P2 - LO1 - Investigating the Audience Profiles on BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

The station is a British national radio station owned by the BBC. It has been airing since 30th September 1967. BBC Radio 4 is funded by the public with the TV licence fee.

AUDIENCE PROFILE

DEMOGRAPHICS:

• AGE - The majority of BBC Radio 4 listeners (around 60%) are over the age of 50, with only 11% aged 18-24. This is due to the type of content released are found more appealing for those in the 60%.
• GENDER - As mentioned from the BBC website, there is quite a balance in terms of gender, with the majority being female (51%), and the rest being male (49%). An example of how females may be more drawn to the station is because of programmes such as 'Woman's Hour', and 'The Archers'. 
• NATIONALITY - BBC Radio 4 is a BRITISH radio station, meaning most shows aired are targeted specifically for that nation, such as the 'Shipping Forecast', which gives weather reports for UK shipping, as well as 'Tweet of the Day', which showcases bird songs which reside in the UK. Those who are from that nation are more inclined to listen to these scheduled programmes.
• RELIGION - There are a variety of programmes catering to others' religions. Examples like "Something Understood" brings religious discussions, but a popular programme that is scheduled daily is "Prayer for the Day" which is hosted by different people to make it inclusive (Bishop David Walker, Vishvapani Blomfield, etc).
• ETHNICITY - There are lots of different programmes that are suited for numerous ethnicities, making sure that the different types of audiences are included and heard.

LIFESTYLE:

The consumers of BBC Radio 4 live quite reasonable lives. They can be quite discreet or be quite adventurous, as there are a few entertaining programmes aired on BBC Radio 4. 

SPENDING POWER:
As the majority of the age is over 50, this further illustrates that their class status is of ABC1. This tells us that they are from lower to upper middle class.

LISTENING FIGURES:

Structure of BBC Radio 4 Daily Schedule:

EARLY

Right when it turns into a new day, the schedule consists of news and information. It begins with the 'Midnight News', as well as important forecasts such as the shipping forecast, specified for those who are sailing or just simply interested. Most of these programmes run for 15 minutes.

MORNING

Around the early morning after introducing everything, BBC Radio 4 starts the morning properly with more news and weather, catering to the audience who have woken up for school/work, giving them a chance to prepare themselves and also be entertained. These shows air for around 10-30 minutes, depending on the topic.

AFTERNOON

The afternoon then goes on to showcase more shows such as podcasts, that are made to entertain the listeners, such as 'One Person Found This Helpful' or 'Three Million'. These two programmes contrast each other deeply due to the type of content in each programme. The first one is more light-hearted while the other tells more serious events. This shows how the schedule is not biased to one singular type of audience.

EVENING

Now showing the evening timings, we can see the schedule is featuring more 'fulfilling', mainstream programmes like 'The Archers', 'Jokes', and 'More or Less'. This allows a more open audience to come and listen as they arrive home back from work and would like to relax and catch up with new episodes. These programmes run for around 15-30 minutes.

P1- LO1 - Differences between types of programmes

DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROGRAMMES

• Talk/Music - Asian Network's Club Hit Squad Mix (Asian Network Schedule)

PERSONNEL: DJ's

Asian Network is a radio station, with their specific exclusive Club Hit Squad Mix shown above, which is hosted by DJ Rav and Dee. They host every Wednesday at 10 and 10:30pm. Entertaining the UK's South Asian community, Asian Network produces talk/music content, with this mix being mostly music. 

Conventions That 'Asian Network' Has:

• TIME STRUCTURING - There is a consistent structure that plays through the station. The hosts briefly introduce themselves then let the mixing and music lead the programme for the audience to listen.
• NARRATIVE - The narrative is always the same everyday, with only the playlist changing, with a few songs being replayed at times. The narrative is sorted out by the producers and in this case, the DJ's of the programme as well; as they are the main presenters. 
• POINT OF VIEW - In the programme of their exclusive Club Hit Squad Mix, they go straight to the point with only one point of view, that being the DJ. 

• Sport - Rugby Union Daily (BBC Radio 5)

PERSONNEL: Presenters

Rugby Union Daily is a radio station which delivers daily news, reactions, and big name guests from every match week of the current 2024 Men's Six Nations. The presenters Chris Jones, Ugo Monye and Chris Ashton would discuss the topics mentioned.

Conventions That 'Rugby Union Daily' Has:

• TIME STRUCTURING - There is a consistent structure that plays through the station. The hosts introduce the programme with exciting energy and a summary of a recent game that occurred. The programmes run from 30-50 minutes long.
• NARRATIVE - The narrative is always the same everyday, it's not really scripted since the presenters are giving their own opinions at times, but the way it is directed through different topics shows there is at least quite a bit of scripting. 
• POINT OF VIEW - There are various different point of views, with one being each of the presenters, the audience when a few are queued up to join a call.

• Current Events - Question Time

PERSONNEL: Presenter

Question Time is a tv programme which audiences can also consume as a radio station. It sparks topical debates where guests from the political world can answer questions presented by members of the public.

Conventions That 'Question Time' Has:

• TIME STRUCTURING - The running time for each episode is also an hour long. In the beginning of the show, the main host Fiona Bruce always starts out by introducing where in the UK they are hosting the show and the type of people that live there, then the opening sequence play through. She then introduces the guests featured and then goes on to debate.
• NARRATIVE - The narrative is always the same structure every episode, with different topics arising and various opinions and views being brought to the spotlight. There is no script followed as this is more of an emphasis on 'freedom of speech'.
• POINT OF VIEW - There are lots of different points of views - one being the presenter, the guests, and the public audience.

• Lifestyle - The Gemma Collins Podcast

PERSONNEL: Presenter

The Gemma Collins Podcast is a podcast full of life advice, gossip, and a playful insight into the life of celebrity Gemma Collins.

Conventions That 'Question Time' Has:

• TIME STRUCTURING - The running time varies from 10 - 30 minutes, depending on how much the host wants to talk and the amount of topics. Gemma usually introduces herself with the automated sequence and talks about the small things in her life then moves on to the main topics.
• NARRATIVE - There's no script being followed other than the introduction or reading out questions that fans have sent through.
• POINT OF VIEW - The only point of views shown in the show are the presenter and the audience sending in stories of their own.

COMPARING SHOWS

When looking at The Lovecraft Investigations compared to Asian Network, we can notice clear differences between the two.

DIFFERENCES:

• The personnels are vastly different from the other as the one for Asian Network are specifically DJ's, whereas for Lovecraft they are hosts and actors. Lovecraft is a fictional programme and Hit Squad Mix is a music radio programme.

• Tone - When listening to the different programmes we can see that with Hit Squad Mix, the tone is excitement, chill, a mix of positivity. Whereas with Lovecraft the tone is dark, mysterious, it is also exciting but the overall atmosphere is the complete opposite to Asian Network.

SIMILARITIES:

• Although the personnels are quite different, there is still some similarity with them, as Lovecraft and Hit Squad Mix both have presenters who introduce the show and inform them on new things.

P1 - LO1 - Types of Radio Operations

  

Radio Industry Operations	Definition	Examples of Stations	Ethos and Purpose	Funding / Revenue Streams	Typical Content	Reach/ Size
National commercial	A national radio station that generates profit through advertising and sponsorship.	LBC	Commercial radio provides brands with a way to speak to millions of people via a medium they trust.	Funded by advertisements and sponsorships.	They air mostly music, news, advertisements.	LBC’s weekly reach in 2023 is 2.5m. This clearly shows how big of an impact a national radio can have.
Public	A radio network that gets funded from both the government and the public.	BBC Radio 1	The primary mission of being public service, speaking to and engaging as a citizen.	They are funded by the government and the public; specifically TV license.	They share educational topics, and music.	BBC Radio 1’s reach is 8.10m listeners. This shows how a public radio can be executed perfectly to gain such a   large reach.
Regional	Radio stations for a particular area.	BBC Radio Cornwall	It has been an essential part the community ever since, for generations, serving as a reliable source of news, information, and entertainment.	They are funded by the public; specifically charities, donor income, etc.	They share topics on politics, news, and entertainment.	BBC Radio Cornwall ‘s reach is 107,000 listeners. This is a drastic change of reach compared to the public radio. This shows how it is specified for the chosen region.
Community	A short-range, non-profit radio station that can also cater to local languages	Desi Radio	To express their thoughts in their own voice and their own style.	They are funded by the government.	They share information for the certain community.	Desi Radio listeners reaches 133,093. This emphasises how it is only a community radio.
Internet	Internet radio allows users to stream music and other audio content over the internet.	Heart Radio	Generally used to communicate and easily spread messages through the form of talk.	FUnded by promoting local businesses and advertisements.	They offer news, sports and various music.	Heart Radio has a combined reach of 8.8 million listeners as of December 2023. This clearly demonstrates the big impact internet radios have on the public.
Non-profit	Any profits made by the radio station cannot be given to its shareholders.	Resonance FM	They can cater for whole communities or for different areas of interest - such as a particular ethnic group, age group or interest group.	They are funded by grants and donations.	They offer information and music.	Resonance FM has a reach of 1.8. million listeners This shows how big a  non-profit radio can become..