UKRD has announced that, with effect from October 1st, its regular weekday presenters and journalists will now only work Monday to Friday and no longer be required to do a sixth shift at the weekend.
CEO William Rogers explained that the company is “determined to afford presenters and journalists the same consideration and working terms and conditions as others who work in the radio industry. This is an antiquated and wholly inappropriate requirement and at UKRD we are determined to give all presenters and journalists a better work life balance. These people work incredibly hard and in these days of multi-tasking, do so much more than their specifically allocated role. I think that presenters and journalists have been receiving the rough end of the radio stick for years and its time this unfair practice stopped.”
I know there are some (myself included, at first) who wondered whether UKRD’s move would simply mean those presenters affected by the change would be paid less to reflect the cut in their hours, along with their current live weekend shows probably becoming voice-tracked. When I raised this point on Twitter I was pleased to get a reply from one UKRD presenter who told me “Our wages remain the same and existing live shifts will be covered by freelancers at considerable cost!” He also added “So much distrust in the industry…!”
While I agree that might have seemed a cynical question on my part, I did reply to the effect that it is understandable given the way some other stations and groups have behaved, but I was pleased to learn that UKRD’s current presenters will not see their money cut, while the resulting gaps in the schedule could provide additional work opportunities for existing freelance presenters, as well those looking to get their foot on the first rung of the career ladder.
I notice, incidentally, that UKRD is currently top of the ‘Sunday Times 100 (Mid-sized) Companies to Work For’ listings in 2011.
Meanwhile LBC 97.3 has also made a few weekend schedule changes, which will see James Max presenting breakfast on both Saturdays and Sundays. Until now Sunday breakfast has been presented by Steve Allen, who also does weekday early breakfast, while Max has been doing Saturday breakfast and Sunday afternoons. As Allen was the only weekday presenter to work six days a week (pre-recorded programmes, such as Nick Ferrari’s ‘Review of the Week’ highlights package) in the current schedule, this change simply brings him in line with everybody else.
Why did it become the norm for radio presenters, especially in the commercial sector, to be expected to work six days a week?
Much of it, I suspect, is financial. If you’re paid on a ‘per show’ basis then obviously the more you do the more you get paid. On smaller stations where show fees are low, an extra 4-5 shows a month can make a difference, which is usually why people are willing to do it. Those stations also require their presenters to undertake additional duties, such as production, music scheduling, commercial traffic, promotions and, in some cases, even sales, which can also help to top-up the pay packet. You may only be on-air for 3-4 hours but you’ll still be putting in a full day’s work; ‘Show and Go’ is a luxury only for larger stations.
There’s also the school of thought which says putting your weekday talent on-air over the weekend is A Good Thing because it helps expose them to listeners who might not normally get to hear them during the week. I remember during my time at Capital the regular weekday presenters, apart from Chris Tarrant, all did a weekend shift; usually on a Sunday and at their regular weekday times. The downside to doing this is that listening patterns and lifestyles are different over the weekend, which means simply doing a regular weekday programme is unlikely to work as well.
Meanwhile, BBC Surrey’s weekday breakfast presenter Nick Wallis will be adding Saturday breakfast to his duties.
The ‘official’ line is:“We’re really delighted that Nick is going to be bringing the best of weekday breakfast to Saturdays. Listeners will be able to hear his unique view on life and hear in-depth discussions about the news stories affecting the people of Surrey from 6am.”
Personally, though, in view of recent moves made elsewhere I can’t help but think this is a backward step.
Paul Easton 