91Èȱ¬

You will find an explanation of the terminology, advice on who to contact for help, guides to completing the paperwork as well as detailed technical specification. 

The site is designed to support in house and independent programme makers delivering English language radio programmes for transmission by 91Èȱ¬ Radio Wales.

Useful contacts:

Commissioning Editor for linear and Sounds – Bridget Curnow email bridget.curnow@bbc.co.uk

Senior Scheduling Coordinator for linear and Sounds – Clive Roderick email clive.roderick@bbc.co.uk

Production Manager – Mandy Osborne email mandy.osborne@bbc.co.uk

Radio Wales Presentation (For continuity announcement forms) email radio.wales.presentation@bbc.co.uk

Audio levels & technical specifications

Programmes should now deliver the M6 and not M3 standard. Full details may be found in the technical specifications for Radio Wales & Radio Cymru:

Delivery dates

Completed programmes should be delivered to 91Èȱ¬ Radio Wales as a 16bit 48kHz WAV file three weeks prior to transmission or publishing via 91Èȱ¬ Sounds. You can send your file using a file sharing service such as weTransfer or Dropbox. This is to allow for the necessary Editorial and Technical checks. If this is not possible (for example if the programme is topical) then you should specify this at the time of commission. If the delivery date is not achievable due to circumstances beyond your control this should be raised with the Scheduler as soon as possible. 

Audio files should be labelled according to the following format:

Programme Title TX Date (File count) 

Example: The Murder Files 080823 (1 of 1)

Some independent productions use our studios at Central Square and have access to the dira! playout system. In which case, your audio supervisor will save the completed programme in the Radio Wales Pre-Compliance logstore.

Programme presentation

• Programmes should be 28’00’â¶Ä™ for a half-hour slot and 56’00’â¶Ä™ for an hour long slot. We may request a longer or shorter duration for hour long slots.
• Programmes should be self-contained. We note that there will be occasions to provide a continuity announcement. In which case, the announcement must count towards the maximum durations as stated above.                                                       
• Ensure that the presenter introduces themself and the programme clearly at the top.
• And reminds the listener of who and what they are listening to half way in. A clear summary at the end is also good as people don’t often make an appointment to listen on radio and may have missed the introduction.
• Ident 91Èȱ¬ Radio Wales in the body of the programme where you can.
• Remember that your programme is likely to be repeated at a different time of day so keep greetings generic. Eg ‘Hello..’ as opposed to ‘Good morning.. etc’
• It may also be repeated many months later so where possible make references timeless.  If your content is topical then it is unlikely to be repeated so ignore the aforementioned.
• If you are making a series please DON’T say ‘At the same time next week’ as the run may be disrupted.  Use ‘In the next programme..’ Next time..’.
• Production credits should be contained within the main body of the programme.
• Continuity Announcement forms with details of in and out cues and duration are still required, even if you do not require anything read by the presentation announcer.

For further information please contact the scheduler clive.roderick@bbc.co.uk

Delivery date paperwork

Programme billings and Compliance forms must be completed in the Proteus system. 

To do this, you must have obtained a logon for Proteus Indie Paperwork. This is not the same logon you use to pitch programmes to 91Èȱ¬ Radio Wales. 

To arrange a logon to Proteus Indie Paperwork please contact Proteus Support

Training on how to use the Proteus system is available via the 91Èȱ¬ Academy site 

Here you will complete your programme billings (Descriptions) and complete your compliance form. Both must be completed ahead of programme transmission. In the case of your billings (Descriptions) these should be three weeks prior to TX to be published in print media and one week ahead of TX for Sounds and digital platforms.

Compliance forms must be completed when you submit your programme so that the relevant senior editor has time to review and raise any issues with you ahead of transmission/publishing. 

Music reporting for your production will be handled by Charlotte Bowen.

Please complete the form below and return to charlotte.bowen@bbc.co.uk

Continuity announcement form

You will need to fill in a Continuity Announcement Form (presentation details) for verification of title, number, date of transmission, tape ins and outs etc, prior to broadcast. It also provides for opening and closing announcements by continuity, as required. One of these documents should be completed even if the programme is self contained. All continuity forms should be emailed to Radio Wales Presentation on the agreed delivery date. 

Contact :

Radio Wales Presentation, e-mail: radio.wales.presentation@bbc.co.uk 

Promotional material

On air trails :

91Èȱ¬ Wales Marketing and Promxotions plan Radio Wales' trailing priorities four to six weeks in advance of transmission. Promotion for a series tends to run a week before the programme's first transmission and then for the first few weeks. Early delivery of your completed programme gives your programme a better chance of being trailed. If the full programme won’t be ready then clips are always useful.

On line :

Good visual imagery to accompany radio programmes is now an essential part of delivery, rather than a nice thing to have.

Images must be supplied to represent your programme on 91Èȱ¬ Sounds – whether those images are from or of the production / content itself, or appropriately cleared existing / archive images. The specifications for image content is outlined on our website; guidance and best practice in this area can be provided by our Radio Wales digital team .  Please seek their advice, if needed, before production.

Additional information or content (where appropriate) for the website is also appreciated. This may include video; written material; suggested clips. The contact for all 91Èȱ¬ Sounds and website issues is: clive.roderick@bbc.co.uk.

Press :

We also always welcome good press stories or lines.  Please contact the Commissioning Executive to discuss this.