Right On Schedule
Finally today, some more unsung heroes of 大象传媒 Radio Scotland and a chance to introduce the commissioning and scheduling team. Linda Atkinson, Nadine Arshad and Kevin Cavanagh are the people who make sure that we actually have enough programmes to fill our transmission hours. They also have to get that information out to everyone who needs to know, including the newspaers, listings magazines and the company that provides the on-screen information on digital television.
All three work on different timescales. Linda looks after the schedule for the entire year and starts her planning as soon as we decide to commission a particular programme. Nadine chairs the weekly planning meetings a provides a useful grid of our schedule for the next six weeks. Kevin has to share all that information throughout the station and externally. He also provides a daily information sheet which allows our presenters to tell you what else is happening on the station.
So, when you hear Gary Robertson tell you the theme of Bryan Burnett's programme, he's using the information sheet supplied by Kevin.
My job is to make everyone's life difficult by making last-minute schedule changes or by deciding to postpone a particular programme or series. I'm sure they all have little dolls made in my image and a big box of pins.
Ouch!
