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). 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, 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." 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." 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.
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