The National Broadcasting School began operating in 1980 as an independent organization supported by the UK's Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to provide professional training in radio presentation, production and journalism for Independent Local Radio (ILR).CRAC Careers Guide, 1981-82. Careers Research & Advisory Centre. http://www.crac.org.uk NBS's chairman was Peter Baldwin, deputy director of radio at the IBA, and one of the three governors appointed by them.
The need for a unified training scheme for ILR stations was established the previous year in a report by the Radio Consultative Committee. The school was an aspirational project favored by Capital Radio managing director John Whitney, who shortly afterwards became director general of the IBA.
The IBA's National Broadcasting School operated in London from 1980 to 1985. After a break of 18 years, a National Broadcasting School was established in 2003 in Brighton by former staff member Rory McLeod. In 2015 a National Broadcasting School operates in Liverpool and is associated with the long-established ILR station Radio City, continuing in a similar tradition to the NBS of the 1980s.
Background
In the early 1980s professional radio training was provided almost exclusively by the BBC. Those independent stations who did train their staff, particularly journalists, found they moved quickly to ITV or the BBC. Music presenters came up through the UK's network of hospital radio and student radio stations,Edward Fennell, and Kenneth Gosling. "Horizons." Times [London, England] 15 March 1984: 29. The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 15 October 2015 or from the very few other opportunities available, such as the corporately run United Biscuits Network, UBN, and some larger ILR stations managed to attract talent from pirate radio.
However, ILR stations had specific obligations in order to hold their licences. They were independent stations, not commercial stations, required to produce local output, including strong local news, information and features, plus a wider range of music than a commercial station would be prepared to sustain. They required a particular style of presenter, far less staid than BBC local radio, but still in touch with a local audience rather than having a full-on commercial approach. Smaller stations in particular had to grow their own talent, unable to rely on well-known names from the BBC or pirate radio joining them.
NBS was seen as a way of attracting new talent to the independent broadcasting sector and providing professional training relevant to the new and more flexible working practices and modern equipment being introduced into ILR. The six broadcast-capable studios and newsroom were new and well-equipped in comparison to the general standards in BBC local radio at that time, having the latest decks and cartridge machines. Students could use professional-quality Marantz cassette recorders for news gathering rather than the unwieldy reel-to-reel Uher machines used by the BBC. The IBA reported in 1981 that NBS had "quite impressive studios and facilities in Greek Street."IBA Paper 253 (81) 1 October 1981
Funding came from a controversial levy by the IBA on the profits of ILR stations, called "secondary rental", which created a pool of money for the common use of the industry. In 1980 secondary rentals from ILR had been swollen by a strike at ITV which meant advertisers and audiences turned to radio, and part of this windfall was used to finance the setting up of the school.
Establishment and staffing
The school was housed in the former St James's & Soho Club at 14 Greek Street, Soho. As a working men's club in 19th century London it had been a focus for radical activity - perhaps a fitting heritage for the ex-pirate radio staff who began to frequent it in the early 1980s. Less fitting perhaps, the Times reported that NBS was housed in what was once a "thriving Victorian brothel.""A school for presenters." Times [London, England] 15 Mar. 1984: 29. The Times Digital Archive. Retrieved 15 October 2015 It was described by former trainee Fiona Phillips as "right in the centre of London's partially cleaned-up redlight district." The burgeoning Comedy Store above a strip club a few streets away became a magnet for those who saw Kenny Everett as a more suitable role model than Lord Reith.
NBS's principal was the broadcaster Michael Bukht, later one of the founders of Classic FM, who was best known for his appearances on the BBC show Food and Drink in his persona as Michael Barry the Crafty Cook, a title he first used on London's Capital Radio in the 1970s. One of the first handouts given to new trainees was an extensive list of nearby Soho restaurants, each with a price guide and a capsule review prepared by the principal.
Bukht had worked in Jamaica, where he reinvigorated commercial radio, and had recently returned from Transkei, one of the "independent" republics set up by the government of South Africa during apartheid, where he established Capital Radio 604. This privately run station, free of state control and providing uncensored music and news to South Africa, was firmly in the pirate radio tradition.
Michael Bukht was programme controller of Capital Radio when John Whitney asked if he would launch NBS to support the expansion of ILR, then growing at the rate of five to eight stations a year. While the need for new staff was growing, the number lost to television each year was also growing.
NBS's director of programmes was the influential former pirate radio DJ Dave Dennis (real name Neil Spence), who in the 1960s was among the first to introduce a high-pressure American style of music radio presentation to the UK while working at the pirate station Radio London, where he worked alongside the maverick DJ and presenter Kenny Everett. At Capital Radio, Bukht was now the programme controller charged with harnessing Everett's talent.
Spence had left Radio London in 1966 and had since developed a reputation as a talent spotter. He had been a tutor at Earl Richmond's "London Broadcasting School" where one of his students was James Whale, In the 1970s he had been programme controller at UBN where he developed talents such as Graham Dene, and programme controller at ILR's Radio Trent where he employed ex-UBN presenter Dale Winton.
NBS's central location in 1980s Soho and the presence of Neil Spence led many a former pirate radio DJ to pop in for a catch-up, along with others Spence had trained and mentored as programme director at UBN. NBS trainees often had the slightly strange sensation of vaguely recognizing the face of a visitor they passed on the stairs, but then hearing an instantly-recognizable voice.
Head of news was Martin Campbell, an experienced journalist who after eight years in newspapers moved into commercial radio in 1975, and had been head of talks at BRMB in Birmingham, and head of features at Radio Trent in Nottingham, where among a comprehensive speech output he fronted daily phone-ins and music shows, and produced commercial radio's first situation comedy. In 1998 he would become director of programming and advertising at the Radio Authority and in 2004 the first head of radio at Ofcom. In his early career Campbell was said to have been inspired by Neil Spence's teachings on radio broadcasting.
Among the journalism staff was Rory McLeod, who began his career at the ILR station Radio Clyde in Glasgow and in 1983, Rory alongside Keith Belcher, helped establish Southern Sound .Keith Belcher stayed on as Managing Director. In 2003 after a break of 18 years Rory would be the director of a new "National Broadcasting School" near Brighton.
The school had a department of community education headed by Keith Yeomans, a BBC radio producer and later an adviser to the UK government's department of international development. Julie Hill, who had worked in training for the BBC and ITV as well as for the British Council overseas, was course director for NBS's Development Support Communication Course which was run for students from less-developed countries.
Courses
Journalism courses were recognised by the National Union of Journalists, the NUJ, and accredited by the Joint Advisory Committee for the Training of Radio Journalists, JACTRJ, now the Broadcast Journalism Training Council, BJTC. Journalism trainees needed to be aged 18 or over, and at the beginning did not need to be graduates, although by 1984 most were.
Standards were rigorous. Trainees in presentation and production were selected by audition tape. Unlike the journalism courses, anyone could apply regardless of their qualifications, and Spence and his staff were deluged with audio cassettes which had to be whittled down ruthlessly to find candidates with potential.
Most trainees funded the substantial course fee and their living expenses themselves, and the 13-week courses were so intensive that working a part-time job to make ends meet was impossible. Industry sponsorship for trainees was extremely scarce, and taking the course required giving up any regular work they already had.
Spence's critique of a presenter's performance was always formidable, and his influence extended far beyond NBS. As a fledgling DJ Peter Young worked for Spence at UBN and benefited from his training and mentoring. By the time Spence was at NBS, Young was an experienced and accomplished presenter with a late night show on Capital Radio. "One night he phoned me on air to tell me off for something he considered to be out of order," said Young. "I had to laugh, but was very flattered that he considered it to be worth his while."
Turning out presenters for ILR meant teaching them to work creatively within a format and to develop an authentic on-air personality which was bright but accessible for a broad local audience. The tone was very different from pirate days, and Spence abhorred reminders of his pirate radio past. When one trainee presenter used a Dave Dennis catchphrase back to him during a critique, he asked her where she had heard it. When told it was from Dave Cash, who had worked with him at Radio London and was then programme director at the ILR station Radio West (now Heart Bristol), Spence was uncompromising: "If you listen to him you’ll end up working in Gibraltar with monkeys for an audience." Cash's feelings were hurt, but Spence had a point. Radio West struggled to find an audience until its music and presenters became more mainstream.
Presenters' end-of-course assessments were graded one to five. A five meant basic proficiency and competence, while a grade one denoted a student of outstanding talent and distinction. The course materials noted that a grade one was "very rarely awarded," but in practice Spence was never known to award a grade one, nor for that matter a grade two. A grade three was considered a high accolade - denoting "a student of merit - diligent, talented and able." At most, 20% reached this grade.NBS Proficiency Certificate Gradings, 1980-1985
The school also ran intensive courses for broadcast engineers who wanted to work in ILR. It trained businessmen and politicians in media skills. It ran short courses for charities to learn how to get their information on air. It sent trainers out to ILR stations so that working broadcasters could brush up and develop their skills. It ran high-level seminars for station managers. It sent consultants to new stations to advise on training. The school was recognized by the British Council, and provided training advisers to stations in Oman, Jamaica and the Solomon Islands.EEC Assistance to Third World Media, January 1986 http://aei.pitt.edu/12767/1/12767.pdf Many trainees came from the Commonwealth. The intensive radio journalism and presentation courses continued throughout.