Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in radio news? Scroll down to hear from studio directors who work on everything from podcasts to Newsbeat. They play a vital role in the logistics that bring the creative vision for shows to life. Part of our Bitesize world of work series.
“This is BBC Radio 4, it’s 5 o’clock and time for PM with Evan Davis”
[Greenwich Time Signal]
Sam – Studio director
“Okay, here we go then…”
Matt – Studio director
The studio director is the operational role behind everything you hear on the radio.
Cassie – Studio director
You’re really that link to making sure what the producers and editors want their programme to be, actually happens.
Evans Davis – Presenter
Studio directors are incredibly important to presenters. We really don’t know a lot of what is going on – who is on the line, who isn’t turning up. So, we rely on that key relationship with the studio director to keep us informed.
Sam – Studio director
In the cubicle, we’ve got two operational staff. One of them is the studio director which sits here and one of them would sit behind me at the mixing desk and that’s a job that we also take on as part of the studio directing role.
Cassie – Studio director
And this is a great chance to really bring some creative flair to the programme.
Matt – Studio director
You’re actually pressing the buttons. So, you’ll be fading guests up, you’ll be EQing them, adding compression where necessary.
Wayne – Senior studio director
When you go from once piece of audio to another, you don’t get something that sounds really loud and something that seems quite quiet. It just all seems… level.
Cassie – Studio director
A studio director begins with some prep time to go through the running order, chat with the producers…
Matt – Studio director
You might look after some pre-records, testing lines…
Weidong – Studio director
If somebody sent in an audio that’s heavily distorted or it’s really noisy in the background, they will rely on you to do a bit of sound engineering to sort of solve those problems before they go on air.
Matt – Studio director
When you’re on air, if you think of it as a liner going across the ocean, it’s making sure the ocean liner stays in one direction and it doesn’t start swaying off.
Weidong – Studio director
…so, the studio director know what’s going on next, the presenters know what’s going on next…
Evans Davis – Presenter
Presenters don’t want to know too much, but they do want to know enough.
Weidong – Studio director
Even though they’ve got ten million questions in their head, it’s our job to tell them “time’s up”.
Sam – Studio director
There’s lots of audio coming out of different speakers and the presenter might be trying to speak to you, the editor might be trying to speak to you. Fundamentally, you need to make sure you communicate in a clear and concise way.
Weidong – Studio director
…and you need to be quite unphased when things happen.
Wayne – Senior studio director
How well do you listen to stuff? Can you detect when things are too loud, too quiet?
Matt – Studio director
Our job is a real team player type of job.
Emma – Studio director
You have to be able to be a problem solver.
Wayne – Senior studio director
You’ve got to be able to organise, and you’ve got to be able to stay calm.
Emma – Studio director
I didn’t do my A-levels, I went to college and did a BTEC in Radio Production instead.
Sam – Studio director
I did a Politics degree, which isn’t particularly relevant to this role, but I think it shows that you don’t necessarily need formal qualifications to do this. I think a bit of work experience is helpful, so I did quite a bit of student radio whilst I was at uni.
Rob – Studio director
I think that the best SDs (studio directors) are the ones who understand the stories that you’re covering because it means that you can spot things.
Emma – Studio director
One of the most interesting parts of the job is when you’re working on those big breaking news stories.
Rob – Studio director
I did PM on the day of the Bridge attacks. That attack started unfolding at 3 in the afternoon, somewhere around then. PM is on air at 5, the entire programme just went out of the window.
Emma – Studio director
I worked on the World Service the day after the Capitol insurrection, and, you know, it was a really intense programme, and then at the end of the two hours you kind of sit back and just… take a bit of a breath, and you’re like “okay, that is one of the good ones!”
Matt – Studio director
“Wow! That was incredible! and there you are broadcasting to millions of people.
Sam – Studio director
We work across a whole variety of output…
Cassie – Studio director
…so, you might start by directing a flagship Radio 4 programme…
Matt – Studio director
…and then running the desk for a 5 Live programme or…
Wayne – Senior studio director
…Newsbeat, which goes out to Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. Loads of fun, very very lively programmes.
Sam – Studio director
I work on the Global News Podcast, which has a really big reach.
Wayne – Senior studio director
I do sound on TV as well, for the News Channel and World TV.
Matt – Studio director
Some of the World Service programmes we do are really high level and listened to by millions of people…
Sam – Studio director
…so, they might be going out on air at 1 o’clock in the morning, that’s because perhaps the Asian audience or the American audience is listening to them.
Emma – Studio director
So, you get very used to, you know, being in the building at 3 o’clock in the morning.
Evans Davis – Presenter
Studio directors are incredibly important to presenters. That direct channel of communication with someone who knows what is going on and able to let us know where we’re going – incredibly, incredibly important. Because you really need someone to hold your hand.
Studio directors are incredibly important to presenters. We really don’t know a lot of what is going on – who is on the line, who isn’t turning up. So, we rely on that key relationship with the studio director to keep us informed. Evan Davis - Presenter on the PM Programme on BBC Radio 4
You may hear of other roles similar to a studio director, both in the BBC and elsewhere – studio manager, technical producer, audio engineer or technical operator, to name just a few! Commercial radio stations may refer to these roles as "producer" but, at the BBC, the studio director role is slightly different. It focuses more on the technical and operational side of things, and works with programme production teams to realise their creative vision for programmes.
What does a studio director do at the BBC?
The studio director:
- works in a live broadcasting environment
- is the direct contact with the presenter, producer or editor to realise their programme ideas
- is responsible for balancing and controlling audio when required
- is a problem solver, dealing with challenging situations in a live transmission environment
- works as a supervisor, overseeing the department’s work to make sure everything runs smoothly when a big news story breaks
- edits and mixes audio from journalists and producers all over the world.
What to expect if you want to be an engineer
- How many people work in the engineering sector?
- What can you earn in different roles?
- What routes can you take to get in?
- Is the demand for engineers expected to grow in the future?
Watch the film to find out the answers to these questions, and much more!
Other resources
- See what type of engineering role might suit you with the meet the future you quiz
- Find out more about the different areas of engineering with this guide from Tomorrow's Engineers
- Learn more about roles in engineering with the National Careers Service explore careers tool
- Discover a practical new way to study via T-levels (England-only).
For careers advice in all parts of the UK visit: National Careers Service (England), nidirect (Northern Ireland), My World of Work (Scotland) and Careers Wales (Wales).
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