Television and Radio Production

If you have a passion for producing audio and video and for communicating with an audience, then this is the programme for you. Taught by existing and former broadcast professionals and renowned media academics, this degree offers all the skills, aptitude and abilities for you to enter the broadcast industry with a confidence and ability.

Perhaps you’ve already got your own radio podcast about your favourite football team, or you’ve always wanted to make TV drama or write the script? Do you have a burning desire to tell people’s stories through documentary, to direct a studio show, production manage a large production and, overall, have a hunger to develop the skills required to make the best content, as a future professional? Or perhaps you just love the idea of studying the theory that underpins all of this? You may be headed in the direction of TV and Radio production, or you may just want to do audio and video production brilliantly on another platform. And, if you don’t yet have any experience but have all the ambition, the course starts at a place everyone who meets the entry requirements can begin their exciting journey.

On the BA TV and Radio Production programme, you’ll learn how to find great stories, develop your ideas, pitch and present those ideas, write scripts, research, pre-produce and produce your ideas whether this is for radio or tv, or another audio or video platform. There will be opportunity to take on real-world briefs from industry as part of the course. You can develop your craft skills in camera and lighting, studio production, editing, creative audio or the skills necessary to manage productions. You can also go the theory route where you critically underpin practice with academic rigour. Crucially, following the first year, you will choose your own pathway through the programme to specialise in TV or Radio, or to study a mixture of both. You can also select a mix of production, practice and theory to suit your interests and abilities. And, all the way through, you will have the opportunity to make your own programmes and films or podcasts, radio shows, studio shows, dramas or documentaries. The three years of content production lead up to a final major project: either an ambitious production that can be your calling card for industry or a media theory dissertation for those wishing to pursue the more academic route.

Our unique location at the heart of MediaCity means you’ll be perfectly placed to tap into a network of leading media companies, from the BBC and ITV to a range of experimental start-up companies across the cities of Salford and Manchester. All of the equipment and facilities in our MediaCity campus building is industry standard to the same specification as the big name producer-broadcasters that are our next-door neighbours. And, like all good neighbours, we have them round to visit regularly. There is also lots of opportunity to engage with industry – both within the course and as added extras you can get involved with.

You will:

• Learn from award winning staff and industry experts your production and technical skills

• Recent masterclasses have included Russell T Davies (screenwriter and producer), Vicky Hawksworth (Radio 1 DJ), Anna Hall (Executive Documentary Producer)

• Study in the heart of MediaCity, alongside the UK's leading media production companies, in industry standard TV Studios and Radio Studios

• Collaborate in teams to work on authentic industry-focused projects with media and arts organisations from across Salford and Manchester

• Develop a theoretical and critically analytical skillset to underpin practical content making

• Gain industry level practical experience through work placements, live industry briefs, pitching projects and receiving feedback

Course Modules

Year one

• Media Texts and Contexts

• Video Production

• Radio Production

• Development and Commissioning

• Research and Production

Year two

• Professional Practice (core module)

Optional practice based modules:

• Camera and Lighting

• Radio and Podcasting Features

• TV Studio

• Creative Audio

• Production Management

• Radio Drama

• Radio Studio

• Television Genres

• TV Docs and Features

• TV Drama Production

• Scriptwriting

• Editing

• Creative Collaboration

• Technical Operations and Design for TV Studio

Year three

• Final Major Project

• Dissertation

Optional practice based modules:

• Advanced Camera and Lighting

• Advanced Editing

• Advanced Podcast and Radio Features

• Docs Without Rules

• TV Studio Unleashed

• Advanced Scriptwriting

• Drama Unlimited

• Radio Studio and Beyond

• Radio Entrepreneurs

• Audio Storytelling

• 21st Century Factual TV - Dissertation only

• Long form Editing for Broadcast

Optional theory based modules:

• Sonic Cultures

• British TV Fictions - Dissertation Only

• Transmedia Storyworlds