P1. Describe the different radio industry operations
When investigating many different radio stations ranging from community radio to national radio, I decided to investigate two different radio stations that one is broadcasted nationally such as Classical FM and the other is Cambridge 105 which is a community radio broadcast in Cambridge.
Classical FM
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Classical FM
Classical FM radio is a privately owned national radio in the UK, meaning it broadcasts all over the UK. It first aired on the 7th of September 1992 and it is owned by Global Media & Entertainment since 2006. The station went from playing producer-selected popular classics to a selector software with a playlist of 50,000 listed tracks. "Zadok the Priest" was the first track broadcasted by the station. On this radio frequency, they broadcast as suggested in the name, classical music by both famous Composers from the older days and composers of today who wish to clime the ladder. According to RAJAR 68% of Classic FM's audience are ABC1, with interests in the arts and life style. Numbers also show that 52% of the listeners on the broadcast are women and the audience age range goes from 35-50+. These numbers show how the radio station reaches a more mature audience as the averts played are more about health, holidays and lifestyle. https://www.global.com/radio/classic-fm/audience/#stats |
Cambridge 105
Cambridge 105 is a community broadcasting radio operated by volunteers instead of a company or organisation. The music played ranges from hip hop, rock and pop, when not playing music, they broadcast podcasts for every day life purposes such as cooking, woodworking and media entertainment. This also means that Cambridge 105 is a non-profit radio station unlike the BBC radio or commercial radio Classical fm. Although if it was for-profit, the radio station could only make a maximum of £15,000 from advertising and sponsorship.
As they have volunteers to help out for the radio, this creates opportunities for people to try radio for the first time. Doing so as a volunteer offers allot of experience doing all sorts of tasks for the radio broadcast such as being a broadcast assistant, radio presenter and produce content for the show. This can lead to a difficulty in consistency for the listeners as the presenters may have their times vary and switch out every often. As this radio broadcasts locally in Cambridge, it is required to follow Ofcom guidelines and have a license for community radio. |
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Differences
The biggest differences of these two radio broadcasters is their audience reach, one can reach the audience nationally and the other reaches its citizens in the community. As Cambridge 105 is only needed to broadcast locally, they can tailor better the content to the audience in Cambridge such as local news and upcoming events. On the other hand Classical FM has to focuse more on broadcasting nationally, doing so they focus more on broadcasting popular classical music to increase the number of listeners.
Another big difference is the presenters on the radio show, as Classical FM uses professional presenters who are knowledgeable in their fields, it is more appealing for the audience as they feel they can learn something. Classical FM also uses famous celebrities as radio presenters such as John Suchet which can draw in a larger audience due to the larger appeal towards his work. Cambridge 105 relies mostly on volunteers who wish to set up their own programme, although this may give an opportunity for upcoming radio presenters, this can mess up the schedule for the audience as programmes are being constantly moved.
Another big difference is the presenters on the radio show, as Classical FM uses professional presenters who are knowledgeable in their fields, it is more appealing for the audience as they feel they can learn something. Classical FM also uses famous celebrities as radio presenters such as John Suchet which can draw in a larger audience due to the larger appeal towards his work. Cambridge 105 relies mostly on volunteers who wish to set up their own programme, although this may give an opportunity for upcoming radio presenters, this can mess up the schedule for the audience as programmes are being constantly moved.
Job roles
Radio Presenter - The radio presenters main focus would be to present the radio station to the listening audience, but as radio programmes have been around for a long time, the job role of the radio presenter has diversified. Now the radio presenter can be doing work as a news presenter, musical station presenter and interviewer. As these radio programmes can also be appealing to different audiences, the presenter is needed to be tailored to the audiences liking to ensure success for the radio station. This is why you'd find the presenter in a musical station to be young and informal and a news presenter to be older and more formal.
Radio Producer - The radio producer has one of the biggest responsibilities in the team as they have to keep check on the schedule, presenter, audio work and listener numbers. This is because they have the task of ensuring success of the product when delivering to the listeners. Usually this would lead them to be working with the whole team as keeping track of everyone's progress.
Content Producer - The content producer of the radio would have the job of managing all the adverts and shows that go into the schedule spaces. They would need to make sure that all the spaces have been filled before the radio programme starts airing. The content producer would also be in charge of arranging properly the adverts within the times that the advertisers agreed.
Researcher - The researchers are in charged of mainly coming up with new ideas, gathering facts and figures and briefing the radio presenters. Their job is crucial as the radio presenters would want to be fully informed about the things that they will be talking about on air.
Radio Producer - The radio producer has one of the biggest responsibilities in the team as they have to keep check on the schedule, presenter, audio work and listener numbers. This is because they have the task of ensuring success of the product when delivering to the listeners. Usually this would lead them to be working with the whole team as keeping track of everyone's progress.
Content Producer - The content producer of the radio would have the job of managing all the adverts and shows that go into the schedule spaces. They would need to make sure that all the spaces have been filled before the radio programme starts airing. The content producer would also be in charge of arranging properly the adverts within the times that the advertisers agreed.
Researcher - The researchers are in charged of mainly coming up with new ideas, gathering facts and figures and briefing the radio presenters. Their job is crucial as the radio presenters would want to be fully informed about the things that they will be talking about on air.
P2. Describe the focus of a chosen radio station
Classical FM focuses on broadcasting classical music nationally 24hr a day. The radio station would do this by providing a long playlist of classical pieces along with a presenter depending on the schedule. This can be seen as they claim to be "UK's only 100% classical music station".
The target audience for this radio station would conventionally be those between the ages of 35-50+ as young people are known to be more attracted to pop culture music, although there is evidence that Classical FM is gaining a larger audience of those between the ages of 15-24 and is increasing every-week by 66,000 in the last twelve months. (https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/rajar-may-2018/) To appeal to such a large audience, classical fm has been playing popular pieces of music and offering slots for upcoming composers. Also being the only national classical music provider draws in a large audience as there aren't other options for the listeners. Classical FM follows a structure of having different presenters during the day. In that time the presenters play the song and offer adverts about documentaries, charities and lifestyle before and after the start of a song. In this radio broadcast they will occasionally have a radio presenter who is also famous in the music industry and well known amongst their presenters such as John Brunning who is a composer and musician when not doing radio. Another popular celebrity is John Suchet who is also an English author, newsreader and television presenter. Using a celebrities like them has shown to draw in a large audience as they are both well known to the listeners. |
M1. Analyse the structure and content of a programme broadcast by a chosen radio station
I have chosen to analyse this radio podcast from the BBC Radio 1 called Matters of the World: Growing up online. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07f6v4v).
After listening to the podcast, I found that the purpose of the radio podcast on BBC 1 was meant to be appealing towards teenagers and younger adults using the blogger, music and subject. Although this podcast is more directed for those of the ages of 16-25, the radio podcast does not use any unsuitable subjects and language which makes it suitable for everyone as this is from the BBC. At the beginning of the radio podcast we get the presenter introducing herself and the the subject of the radio podcast accompanied with a music bed of some upbeat modern music that would most likely be appealing to the intended audience. The radio presenter then gives an introduction to the guest, they brought (Lewys Ball) as he is an Internet blogger, they mention how many followers he has and what is it he does on social media, which in this case would be make up tutorials and blogging about his daily life. This blogger would be known by people from the ages of 16-25 which helps them better target their podcast to the intended audience. The radio podcast uses short music bed of 5 seconds every time the blogger moves to a different topic, this helps them separate the topics in a more clear way for the listeners. At the end, the radio presenter tells the listeners about another episode coming in the future and to subscribe to the podcast on BBC sounds. |
(http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/radio/commissioning/BBC_Radio_1_Final_for_Commissioning.pdf)
BBC radio shows to appeal more to people from the ages of 15-34 and 64% of the audience listen to the radio through an FM radio. As the BBC1 radio podcast’s subject was about social media, it can be seen as relatable for the majority of the listeners as many already have accounts made. The podcast also appeals to the audience through the use of a young celebrity that may be popular with British young teens, when speaking about the use of safety to the audience, they will most likely feel more comfortable getting advice from someone they already know.
Notes I took during the podcast
BBC radio shows to appeal more to people from the ages of 15-34 and 64% of the audience listen to the radio through an FM radio. As the BBC1 radio podcast’s subject was about social media, it can be seen as relatable for the majority of the listeners as many already have accounts made. The podcast also appeals to the audience through the use of a young celebrity that may be popular with British young teens, when speaking about the use of safety to the audience, they will most likely feel more comfortable getting advice from someone they already know.
Notes I took during the podcast
- Start the podcast introducing yourself, talk about what the podcast is about and then the subject that the podcast will be focusing on
- Before speaking with the guests, introduce them to the audience and give some background information on the guest.
- Use a music bed when the subject is changed
- When singing off the presenter doesn’t say goodbye, instead talks about another episode of their podcast.
- The introduction and a standard out cue have a sound effect of someone saying BBC 1