Demo Tape Read what Radio Pros say should be on your aircheck demo tape. G etting hired at a radio station for an on-air position usually comes down to one thing, your demo tape. It's a tape of you speaking on the air. For news talent, it's your newscast. For musical air-talent, it's what you say between songs or at the end of a music set before going to commercial break.
T here are two philosophies on air checks.
The first says that an air check should be live, from the radio station at which you worked. The other says you should create an air check specifically for the format of the station to which you are applying for a job. Both of these outlooks have their benefits and drawbacks. The live air check shows how you actually sound on the air, but isn't necessarily in the format of the station to which you are applying. The prepared air check shows what you can do in a specific format, but you simply aren't actually on the air.