Producer Helen Weatherhead of Audio Always launched Sunday’s very first episode of presenter and physician Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s new BBC radio show.
MediaCity-based creative audio company Audio Always produce content for the UK’s biggest broadcasters and platforms, and deliver campaigns for many agencies and brands.
Last night (January 24th), they launched a brand new health and wellbeing programme with Dr Rangan Chatterjee on BBC Radio 2, which was broadcast at 10pm and featured special guest Katie Piper. As Producer of the new show, Helen’s week was a busy one, getting everything ready for the first broadcast.
Here, she tells us how last week went…
Monday
It’s not often you start the week knowing you’re launching a brand new national radio show! My week started by meeting with Rangan to talk through the final plans. The Audio Always team are all working remotely, and we are limiting our time in BBC buildings for broadcast-critical tasks only, so this is one of many virtual conversations in my diary.
Today, I’m busy finalising guest bookings for the first few shows and keeping the BBC Radio 2 press team up-to-date with our plans. For our first show, we’ve secured Katie Piper who’ll be talking about staying motivated during lockdown. I’m also looking ahead to our second show, which will be on-air as part of BBC Radio 2 Celebrates Musicals, so preparing an interview with the West End star Maria Friedman who will talk about life as a performer while managing anxiety.
Rangan’s appearing on The One Show tonight to chat all about the new show, so I had another quick chat with him before he went live to make sure he’s all set. It’s exciting to hear that people are looking forward to the show and knowing how important it feels in current times.
Oh, and we’re currently deep in a WhatsApp chat conversation about what tune we should open our first show with. No pressure…
Tuesday
Today we got to hear the first audio trails for Rangan’s show and it’s all starting to feel very real! These will be promoting the show on BBC Radio 2 for the next few weeks, and it’s really great to hear his amazing voice on-air.
I’ve also been making sure that all the technical elements are ready to go, including the all-important email address for listeners to get in touch. There’s a feature in the show I’m really looking forward to called the Positivity Playlist, and I want to make sure that it’s easy for the audience to get in touch with the three songs that make them feel great. It’s always so interesting to hear people’s lives through music.
Then it’s on to the final preparation for our interviews, including getting everything ready for another special guest for the first show. We’re chatting with an 81-year-old man who wants to start a new job as a care home DJ! If there’s one person who can motivate you to try something new during these strange times, it’s got to be him!
