Radio 1 - Essay

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Part (a)Radio 1 target audience is on the decline, discuss the reasons why audience numbers are dropping and the steps taken by the organisation to maintain (and or grow) its audience 600 words.  Discuss the role of technology in maintaining its audience

Audience members of Radio 1 have been dropping in recent years as a result of the youth losing interest in radio, and instead being drawn to newer social media platforms such as YouTube or Spotify. This is unfortunate due to the key demographic for the Breakfast Show being ages 15-29, a generation that no longer listen to much radio. Although it seems that the Breakfast Show has lost its massive following (now being at below 5 million listeners a week), it is actually succeeding more than other broadcasters such as Radio 2, likely due to having a much higher Facebook and Twitter following: On YouTube, Radio 1 has 3.5m subscribers compared to Radio 2’s (roughly) 40,000. Radio 1 has 2.5m Facebook likes compared to Radio 2’s (roughly) 600,000. Radio 2 may have higher listening figures for its live shows, but the reach of Radio 1 – particularly with viral content – is much higher on social media than it is for Radio 2, which is likely due to the young audience ironically. The Breakfast Show has taken some steps in order to maintain its audience, such as creating video-based challenges that are able to be posted onto YouTube after it is has been broadcast. This is a successful use of multi-media convergence as many people who do not even like radio may still find the YouTube video entertaining enough to convince them to tune in. On the other hand, radio listeners may subscribe to their YouTube channel in order to see exclusive clips; this therefore grows the audience for both the radio and their YouTube channel. This can also be linked to the 'listen, watch, share' strategy, in which the audience will hear the challenge on the radio and then revisit it on YouTube to fulfil entertainment needs, and then pass it on to others who may find it funny. In the past the Breakfast Show have played games such as 'Innuendo Bingo' and 'Playground Insults' which are similar to challenges that young people like to watch on sites such as YouTube or James Cordon's show, therefore the competitive nature of these funny videos mean that it is important to share them on many social media sites and get them shared. 

While Nick Grimshaw was the radio host, he had various social media accounts such as twitter (@grimmie) and snapchat on which he posted exclusive, funny clips. Posting entertaining, personal videos and tweets are important to developing an audience because it creates a sense of friendship, which help make the fan base feel included in the community. New host Greg James also has social media and twitter, which has likely had a slight impact on Radio 1 due to his previous following; fans of Greg James would likely have started tuning in to the show to hear more from him, another successful mode of convergence created by technology advancements. Technology has also allowed fans to be much more interactive with the show, which is exactly what Greg James is aiming for. He claimed that he wants listeners to 'engage, rather than eavesdrop' which is now possible in recent years, with new challenges such as 'Yesterday's Quiz' and fans calling in to request certain songs being introduced into the show. 'Yesterday's Quiz' is particularly successful as it encourages people to listen intently to the show, either during broadcast or on catch up so that they could have a chance at winning a prize. The option for fans to call in is very important to radio as it helps the platform to feel friendly and conversational, which is more enjoyable for the demographic. It is also common for the radio producers to look through social media, mainly twitter, while broadcasting so that they can read and respond to any tweets that they see. On the 5th December, James had a famous athlete call in to take part in the quiz too which is fairly important as celebrity endorsements are successful in promotions. 

Part (b) From your viewing 400 words (listening) of a radio 1 breakfast show program

Discuss the impact of Radio 1’s funding (from tax payers money) on its production content. (take into account the stations remit…)   

Identify examples from your analysis you must also refer to commercial radio stations Capital One or Radio X to highlight the differences

Radio 1's funding has an impact on the production due to the much higher budget that can be spent on the show. Instead of relying on advertisers, the show is funded by the public's payment of a TV licence, £150 per year per household. Due to this, Radio 1 are able to continue broadcasting all through the night, even when profits will be low due to most people being asleep. It also means that the show are able to introduce new artists such as Unknown T or Billie Eilish as well as the famous stars. It is part of the BBC remit to 'inform, educate and entertain' as well as promoting emerging artists and British songs. Over half of BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show's playlist usually consists of varied popular and emerging British music, such as Little Mix, George Ezra, Sam Fender and the 1975. It also means that the Radio can promote various amounts of competitions, being able to afford shipping and delivery costs of rewards for listeners who take part and win (despite Greg James' ironic joke that they couldn't on the 5th December). 

This is different to other radio stations such Radio 1's commercial rival, Capital. The Guardian reported that Both stations played a similar number of tracks – 1,068 (Radio 1), and 1,081 (Capital). However, Capital played the same songs fairly often, so that there were only 83 unique songs, compared with 443 at Radio 1. They had 49 unique songs in common, which is over half of Capital's playlist. This shows that Radio 1 are able to play more songs across the day with their high budget. It can also be compared to Radio X, which doesn't have a large amount of songs on its playlist. The daytime playlist features 14 songs, and evening playlist features 28, altogether 42. Though they likely do play more songs, it is evident that like capital they will have many repeats throughout the shows in order to appeal to their more narrow demographic, and lower budget.  

The budget of Radio 1 also means they can afford celebrity endorsements if they want to, which is very expensive considering the BBC have to pay for the visit, the flight and possibly a hotel too. Greg James does it less often, however Nick Grimshaw invited Demi Lovato along with other celebs onto the show as part of cross media convergence as she promoted the radio show and he spoke to her about her album and documentary.