Radio C1

Tuesday 3rd December 2024

Component 1 - The Radio Industry

LO: To explore the content and structure of the unit

Do Now:

1. Paper 1 is 1hour 30minutes 

2. The 2 parts of section B are industry and audiences

3. Media Language and representation

4. 1 mark a minute 

5. A how far question wants you to give an opinion make a judgement or come to a conclusion

Terminology

Public Service Broadcaster - broadcasting intended for public benefit, it is financed by public money

Commercial radio - the channels on your radio set that use advertising for monetisation

Community radio - radio station that are operated, owned and influenced by the communities they serve, non profit

Podcast - a digital audio file made available on the internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series, new instalments of which can be received by subscribers automatically

DAB radio - Digital Audio Broadcast uses digital technology to distribute your favourite radio stations

RAJAR - Radio Joint Audience Research is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the UK. It was set up by the BBC and the RadioCentre in 1992 to measure their audiences using the same system 

Licence fee - they are a hypothecated tax to fund public broadcasting, annual fee used to finance the BBC  

Royal Charter - a formal document which gives an organisation independent legal statue and defines its powers, constitution and objectives

Remit - this outlines a broadcaster's area of responsibility

Convergence - the coming together of previously separate media industries and/or platforms often the result of advances in technology

Public Service Broadcast

The BBC is a public service broadcaster that operates several national stations (Radio 1) and many local radio stations (Radio Cornwall). Each of these has a distinct identity and targets a specific audience. The BBC is publicly funded by the licence fee

Community Radio

Often not for profit, these tend to cover small areas and serve the interests of a particular  social group, for example hospital radio. They can be funded from a variety of sources such as grants, advertising, fundraising 

Commercial Radio

These are funded by advertising. The UK has many of these often focused on a specific genre

1) The BBC national stations are:

- BBC Radio 1 is aimed at 15-29 year olds

- BBC Radio 2 target an audience of 35-54 year olds

- BBC Radio 3 also targets an audience of 35-54 year olds Classical, Jazz

- BBC Radio 4 is aimed at 55 years +

- BBC Radio 5 is aimed at 25-54 year olds Sport

They are trying to provide something for everybody. By offering many stations with different topics there will be something to interest everyone

2) The BBC remit provides information, entertainment and educates them

3) The licence fee per year is £ 169.50 and everyone who watches or records live television

Radio 4

Not a music station and covers news, current affairs, and wide range of other speech programmes including drama, readings, comedy, factual and magazine programmes

Global and Bower are the 2 biggest commercial radio organisations

Ofcom regulates radio in the UK

Friday 6th December 2024

Radio

Do Now:

1. A public service broadcaster is broadcasting intended for public benefit, and is financed by public money

2. Commercial radio is funded through advertising

3. BBC radio 4 broadcasts news, current affairs, and a wide range of speech dramas

4. Ofcom regulates radio in the UK

5. The development of technology and music and radio apps available on phones

Digital Radio

Digital radio is widely used due to better quality sound and wider access to more stations. Digital technology allows media organisations to offer audiences many ways to experience a programme in addition to listening on a radio like streaming live, listening again via a catch up service, downloading a podcast, accessing content on social media platforms. All this content across a range of platforms offers audiences the opportunity to choose where and when they listen to the radio.

Podcasts

Podcasts are now regularly produced by radio broadcasters, offering the chance to download a programme. Many offer additional content or edited highlights from the original programme. Increasingly, podcasts are now produced independently of a radio broadcaster which include drama series, comedies and factual shows. 

Statistics from RAJAR 2023

- 88% of the UK's adult population listened to the radio each week

- Commercial radio's share of listening was 54.1%, up from 50.9%in 2022

- 17% of total listening was on smart speakers, a 22% increase from the previous year

- Total combined digital listening is now 72% of all radio listening

- BBC Radio 1 - Down 6% from 7.7m to 7.3m

- BBC Radio 3 - Down form 2m to 1.8m

- BBC Radio 4 - Down slightly form 9.3m to 9.1m 

- BBC Radio 5 Live - Down slightly from 5.5m to 5.25m 

- BBC Radio 6 Music - Down from 2.75m to 2.5m

Uses and Gratifications

Radio fulfils a range of Uses and Gratifications for audiences

- Personal Identity - People can find inspirations and role models through radio

- Information - News and current affairs especially on BBC Radio 4

- Entertainment - Specific song genre/dancing 

There are different pleasures associated with different genres of radio such as speech or music programmes, but some of the main appeals are:

- companionship and background noise

- relaxation, entertainment and escapism

- information and education

The Archers

LO: To explore the context and production of a radio drama

The Archers 

The Archers is the world's longest running radio soap opera. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as 'an everyday story of country folk' and is now promoted as 'a contemporary drama in a rural setting'. One of the original intentions of the programme was to communicate information about modern farming methods to increase food production, as food was still being rationed after WW2. Today, it is very carefully researched and is informative about many issues to do with farming, rural issues and wider contemporary social issues. It's a slow moving, subtle and gentle drama. It is set in the fictional village of Ambleside. Storylines are sometimes serious like rape in marriage, racism, drug addiction, family breakups, however more commonly the stories focus on daily rural like like caring for animals, marmalade making competitions, harvesting crops.

Soap Opera conventions

- open ended narrative meaning there is no end to the episodes and they continue onto the next episode

- themes of drugs, domestic violence, pregnancy, homosexuality, and crime

- ensemble casts, there usually isn't a main character per say and instead each character plays an important part in the storylines 

- recognisable theme tunes

- set in specific locations usually pubs, cafes, workplaces

- traditional target audience tends to be women and so they often feature strong female characters or matriarchs

- stories are often focused on family, work or relationships

- designed for regular listening (usually daily)

- multi strand narratives to reflect real life

- tends to feature more dialogue than action - drama arises out of conflict between characters

How can you listen to The Archers?

You can listen to The Archers at a scheduled time on the radio, online, through podcasts, Spotify, BBC Radio 4 extra, episodes are repeated on Sundays. There is a short running time of 13 minutes and broadcast it everyday at 7pm except Saturday, repeated at 2pm on the following day. Available on demand for 30 days after broadcast. Weekly omnibus every Sunday morning. Weekly podcast of the omnibus available to download. Also available on BBC Sounds app internationally. 

How do the listening options offer flexibility to a wide target audience?

The listening options of The Archers means that people can listen at any time if need be, for example if they miss it at the dedicated time slot of 7pm on a weekday or if they aren't able to listen to the episode the following day at the scheduled time of 2pm, there is a weekly omnibus every Sunday morning meaning each episode is played back to back. It is also available to download on the BBC Sounds app to catch up.Tuesday 10th December 2024

Set Episode

LO: To explore a specific episode of the set text and the target audience

Do Now:

1. The Archers was first broadcast in 1951

2. the Archers is broadcasted on BBC Radio 4

3. Having an ensemble cast, open ended narrative

4. The Archers is broadcasted on the radio at 7pm every day with the exception of Saturday, repeated 2pm the following day, weekly omnibus on Sundays

5. The BBC's remit provides entertainment, information, and education

The Archers is aired on BBC Radio 4, the BBC's main spoken word channel. This means it is funded by the licence fee. Although one original function of the show was to educate farmers, it soon gained a large audience and a source of entertainment for a wider audience not just people from the rural communities. However, the show still prides itself on the quality of its research and its ability to portray real rural life.

Listeners

The Archers has approximately 5 million listeners plus 1 million online. Historically, radio soap operas have always focused primarily on women's lives, particularly family relationships, domesticity and marriage. Therefore, the target audience was traditionally females who looked after the home. 

Target audience - Adult and older British women

The Archers is the longest running radio soap opera which is aired on BBC Radio 4 at 7pm every day with the exception of Saturday. The episodes are then repeated at 2pm the following day for those who perhaps missed it or didn't get the chance to listen to it previously and in addition to this, there is a weekly omnibus on Sundays to catch up on all the episodes from the week. It was first broadcasted in 1951 and it is very popular for many different reasons. One being the length of time each episode runs for, as each episode is only 13 minutes meaning it is not too long and isn't time consuming. Another reason being the storylines as some are serious and some are informative, giving people a wide range of narratives to follow as the series continues. These storylines also allow people to relate or find an inspiring character .

Production

The programme is produced at the BBC Studios in Birmingham. The producers consult specialist advisors when developing storylines. Different scenes are recorded in different areas to ensure that the sounds match the scenes. The authenticity of the Ambridge world is very important - from the sound of walking right down to which birdsong you'd hear at different times of year. Just like life, there's usually one big storyline going on all the time, and smaller domestic ones running alongside. Family feuds, violent relationships and affairs co-exist with cake baking and the Village show.

Set episode

- Characters - Helen, Mick, Gavin, Alan, Kirsty, Philip, Emma, Joy, Mrs Chadwick, Linda

- Storylines - litter picking, Santa event, Helen owns Kirsty's house and Kirsty doesn't live there anymore but doesn't live far, Gavin has hurt Kirsty, Gavin can't live with their mum because their mum has disowned them, they are discussing the aftermath of an event concerning a gang, Christmas show, discussions about organising a village trip, something has affected Linda

- Genre conventions - iconic theme tune, continuous storylines, multi-strand storylines

- Audience appeals - 

- Inform, educate, entertainment - 

- Social or cultural context - Christmas events

Joy and Kirsty - Gavin appears Kirsty is selling her house

Mick, Alan and Linda - Santa event at The Bull

Kirsty and Gavin - Just released from prison and wants to apologise

Joy and Mick - Argue about Emma in Parish Council after breaking rules

Kirsty and Gavin - Explaining how he got caught up in modern day slavery, reported his father

Alan, Linda, Joy and Mick - Pantomime village trip

Linda and Mick - Linda is upset by seeing Mick

Segmenting audiences

Describing the audience for any media product is called 'segmenting'. This just means breaking up the audience into different pieces using multiple different categories. 

Demographics - factual information about an audience

Psychographics - a person's internal values

Demographics

ABC1 women (not always women but predominantly them). 

Target audience

- Female - 76%

- 55+ - 62%

- ABC1 - middle upper class

- White British - 81%

- Right wing ( conservative)

- High disposable income

- Midlands location

Secondary audience

- Young people

- Audiences from abroad

- City dwellers

- Multiple races, ethnicities, religions, sexualities, classes

Friday 20th December 2024

Do Now:

1. 6 million on average, 5 million and 1 million online

2. ABC1 middle upper class British women

3. Every day at 7pm with the exception of Saturday, Sunday omnibus

4. Demographics

5. To inform, educate and entertain 

Other ways for fans to engage with the show

- Follow on social media for example their twitter and facebook accounts

- Find out about the characters on the BBC page

- Watch stories about the Archers on the BBC page

- Calendar to the narratives and storylines

The Archers as a brand

The Archers is a big business for the BBC as it's the most listened to BBC programme online. In today's society, market share and brand identity are massively important and The Archers succeeds on both of these. If the BBC were to ever lose its licence fee, there are certain shows that it is guaranteed people would pay to subscribe to. Therefore, it's important that the producers keep the show fresh. One way of doing this is by introducing new characters or pushing the boundaries on plotlines.

Controversial Themes

- Female vicars

- Modern day slaves storyline

- Domestic abuse

- mental health issues

- Gay marriage

Not one to shy away from controversy, the BBC has opened the gates to less talked about topics and issues in recent years. The most recent was the domestic abuse storyline of Rob and Helen and her trial following his death. The storyline was developed over two and a half years and focused on Rob's emotional and physical abuse of Helen. The storyline climaxed with Helen stabbing Rob in front of their son. The storyline was praised by domestic violence charities and encouraged many victims to seek help. Some listeners criticised the storyline for being melodramatic. The listeners' privileged position of being able to eavesdrop in on characters' private conversation has added a very real touch to the storyline. 

Listeners followed the storyline and trial avidly - with social media engagement rocketing. Thousands of comments: the not guilty verdict in Helen's trial led to thousands of comments on social media, with the show trending on Twitter for hours.

Audience responses

For many of the listeners, The Archers is like a familiar friend which provided a comforting background and, until recently, there was an unwritten rule that nothing too terrible would ever happen. However in recent years some listeners have complained that The Archers is beginning to mimic the excess of TV soaps such as Eastenders. The most notable example of this 2016/17 storyline of Rob's abusive relationship with his wife. For some listeners, the show they once considered to be light, mellow drama, has now morphed into actual melodrama. 

Personal identity - people who live in the countryside or have gone through similar situations may feel a connection and be able to relate with certain characters, certain storylines may help people to gain confidence when speaking about their own personal experiences

Information - the show tries to keep information about farming and rural life within their episodes

Entertainment - it is a drama meaning people may simply find it fun to follow or come back to, investment in the storylines

Social interaction - lots of the plotlines become interesting topics for discussion between fans, for more serious incidences people may be inspired to talk about their own personal experiences with others, social media