Update on Volunteering at PVR

[AndyC]

Hello all,

I just wanted to update you on what is happening at PVR. The keys for our new studio space within Pleasley Vale Business Park near Mansfield have now been handed over to us and the room is empty and awaiting fit out. Right now we are looking for office furniture at sensible prices and collecting items from all over the place. We have a playout server up and running inside a test box and we are currently building up the music library. This is a huge task as every track has to be ripped from CD, levelled, then have a talk start/end and segue markers added so it all links together nicely when the station is running on automation.

If you can help with any of the following, your assistance would be much appreciated...

1. Looking for someone to help move items in, possibly including assembly of some flat-packed furniture.
2. Anyone who would be interested to help with the technical build and testing of systems once installed.
3. We are still looking for more presenters, either to make shows at our studio or remotely. We are looking for all types of shows, but we especially need non-specialist daytime shows. So if you fancy being the next Steve Wright then get in touch!
4. Someone to help with our social media and online presence. We are currently building a first draft of our website as a starting point. However once the basic content has been decided upon it will then need more polish before our official launch.So if you have internet skills, this could be the jop for you.

Finally, we welcome any interested visitors at any time. Forum members are always welcome to come and have a tour (provided certain covid-secure guidelines are followed) There's not much to see as yet, but if you'd like to visit just drop me a PM on here and we can arrange a time when there will be someone on site. Our studio is located in the historic Mill 3 at Pleasley Vale Business Centre. You might even get a cup of tea and a biscuit!

Andy.

 

[Cordelia]

Hi Andy

I don't live near you so I can't help with the flat pack stuff ......... thankfully!

I currently produce and syndicate my own show called Barbara's Backtrackin' and I was wondering if you would be interested in it. It's a great daytime show and I always play lively music from the 80's onwards. It runs for 58.30 so that you can put your own adverts in if required.

Thanks

Barbara

 

[AndyC]

Hi Andy

I don't live near you so I can't help with the flat pack stuff ......... thankfully!

I currently produce and syndicate my own show called Barbara's Backtrackin' and I was wondering if you would be interested in it. It's a great daytime show and I always play lively music from the 80's onwards. It runs for 58.30 so that you can put your own adverts in if required.

Thanks

Barbara

Hi Barbara,

Thanks for getting in touch. Could you send me a link to a copy of your show via PM on here? Failing that send me a PM anyway and I'll drop you an e-mail.

We would be potentially interested in taking your show, however there is one slight "but". And it's something that applies to a lot of shows we are offered, so I thought it would be good to point it out here...

In simple terms, most people make shows that are too long per hour to run on a traditional ad-financed radio station, which is what we aspire to be. Once things like news bulletins, trails, stings, promos and ads are taken into account, we only have a maximum of 51 minutes per hour available for programming. That breaks down evenly into 3 x 17 minute segments per hour. They don't necessarily have to be exactly 17 minutes each, but the overall time does have to be exactly 51:00 per hour because our news is on the top of the hour and can't move so much as a second either way. We can use Audacity (an excellent sound editing program if you don't already know it) to slightly lengthen or shorten audio, but it's noticable if we do it for more than about a minute out of every hour. We can also edit shows but that takes a lot of time and can be quite difficult, especially on well produced shows where everything mixes together. Also some people don't want their shows to be edited after all the time and effort they've put into making it sound just right.

As a station owner and someone who has made shows for various other staions in the past, I personally think it's always best to make a show that's a bit short rather than a bit long. Any station worth their salt with half decent playout equipment can fill to the hour with something or other. It's way more difficult to shorten things.

One possible solution to the issue of duration is to make a show in four segments per hour. One of 17 minutes, another of 17 minutes, another of 9 minutes and another of 17 minutes. Don't put anything crucial in the 9 minute bit, then stations like us can just drop that segment, while other stations that want a full hour can include it. One of our syndicate is already producing shows to this template and it's proving to be very successful.

I hope this bit of constructive criticism helps all the show producers out there to potentially get their shows picked up my a more varied selection of stations.

Andy.