Features / BBC Radio Bristol
BBC Radio Bristol show will be rolled out across the country
In October 2018, BBC Radio Bristol trialled a new concept, in which anyone and everyone could submit their own content to a new radio show.
BBC Upload has much in common with another idea also originated by the corporation: BBC Music Introducing.
A small team on Whiteladies Road hoped that, just as Introducing provided essential career-breaks for the likes of James Bay and Rag‘n’Bone Man, Upload would give interesting, intriguing creatives a platform to share their work.
is needed now More than ever
Since launching in Bristol, the show has been so successful that it will now become a part of the schedules of all of the other BBC local radio stations across the UK, with anyone getting the chance to share their stories, songs, poems and more.
With the show’s presenter, Adam Crowther, championing the “vibrancy of creatives” in Bristol, he and the station’s editor, Jess Rudkin, say that the show’s success is due, in part, to the fact that the concept started here in Bristol.
It appeared that there were many people in the city with a wide range of ideas, but lacked the tools to share their thoughts with a wide audience.
Since October 2018, when the show began, the station has received more than 1,400 submissions.
Adam says that BBC Upload was created “on a shoestring budget”, with him and Jess both thrilled that Lord Tony Hall, the director general of the BBC, has laid out plans for distinctive regional versions nationwide.
Both Adam and Jess agree that the success of the concept is due to the quality of the submissions. Adam says that many were so strong that it was often too difficult to narrow down the few that would be given airtime on the programme.
Adam and Jess’ favourite submission so far has been from a homeless man, Az, living in Bristol.
Adam explained that Az would listen to his radio as company, and when he heard that BBC Upload was accepting original submissions, he sent in his poem, Smashed to a Pulp.
Az’s submission was heard by a producer at BBC Radio Four and he is now a paid contributor.
If you’re creating work, you can submit it to BBC Upload at www.bbc.co.uk/upload.
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