A session at the Audio Academy Festival will put local radio’s role in developing new broadcasting talent under the spotlight.
Your Specialist Subject: The Fastest-Growing Part of UK Radio will take place on the Impact Stage at the Royal College of Physicians at 12.30pm on Thursday 1 October.
Produced by Dom Chambers of Sound Vision and John Dash, both of the Local Media Network, the session will make the case for local radio and audio, including its role as an entry point for people starting careers in the industry.
It will include Audio Mastermind, with Stephanie Hirst as quizmaster and John taking Independent Audio Sales as his specialist subject. Phil England will answer questions on Real Audience Measurement, while Chris Hirst will take Local DAB.
The session will also highlight the growth of small scale DAB, which has expanded from its first service in December 2021 to more than 100 multiplexes on air.
Dom will focus on the social value of local audio and its role in providing opportunities including a first microphone, deadline and responsibility for something being broadcast.
Sound Vision’s Sound Voices youth programme will feature as an example. It operates in ten locations, with young people’s work broadcast through licensed community radio stations.
Faridat Raifu, who presents and leads the Sound Voices Wandsworth programme known locally as The Riversiders, will contribute to the session. Audio from Sound Voices Bridgwater will also be played, with a 14 year old contributor from the programme joining a group on stage.
Dom said: “For me, the talent route through local radio is so important. As a former trustee of the Academy, I know the great work it does in helping talent get in and then develop in the industry.
“If the starting point for that is the Foot in the Door programme, what Sound Voices does is find the pathway to the door.”
