As I mentioned in the last Radio post, I'd like all the 'Analysis' elements of the radio unit wrapped up by the new year so we can move on to you actually being in the studio and creating your shows. These analysis elements won't be assessed for a while but it'd be great to have them all done so next term's sessions can purely focus on you developing and finessing your presentation skills.
Last week you'll have told me about a Radio station in terms of what kind of station it is (local/national/commercial/public/community) and what kind of shows they broadcast.
The final part of analysing the station is telling me what the 'audience profile' for the station is, as you can see from the spec.
I remember people predicting about 20 years ago that by now radio would be dead/over. It seemed like the most old-fashioned type of media and with the internet it was assumed that people would get information and music online and stop tuning into radio stations. This hasn't happened. Radio has proven really resistant and resilient and the radio audience is actually bigger than it's ever been in the UK. This is because for radio's audience, radio provides things no other type of media provides - information and music tailored specifically for its listeners. With some things you want choice, you want to be able to change things quickly - radio endures because plenty of people want something they can rely on, something they can turn on and leave on and not have to change it all the time, something that gives them info and a wake-up in the morning, background entertainment during the day, company and music at night - something that gives them something unique. |Radio listeners are passionate about which stations they like, and which they don't.
The audience profile for a commercial station is crucially important because without an idea of who their listeners ARE it's difficult for stations to be able to tell potential advertisers who they'll be reaching by advertising on their networks. Commercial stations, whether local or national, want as much advertising on their stations as possible as this is what gives them a turnover and profits. They need to be able to tell potential advertisers 'By paying for an ad on our station you will be reaching THESE people' - advertisers will want to know the age, gender, and social class of who listens to the station they might advertise on so they know their adverts are reaching the right potential customers.
For BBC stations it's just as important that they know who is listening to their stations so they can tailor the content (presenters, music, style of presentation) for who is listening, and keep those listeners listening.
This audience isn't just different for different stations, it's different as the day goes on. In the morning for instance, you'll get parents and kids listening on the way to work/school - during the day you'll mainly get workers listening who have the radio on at work - during the 'drive-time' afternoon slot you'll again get kids/parents on the schoolrun/drive home and in the evening you might get a slightly older 'student' audience. At the weekend the audience changes as well, reflecting the fact that morning/drive-time shows won't be listened to by the same audience as during the week.
1. DON'T CREATE A NEW POST. SIMPLY ADD THIS TO YOUR EXISTING RADIO POST CALLED 'THE STATION'. OPEN THAT POST UP AND ADD THE SUBHEADING 'AUDIENCE PROFILE'
2. Add another heading - 'THE NEEDS OF THE AUDIENCE' and tell me, in your own words - why do you think the listeners of that station choose that station? What does it provide that other stations don't? Does it provide a particular focus on LOCAL news/information that listeners can't get elsewhere? Does it play a particular type of music that appeals to its listeners (an alternative or 'niche' audience), or does it play generally popular music that won't put off many listeners (a mainstream audience)? What stations is it competing against (stations with similar music and programmes)? Just a few lines will suffice for this - you're really trying to nail what the USP is for the station. A USP is a Unique Selling Point - i.e what it unique to that station that makes it appealing to its listeners.
You may well find the stations own website useful for this - particularly if they have a section for 'Advertisers' - this may well be where the station say who their audience is.
3. Under the same 'Needs Of The Audience' heading then tell me - how do those needs change during a day's broadcasting? What do people listening in the morning need (news, travel, weather, someone to cheer them up)? What do people during the day need (more of a background kind of radio, more music perhaps?) What do drivetime listeners need (way more traffic info)? What do evening listeners need (more interaction in terms of call-ins & requests, more specialist music and less chart/poppy stuff)? Have a listen to shows from different times of the day - how does the style change as the day/night goes on? How does that suit the audience who will be listening at that time?
4. Under a new heading 'How The Audience Listens' tell me on average how many hours per week the listeners hear the station, what percentage of them will listen on digital radios/platforms, what times of the day people listen to the radio, and WHERE they listen. You will find this information in this RAJAR pdf - http://www.rajar.co.uk/docs/news/RAJAR_DataRelease_InfographicQ22017.pdf
Because the data on that pdf is averaged from ALL radio stations in the UK it will be applicable to the station you've chosen.
4. Then add the heading 'Demographics' and tell me the basic information you can find about WHO listens to the station you're talking about. I need their age range, what the gender split is and what social class they come from (remember ABC = middle class, CDE = working class). The stations own site and broadcasts will give you a good idea about this - is the site posh/classy looking/designed for an older middle class audience or bright/busy designed for a younger working class listener? Also use yougov profiler, or the report I linked to in the last radio post if you're looking for a BBC station.
5. Finally add the heading 'Lifestyle' - can you tell me anything else about the target listeners for this station beyond their age/gender etc What will their interests be - what music, celebrities, and other products will they be into? What other media choices will they make (will they watch particular TV channels, play particular games, read particular magazines, go on particular websites frequently?)
WHAT YOU SHOULD END UP WITH
A nicely detailed Audience Profile for the station you've written about, added to the end of the post you've already started about The Station.
DON'T FORGET TO TAG THE POST IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY
Tag it 'Radio Production' and 'Audience'
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