Radio 1 Breakfast Show

Ofcom requirements

The communications regulator Ofcom requires that :

• All of the BBC's television and radio stations have a public service remit, including those that broadcast digitally.

• The BBC, whose broadcasting in the UK is funded by a licence fee and does not sell advertising time, is most notable for being the first public service broadcaster in the UK

• Their remit is to "inform, educate and entertain".

BBC trust

• “The remit of Radio 1 is to entertain and engage a broad range of young listeners with a distinctive mix of contemporary music and speech.

• Its target audience is 15-29 year olds and it should also provide some programming for younger teenagers.

• It should offer a range of new music, support emerging artists - especially those from the UK - and provide a platform for live music. News, documentaries and advice campaigns should cover areas of relevance to young adults.”

Uses & Gratifications Model

Information and Education – the viewer wants to acquire information, knowledge and understanding by watching programmes like The News or Documentaries.

Entertainment – Viewers watch programmes for enjoyment.

Personal Identity - Viewers can recognise a person or product, role models that reflect similar values to themselves and mimic or copy some of their characteristics.

Integration and social interaction – the ability for media products to produce a topic of conversation between people. For example who is the best contestant on The X-factor who which was the best goal shown on Match of the day.

Escapism – Computer games and action films let viewers escape their real lives and imagine themselves in those situations

The uses and gratifications theory assumes the audience chooses what it wants to watch for five different reasons.

Future of Radio 


In my opinion, the future of radio is finding new ways of connecting with a younger audience using interaction, as this will entice the audience to continue listening. Radio 1 give listeners the opportunity to watch certain parts of the radio show, which appeals to a younger audience. If more radio stations were to do this, it may encourage their target audience to both listen to and watch.

Cross-Cultural Consumer Characterisation model

A more useful audience segmentation model than the traditional ABC1 categorization.

It acknowledges the global nature of media audiences

Divides audiences into 7 types of consumer.

4 main categories are (MARS)

MAINSTREAMERS, ASPIRERS, REFORMERS, SUCCEEDERS

The other categories to be added to this are (ERS) EXPLORER RESIGNED STRUGGLER

It takes the following as consumer motivations: SECURITY, CONTROL, STATUS, INDIVIDUALITY, FREEDOM, SURVIVAL and ESCAPE

Clear links with Maslow.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Young and Rubicam 4C's Model:

I feel as though I fit loosely into the categories of the reformer, the explorer and the succeeder. This is because there are elements of all of these categories and characteristics of all of the categories that I could put myself in. For example, I believe that I am a reformer as I think I am socially aware to an extent, and I value my own independent judgement. I feel as though I am an explorer because I am keen to discover new things and most of the time I like to challenge myself, depending on what the challenge is. Additionally to this, I feel as though I am also a succeeder because I am a student and have to be organised and have a strong goal orientation.

Identify the content which reaches and addresses the needs of these audience segments.
How media industries target audiences through the content and appeal of media products and through the ways in which they are marketed, distributed and circulated.

BBC Radio 1 reaches and addresses the needs of various different audience segments with the content that they produced and distribute to the listeners. Radio 1 try to relate to all people of different genders, ethnicities, ages, regional identities and socio-economic groups. Within the particular show that we listened to, the Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw, he included elements of the show that would appeal to both males and females. For example, Nick Grimshaw included an interview with Freddie Flintoff, a cricketer, as well as his interview with Demi Lovato, to appeal to a predominant male audience, rather than just a female one. Male listeners may not want to listen to an interview with Demi Lovato, so they included something that they may want to listen to, so they do not feel as though their needs are being ignored. They also include sport news and football results so that males that are interested in football can have their needs addressed and met. Radio 1 also appeals to females through the interview of Demi Lovato, and the subjects that they talk about. For example, they talk about relationships, which may be more suitable for females to listen to rather than males, but it open to everyone to listen to also, so males and females do not have to conform to the typical stereotypes. 

The Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw also includes elements within his show that are suitable for people of different ethnicities, one of the main ones is the type of music that they play. They play a mixture of pop music but also some R&B music. R&B music may be associated with African-American culture, so may appeal to a wider audience, not just a White British audience from London.

In this particular Radio 1 show, the Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw, they are very engaging with their audience and play interactive games and hold competitions regularly. In my opinion, this would address the needs of The Explorer, one of the types of people from the Young and Rubicam 4C's model. The Explorer is a person within society that are interested in discovery and like to challenge themselves. The competitions may appeal to them, and may reach and address their needs for challenge, and will entice them to want to enter the competition and accept the challenge that radio 1 have indirectly given to them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36974767
http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/mythbusting-radio-1-losing-500000-listeners-half-story-1971412

- Radio 1 is increasingly losing listeners, but it is because of how music is listened to, rather than the radio station being bad at their job.

- Worried because it seems they are failing to reach young people as an audience.

- The number of hours that 15-24 year-olds listen to radio has gone from 29 million hours in 2010 to 16 million in 2016.

- That young audience has dropped from 3.7 million (45%) to 2.9 million (36%).

- Nick Grimshaw’s Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 1 had lost 500,000 listeners in the space of a year - due to a generation gap and how people listen to their music has changed.

- Radio 1 trying new approaches: their youtube channel has over 1 billion views, making money from these videos. Younger audiences are engaging with radio stations via their social media, and not with the radio itself.

 - Radio 1 is suffering because its core audience is turning away from live radio, and turning to streaming sites for music, but are also able to watch clips of the radio show on Youtube, which is how younger people decide to engage with the radio, rather than listening to it live.

Audience

Radio 1 listener figures have suffered a decline in numbers under Nick Grimshaw, how much and in what year?

- Nick Grimshaw and BBC Radio 1 lost 500,000 listeners in the space of a year (between 2016 and 2017).

What was Demi Lovato promoting as part of her visit to R1?

Demi Lovato was promoting her new album that had recently been released, as well as announcing a documentary she is currently filming.

List at least 5 UK artists associated with the R1 Breakfast show, how do they meet the needs of the different audiences listening to the show.

- Adele (pop), Wolf Alice (indie/rock), Years & Years (pop/dance), Yungen (rap), Declan McKenna (indie). Radio 1 plays music that would suit most music taste and for a variety of different types of people. 

Technology

Discuss Why streaming is important for “millennials”.

- Streaming is important for millennials because this is how most music is now streamed. Young people are able to use streaming services such as Spotify, and they also may be able to listen to their favourite songs on Youtube. Nowadays, 'millennials' do not use radio as the number 1 way to listen to music, as the can now access it through other platforms.

Describe Radio 1’s” Listen, watch, share” strategy

- Listen is the most crucial element, with Radio 1 continuing to reach around 40% of all 15 to 24 year olds in the UK every week. Share informs both our social media activity and also the distinctive content that our production teams produce for our young audience. It has become a regular discipline to ask what element of a programme or event is shareable. Our listeners are an army of potential advocates, all with their own individual audience. So, we need to provide them with the content to spread amongst their networks. Which leaves Watch. Up to this point we at Radio 1 have focussed our visual efforts on YouTube. Our successes have been well documented in this area, not least being recognised by the Guinness Book of Records when we became the first radio station to hit a million subscribers. We currently sit at somewhere over 1.6 million subscribers, and our videos have a combined watch time of over a billion minutes.

How many You tube views are linked to Radio 1 Breakfast show.

- 1,366,412,955 views on the Radio 1 youtube channel altogether, with 4,036,271 subscribers.

List the social media platforms which Radio 1 are linked to R1.

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bbcradio1/

- Twitter: @BBCR1 / @R1breakfast

- Instagram: @bbcradio1

- Tumblr: http://bbcr1.tumblr.com

- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/bbcradio1

- Snapchat: bbc_radio1

Describe how Radio 1 Breakfast show’s video content e.g. Innuendo Bingo & Playground insults is helpful in marketing Radio 1.

- Video content on Radio 1, such as Innuendo Bingo and Playground Insults is helpful in marketing Radio 1 because this type of content is more suited and aimed towards young people. The use of comedy may entice a younger audience to listen to on the radio or watch on their youtube channel due to the fact they may understand this type of humour, whereas an older audience may not.

List the opportunities Radio 1 breakfast show listeners have for social interaction…  provide examples by following links to twitter and instagram.

- Radio 1 breakfast show listeners have various different opportunities for social interactions. They are able to phone into the show directly and share stories, choose songs and enter competitions. They are also able to connect through their various different social media accounts. For example, if they were listening to the breakfast show, they could follow the breakfast show's twitter account but they could also follow Nick Grimshaw himself and tweet him something to get onto the show. 

Name the competitions run by the breakfast show which allow for social interaction, discuss the content of the competition/call in and describe why this might be important for maintaining audience numbers.

- They have a variety of different competitions running throughout the year, but most of them relate to winning 

Radio X

Use GEARS to define the Radio X audience

- Male, 25-44 years old, Working class, White British, 

How is this reflected in the type of hosts used

- They use male hosts to bring in the male audience. Presenters such as Johnny Vaughan, Chris Moyles, Ricky Wilson and Vernon Kay. All of these presenters are white, british men which may attract an audience of the same ethnicity. They are all within the audience age range and they do not particularly present themselves as 'posh' people, or people from a middle or higher class background.

What is the impact of  Chris Moyles in joining the radio station

- Before he became a presenter on radio X, he was the presenter of the Radio 1 breakfast show. This may resonate with a slightly older audience that remember him on this breakfast show and with people who used to listen to it regularly. If they remember his breakfast show on Radio 1, they may want to move over to radio X to listen to his show on there, and see if it is similar to his time on radio 1, or if they enjoy the show itself.

What kind of adverts are shown, how does this suit the demographic

- The adverts shown on Radio X are mainly directed to a male audience, as this is most likely the gender listening to this particular radio station. For example, there is an advertisement for Strongbow and an advert for Greene King. These companies are being advertised on Radio X as they are aware that the predominant audience is male

Is the Radio station likely to be offensive to certain groups

- This radio station could be seen as offensive to women due to the fact that it is advertised as a male radio station, and that there are no female presenters. A female audience may enjoy the music that they play, but may feel as though they are not welcome to listen to the radio stations due to the fact it is dominated by a male audience, and these products also direct themselves towards the male audience.

In what way is diversity limited as evident in the show hosts and type of music aired.

- Diversity is limited due to the fact that it is only aimed at one gender, and that the music generally consists of artists that a male audience would listen to. For example, Nirvana mainly had a male following. Show hosts are also only male, meaning a female audience may not be interested in listening to the show.

Consider the Radio 1 Breakfast show in what way is PSB broadcastng a more inclusive environment compared to Radio X?

- Radio 1 includes content for both male and female, whereas Radio X only includes content for a predominantly male audience. Public service broadcasting is more inclusive as it may be generating higher listening numbers from a variety of different people from different backgrounds.