This post covers the radio industry in its entirety. But it is not complete! It is based on notes from two classes, and covers some areas in way more detail than other areas. Your notes will cover everything not included here.
Listening to the radio can be an ambient or passive experience
Audiences may listen to meet their needs in a variety of different ways. However, after surveying the class, it seems that many of you listen to radio (including podcasts and digital streaming radio) in a variety of ways that can considered to be passive. The most popular way for you lot to listen to radio seems to be 'in the car' This is interesting as many media forms are crafted to be payed attention to. So radio meets their needs of it's audience in different ways!
Radio still has a significant reach
Many (including me, tbqh) are rather surprised to see that radio not only exists, but it maintains a broad level of popularity. Radio still has reach, and it still targets a number of both niche and mainstream audiences.
Defining radio is difficult
Technically, radio would refer to broadcast radio, broadcast over radio waves to a national, international or local audience. Digital radio or DAB uses digital technology to broadcast live radio. A radio show that is pre-recorded and then digitally distributed is referred to as a podcast. Clearly, these are all very different things (especially when many podcasts have a video version!). However, for the sake of this unit, we will be referring to all these media as 'radio'. It's a bit like calling Netflix or BBC iPlayer 'TV' when it REALY REALLY ISN'T.
Broadcasting is communicating to a huge or mass audience. Narrowcasting is communicating to a niche audience
Radio can target absolutely huge audiences (for example BBC Radio One, a station that is close as it is possible to being 'for everyone'), and absolutely tiny audiences (for example the podcast Game Study Study Buddies, a podcast that specialised in under/graduate level discussion of academic books that study videogames, mainly targeting people who study videogames at degree level)
Examples of radio stations and their output
- Heart FM
- Kiss
- KISSTORY
- Capital
- In game radio in the GTA series (!!!)
- 80’s 90’s themed radio stations (audience nostalgia?)
- Talk radio, talking rather than music
- Podcasts - pre-recorded radio shows, often made on a specific topic
A few key terms
Since only industry and/or audience questions can come up for the radio industry, you don't need to be too hardcore about textual analysis. However, please make sure you know what all these words/concepts/names refer to!
- Lexis
- Modes of address
- Digital convergence
- Broadcast
- Narrowcast
- Codes
- Sound (diegetic, lack of music)
- Distribution (digital)
- Audience
- Target audience
- Intertextuality
- Ideology
- Narrative construction
- Atmos (or lack thereof!)
- Reception
- Preferred reading
How does radio as a specific medium meet the needs of its audiences?
Here's a few examples/ideas
- Escapism - the idea that our life is deeply flawed and that radio provides an alternative to this. One explanation for why listening to the radio in the car is so popular is that driving is VERY BORING
- Information - we can LEARN THINGS from listening to radio, for example what songs are popular, about different genres of music, and about different ideas, beliefs and cultures (depending on the show/station!)
- Ability to target niche audiences - because of it's comparatively low cost of production, radio shows can be way more niche than other forms of media. A good example is the New Music show on BBC Radio 3, which focusses on noise music, Avant guard and modern classical music, that frankly appeals to a tiny portion of people who listen to the station. This is simply not possible to do on television, as the cost of filming things and then editing video footage causes costs to skyrocket.
- Commercial and promotional reasons - commercial radio stations exist to meet the needs of their PRODUCERS as well as their audiences, as they must make money through advertising
- Spreading beliefs and ideology - spreading positive messages and values can benefit society! Radio can also be used as a tool to present straightforward or even manipulative ideologies, for example 'the perfect song is about three minutes long and goes verse chorus verse chorus'.
The BBC: key facts
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, based at Broadcasting House in London
- The BBC is primarily funded through the TV licence, which must legally be paid by UK citizens who watch live broadcasts on BBC and some some other channels.
- The TV licencing model is rare, and mainly used in the UK and a few other European countries
- BBC radio is therefore funded by the TV licence, meaning that BBC radio is subsidised by licence payers
- Radio one - Mainstream music focused, for a younger to early middle aged audience
- Radio two - extremely broad range of music focused shows
- Radio three - classical music with some weird stuff,
- Radio four - talk focus, targeting an older middle aged audience
- Radio five - sport chat
- Radio six - Alternative music
Key episode: 'home'
Key terminology
Stereotypical
Gender performativity
Reception theory
Demographic - a group of people/audience
Hegemony
Lexis
Intertextuality
Modes of address
Ideology
Semiotics (proairetic, hermenutic)
Genre
Power and profit
Representation
Feminist theory
Fandom
Cultivation theory - where a media product reinforces / grows an ideology over time
How does LNWH appeal to a niche audience?
- Use of stereotypical topics of conversation, including reference to cooking, housework, family and parental stuff…
- Cultivates a stereotypical ideology?
- Discussion of crafting - sowing, knitting, jewelry etc conforms to a stereotypical representation of women
- The lexis of the presenters is gossipy and detailed. Discussion of how these issues affect women, with men very rarely referred to in this episode. A highly atypical and specific mode of address
- In a patriarchal society, the views and preferences of men are valued over the views of women. Therefore a show like LNWH is potentially rare because of institutional reasons. Many shows and media products target men as a default, for example MOTD or pretty much any sports broadcast. Therefore LNWH allows the BBC to pursue plurality
- Listening contexts - a passive listening experience. Many audiences will listen to Listen to LNWH while cooking, working, housework, driving. This episode can fit around a flexible lifestyle, and provides the audience with escapism.
- A sense of purpose, and even social interaction
- Intertextual reference to Game Of Thrones - “winter is coming”, appeals to a potentially mainstream audience, but also adopts a quirky mode of address for the target audience
- Discussion of crafting dolls of famous historical cricketers also reinforces this quirky and irreverent (not serious) tone
- Discussion of Scandanavian culture reinforces a stereotype held about Scandinavian people: that they are happy, chilled and live comfy lifestyles. It is focused on the concept of ‘hygge’, a Danish word that broadly translates as ‘comfy’
- Discussion of how cooking connects women, a delightful and relatable image
- Discussion of taking pictures of food to upload to Instagram “look how gorgeous”, presents a relatable mode of address to the target audience, potentially fulfilling their needs
- Reference to Etsy, an arts and crafts website that would appeal to a younger middle aged female target audience
- Discussion of feminism and the role of feminism in society. A soft feminism/moderate feminist ideological perspective
- Preferred reading: agree with the broadly liberal, soft, yet unproblematic discussion of feminism
- Negotiated reading: “the world is on fire” acknowledges that there are many significant issues in society, while these women discuss topics such as knitting. Is this
- Needs fulfilled include entertainment, company, parasocial relationships, fandom, escapism…
Is LNWH patronising or progressive in its mode of address?
- The argument can be made that the Home episode only explores culture in a superficial manner, and arguably presents a simplified version of the world to its target audience
- Arguably, the concept of ‘hygge’ is not particularly important, and the discussion only scratches the surface of this argument
- Does this discussion actually challenge an educated, middle aged female target audience?
- Discussions of social media and digital technology do show some technological progress
- Complete lack of argument and a superficial discussion with does not feature any disagreement arguable does not challenge the target audience
- A criticism that could be made about LNWH is that the topic of conversation is superficial, and not intellectual challenging. Therefore, an oppositional reading to the Home episode is that it does not further challenge it’s audience, and even reinforces stereotypical perspectives through it’s coverage of stereotypical themes.
- However, LNWH DOES make reference to other cultures, politics and other issues. Therefore, LNWH presents a complicated mode of address for it’s target audience to negotiate, with a range of complex gender identities
Key episode: Vaginas/Pockets
- An oppositional response to this episode may be formed around the (incorrect) assumption that women should essentially be ignorant of their own bodies, sexuality, and should be ‘ladylike’
- The nature of the discussion is mature, adult and matter of fact.
- The dominant ideological perspective is to normalise discussion about women’s bodies in an inclusive way. Topics extend beyond beyond vaginas, to discuss menopause, periods and other related issues.
- While the conversation is inviting, it is not completely inclusive. Not everybody has a vagina, and it could be argued that some female audiences, eg some trans women may feel excluded by this discussion. However the vagina discussion is short and to the point, and quickly deviates to the less controversial and perhaps less exclusionary topic of pockets
- The episode purports to dealing with controversial issues but then practices form of self censorship by almost immediately changing the conversation to talking about pockets instead !
- However, the conversation about pockets is heavily politicised. The panellists discuss the hegemonically dictated differences between men’s clothes and women’s clothes, and why this is. Pocket’s on women’s clothes create a ‘bulky form’, which is hegemonically undesirable. From a feminist perspective, this is to conform to the male gaze
- Mode of address is casual and friendly. While these topics are important, especially to the target audience, the presenters broadly admit through their playful mode of address that they are a niche concern
- Metaphor of the “self cleaning oven” could be self objectification?
- Lack of sex education in schools means that LNWH. So does this episode simply fulfil a need? Or does it simply just tick a box?
Woman’s Hour: contextual information
Please note, we are studying Late Night Woman's Hour. However, having some contextual information about the show it cam from would clearly help!
Started immediately after the end of world war 2. Historical context: many women actually found more freedom during WW2, and then suddenly had this freedom, for example job opportunities taken away. Potentially the show took advantage of the new found taste for freedom, and may have given contemporary audiences a sense of guidance and purpose after losing this freedom. Early in it’s run, Woman’s Hour focused on a series of stereotypical stories including ‘how to cook whale meat’ and ‘how to hang your husband’s suit’. Stories like this reinforce hegemonic norms and values, with huge assumptions about the marital life of the target audience. Therefore from the very start, Woman’s hour could be argued to target a singular and straightforward.
BBC Radio 4
Appeals exclusively to a middle class and older target audience. It does so with a broad yet highly targeted set of programmes, for example Woman's Hour, LNWH and Just One Thing with Michael Moseley. Shows like this meet the needs of a specific audience, and help the BBC to fulfil it’s remit. Ho9wever, other offerings such as BBC 3 are available to working class audiences. This approach is called plurality.
The BBC Sounds web portal
Simple and easy to access. The use of attractive thumbnails allow even users not familiar with digital technology to select an appropriate show. The thumbnails use clear and even stereotypical representations to make clear to the target audience what they are getting. The lexis of ‘relax’ or ‘dance’ makes clear to a range of audiences the exact topics that they are about to engage with. A highly visual mode of address. The use of images of presenters provides a highly personal mode of address, and audiences may form attachments to their favourite presenters. Bright and colourful, positive and optimistic.
The ability to select podcasted shows, to subscribe, download and listen back at the users own convenience is an excellent example of David Gauntlet's pick and mix theory. BBC therefore empowers it’s audience to be active in their listening.
1 - Football Daily - discussion of recent football matches, interviews with players and managers. Provides audiences with an insight in to football, providing the gratification of information.
2 - The Sound Of Gaming - allows audiences the opportunity to listen to game soundtracks, and promotes the appreciation of game soundtracks. Episodes are grouped by theme, eg cities, comedy etc that provides audiences an interesting mode of address
3 - KSI vs Logan Paul - one-off podcast interviewing online influencers, and discussing their boxing match. Fans of these online celebrity can therefore interact with them in new ways. Furthermore, it allows the BBC to target a younger audience that they would not otherwise be able to target