Understanding Radio Programming Terminology
How to Make Sense of the Programme Directors Jargon
Jun 25, 2009
Jargon or slang or shorthand or terminology all mean the same things. It’s a way that develops among people who work in the same industry or profession, to help them quicker communicate with each other. Because they all understand their dealings in the same area, a quick way is often found to describe a subject under discussion or the mechanics of a working relationship. This can then easily and quickly describe particular tasks and what’s required of everyone involved and all understand it, apart from someone new.
Programme Scriptwriting Terms.
New recruits in any industry can often find each new day confusing enough without everyone talking in a language that sounds like their own yet they don’t understand much of it. The Radio Programming Department and making radio programmes is no different. Here are a few terms common to most radio scripts.
- Bed, usually a music bed or some relevant effect that continues under the speech.
- VO stands for voice over. Mvo male voice over and Fvo Female Voice over.
- Anno is just a shortened version of announcer.
- Cues are pointers or audio references in written form so all involved can follow a script, sometimes called a cue-sheet.
- I/C, means In Cue. The first audio of any piece.
- O/C is the out cue or last audio of any piece.
A script is probably one of the most useful tools in any programming. It enables any number of people involved to follow what’s going on and being recorded. The script itself may commonly be divided with a portion usually on the left for instructions or ‘Cues,’ and the content, voices, music and detail on the right portion.
Understanding the Jargon.
Common with human activities where certain events are repeated, common shorthand develops and this is equally true in the radio industry. Discussions will take place about a presenter’s style or programming, and some of the jargon will use the following terms:
- Back Timing and Back Announcing, because radio like other media works to a strict clock hour, a presenter may have to make sure one piece finishes at a specified time, to allow another to start.
- A Link, may be spoken, a sound effect, or music element that joins pieces of audio.
- Promo is short for promotion and in programming terms advertises an upcoming show or event.
- Trailer or Trail is much like a promotion although generally shorter in duration, may have developed from a Film trailer which features a ‘clip’ of a promoted film.
- Segue pronounced ‘seg way’ is a way of joining two music tracks not using speech. Quite a skill with ‘crashing’ the music into each other.
- Tx stands for transmission. Any audio transmitted,
- Vox Pop from the Latin translated as ‘Voice of the People.’ Short comments from the general public, all asked the same question. Literally a sample reaction and NOT a survey!
All of these shortened phrases and descriptions are in general use in most radio stations, and all working in that environment should be, or will be familiar with them. These are the some of the words in the language of radio. Finally mention should be made of a couple more:
- Wrap is short piece of audio, an audio feature, effects or vox pop introduced and summarised by a presenter.
- Package, logically the finished programme or major part and a combination of some of the above.
Commonly a programme package combines all the elements of audio for example various wraps, vox pops, music features, music tracks, presenter introductions, contributors' pieces, effects and backgrounds. The changing nature of radio, music and the spoken word, means new jargon enters common use frequently, but the above phrases and descriptions are in general use today.
