JOHN WILSON
RADIO
John & Tom on Radio Adelaide - https://radio.adelaide.edu.au/program/adelaides-heaps-good/
My interest in Radio first began when I took part in and completed the South Australian Radio School Course in 2012.
There I was taught everything from Producing, Promoting, Announcing, Script Writing and Show Structure. It was a very hands on course that sparked my interest in the Radio Broadcast Industry.
Though my interest grew as I countinued my profession in the entertainment industry as an MC (Master of Ceremony). I started working at nightclubs in Adelaide and eventually did corporate and private events. Entertaining people was something I was always passionate about and being on the radio enabled me to do this.
My first Live gig came in 2013, I was approached by a very dear friend of mine, the late Timmothy Arnott. He was producing a breakfast radio show on KISS FM in Melbourne and wanted someone for a guest segment weekday mornings called 'The Gig Guide'. It was my job to source events and act that were happening all over Australia and present this on the show. It was an exhilerating experience and I did it live over the phone.
This lead to KISS FM inviting me over to Melbourne to Co-Host the breakfast show with Nicholas Gunn for the week, another experience I will never forget. This was my first time presenting live on air in a studio and from that moment on I knew this was something that I wanted to turn into a career.
Not long after that an opportunity presented itself in the form of a Uni course as a part of my Bachelor of Media studies at Adelaide Uni. The course was called Radio Production and it was run in partnership with Radio Adelaide. This course furthered my already extensive knowledge of the radio industry and began my education in Panel Operation. During the course each student was allocated different tasks within a live show each week. These included Presenting, Producing, Panel Operating and Package Creating.
After the course finished there was an option to continue on unsupervised with the show for another 2 months, an opportunity that I immediately jumped on,
The next 2 months went past far too quickly and before I knew it we had finished up our weekly program. I immediately looked to get involved in another show until I saw another opportunity to start my own. I had met Tom Mann during the radio production course and he too stayed on to do the unsupervised show. We seemed to have the same passion for radio and when the chance came for us to create our own show we were straight onto it.
We produced a 15 minute demo pitch along with a write up including a plan for the next 3 months if the show was given the go ahead. We were thankfully succesful and the show (Shutup! Adelaide's Heaps Good) was given a 3 month period to run. Both Tom and I produce, present and create all the content for the show and it is till running to this day 18 weeks later. It has just been renewed indefinately. (Link to show website in caption for picture above)
My passion for radio continued to grow and so I decided to apply to be a volunteer presenter at Fresh 92.7. Due to my previous experience I was fastracked to presenting my own show, however the show was called Insomnia and the times ranged from starting at 2am to 4am and finishing from 5am to 8am. It was a tough gig, but it was the first time I had ever presented alone, an eye opening experience. The Head of content who as chance would have it was also named Tom was very honest with me from the get go and picked apart my shows and style of presenting.
This experience was very daunting for me, however it turned me into an even stronger presenter and I have learnt even greater presenting skills from being on Fresh 92.7. Thanks to the Junior Content Manager Zane I have now been given a regular show every Sunday 3pm-6pm and fill in for midday shows during the week.
I am so excited to continue my career and look forward to what the furutre holds for me in the industry.
