Radio & TV Broadcasting

Lecture 1
 Announcer , Talent , or personality?

:The definition of announcer

• ”A person who announces , especially one who introduces programs ,
presents news items , read advertisements, and does other similar
assignments over radio or television”.

• “Announcers read prepared scripts or make ad-lib commentary on the air

as they present news ,sports , the weather , the time , commercials , and
they also interview guests and moderate panels or discussions”.

• “
 Announcer specialization

• Most of announcer work falls within four broad areas:

*Music announcing.
*News announcing.
*Sports announcing.
*Specialty announcing.
 Announcer specialization

• Since broadcast staffs are relatively small , especially in radio , it is not

unusual for an announcer to work in more than one area.

*Example: A disc jockey may also be a news anchor for part of his or her
workday. In fact, it's to your advantage to be skilled in as many different
announcing specialization as possible when you are first trying to find a
job in this field.
 Announcer specialization

*Music announcing:

-Refers to the radio disc jockey .

-These jobs require the announcers to provide the scripted or ad-lib material
between music selections heard during the program.(jokes, news)

-Audio announcers may also present news , sports, weather , commercial

time , and write commercial copy or news scripts.
 Announcer specialization

• News announcing:
-News announcing includes anchors and reports, while news has traditionally
been delivered on radio or TV.

-The anchor is thought of as the lead on camera or microphone talent who

guides the direction of the news cast by both reading stories and
introducing other reports.

The reporter is in an announcing position that requires gathering , writing ,

and reading news stories. often these stories are recorded for broadcast as
part of a newscast
 Announcer specialization

• sports announcing:
There are three positions usually associated with sports announcing:
1-Sportscaster.
2- Play-by-play announcer.(PBP)
3-Play analyst.
 Announcer specialization

*sportscaster:
-Sportscasters function similarly to the news anchor except that they deliver
sports news.

-They usually select and write sports stories , interview sports personalities ,
and provide results of games played.

-A sports broadcast often stands alone on the radio ,it may be just a segment of
a newscast on TV.
 Announcer specialization

*play-by-play:
-The (PBP) announcer is the lead announcer and gives the “play-by play”
action of the sports.
• play analyst:

-play analysts are neither broadcasters nor someone who has trained for an
announcing position, but rather former athletes and coaches who have
played that particular sport . Especially on the network level, it may be
difficult for the broadcast student to ever become a color announcer

-The play analyst is also known as a “color” announcer who provides analysis
of the event along with insight and background into the game or contest.
 Announcer specialization

*specialty announcers:
-Those who work in other announcing positions such as commercial voice
over announcers , Weather forecasters , narrators , Talk show hosts , or
Television staff announcers.

-Cable television satellite radio , and other new multimedia platforms have all
increased the importance of announcer specialization ,because they provide
programming choices that can include financial news, home shopping ,
cooking , gardening , and home repair.
 Key physical Requirements for announcers

For radio:
• A deeper sounding voice is advantageous especially for female
announcers.
• Unless your voice is not difficult to be heard ,you have no trouble working
as broadcast performer.
• The broadcast voice is also free from any regional accents, Although there
may be excepted form of speech and grammar in broadcasting.
• Announcers should use outstanding word pronunciation and accurate
grammar usage.
 Key physical Requirements for announcers

• For television:
• The physical requirement is an attractive appearance.
• Most successful television performers are well groomed in
conservative fashion ;have straight , nicely spaced teeth; and
probably favor contact lenses over glasses.

• Talent is often required to work long hours and frequently be

available at odd times.

• If you make a mistake , you can’t go back and do it again.

• Broadcast announcers need to be in good physical condition to
maintain the pace of the business physical look (or sound) energetic
on-air.
 Key emotional requirements for announcers

• One emotional requirements you need to bring to this profession is

an ability to hand stress , especially the stress that comes with
working under time deadlines.
*Example:
-The commercial voice over announcer: is expected to give proper
emphasis to key words and convey the proper emotion within a
commercial and read it in exactly thirty seconds.
-A newscaster may have to finish reading the newscast at exactly time
schedules can nerve racking.
 Announcer responsibilities

• You have to entertain , inform , or persuade your audience.

• The television news anchor has a responsibility to inform , and that’s

certainly the primary duty, but there is a small degree of
entertainment responsibility.

• Commercial voice over announcer would be expected not only to

inform the audience about a product but also to persuade the
listener or viewer to buy that product.