Sunday, 20 January 2019

News and Online Media



The Guardian is a left-leaning broadsheet which has presented Theresa May's defeat in a negative way. The main image shows multiple MPs heading towards the 'no' door to vote against her, including Boris Johnson. This combined with the anchorage 'Tories turn against her' show that the party aren't confident in their leader, which can make the public feel uneasy as well. There is a graphic showing the voting results, which highlights the majority 'no' votes in red, which not only draws attention but can also connote ideas about defeat or anger. It uses an image of screaming with 'primal scream' which creates idea of a nightmare, with ideas about loss of control, anger or anguish.
The 3 subheadings include terms such as 'unprecedented loss' and 'times up' which contribute to the idea that we are in a disaster and therefore dramatises the event.
In the text, Jeremy Corbyn is quoted to have criticised May's 'denial and delay', which implies she has not done her job correctly and therefore deserves this defeat. There are slight ideas about revolution when all of these elements are combined, showing that the Guardian has a bias against the current PM and her Brexit deal. The use of 'historic defeat' highlights that it is massive and likely will be talked about in history books in the future due to the dramatic impact it will have.




The Daily Mail are a right-wing tabloid, therefore they have presented more support for Theresa May. In the main image there is an indirect mode of address which can relate to her being unable to face the results or her government, which implies they have betrayed her and as a result could be called a victim of the situation, as opposed to the perpetrator. There are semantics of war, with use of 'bombshell', 'fighting' and 'battling', which emphasise the difficulty of what May is dealing with and therefore can generate some sympathy. The main image links to the headline 'fighting for her life' as she seems defeated and upset, almost as if she has been battered by the rest of the government. It seems to refer to her career as she needs to propose a good deal in order to remain in her position.
Daily Mail describe how 'more than a third of conservative MPs rebelled', which displays those who voted against her as traitors. The use of rebellion makes it appear like the MP is trying her best but being let down, which can direct the anger and frustration of the public away from May.



Online News - The Guardian



The Guardian provides opportunities to contribute or subscribe in order to fund their business, as well as ads on the online site. They need to generate more money due to being a broadsheet, therefore they have many options available.

The 'most viewed' tab on the side of the article is good as it allows the most popular articles to be recommended to other readers, which will most likely intrigue them and therefore generate more money if they interact with the ads or subscribe to read.




 The results are emphasised as a large image which makes Theresa May appear like a failure as she has been defeated. Britain remaining in a 'deadlock' has negative connotations and can make readers lose faith in their leader. 
These popular stories all show an element of distaste for May. 'thrown under a boris bus' has a mocking tone. It also creates the idea that May is the one who will be throwing Britain under a bus. The red font draws attention to this and can hold connotations of anger. 'Brexiter hosts champagne party after May defeat' shows how others have lost faith in the PM. 

Options to support the guardian are relevant as it shows that they are earning money through subscriptions.





'obsession, vanity or grit' are all negative traits. Associating this with a PM can make public feel uneasy about her. The image is large and unflattering which can create further negative associations.


In the following screenshots of the text, there are emboldened orange terms which draws attention to certain aspects such as 'the most crushing defeat on record'. There are a few advertisements throughout which demonstrates how the online news still attempt to make money from providing some artices for free.



This image shows May heading to House of Commons where the vote will take place. The image seems dark and gloomy which can imply they believe she will lose the vote.




























THE DAILY MAIL online




There is a high density of images on the online version of Daily Mail, and a video, which when scrolled past will go to the corner so that the reader can still watch while scrolling through the article.

Examples -


Title implies that MPs against Theresa May are selfish 'self-interest' and also uses 'wrecker Corbyn' which presents him negatively. They also use 'surviving' the no confidence vote which again matches the print article which used semantic field of War to present her in a way that will generate sympathy or even strength.

The photo of Theresa May has direct address while the one of Corbyn does not, which implies that she has a better connection to the public or power than he does, making her appear like a good figure.


The use of the word 'challenge' makes it appear that she is trying and fighting for a cause.

The blue text linking to other articles reads 'he has sat down with terrorists... but not the PM' and includes 'fury', highlighting the fact that the writer is on May's side.

Comparing images of Corbyn and Theresa May, he is negative while she seems confident
'Fury' is used again about Corbyn which shows there is consistent support for May in both online and print news.

There is an ad which shows that online news make their money from displaying these, and may also have subscriptions too.
There is the option to watch a video which is much more interactive and is suitable for young people who may prefer video news than reading. Arguably, it also makes the content suitable for disabled audiences including those who are blind and not able to read the print.
Corbyn is not displayed in a complimentary way which further demonstrates the right-wing stance of the online news.

'survived'
'Labour leader' - not even named
'appealed for consensus' has positive connotations



















SOCIAL MEDIA

influence of social media - Obama has 100m followers and Trump has 57m
Theresa May roughly 800,000
Jeremy Corbyn 1.5m followers

Examples











The cover image of the Facebook page (used across other social medias) can be significant as it appears similar to a television news when they edit and show clips of what is coming up. This link between social media and tv news can allow people to feel slightly more trust in the facebook content.





Certain extreme opinions can be expressed on social media as there is no filter besides community guidelines that only ban dangerous or threatening content.

Exposure to people's opinions can sometimes be beneficial for the article as they can see what people feel and perhaps cater content towards them, or accept feedback.

Some news companies write articles based on social media responses to events which has an extra benefit as they have content to write about, allowing more readers and ads.




People are able to interact with the news and share their own opinions with much more than before social media. Lots of people like to have debates or express their view therefore this is beneficial for maintaining people's interest in the news.

















People are able to post their opinions and then discuss this with others who disagree in the comments. It helps to make people more aware about the world when news appears on social media, typically used for entertainment or socialisation.










People are able to share links of news on social media which generates more publicity.

















The Guardian have a fair amount of followers which shows that online social media presence is important for contemporary news.












Instagram has a lower presence due to high density of young people, therefore it can be dumbed down possibly. Daily Mail does not mention brexit on its instagram unlike the guardian.















































Here people are responding on social media to a Daily Mail headline, allowing people to express their views. Arguably this can take some power away from the media as people don't have to passively accept news.

















Many articles from online and print are shared on social media which generates a larger audience due to media convergence.

The Guardian 'live' is a great feature as it can intrigue people who want to know exactly what is going on, which can't be easily provided in print news.














Key terms --

Denotation - what can be seen - the literal
Connotation - what can be inferred - associations
Sign - consists of a signifier
Anchorage - how text relates to image
Semiotics - the study of signs
Typeface - types of font
Masthead - title of a printed publication, an editorial
Skyline - a line of text above the masthead promoting the newspaper
Informal language register - used in informal situations to communicate the relationship between the participants, may use simple sentences and slang
Formal language register - used in formal situations to communicate information, may include complex sentences and vocabulary



Using case study papers


The word 'Mail' uses a heavy gothic font in the masthead in the print edition. This connotes tradition, craft, reliability and other virtues from its associations with medieval calligraphy.




Daily Mail includes softer news such as Meghan Markle.
There is some less formal register with use of 'wrecker Corbyn'
There is a close example of white on red, as there is yellow on red about Meghan Markle which can also stand out. The page is dominated by a large headline (bold, capitalised)
Title may be dumbed down for a w/c reader
The Guardian only features the 'Brexit deadlock' which is harder news, due to it being politics. Though Daily Mail also uses politics, it does not solely focus on it. The Guardian does have 2 headlines at the top which do not include hard news however it is directing people to a different section of the paper, helping navigation. However 'the diet that could save us all' actually links to global warming and therefore can arguably be aimed at a middle class or more educated readers. There is use of conventional 'black on white' and only capitalised as it would be in a sentence. The news doesn't seem entertaining and is rather information. The Guardian has become more compact in recent years therefore the pages are less dominated by 'copy'.


The Daily Mail shows a photo of Meghan Markle wearing a sparkly dress and holding her pregnancy bump with caption 'Radiant: Meghan cradles her baby bump last night'. Use of words such as 'sparkles' and 'cradles' and 'radiant' create a positive connotation and therefore show it is positive news. This anchorage relates to the yellow typeface which not only helps it to stand out, but also demonstrates positivity through colour psychology. These words are also gender-specific which could relate to Van Zoonen's theory that patriarchal society demands women to appear a certain way.
The main headline 'wrecker Corbyn slams door on Theresa' creates connotations of Corbyn being rude. There is fairly informal register which may be because it is aimed at working class readers and therefore doesn't use complicated sentences. This represents Corbyn has a bad politician, perhaps even corrupt, as he will not cooperate.
The first paragraph is in bold and portrays Jeremy Corbyn in a negative way: 'last night accused of playing politics after he rejected talks to break the Brexit deadlock'. Daily Mail can arguably support ideas about nationalism and ethnocentrism through its support of Brexit and May.

The Guardian is dominated by hard news brexit unlike the Daily Mail. The Guardian dedicates its front page and the following 8 pages to hard news (specifically Brexit) whereas the Daily Mail has interrupting soft news and less detail about the event. The main image of Theresa May shows her laughing and hunched during the debate which could perhaps represent her in a way that prevents readers from taking her seriously. A red puff is used to show Emmanuel Macron with a stern expression, under headline with 'France and Germany warm to idea of delay'.
The Guardian represent the vote results 'yes: 306' in red due to the greatly high amount that wanted another general election, with majority only being 19. This has connotations of danger as Britain has a PM with very little support.


Theory --- James Curran and Jean Seaton
Newspapers should reflect the interests of an audience otherwise they will go out business. They should be liberal and anyone should be able to make one. However, this does not happen in practice and the press can be used as a propaganda tool to influence the audience.





28.1.19

THE DAILY MAIL 

   mocking title 
 looks fairly glamorous and happy - conforms to gender expectations. feminine: dress and make up. Western cultural norms are followed, showing arms which may not always be accepted in other countries. Patriarchy. Not referred to as her own name.
In terms of title, idologies that can be applied include consumerism, internationalism, collectivism, democracy. Country working together to clean up the country which makes them appear better. Positive representation of PM. 
element of clickbait. ideologies about feminism and equality as Emily is winning an award for her talent. 'actor' rather than 'actress' connotes equality. However writers of Daily Mail still refer to her as an actress. Her husband shows emotion and support. 
 celebrity, soft news 


multi culturalism - black panther cast, Danai Gurira and Simon Webbs. Articles about ethnic minority celebrities. 


(Harry Tattoo) Individualism - emphasises the individual 
 combination of politics and celebrity gossip news 

people reacting to the article believing it is fake or not proven 'migrants cheat death when cargo ship changes course at the last moment and avoids crushing their tiny boat as they head towards spain' could be argued as anti immigration 

related to the online news article






all soft news 






THE GUARDIAN
bell hooks could be applied as this woman is talking about how she has been oppressed. Her photos were whitened which is a form of discrimination. (lighter skin women considered to be more desirable)
Venezuela article links to internationalism.
Broadsheet is able to discuss international issues. Democracy, internationalism. 





 serious topics and some audience engagement/sharing  poeple are able to share their input about the news stories 


not all soft news like daily mail, features stories about no water and United Arab Emirates 



Woman of colour in a position of power and being rewarded - positive representation



























LINK TO CURRAN AND SEATON - OWNERSHIP 



The Mail 

The newspaper has historically had an association with the right wing, including associations and support of far right organisations (BLACK SHIRTS) during the 1930’s where Lord Rothermere the then owner was described as a friend of Hitler and Mussolini and far right organization the “ Black shirts” lead by Oswald Mosely.

Elites.  The Daily Mail, News International (Sun, Times), Reach plc (Daily Express, Daily Mirror) and the Daily Telegraph account for the majority of newspaper readership with approx. 4.9 million readers in 2018 most of these newspapers groups offers right wing views and are owned by elites (Murdoch, (News International), Barlclay Brothers (Telegraph) Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere (Mail).   


The Guardian

allows for more editorial freedom although it has strong historical linkes with the labour party its liberal views enable columnists and journalists more freedom


Newspaper groups - National daily titles owned - daily circulation in millions 

News International - Sun, the Times - 1.9 
Daily Mail and General Trust - Daily Mail - 1.3
Reach plc - Daily Express, Daily Star, Daily Mirror - 1.3
Telegraph group - Daily Telegraph - 0.37 
Johnston Press - i - 0.24
Nikkei - Financial times - 0.18
Guardian Media Group - The Guardian - 0.13


The Influence of newspapers on Brexit (Curran and Seaton) 

The larger percentage of right wing news (roughly 70% of newspapers are right wing) could be argued as a contribution to the 'leave' vote winning. Newspapers aren't objective therefore the viewpoint of the owner is clearly demonstrated. 
For example -- the Sun newspaper can relate to Gilroy's theory of imperialism. 
The Guardian enshrines the independence of the newspaper in its ownsership model. The Scott Trust was set up in the 1930s to protect the editorial independence of the Guardian and to safeguard journalistic freedom and the newspapers liberal values. Staff on the paper are given freedom and the newspapers liberal values.
















Categories - General social class - Proportion of UK Population
A, B, C1 - Middle class - 54%
C2, D, E - Working class - 46%

Print audience - Daily Mail - Guardian

    Circulation - 1.3 million - 0.15 million
    Readership - 2.9 million - 0.9 million
% Men - 48 - 51
% Women - 52 - 49
% 15-34 - 10 - 27
% 35-54 - 15 - 30
% 55+ - 75 - 41
% AB adults - 27 - 62
% C1C2 adults - 56 - 31
% DE - 17 - 7
% London - 26 - 40
% Midlands - 19 - 17
% South and South East - 15 - 12
% North West - 12 - 11

General trends. Daily Mail is overall more popular, and has slightly more women (52) than men readers (48) . The great majority are 55+ and in the c1 or c2 working class category (56). It is fairly spread out but there is a majority in London (26)

The Guardian has slightly more men (51) then women readers (49). The majority are AB adults so middle class (62). There are a greater amount in London (40)



The Daily Mail is suitable for its female audience in some ways, particularly as it has specific pages for females if they don't want to read news that men would be interested in.


Monday, 14 January 2019

Minecraft - Essay

Create a 1000 word essay discussing the evolution of Mincraft.  As part of the essay you will address
·      How the ownership of Minecraft has affected the games evolution
·      How Minecraft is marketed to a variety of audiences

·      How users interact with the game including how they create their own content


The ownership of Minecraft has affected the game's evolution, mainly due to the fact that it is now programmed and coded differently. Markus (Notch) Perssons developed the game in 2009 (a grassroots game) as part of the small company Mojang, which only had about 12 other people working on the game, and then sold it for £2.5 billion to Microsoft in 2013 once it had made massive profits and become a popular game. In 2010 Minecraft was developed as a multiplayer game using JAVA code, which meant that Gamers were able to contribute to the development of the program eliminating bugs and facilitating multiplayer capability, which was likely a key reason for its success. The interaction means that the creators can take on board improvements and therefore are consistently making the players happy. With Microsoft, Minecraft is now developed using more complex coding with C++ which has made it possible to have better graphics, something that makes the game much more visually appealing than previously, and also helps the game to run better as it is less prone to glitches or bugs. It has also enabled multi platform access and therefore invites all players from all consoles to play, and not feeling left out. Ownership has also affected elements of convergence as Microsoft also own Xbox, and therefore they are able to promote their console as part of Minecraft if they choose to. It also means that profits from Minecraft can be invested in improving the Xbox and therefore they benefit economically. Also, Microsoft have launched newer more traditional programs such as Minecraft Story mode which has been successful in reaching a wider audience, particularly due to the different style which allows people who could be bored of sandbox to try a new branch of Minecraft. Similar to this, in November 2014 of that year, plans to work on a virtual reality version of Minecraft in Partnership with Oculus. Virtual Reality is a greatly successful advancement and therefore Minecraft's partnership was interesting, allowing people to get even more deeply invested into the world they are playing in. Oculus is a new and exciting advancement and therefore people are always drawn to games which have this partnership and Virtual Reality feature. 

Minecraft is marketed to a wide range of audiences due to its flexible nature, which allows for a variety of interpretations from different social groups as they play the game. 43.7% of Minecraft players were 15-21, based on a survey, which is fairly young but not as young as typically stereotyped. In society there are a lot of preconceptions about the game and that it is 'easy' and therefore it should only be played or enjoyed by a younger audience, however this is not the case in reality as the difficulty can be adjusted before playing, as well as a range of different versions of the game (realms, mods, story mode, survival or creative) which allows freedom for all types of gamers to enjoy. Minecraft therefore try to reach a wide range of audiences through their marketing and are clearly successful despite criticism it may get. Firstly, young people are reached with marketing with certain techniques such as the link to Lego. Minecrafts relation to Lego is important, as it is a form of media convergence. Lego fans may play Minecraft and vice versa, creating a bigger fan base which is typically young for Lego (though not always). Lego also created their own game similar to Minecraft, which they believed would be greatly beneficial to them despite taking profits off of a similar idea because it will direct players towards the original game, adding another element of convergence. As well as this, the Minecraft short movie was aimed at children, which is another way that they can become invested in the game and become bigger fans of it, buying more products and merchandise if they like the film. Minecraft's education edition helps to market the game towards students as well as teachers as it is a fun learning resource for a variety of subjects and programming, which can be used in lessons, but also promotes the game's other modes if the players become interested. Adults and teenagers can also be targeted by elements such as Minecraft Realms, which allows them to interact with other players and create their own servers. 

Users are able to interact with Minecraft by voting on polls about certain updates and features in the game. For example, which mob makes it in to ‘Minecon’, and requires voting and elimination. This can create a sense of competition and excitement in the community. As well as this, YouTube, Facebook and online fan communities has enabled Minecraft’s audience to have an active voice through detailed feedback and commentary on modifications and beta tests. As well as social media, there are also several forums in which fans of the game can talk about anything they want about it, and builds a further sense of interaction and loyalty among fans. It can also help people to build friendships and fulfil their 'personal relationships needs' (Bulmer and Katz) as they have a mutual interest in the game. Many YouTubers that play Minecraft are adults which can be very beneficial for Minecraft as it allows viewers to see what the game is like and understand that it is not just aimed at young people. Some of these YouTubers include 'CaptainSparklez', who created highly-produced parodies and music videos from Minecraft animation, which very often went viral and achieved over 100million views. Not only does this make the game look fun, but could even cause someone to want to become a Minecraft YouTuber for the fortune, and therefore may promote the game in order to fulfil their survival needs of earning money as well as entertainment (Hierarchy of needs, Maslow). As well as this, Youtubers such as The Yogcast or Pewdiepie (old videos) make content suitable for adults while Stampy or Sky does Minecraft may be more suited to children. This wide range of social media content benefits Minecraft because it encourages people to support the game. 

Thursday, 10 January 2019

Media Industries and Audiences: Minecraft

Digitally convergent media: Video games consoles are an excellent example of a digitally convergent device, you can not only play games but access social media, surf the internet, stream films and TV content and upload content into cloud based servers. Cross-media content helps maximise profits and also improve reach to new customers.
Production: This refers to all phases of designing, developing and making the media product;.
Distribution: This refers to all processes linked to delivering the media product to audiences both through tangible (disc) and digital (Cloud based) media.

Consumption: Explores the way in which the media text is used by audiences for pleasure but also explores the rise of user generated content across several platforms.


'CaptainSparklez' is a channel with 10 million subscribers, which has created various different Minecraft parodies that have gone viral. One example is '"Revenge" - A Minecraft Parody of Usher's DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love (Music Video)' which has achieved 173 million views. 

Minecraft is the second most successful video game of all time behind Tetris.
It was created and designed by Markus Persson,
a game programmer, who also developed and published the game through his company
Mojang. A full version of the game went on release in November 2011.
To date, well over 121 million copies have been sold across all platforms, including over 27 million PC copies, making it the biggest selling PC game of all time. 

The success of the games market.
–The UK’s   US$4 billion;
–China,   US$24.4 billion
–America’s   US$23.6 billion

A recent report by the UKIE1 suggests that the global games market is now worth in excess of US$100 billion.    
•In comparison to traditional media like film, radio, print and television, video games are much younger, exponentially growing since the 1970s.

Minecraft’s Swedish creator, Markus “Notch” Persson started creating the game in May of 2009 having been inspired by similar games such as Dwarf Fortress, a single- player construction and management game; his goal was to produce a Role Playing Game variation.

Minecraft’s initial reception wasn’t commercially viable, seen more as a niche product for players with expert knowledge of computers and programming. 

Maintaining audiences


LEGO AND MINECRAFT
Lego Worlds is available now, at £11.99, via the Steam gaming platform. Its final release, featuring classic and modern playsets and popular mini-figures, is expected in 2016. Speaking last year, David Gram, Lego's marketing director, said: "Minecraft is digital Lego. We only wish we had invented it."

Lego likely created this after seeing Minecraft's success due to the similarity between the products. A box of physical lego is more expensive than the game they have released, therefore it is like a marketing stategy to appeal to a new audience who like to play video games. 

















The game is given to the education sector for free. 



GENRE

Action -- e.g. call of duty 
Arcade -- e.g. streetfighter or pacman
Adventure -- e.g. minecraft or the walking dead
Fighting -- e.g. mortal combat 
Racing -- e.g. f1 challenge
Shooter -- e.g. FPS (Half Life) or TPS (GTA)
RPG -- e.g. Elder Scrolls
MMORPG -- e.g. world of warcraft


Minecraft storymode has also been developed. 

In terms of production: 2010 Minecraft was developed as a multiplayer game using JAVA code.. 
Gamers were able to contribute to the development of the program eliminating bugs and facilitating multiplayer capability
In September of 2013, Microsoft bought all rights to Minecraft from Mojang for $2.5 billion dollars.
Due to the original nature of the game, most players simply logged in to play Minecraft and didn’t need a physical copy of the game. 

When the Xbox and PlayStation versions were created there was often a chance to offer digital versions of the same game across the Windows 10 operating system 
Users were often encouraged to download the game through the cloud servers rather than a physical copy of the game which would incur more of a cost for the institution. 
Physical copies of the game were released 6 months after the cloud versions t encourage online purchase and reduce the risk of piracy



Why Microsoft purchased Minecraft for 2.5£Bn?

Given the nature of the parent company and the loyal fan base of PC gamers, it was in the company’s interest to invest US$2.5 billion to purchase Mojang for long term revenue.
Microsoft have since developed the product using more complex coding C++
This has enabled multi platform access (mentioned previously)
They have launched newer more traditional programs such as Miecraft Story board
Minecraft in November 2014 of that year, plans to work on a virtual reality version of Minecraft in Partnership with Oculus
--Also vertical integration as Microsoft own Xbox and this can help to promote them. 



•Minecrafts commercial success

–Budgets for games vary and Minecraft is a good example of a game that was made and developed using readily available open source software within the gaming community; creating the original Minecraft using Java gave it the advantage of being cross-platform: it will run on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
–other mainstream games that require entire teams of programmers, artists and engineers to make video games that have budgets equal or exceeding that of mainstream films.  AN example of this includes CALL OF DUTY

•Minecraft’s not for profit funding of projects

–Minecraft has also been linked to non-profit projects such as the UNs Block by Block project, which encourages communities around the world to redesign their neighbourhoods using Minecraft.
–An educational version has also been developed, MinecraftEdu (2012), which has several applications to help teach subject and develop a culture of computer programming amongst digital natives. 


Audiences

Minecraft has universal appeal. It is useful to explore how such a game can appeal to different ages, genders and audiences from different social and cultural backgrounds.
The variety of different modes is certainly a contributing factor to the game’s success, but also the way in which audiences can control and shape their own worlds and create new identities through mods and altering textures, maps and craft kits.

The content is suited to the wide age demographic due to the different modes and forms of playing which accommodate a large amount of people unlike other games. There is also choice of difficulty mode which can help younger people to begin playing, as well as older people who like the challenge. Story mode can also be a good way to invite younger children into the game if they do not understand the sandbox style, though this is also another reason it is so fitting for a wide age group - the freedom of what to build and how to play. 

The introduction of Minecraft Realms (2013) has tried to give the producers more control over the distribution and circulation of the game since some pro-am consumers were creating their own virtual spaces and hacks across illegitimate servers, such as https://www.wizardhax.com/ play/ as one example.

Realms is intended for use by small  groups of friends or as a family server

The interrelationship between media technologies and patterns of consumption and response
YouTube, Facebook and online fan communities has enabled Minecraft’s audience to have an active voice in its ongoing production through detailed feedback and commentary on modifications and beta tests. There are several niche forums that should also be investigated across the internet.







Monday, 7 January 2019

Radio 1 - Essay

Write an essay
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. 

Thursday, 3 January 2019

Media Industries and Audiences: Radio 1 Breakfast Show

Notes from AS:
Media radio 1 from elleguyan


New content:




PBS - Refers to broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve purely commercial interest
Remit - inform, educate, entertain



5th December with Greg James (Yesterday's Quiz, Wednesday fun and Ten Minute Takeover)

Songs and British Artists (clear variety of genres) 


  1. Not3s (rapper)
  2. Loyle Carner (hip hop)
  3. MK (american), Jonas Blue and Becky Hill (house)
  4. Sam Fender (alternative rock)
  5. Mumford and sons (folk rock, alternative rock)
  6. You me at six (rock band)
  7. Ellie Goulding (electro pop, synth pop, etc)
  8. The streets (alternative hip hop)
  9. Disciples (house)
  10. Friendly fires (indie rock)
  11. Jess Glynne (pop, R&B, dance, soul)
  12. Unknown T (grime)
  13. Duke Dumont (edm)
  14. Clean Bandit - (electronic)
  15. Little mix - (pop)
  16. Biffy clyro (alternative rock)
  17. James Arthur (pop)
  18. Jax Jones (house)
  19. Lewis Capaldi (pop)
  20. George Ezra (blues)
  21. M-22 (dance)
  22. 1975 (indie pop)
22 out of 43 are British (53%)


List 5 British Contemporary songs.
Jonas Blue, Little Mix, Jess Glynne, George Ezra, James Arthur 


-Emerging artists
Sam Fender, Unknown T

Emerging artists are important to radio 1 as they allow new songs to be discovered and help out. This can be good for young people who often support new artists and enjoy listening to new music as long as it is good. This is different to other radio's who may have less budget and therefore they want to gain good profit by playing songs that definitely attract listeners. Radio X for example plays music specific to their audience which are largely white adult males, therefore they may not listen to emerging artists with little reputation. 


Overall Notes -- 
(summary) Weather, Cardi B's sad breakup and clip of her speaking
(music gets louder in between speaking)
-Talks about future features on the radio show and the time they're happening 
-2:45 song starts (Halsey, then 5sos) 
-Talks to a guest ?
-Harry Redknapp (bug buster challenge) and how he doesn't know about Toy Story - soft news
-Talking about guests such as Laurie who is being sent something but abroad, makes joke about postage cost, and how somebody hasn't heard of Hey Jude
-Keeps referencing Harry Redknapp joke 
-At 29-30 minutes some hard news starts, homelessness, inspection of race course as horses died. then sport and man city, west ham, bournemouth, Brighton etc and premier league. weather 
-Reading what 'Chloe' said, social media or text in? Interactive 
-Said 'soz' 
-competition
-'yesterday's quiz' talking to guest about his training for triathlon, then quizzes him 
-makes mistake and laughs - 'what colour is Rudolph the red nose reindeers nose' 
-At 59-30 minute, talks about strikes, football. weather update 


Every half an hour there is a news cycle in which they briefly mention any hard news as well as weather updates and football. Football keeps it lighthearted and prevents people from switching off, however it is still short for those who are only interested in the music. It is beneficial to run on a half hour cycle as people who listen to other stations may still tune in every half hour for the brief news. 



The Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Greg James is broadcast weekdays from 06.30-10.00 am.
The Breakfast Show has been running since 1967, but Greg James took over as the 16th presenter in 2018.
BBC Radio 1 is broadcast on FM, DAB, Freeview, Freesat, Virgin, Sky, or online via BBC Radio Player (including via the phone or tablet app) where it can be heard live or streamed for 30 days.
It is produced by the BBC from its own studios at Broadcasting House in London.
There’s a useful BBC Academy podcast (with transcript) about how the programme is produced http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/articles/art20170619095219011
The music is largely playlisted – what is going to be played on daytime Radio 1 is decided by a committee; they choose around 40 records each week for repeated daytime play

(A-list records get 25 plays a week, B-list 15, and C-list eight to 10).

How does the content suit the target demographic of 15 – 25 year olds?
There is a lot of humour and young language such as 'soz', informal language. The 'yesterday's quiz' is fairly funny and engages the audience as it is similar to challenges that they may look at on their other chosen platforms such as YouTube
What does the above content hope to achieve?
Engages the audience and hopes to turn them into regular viewers. It is very entertaining. Challenges such as this are likely to be made into YouTube clips which reaches a wider audience. 
What news features were aired, why are they relevant to a youth audience. 
-football and the weather can be relevant as young people might be interested in football, or want to go out themselves and need to know the weather. If not, they may be interested in celebrity gossip such as Cardi B. There may be some youths who want to hear about the hard news and express their opinions on twitter as part of the new culture to protest and share ideas on social media.

As the BBC is the world's largest producer, it can create original high quality media content and high production costs. They are able to fly out celebrity guests and have a consistent radio station running even through the night when profits are lower. It also means they can afford to potentially lose profits by playing a range of music genres that some may not like as well as new artists who havent been heard of. 


Audience segmentation -- 
Gender is targeted by radio 1 as they have a range of different elements. Stereotypically, males will enjoy news about football and females will enjoy celebrity gossip. There are certain songs that apply specifically to a gender, for example Jess Glynne's sings about women and confidence in 'Thursdays' which males may find catchy but otherwise probably wouldn't relate to the song. 
In terms of ethnicity, culture can have an affect in terms of rap, soul, blues being part of black culture and others having different preferences. 

Host
There is debate as to whether radio 1 made the right choice in Greg James as he is funny, but is a safe option. 32 year old male, and therefore older than the target audience. He is charismatic and colloquial which may intrigue younger people more, however I feel that most young people are more interested in podcasts by people they follow rather than a radio show by a random funny presenter that they likely don't know. 
A female may have been a good choice but it may have been perceived as a 'token' and an attempt to be politically correct, and as a result annoyed certain people more. 


Maintaining audiences

On YouTube, Radio 1 has 3.5m subscribers compared to Radio 2’s paltry 42,069. Radio 1 has 2.55m Facebook likes compared to Radio 2’s 633,053. 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,
As Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper explained this morning: “Radio 1’s Listen, Watch, Share strategy means that RAJAR is only part of the story. Alongside the 10.5m listeners, our YouTube videos have received over 1.4 billion views and we have 8.7m followers across social media.” The reason Radio 1 has so many social media followers is because it’s producing content that works on YouTube and on social media as well as on radio. These things are funny, they’re usually video-based, and they just happen to act as breadcrumbs that entice people on social media to tune in. When it gets famous guests, Radio 1 plays games like Innuendo Bingo or Playground Insults that are rivalling Carpool Karaoke, the hugely popular spot from James Corden’s massive US TV show, in terms of actual funniness and in what execs like to call ‘shareability’.