P1: Describe the different radio industry operations
P2: Describe the focus of a chosen radio station
I chose to compare BBC Radio 4, which is a national radio station, to Cam FM which is a community radio station. I also looked into BBC Radio 4 in more depth for the P2 task.
National Radio Station: BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio that is owned and broadcasted by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) which is the public service broadcaster in the UK which means that it makes all it's money from a licensing fee. The average listener of BBC Radio 4 is a 54 year old of the ABC1 demographic.
BBC Radio 4 is a national station which broadcasts across the UK. Unlike a commercial radio station, BBC Radio 4 is a public broadcaster and gets its funding from the "TV License" that everyone has to pay. Effectively this makes BBC Radio 4 a non-profit radio station as they use their money they profit to run the show more effectively and to invest it into other sections of the BBC broadcasting sphere. Because this radio station is part of the BBC who is a public broadcaster, it means that they have to appeal to all audiences and give all sides of the argument when discussing any particular issue. BBC Radio 4 mainly consists of radio dramas, comedy shows, documentary segments, and talk shows. BBC Radio 4 targets the older generation with their content as they put out a lot of sophisticated contented which ends up also targeting the ABC1 demographic as they are more likely to be educated to the point where they would find BBC Radio 4 and it's intellectually stimulating content entertaining. BBC Radio 4 |
Community Radio Station: Cam FM
Cam FM is a community broadcasting radio station. Cam FM is a radio station that is privately owned and for profit, meaning that it makes their money through things like advertisement etc. The target audience for Cam FM are student's and young people aged between 18-25. Their target audience also tends to fall in the ABC1 demographic.
Cam FM is ran on a much smaller scale than BBC Radio 4. This can be seen in the people running it. Cam FM is created and run by university students from Cambridge who are not paid for what they do, this counts as volunteering work. On the other hand BBC Radio 4 has a huge team of specialists working together to make the show. Cam FM provides over 100 hours of original programming per week during term time as it is run by student's who aren't as active on the radio station once they're out of school. They tend to cover things that students are interested in, such as sporting events. Cam FM is also known to dabble in charity, they broke the world record for the longest radio broadcast and raised £2800 for charity. Because Cam FM is a radio station ran by students about student issue and interests, it is very effective in targeting students as their audience. As Cam FM is a fairly small radio station they tend to gain their audience by broadcasting something unique which cant be heard elsewhere, a good example of this is when they broadcasted the only coverage of the Oxford vs Cambridge Women boat race. |
There are many differences between two radio stations which I have described above, the main difference is the fact that one of them is national and the other one is local. This makes a huge difference in the viewership of the radio show as a national radio show can be tuned into throughout the whole country. On the other hand, the local radio show broadcasts only within a certain area outside of which the radio station is more complicated to tune into. Another difference is the fact that BBC Radio 4 get's it's money from the TV License. In the end this means that there are no adverts featured on BBC Radio 4 unlike on Cam FM which relies on advertising to fund its operations.
Another difference is in the job roles within the two stations that create the radio show. BBC Radio 4 is very well funded programme that has a very wide team which creates it. This makes it that the radio show is able to produce very high quality content all year round. On the other hand we have Cam FM which is run by volunteering university students who are only able to work on the radio show during term time. This results in lower quality content that isn't broadcasted all year round.
Both stations would however require a presenter as one of the job roles in order to lead the radio show and present various different sections of it. Both radio stations also have station managers who are in charge of making sure the radio broadcast goes as planned. Along side station managers there are also station producers who are in charge to arranging the radio shows and providing various content needed to make the radio show possible.
BBC Radio 4 is unique compared to Cam FM in the sense that most of it's content is provided by free lancers who are self employed and work for BBC Radio 4 externally. This also extends to external companies who also provide content. This is all possible due to the fact that BBC Radio 4 is funded by the public as it is a public broadcaster and it is very well funded compared to more local or community based stations. BBC Radio 4 would also have different head of genres and departments within the radio station in order to cater to a wide audience and provide original content on an hourly basis.
BBC Radio 4 has various different programmes led by different presenters. These all require an introduction and a basic timeline of how the show is expected to go along. Below I have provided a basic timeline of how a news segment of the BBC Radio 4 news show would look like. After listening to a few news reports on BBC Radio 4 this is what i've gathered.
Another difference is in the job roles within the two stations that create the radio show. BBC Radio 4 is very well funded programme that has a very wide team which creates it. This makes it that the radio show is able to produce very high quality content all year round. On the other hand we have Cam FM which is run by volunteering university students who are only able to work on the radio show during term time. This results in lower quality content that isn't broadcasted all year round.
Both stations would however require a presenter as one of the job roles in order to lead the radio show and present various different sections of it. Both radio stations also have station managers who are in charge of making sure the radio broadcast goes as planned. Along side station managers there are also station producers who are in charge to arranging the radio shows and providing various content needed to make the radio show possible.
BBC Radio 4 is unique compared to Cam FM in the sense that most of it's content is provided by free lancers who are self employed and work for BBC Radio 4 externally. This also extends to external companies who also provide content. This is all possible due to the fact that BBC Radio 4 is funded by the public as it is a public broadcaster and it is very well funded compared to more local or community based stations. BBC Radio 4 would also have different head of genres and departments within the radio station in order to cater to a wide audience and provide original content on an hourly basis.
BBC Radio 4 has various different programmes led by different presenters. These all require an introduction and a basic timeline of how the show is expected to go along. Below I have provided a basic timeline of how a news segment of the BBC Radio 4 news show would look like. After listening to a few news reports on BBC Radio 4 this is what i've gathered.
BBC Radio 4 has a remit which is "to be a mixed speech service, offering in-depth news and current affairs and a wide range of other speech output including drama, readings, comedy, factual and magazine programmes. The service should appeal to listeners seeking intelligent programmes in many genres which inform, educate and entertain."
BBC Radio 4 aims to fulfil this remit by offering a range of programmes led by well-spoken and educated people who discuss subjects or present themes which are tailored more to an educated audience who seek intelligent programmes. BBC Radio 4 applies this structure to all forms of it's station, from news programmes to radio dramas. This fulfils the remit by ensuring that BBC Radio 4 is not only informative and educational but also entertaining.
The target audience for BBC Radio 4 are 35-54 year olds in the ABC1 demographic. It is due to this that the remit talks about providing intelligent programmes as most often members of the ABC1 demographic tend to be well educated and seeking of these sorts of programmes. In order to target their audience effectively, BBC Radio 4 employs educated free-lancers in order to run high quality programmes that provide intelligent content in all forms in order to not only fulfil the expectations of the remit but also those of the target audience.
BBC Radio 4 aims to fulfil this remit by offering a range of programmes led by well-spoken and educated people who discuss subjects or present themes which are tailored more to an educated audience who seek intelligent programmes. BBC Radio 4 applies this structure to all forms of it's station, from news programmes to radio dramas. This fulfils the remit by ensuring that BBC Radio 4 is not only informative and educational but also entertaining.
The target audience for BBC Radio 4 are 35-54 year olds in the ABC1 demographic. It is due to this that the remit talks about providing intelligent programmes as most often members of the ABC1 demographic tend to be well educated and seeking of these sorts of programmes. In order to target their audience effectively, BBC Radio 4 employs educated free-lancers in order to run high quality programmes that provide intelligent content in all forms in order to not only fulfil the expectations of the remit but also those of the target audience.