Nov. 30, 2006

New guidelines for radio and television

Jon Moffett
jrm001@marietta.edu

For students at Marietta College, the ability to get on television or on the radio is very easy. If a student has any interest in starting a show of some kind, he or she can do so as early as their freshman year, which couldn’t be done at many other schools.

Although students are still able to do the same kinds of thing on the radio and on television, the guidelines for acquiring a show have recently changed.

WCMO-TV, WCMO, and WMRT, Marietta College’s television and two radio stations respectively, have undergone a makeover when it comes to how students apply for a show. Each of these stations is broadcast over both the campus and across a portion of the city of Marietta. This means that local residents all over the city can both watch and hear what Marietta College students are putting out over the airwaves. Since all three stations are produced by Marietta College, the school is responsible for the content that goes into the shows and comes out as a finished product.

Nothing overly drastic has happened to the criteria for getting a show on radio or television, but the rules have been tweaked a little and will be enforced more now than ever.

There have always been certain steps that students had to take in order to get a show, but with the changes, many students are unaware of the new requirements for the application process.

The first step that students have to take is to submit a written proposal to a committee who will review it. The proposal should completely explains the purpose of the show that a student wishes to air, the content of the program, the length of the program, how frequently the show would run, the proposed time-slot for the program, and the proposed duration in the school year that the program would run.

Next, all applicants have to find a faculty advisor for their shows. The sponsor will serve as the Executive Producer of the show. The sponsors are required to be at the taping of the pilot for the show and to preview all tapes of the show before they are scheduled to be broadcast.

All applicants are also to identify any and all technical needs for the show in their original proposal. Although students are not expected to know how to operate or access all of these materials, but they are required to know what they need. The Department of Communications and Media Studies will make every attempt to provide a production crew, facilities, and technical expertise, but only if these requests are made in the original proposal.

Following the submission, the committee will review each proposal. The applicant and their faculty advisor are welcome to sit with the committee and discuss their ideas for the show in person. This portion will be the “pitch” where the applicant will be able to try and convince the committee that their idea is fresh and original. This time will also be allotted to discuss all the technical requirements and how they will be satisfied.

The proposal for the show will then be either approved or denied by the committee. If the proposal is denied, the committee will provide the appropriate reasons to the applicant. This denial is not a finalized no, but more of an opportunity for the applicant to revise his or her ideas and further the development. If the proposal is approved, a script or organizational outline will be required for submission to the faculty advisor. This script may be asked to be reviewed by the committee upon their request.

Once all of the pre-production requirements are approved, a pilot episode must be shot on either videotape or DVD. This episode has the possibility of being aired, but won’t be until the appropriate approval is given by the faculty advisor and the committee. Any subsequent episodes will also be reviewed by the faculty advisor prior to being aired.

It may sound like a lot of work for students to do before they get their own radio or television shows, but the guidelines aren’t much different than they have been in the past. The idea behind the change was to give students a better opportunity to put out a quality product.

“I think these guidelines are a fair and reasonable way to ensure the quality of the shows that are broadcast on our community station,” said Dr. Jack Hillwig, chair of the Department of Communications and Media Studies.