Radio C1

 Tuesday 3rd December 2024

Component One - The Radio Industry

LO: To explore the content and structure of the unit.

Do Now:

1) Paper 1 is an hour and a half long.

2) The two parts of section B are industry and audience.

3) Media Language & representation.

4) One minute per mark plus five-ten minutes to plan for the 25 mark question.

5) A 'how far' question is asking you to compare and make an overall judgement.

Radio: The Archers

Definitions:

Public Service Broadcaster - broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve purely commercial interests. It is financed by public money.

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

Community radio - radio stations that are operated, owned and influenced by the communities they serve. They are 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 is a digital radio standard for broadcasting radio stations.

RAJAR - Radio Joint Audience Research is the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences in the United Kingdom. 

License fee - they are a hypothetical tax to fund public broadcasting. An annual fee used to finance the BBC, which is payable by each household in which television programmes are watched.

Royal Charter - A formal document that gives an organisation independent legal statue and defines its powers, constitution and objectives.

Remit - Something that 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 whereby one device or platform contains a range of different features.

In the UK, radio falls into three categories:

- Public service

- Community radio

- Commercial radio

BBC RADIO: This is a public service broadcasters that operate several national radio stations and many local radio stations. Each of these has a distinct identity and targets a specific audience. The BBC is publicly funded by the licensing fee.

COMMUNITY RADIO: often not-for-profit and tend to cover small areas and serve the interest of a particular social group e.g. hospital radio. They can be funded from a variety of sources such as grants, advertising, fundraising etc.

COMMERCIAL RADIO: These are funded by advertising. The UK has many of these - they are often focused on particular genres of music (classic FM) and are very popular.

Research Task:

1) List the BBC NATIONAL stations and their target audiences. How does this range reflect the cultural diversity of the UK?

BBC Radio 1 - 15 to 29 year-olds. New music and entertainment.

BBC Radio 2 - 35-54 year-olds. Mix of music and speech programmes.

BBC Radio 3 - 35-54 year-olds. Cultural broadcasting.

BBC Radio 4 - 55 years and older. 

BBC Radio 5 - 25-54 year-olds. Continuous news and sports coverage.

They are trying to provide something for everyone.

2) What is the BBC remit?

To inform, educate, and entertain people in the UK and around the world.

3) How much is the license fee for a year? Who has to have one?

£170 and anyone who watches TV, because everyone has to have a TV license to watch. It gets you all TV channels.

4) What kind of thing does BBC Radio 4 broadcast?

It is a mixed speech radio station, covering news, current affairs, but also offers drama series', readings, comedy, factual and magazine programmes.

The two biggest commercial radio organisations are Global and Bower.

Ofcom regulate radio in the UK.

Friday 6th December 2024

Radio

Do Now:

1) A public service broadcaster is broadcasting intended for the public's benefit as it is funded by the public.

2) Commercial radio is funded through advertising.

3) BBC radio 4 (mixed speech) covers news, current affairs, drama series, readings, comedy, and factual & magazine programmes.

4) Ofcom regulates radio in the UK.

5) The introduction of new technological listening platforms (e.g. Spotify, YouTube etc) and the ability to connect phones to cars. People now have the ability to choose which songs they want to listen to, which has affected the popularity of radio in recent years.

Why DAB 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:

• Streaming live
• Listening again via a catch-up service
• Downloading a podcast
• Accessing content on social media platforms - e.g. YouTube

- All this content across a range of platforms offers audiences the opportunity to choose where and when they listen to audience.

Podcasts:

- Podcasts are now regularly produced by radio broadcasters, offering the chance to download a programme.

- Many offer additional content of edited highlights from the original programme.

- Increasingly, podcasts are produced independent of a radio broadcaster: these include drama series, comedies and factual shows.

Statistics from RAJAR from 2023:

- 88% of the UK's adult population, or 49.5 million people, 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. This is predominantly DAB which is 42.7% and online which is 25.6%.

- Some BBC Radio stations saw a decline in listeners, including:

• BBC Radio 1: Down 6% from 7.7m to 7.3m
• BBC Radio 3: Down from 2m to 2.8m
• BBC Radio 4: Down slightly from 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

Audience Appeals:

 - Radio fulfils a range of Uses and Gratifications for audiences:

• Personal identity - some people identify with certain songs and enjoy listening to certain radio presenters.
• Information - news and current affairs on the radio.
• Entertainment - certain songs and talk shows are enjoyable.
• Social interaction - discussing issues/things that have been said on the radio.

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

• Companionship & background sound.
• Relaxation, entertainment & escapism.
• Information & education.

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 Ambridge.

- Storylines are sometimes serious - e.g. rape in marriage, racism, drug addiction and family breakups.

- More commonly, stories focus on daily rural life - e.g. caring for animals, marmalade-making competitions, harvesting crops.

Soap Opera conventions:

- Themes of drugs, domestic violence, pregnancy, homosexuality, and crime are often represented in soap operas.

- Open ended narrative to keep viewers 'hooked'.

- They never begin and never end.

- Well known theme tune.

- Large casts.

- Set in specific locations where characters come together (pubs, cafes, workplaces etc.)

- Each episode ends on a cliffhanger.

- There is always more than one storyline being shown at a time. (Multi-stranded narratives). reflects real life.

- The traditional target audience for soap operas is women, so they often feature strong female characters or MATRIARCHS.

- Stories focused on family/work/relationships.

- Designed for regular listening (e.g. daily).

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

How can you listen to The Archers?

- Download the podcast

- You can listen to it on the radio

- Short running time - 13 minutes

- Broadcast on the radio in regular time slots - 7pm every day except Saturday, repeated at 2pm the following day.

- Weekly omnibus (where they play every episode from the week back to back) every Sunday morning.

- Also available online on-demand for 30 days after broadcast.

- Weekly podcast of the omnibus available to download.

- Available on the BBC Sounds app internationally.

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

- The fact that it is repeated at 2pm the following day means more people can listen to it when it's convenient for them.

- If your schedule doesn't give you time to listen during the week, the omnibus every Sunday morning means that you can still keep up with the show, allowing for a wider target audience as not everyone can listen to it during the week.

- The fact that it is available on demand further increases the flexibility as people can listen to it whenever is convenient for them within a 30 day window from when it was broadcasted.

- It is available internationally, so if someone travels, they can still listen to it, whether it be travelling for work or for pleasure.

- It can also be listened to on a podcast, which can be downloaded onto a phone, making it far more accessible and convenient.

Tuesday 10th December 2024

 The Archers - 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 broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

3) Soap opera conventions - multi stranded narratives and they tend to feature more dialogue than action, as the action is within the dialogue.

4) The Archers is broadcast on the radio at 7pm every day except Saturday, and is repeated at 2pm the following day. there is also an omnibus every Sunday morning.

5) The BBC's remit is to inform, educate and entertain people in the UK and around the world.

The Archers:

- Aired on BBC Radio 4 (the BBC's main spoken-word channel).

- It is funded by the license fee.

- Although one original function of the show was to educate farmers (linking to the BBC's public service remit), 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, which is roughly the same number of people who watch EastEnders.

- Historically, radio soap operas have always focused primarily on women's lives, particularly family relationships, domestically and marriage. Therefore, the target audience was traditionally females who looked after the home.

Target audience: Adult and older British women.

What the Archers is and why it is popular:

The Archers is the world's longest-running radio soap opera. It was first broadcast in 1951, and originally focused on farming methods to help increase food production, as people were still recovering after World War II, and part of this was the rationing of food. Now, the storylines are richer and focus on relationships, wider societal issues and some serious topics in an attempt to be a source of entertainment for a wider audience, rather than just people from rural communities. The episodes are broadcast every day except Saturday at 7pm, and are then repeated the following day at 2pm. There is also a weekly omnibus every Sunday morning, in case anyone misses an episode. Now, the episodes are also available on-demand for thirty days after the original broadcast date, and there is a podcast as well. It is a gentle and subtle drama, set in the fictional village of Ambleside, and because it is slow-moving, it can be quite comforting, while still focusing on some serious issues.

I think The Archers is attractive to audiences who are both young and old because of the variety of topics they cover. There are still things to do with farming methods, which may appeal to young people who live/grew up on a farm, as well as more serious issues such as crime, rape, racism, drug addiction and family breakups, which some people may enjoy following and seeing what ends up happening, as soap opera episodes are typically left on a cliffhanger.

Production of The Archers:

- 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 here 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.

Notes from listening to an episode of The Archers:

• Storylines - Helen is moving, Gavin has come back from prison, Gavin sounds ill (coughing), someone is playing Santa in a show, litter picking in the village, Emma has broken some rules in her parish councillor role, Gavin can't live with his mum because she doesn't speak to him (has pretty much disowned him), talking about running a village trip to the pantomime, 

• Main characters - Helen, Julie, Mick, Gavin, Kirsty, Emma, Joy, Linda, Alan, 

• Genre conventions - iconic theme tune, multi-stranded narratives, left on a cliffhanger, continuous storylines, 

• Audience appeals - 

• How does this episode hits part of its remit? (Inform/educate/entertain) - 

• How does this episode show the impact of social or cultural contexts? - Christmas at the moment, discussing Christmas and a Christmas show in the village.

Joy and Kirsty - Gavin appears, Kirsty is selling her house.

Mick, Alan and Linda - Santa (comedy aspect) at The Bell.

Kirsty and Gavin - Gavin has just been released from prison and wants to apologise.

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

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

Alan, Linda, Joy and Mick - pantomime/village trip, Linda is upset by seeing Gavin.

Segmenting Audiences:

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

- For example, we can segment the audience into men and women, by class grouping, or any other demographic/psychographic category.

Demographics - factual information about an audience.

Psychographics - a person's internal values.

Demographics for the Archers:

ABC1 women (not only women, but more so).

There were many different accents, no focus on a specific location.

The Archers Target Audience:

- Female (76%)

- 55+ (62%)

- ABC1 (middle/upper class)

- White British (81%)

- Right - wing (e.g. votes Conservative)

- High 'disposable income'

- Midlands location

The producers of the show have their main target audience, but want to tackle secondary audience segments:

-Young people

- Audiences from abroad

- City dwellers

- Multiple races, ethnicities, religions, sexualities, classes.

Friday 20th December 2024

Do Now:

1) On average, the Archers have five million listeners and one million online so in total it is six million.

2) The target audience for the Archers is mostly ABC1 females aged 55+.

3) The Archers is broadcast on the radio at 2pm and 7pm every day apart from Saturday, and on Sunday morning there is a weekly omnibus. It is also available on-demand up to 30 days after the original broadcast and can also be downloaded as a podcast. 7pm every day except Saturday, repeated at 2pm the following day. Weekly omnibus every Sunday morning.

4) Gender, age and ethnicity comes under demographics.

5) The BBC's remit is to educate, inform and entertain people in the UK and around the world.

Other than listening to the show, what other ways are there for fans of the Archers to engage with the show?

- Interact with their social media pages such as Facebook and Twitter.

- Look at their blog.

- Read up on the characters on the website(who plays them, DOB, relationships etc).

- Play some quizzes on the BBC page.

- Find out about the actors.

- There is a podcasts

- There is a guide to what happens in the calendar.

All of these platforms are provided to help audiences increase their enjoyment of the show and make it as accessible as possible for them to keep up to date with it.

The Archers as a brand:

- The Archers is 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 ever were to lose its license fee, there are certain shows that it is guaranteed people would pay to subscribe to - The Archers would be one of these.

- Therefore, it is important that the producers keep the show fresh. One way of doing this is by introducing new characters or pushing boundaries or plot lines.

Some of the most popular and controversial themes/topics that have recently been on the show:

- Armed robberies

- Gay marriage

- Affairs

- Rape

- Female vicars

- Modern day slavery

The Archers:

- Not one to shy away from controversy, the BBC has opened the gate to less talked about topics and issues in recent years.

- Domestic abuse, modern slavery, fraud, mental health issues, female vicars and gay marriage to name but a few.

- 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 in being able to eavesdrop in on characters' private conversation has added a very real touch to the storyline. Audiences witnessed first-hand Rob's controlling nature, his coercive behaviour and listened whilst he has progressively isolated her from friends and family.

- The realistic portrayal of this storyline has even prompted audiences to raise over £100,000 in charitable donations, proving the importance of such a show - and the strong relationship it has forged with its audience.

The Archers: #FreeHelen

- listeners followed the storyline and trial avidly - with social media engagement skyrocketing.

- 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.

- National debate: The storyline sparked a national debate about domestic violence.

- Donations to charity: Listeners donated to the Helen Titchener Fund a JustGiving page set up by a listener which raised over £92,000 for Refuge, a domestic violence charity.

- Social media hashtag: The trial spawned the social media #FreeHelen

- Feminist perspective: VAW activists participated in the discussion, offering real cases and experiences of domestic violence.

How audiences may respond to and interpret media products, and the social, cultural and political significance of media products:

- For many of the listeners, The Archers was a familiar friend which provided a comforting background and, until fairly recently, there was an unwritten rile that nothing too terrible would ever happen.

- However, in recent years some listeners have complained that The Archers is beginning to mimic the excesses of TV soaps such as EastEnders.

- The most notable example of this is the 2016/17 storyline of Rob's abusive relationship with his wife. For some listeners, the show they once considered to be a light, mellow drama, has now morphed into actual melodrama.

- That being said, such a move has attracted new listeners which are welcomed by broadcasters, and there is an argument that such shows should reflect the society in which they are aired.

- because the BBC can be accessed from around the world, it's important to understand that some of the online audience is global, including British people living abroad.

- Listening to The Archers is a crucial way for them to keep in touch with British life. In fact, even within the UK, some listeners from urban areas have stated how they like the sense of rural life that is evident in the show.

- Perhaps, like many, they dream of getting away from the city and moving to the country, and The Archers helps them imagine this for a short time.

The Uses and gratifications theory:

Personal Identity: Some people can relate to the storylines or the characters, especially the ones that reflect real-life issues of the time.

Information: While it is a drama, they do still include some information on farming methods and rural life.

Entertainment: The soap is a drama - people listen to it to enjoy it and to be entertained. Some people become invested in the storylines, and look forward to the 15 minutes a day where they get to take a break and listen to the current storylines. Escapism into the fictional world of The Archers.

Social Interaction: They have social media pages which people can interact with, the storylines provide a talking point amongst a group of people and can spark debates. Some people may listen to it together and then discuss it afterwards. Some may be inspired by the storylines to talk about their own personal experiences.

Homework:

1. Briefly explain the difference between how public service radio and commercial radio are funded.

[4 marks]

Public service radio is financed by the public's money and is therefore designed for the benefit of the public, whereas commercial radio is funded by advertising, and there are many of these in the UK. For example, classic FM is a radio station that is financed through adverts. The BBC radio stations, however, are public service radio stations, and are funded by the license fee. Therefore, their content has to be in the public's interest, which is why their remit is to 'inform, educate and entertain.'

2. Explain how the BBC uses different platforms to distribute radio programmes. Refer to The Archers to support your points. 

[10 marks]

The BBC uses many different platforms to distribute radio programmes, such as podcasts, on the radio, and through on-demand options.

The BBC uses podcasts to distribute radio programmes, The Archers being one of these. A podcast is a way to download a programme, or an episode of the programme. The Archers podcast is available on a number of apps, including Spotify, making it far more convenient, as a podcast can be easily downloaded onto a phone, and can be listened to while doing other things. Furthermore, the weekly omnibus of The Archers that is broadcast every Sunday morning is also available in the form of a podcast, meaning that listeners can fit the show around their typical schedule if they're busy throughout the week. The Archers is also available on the BBC Sounds app, which also means that the episodes can be listened to internationally, expanding people's options and ensuring they don't miss any episodes. The use of podcasts to distribute radio programmes massively increases the BBC's audience, as it means the show is far more accessible, and listening times are more flexible.

The BBC also uses their radio stations to distribute radio programmes. Typically, BBC Radio 4 is used to do this, as this is the radio station that is a mixed speech one, broadcasting news, current affairs, dramas and many more. The radio programmes are always on at a set time each week. For example, The Archer is broadcast at 7pm everyday except from Saturday. It is then repeated at 2pm the following day, in case any listeners missed an episode, they can catch up the next day. A weekly omnibus is then played on a Sunday morning. With all these options, The Archers is made easy to listen to, and if an episode is missed, it's easy to catch up with the ongoing storylines. The BBC also uses on-demand services to distribute radio programmes. For example, all the episodes of The Archers are available on the BBC's website for thirty days after the original broadcast. This means that if someone has forgotten what has happened in previous episodes or where the storyline last left off, they can re-listen to the episode.

With the BBC's many different ways of distributing radio programmes, they make it easy for people to enjoy episodes of their favorite  programme.

3. Explain why audiences listen to The Archers. Refer to the Uses & Gratifications theory in your answer.

[12 marks]

The Uses and Gratifications theory outlines the uses for the media: personal identity, information, entertainment and social interaction.

Audiences listen to The Archers to gain a sense of personal identity. This is because of the multiple characters and storylines that the show covers, allowing listeners to identify with the characters and relate to the plots. Due to it's multi stranded narrative, The Archers provides multiple storylines at a time, meaning that there are many opportunities for the audience to relate to one. They often cover serious topics such as drug addiction, family breakups and rape in marriage, all of which could potentially be related to. Furthermore, the show has a huge range of characters, meaning that there are multiple people that could be a favorite character or one that a member of the audience relates to. The Archers is a perfect show for people to identify with, due to it being a soap opera and therefore following many of the conventions, such as serious themes, the open ended narrative and large casts. These conventions mean the show will never come to a proper close, allowing the audience to continue following the story for a long time, and continue relating to it.

Another reason audiences might listen to The Archers is for information. When it was originally broadcast in 1951,it focused mostly on farming methods and rural life. It was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk", and one of its original functions was to educate farmers. However, it grew a large audience, consisting of people in urban areas as well as rural ones. This was when the show began to change. Now, the show still focuses on rural life, but it is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural setting". Despite this, the show is still carefully researched and is informative on many issues to do with farming, but also educates its audience on rural issues and wider societal events and issues. This provides information for the audience, as they can hear important farming tips, and hear more about current affairs.

Another reason audiences might listen to The Archers is for entertainment. As mentioned, the show is promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural setting". It is a radio soap opera, meaning it has many different conventions that makes the show entertaining to the target audience (older ABC1 women). For example, it has a multi stranded narrative, meaning that lots of different storylines occurring at the same time, and therefore the show never gets 'boring'. The show also includes many characters, meaning you can follow your favorite one through the show and see what is going to happen to them next. Each episode also ends with a cliffhanger, meaning the audience remains 'hooked', wanting to find out what is going to happen next time. 

Finally, an audience might listen to The Archers to have some social interaction. The show provides a talking point on social media and in person, as it allows for people to speculate what will happen in the next episode, and to chat about certain characters' actions. For example, there was a massive movement over social media after a domestic abuse storyline ended with the character Helen killing her husband and being arrested for it. Social media engagement sky rocketed after this, with #FreeHelen being used. The non-guilty verdict led to thousands of comments and allowed people to interact with each other and debate over the trial. It also led to much more awareness and many conversations about domestic abuse and violence. Fans raised over £92,000 for Refuge, a domestic violence charity, showing the amount of influence the show has over listeners, and how conversations about the show led to a huge amount of good.