March, 2012, 9:49 am

MediaCityUK - 5th Floor, Quay House - Salford - M50 2EQ

Date: Thursday 12th April 2012 - 6pm for 6.30pm start. 7.30pm finish.

As the clock ticked towards 22:30 on the 26th of September 2011, BBC Radio 5Live producers, technicians, broadcast assistants and bosses held their breath as Tony Livesey's late show was poised on the edge of history. It was to be the first show broadcast from the BBC's glistening new studios at MediaCityUK. Years of work and planning sprang into action as Tony spoke to the nation - live from Salford.

Tony's media credits are vast: Editor-in-chief of the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport, host of the hugely popular Breakfast show on BBC Radio Lancashire and now presenter of BBC Radio 5Live's late show - putting the nation to bed. His TV credits include the BBC's North West Tonight and Late Kick Off, as well as appearances on Have I Got News For You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and ITV's Gladiators.

Join us at MediaCityUK on Thursday 12th April as Tony talks about his time in Radio, Print and TV with Real Radio and 5Live's Sam Walker.

Door are at 6pm for a 6.30pm start. The event is free for Radio Academy members and just £3 for non-members. Click here to check your membership status or join The Radio Academy. Please email darryl.morris@bbc.co.uk to confirm your attendance.

The event will take place on Floor 5 of... 

Quay House
MediaCityUK
Salford
M50 2EQ

See you there...

Masterclass: Travel News

Posted by North West at 1 December, 2011, 9:31 am

INRIX media North | 5th Floor, Station House | Stamford New Road | Altrincham | WA14 1EP

Date: Saturday 4th February or Sunday 5th February 2012

News, sport, weather and travel are often referred to as the cornerstones of what radio content should consist of.  This is your opportunity to get a detailed insight into one of those key areas - Travel.

In partnership with INRIX media (formerly Trafficlink) and supported by Sound Women, this Radio Academy Masterclass will allow you to see how traffic and travel news is gathered and distributed to the radio industry.  You will be working with key industry professionals in small group workshops with feedback sessions.

INRIX media provide travel news to the BBC, over 90% of the commercial radio market and some community radio stations.  They voice over 1 million radio travel news reports each year and provide the information for millions more.  They are opening their doors in their Northern England office for one weekend so you can take advantage of some of their skills in creating and broadcasting travel news bulletins.

Andrea Day, INRIX media's Training and Communications Manager along with Amy Lewis, the Manager of the Northern England office will take you through how information is collated, published and broadcast.  The day will include a tour of the studios in INRIX media's Northern England office which will be in full operation over the weekend of your visit.  You will also have the opportunity to bring your travel news demos along to get feedback on your bulletins.

Application for this Masterclass is open to all. Those from under represented ethnic, gender or other groups in the radio industry are encouraged to apply.

For more information and to apply click here

What makes radio great in Liverpool?

Posted by North West at 25 November, 2011, 1:21 pm

Wednesday 7th December | 6pm for 6:30 | St John's Beacon, 1 Houghton Street, Liverpool, L1 1RL

What makes radio great in Liverpool?

Is it the Liverpudlian character, warmth and chatty personalities? Is it a style of radio that cant work anywhere else? Why is the radio market different? And how can one city support so many stations?

We want to celebrate radio in Liverpool and invite you along to our first North West Branch session in the city up the famous "City Tower".

Joining our host Derek (Degsy) Hatton will be panel guests:

• Roger Philips, Presenter - BBC Radio Merseyside, winner of the Radio Academy Lifetime Achievement award 2011
• Graham Sarath - Station Director, Juice FM Liverpool
• Steve Hothersall - Head of News and Sport, Radio City, City Talk and Magic 1548

Registration:

Registation is required for this event as places are strictly limited so please email Andrea Day to book yourself a place.

Members: Free
Non Members: £10

Click here to check your membership status or join The Radio Academy.

Details:

Date: Wednesday 7^th December
Location: City Tower (St John's Beacon), 1 Houghton Street, Liverpool, L1 1RL
Time: 6 for a 6:30pm start

North West Branch Event: Welcome to MediaCityUK

Posted by North West at 13 September, 2011, 5:30 pm

People working in radio across the North West of England are being invited to a special Radio Academy session at the new home of 5 Live and Radio Manchester in Salford.

The event - on the evening of Tuesday 4th October - will include a panel discussion about what MediaCity means for radio as well as a chance to look at the BBC's new facilities.

As well as BBC 5 Live and the local radio service for Greater Manchester, other network radio programmes such as Radcliffe and Maconie on BBC 6 Music are also about to make the move from the corporation's Oxford Road studios in Manchester to the new home on Salford Quays.

John Ryan, BBC Radio Manchester Managing Editor and Chair of the North West Branch of the Radio Academy, said: "With lots of new radio people landing in the North West, the local branch of the Academy is back with a whole range of new events, starting with a look at MediaCityUK itself. After six years of planning, it's finally here, joining GMG stations across the water and a new indie radio scene in the region. This is a chance to see inside the BBC's main 'live' building, Quay House and to ask what MediaCity means for UK radio."

The 'Welcome to MediaCityUK' event is open to members of the Radio Academy. Check your membership status here.

Find out more and book a place via the North West Radio Academy's Facebook page.

North West Branch: Christmas Quiz

Posted by North West at 10 December, 2010, 1:42 pm

The North West branch Christmas quiz is back and this year it's hosted by Nicksy. So, get your team together and come along to see if you can be this year's champions.

Quiz questions kindly provided by RadioToday.

Date & Time: Wednesday 15th December 2010 | Doors: 6.00pm | Quiz: 6.30pm

Venue: BBC Club Oxford Road

Entry: FREE (Teams of 5)

North West Branch: The Future of Radio Imaging

Posted by North West at 16 March, 2010, 10:08 am

The next North West Event has just been announced! The Future of Radio Imaging will be taking place in Manchester on 15th April.

On the panel:

• Former Northwest presenter and producer Dave Bethell of bedsandbeats.com
• Chester's Chris Stevens, now Vice-President and Creative Director of TM Studios in Dallas Texas
• Head of Production at Liverpool’s Radio City Alasdair Stirling
• And Simon Prentice, Managing Director of S2Blue.

The evening will be hosted by world famous jingle anorak, and Galaxy Yorkshire breakfast presenter Simon Hirst.

We'll be looking at station branding, imaging, jingles, past present and more importantly, future, with lots of exclusive audio created for the evening by the panel, and an exciting and unique introduction by Greeny of GreenyProductions.co.uk

Entry is free, no registration required. Hope to see you there!

Venue: BBC Manchester, Courtyard Room, New Broadcasting House, Oxford Rd, Manchester, M60 1SJ (map)

Date & Time: Thursday 15th April, 630pm for 7pm start

North West Branch: Future of Station Imaging

Posted by North West at 1 March, 2010, 3:10 pm

April 15th, Manchester

The next North West event will feature a panel discussion about station sound, hosted by broadcasting legend Simon Hirst. Ideal for producers, presenters, controllers and managers.

More details soon!

North West Branch: A Celebration of Piccadilly/Key

Posted by North West at 24 February, 2010, 3:08 pm

The North West Branch of the Radio Academy celebrated 35 years of Piccadilly/Key 103 Radio with a quiz at the Hilton hotel in Manchester on 24 February.

The ‘Posh Pub Quiz’ and the anticipated few hours of nostalgia took place at the bar Cloud 23 on the 23rd floor of the hotel.

The quiz was hosted by Mike Toolan and a number of ‘guest stars’ from the glory Piccadilly days turned up as the quizmaster Toolan tested guests’ knowledge about the music, the people and the news from the past 35 years.

It was a brilliant event, packed with great nostalgia and top fun!

It’s More Than FM!

Posted by North West at 18 June, 2009, 8:40 am

Please visit the NW Branch page for details of our next event ... Jonathan Jacob (Juice FM) and Jo Meek (All Out), our newest branch members have put together a great lineup for a night looking at Multiplatform. The latest radio visualisation experiment is live, there's a Multiplatform category in most awards, and the audience expect more from the technology they use to hear us. Matt Deegan (Folder Media) is our chair for a fun night looking at this issue. Details on the Branch page.

A reminder to North West Community Radio stations that the next BBC Radio Manchester Community Radio Bootcamp begins on 22 September and runs for six weeks, each Tuesday evening. 1800-1915 (Beginner) and 1930-2030 (Advanced) sessions each evening. Details of what's on offer and how to sign up will be released by end July.

We'll post details here and on Radio Today when we have them. A reminder there's a sexy new Facebook page for the NW Branch. Do fan us and you'll be kept up to date with everything we're up to here in Manchester and the NW.

North West Update

Posted by North West at 4 June, 2009, 3:06 pm

The NW Branch held a Celebration of NW Community Radio on 4 June.

About 60 people attended the event at the BBC Club in Manchester, from community stations all over the region.

Mike Shaft chaired the panel - arguably Mike ran the first community station in Manchester - Sunset Radio, 20 years ago. The panel included Jaqui Devereux from the CMA, Richard Lace and Darren Jenkinson from Preston FM and Toby Whitehouse from Gaydio. It was a fascinating session and not without debate. Preston FM said they don't care how many people listen - it's about making a difference for individuals. 90% community 10% radio says the CMA. Gaydio believe its community of interest will only listen to something that sounds attractive - 'the product has to be right first so people want to listen. The social gain will be bigger if the product is good'.

We talked about DAB, and about running costs. Stations cost 'anything between 13k and 350k'. The CMA repeated its call for a bigger community radio (or media) fund from Ofcom - £20m was mooted.

There was also a heated discussion about the role of music in community radio and whether using paid presenters is in the spirit of community broadcasting.

John Ryan (Managing Editor of BBC Radio Manchester) announced a second season of the station's Community Radio Bootcamp - a six week nightschool of seminars and training events. It starts on 22 September and will be publicised through the NW Academy's Facebook page and on Radio Today.

Events Archive & Audio

North West Branch: How Did the Musicians get on Music Radio??

20th Nov 08 - Matt & Phreds, 64 Tib Street Northern Quarter Manchester
We bring together some of Manchester's finest musicians and broadcasters. They all have different stories but they all share radio and musicianship. How much does one effect the other and what is their experience of being on both sides of the media/artist fence?

Guests including Guy Garvey (6Music), Clint Boon (Xfm) and Mike Sweeney (Rock Radio).

Producer/Chairman: Mike Walsh, Xfm.

Radio Social & Quiz

22nd April 08 - Kaz Bar in Tiger Tiger, Printworks, Manchester
The Radio Social & Quiz, is the first of the new Radio Academy North West branch events. The event be introduced by new BBC Radio Manchester signing John Thomson before handing over to Hirsty for one of his legendary radio pub quizes, back in Manchester by popular demand!