The soul purposes of radio are to inform and entertain. There is literally thousands of stations throughout the world, this is because everyone is different and has different tastes to be catered for. Therefore, each radio station has differences in the way in which they are presented and broadcast so they can best suit their target audience.
The first station I will look at is Asda FM. Asda FM broadcasts to 18 million shoppers per week according to an article written by ‘The Guardian’ newspaper; although this is not an official statistic I believe it is very close to reality, taking into account how many people shop each week. Such a large audience is incredibly difficult to tailor a show to, thus the shows style is rather indirect, not talking very intimately with the listener, this is because there will not be just one demographic group listening, there will be a range, all of which must be spoken to in a manner which interests them. Another reason for this lack of intimacy is because the average listener will only pay a fleeting interest in Asda FM as they will just hear it in the background as they shop.
The Djs have essentially the perfect radio voices, this is vital as radio is a single sense medium, meaning everything is spoken word, there is no visualisation to back it up. The DJ’s have voices with a pitch which is mixed, high at times but also low when appropriate, this is pleasing and easy on the ear. The pace is also good, the average amount of words per minute for a twenty – thirty year old is 145, this is what we are used to hearing and thus sounds natural when broadcast on the radio. Pauses are also used to great effect, a DJ must have great confidence in when he pauses as they can alter the entire meaning of a sentence, ideally pauses are used at the end of sentences and at comfortable, natural sounding times within the sentence if it is long. Finally they project their voice, this is vital because if someone does not project their voice with confidence and clarity they will come across as uncertain/uneasy, this has an effect on the listener and can make them tune out because this lack of conviction can be uncomfortable for the audience. Projection is particularly important for Asda FM the DJ’s are far from monotonous which does grab the attention of people who hear it, this means people are more susceptible to the adverts which are played throughout the shows which tell the audience about special promotions etc. within the store. Putting these components together, you will have a DJ who is confident, fulfilled, self assured and positive, consequently putting the listener at absolute ease and in the perfect position to take in the information being fed to them.
In store is not the only platform for this radio station, it is also broadcast live, throughout the day on the internet (http://www.asda.co.uk/corp/asda-fm.html) , attracting around another 1000 listeners (according to the same article, by a credible newspaper). This second platform means the adverts and promotions are being broadcast to people beyond the shop, this is beneficial for Asda as it can attract people to the store.
The playlist used on Asda FM consists mainly of popular music from within the last 5 years, pop music is used because it has the largest audience and entertains the majority – Entertaining the majority is what Asda FM have to aim for as they cannot cater to individual tastes with such a massive audience of over 18,000,000, if they did it would leave large sections of audience unhappy.
The next station I will look at is BBC Radio 1, in particular, Chris Moyles’s breakfast show. Unlike Asda FM, the Chris Moyles show has an audience of around 7.72 million people, according to RAJAR. This is less than half of Asda FM so Chris Moyles and his team tend to be more intimate and close to the audience, although most of the time they are indirect as they talk amongst each other as oppose to directly to the listener, you still have a feeling and a sense that you are part of this friendship group. This is a feeling which is vital to the success of the show, as it is based upon humour and ‘having a laugh’, something which is common between friends. We know the show is about fun because of the informal way the DJ’s talk amongst themselves, also due to the features that are played, such as ‘Car Park Catchphrase’ – A fun game as in its original context was supposed to be seen visually as oppose to listened to. Everything right down to the humorous jingles and fairly fast paced upbeat music beds tell us that the show is not meant to be taken too seriously.
The Chris Moyles breakfast team consists of Chris Moyles, the main presenter and anchor, Comedy Dave, Aled, Sam, Dominic and Tina. As you can see this is a good mix of male and female, thus pleasing to the audience who are a mix of genders however the men do speak more, which is something Moyles has done intentionally as in an interview with ‘The Daily Record’ he does admit that the show will target males slightly more than females.
Something that helps make the show look more fun and less corporate is that Sam, the producer is often heard joining in with the antics in the studio, this makes everyone, presenters and listeners alike feel more relaxed. Although the DJ’s heard do have good voices for the radio, with steady pace and pleasantly mixed pitch you do not necessarily notice it as much as you do with the Asda FM DJ’s, it is much less obvious. After listening to the show for a while you become less and less aware that they are DJ’s and they become more like friends chatting to you as they would down the pub. Again this is perfect for their target audience of 15 – 29 year olds.
Another thing which helps the listener identify and connect with the show is the fact that it does not have to be a single sense media, it is now a cross media platform; the audience have the opportunity to log onto the internet and view live webcam pictures of the presenters, watch YouTube clips of the team outside the studio and read profiles of each of them on the website. This connectivity helps ease the audience even more, thus enhancing their ability to laugh along with the show. The show is also broadcast live on the internet thus opening up avenues for worldwide listeners and not just people based in the UK. Podcasts are also produced so that people who do not neccasarily want to listen to the full 3 and a half hours can listen to a condensed version of ‘the best bits’. This means there is yet another audience of people who maybe can’t listen in the morning but can now listen on demand.
Finally I am going to look at ‘Matchday Live’ a program on TalkSport radio presented by Adrian Durham. It broadcasts every Saturday afternoon, except on International football weeks. It’s main aim is to inform the audience of every goal scored throughout the football leagues in England and Scotland. The show has a 76% ABC1 profile with understandably an 85% male audience, this is because the show is absolute football, which is of interest mainly to men, this is reflected in the fact that the presenter is male.
The mode of address is fairly formal as ‘the lads’ in the studio discuss the latest happenings in the football world, interaction with the audience is common place after the games finish with fans phoning in and voicing their opinion, at this point the DJ becomes very direct in his manner of speech and talks to the fans, also encouraging other people to phone in and voice their views.
Unlike most other radio shows, there is no music, it is just constant football news which is perfect for the football fan.
Adrian Durham’s speech is, as I said, just like ‘one of the lads’. The pitch of his voice is a normal sounding mix of high and low, for the most part, however if there is exciting action occurring in the match, his pitch will change to a higher note and the pace of his voice picks up, this helps involve the audience as he is conveying the action occurring in front of him through his voice. Understandably there is very few pauses in his sentences because it is literally nonstop action with events happening right across the countries football grounds.
This show differs greatly from The Chris Moyles show, for example. There is much less emphasis on fun, as the talk turns fairly serious at some points, it is important that Durham takes the show seriously because for some people, football is an incredibly important and passionate game, he must fullfill the needs of his audience by supplying them with the vital information in an understandable, clear manner.
