When it comes to radio stations, there are different types of programming:
- Music
- Chat
- Current Events
- Lifestyle
- Dramatisations
The structure of the radio show depends on the purpose of the radio show.
- Entertainment: Music, interviews, plays
- Educational: The purpose of the show is to educate the listener e.g. radio documentary, LBC
- Inform: The presenter is there to inform the listener information e.g. weather, traffic
- Promote: Is the reason of the show to promote a service?
In this report I am going to look at the focus of a radio station of my choosing. In this case, I have chosen BBC Radio 1. This radio station specializes in modern popular music and current chart hits. It is owned by the BBC and has 3 sister stations (BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 1 Dance, BBC Radio 1 Relax). These sister stations dedicate themselves to playing specific genres of music, therefore more specific members of their target audience. Furthermore, the BBC company includes other stations that cover different genres and decades of music (e.g. BBC Radio 3 playing opera and classical and BBC Radio 2 playing the widest genres of music from various decades). This station is a national station and broadcasts throughout the UK on FM (97.1 MHz and 99.7 MHz), digital radio, digital TV and BBC Sounds. The BBC itself is a conglomerate, owning its own subsidiaries across different media channels.
The target audience of an entertainment show would be a younger target audience as they would solely use a radio to listen to music. Some radio stations of this purpose are Radio 1, Capital and Radio 4. For example, Radio 1's target audience is "a brand range of young listeners" and 15-29 years old.
The structure of a radio show can depend on the income of the program. This depends on whether the radio station is commercial or public.
Furthermore, the structure can also be affected by the time that it is scheduled for. The different times that the show can be on are:
- Breakfast
- Daytime
- Drive Time
- Evening
- Overnight
BBC Radio 1 is a radio station that specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits. The station provides different genres at different times in the day with different hosts for each in order to appeal to a different target audience. This station can be accessed through the internet, on the specific BBC playback app and on the actual radio.
On BBC Radio 1, there are a lot of different presenters for each different show. Some presenters are Greg James, Scott Mills, Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac. Some shows, however, don't have presenters and play purely music. These shows take places in the early mornings and late evenings however, with presenters being on the shows during the majority of the day.
The show that I looked at specifically was Radio 1's Chillout Anthems, which is described as "an hour of soothing tunes" and ran from 6am til 7am. This music therefore aimed to energise, whilst easing the audience into the day.
At the start of the show, a voice introduces the station. Between the second and third song, the same sound plays again. This was about 5 minutes into the show and reminds the audience what radio station they are listening to. Between songs 3 and 4 the name of the show "Chillout Anthems" is repeated again. This repeated name sometimes acts as a transition between songs. Where this does not occur, the songs can transition into each other.
BBC Radio 1 is not a commercial station, therefore, there are no adverts between songs as it is funded by public service through tax. However, other stations will have adverts in between in order to earn money. The BBC can't be considered a conglomerate because they are a government run and public company. By being a large company that runs across different media channels, however, they are able to achieve synergy through horizontal integration.
References
BBC Radio 1 Schedule - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/schedules/bbc_radio_one#on-air
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