Radio Industry

By Jess Swinfield

Commercial Radio

Commercial radio stations aims are about getting the highest number of listeners possible, they mainly play mainstream music that is popular as this is what attracts the highest possible amount of listeners. The BBC is a public service broadcaster and this means that they care more for the

needs of different audiences rather than the high amounts of viewers. Yet in the UK the only commercial station nationwide is Classic Fm, they

are owned by Sky. Even though this is the only nationwide station it is not the most listened to , as Capital radio which is in London gets the

most viewers a week. Both Classic fm and Capital fm are owned by Global radio. The radio station Real Radio are owned by the Guardian

Media Group, all three of these stations are commercial radio stations.

Explain what commercial radio is and explain a little bit about the ownership of commercial radio stations in Britain Commercial radio is Radio that generates revenue by selling air time to companies , these are filled with commercial advertisements. The money from the advertisements

create money to run the radio station and also creates profit.

Listening figures for Capital FM, and Real Radio?

Radio Station Listening figures (PW)

Capital FM. Around 6million listeners

Real Radio Around 2million listeneres

Public Service Broadcasting Explain what PSB is and create and a chart to explain the different BBC stations, their remit and what they cover.

Public service broadcasting is the stations that broadcast for the benefit of the public and their needs. They have to do three main things, these are to Inform, educate

and entertain. For example, BBC Radio1 Inform and educate their audience by broadcasting the news, and they entertain by playing music that appeals to their target audience and talk about relevant things that will also appeal and entertain

the target audience. station Music Genre Target Audience Music and Speech

BBC Radio 1 Mainstream music. New and old musicNight time- dance, baseline etc.

Teens – young adults Up to around 35

Both speech and music are used on this station.

BBC Radio 2 Older music The older generation, Mix of Speech and Music

BBC Radio 3 Jazz music and Classical Anyone that likes classical and jazz music

Music and speech.

BBC Radio 4 -nil. -Speech and dramas are used on bbc4

Older Listeners BBC Radio 4 uses no music as it only consists of speech and dramas.

Station What type of music? Target Audience

BBC Radio 5 Sport radio. Sport fans.

BBC Radio 6 New and old music , that is not mainstream

Most ages

BBC Radio 7 No music, all speech. People who are interested in documentaries and polotics

Music and Speech

Speech

Both music and speech

All speech

New TechnologiesHow are the BBC and commercial radio stations using new technology to broadcast to their listeners.

The internet was created in 1992, when it was created everyone thought it would kill Radio, but no, in fact the internet increased listening figures for radio, as this was another way radio could be broadcasted nation and worldwide. This new way of

listening to the internet made it a lot easier for people to listen to the radio when they were at work or at home as the internet is a large importance in everyday life.

Also modern technology has created mobile phones and music devices that enable people to

listen to the radio on the move, this also has increased listening figures just as the internet did

also.

Non-for-profit radioExplain what non-for-profit radio is and cite a few examples in the Yorkshire area.

Non profitable radio is also known as community radio, It is both radio for commercial and public purposes. They usually broadcast things that are relevant to the places they’re broadcasting, they are usually small stations that broadcast over a city or town. They also broadcast thing and music that is relevant to the target audience they are aiming for.A main non-for-profit radio station in Yorkshire is one based in Bradford, it’s called BCB (Bradford Community Broadcasting, it is a community radio station because the people involved behind the production and presenting are not paid, and the station is funded by commercials played on it. Another non profit radio station in Yorkshire is based in Pudsey called PGFM, this station is run by students for experience and their school work. It is funded by local businesses that pay’s the station to play their advertisements on the show.

Professional bodies

Community media association (CMA )is a non-profit making organization founded in 1983 to support community radio – and our remit has expanded to now include

community television and community-based Internet projects. The CMA represents the community media sector to Government, industry and regulatory

bodies.Community Media Association (CMA) OFCOM;- Ofcom regulate the content on radio

(as well as television) to ensure it is suitable for broadcast.Advertising standards authority (ASA)- another regulating body, who ensure all

adverts are suitable for broadcast, and don’t break any of the CAP codes.PRS for music- An organization who ensures artists and composers get paid when their

music is played on the radio.

Briefly explain the role of the following professional bodies in the radio industry.

The National association of Broadcasters (NAB) Provide opportunities that are professional to develop opportunities for local radio stations nationwide.

Commercial radio Companies association (CRCA) represents commercial radio to the government , Ofcom, copyright societies and other organizations involved in radio. It manages

the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre which clears national and special category advertisements prior to broadcast. CRCA also jointly owns Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd (RAJAR) with the BBC and was instrumental in the formation of the Digital Radio Development

Bureau, a company owned by UK digital radio multiplex owners.

All information on this page, was gathered from Google searches.

Employment in the Radio Sector

Commercial radio nationwide employs 10,000 people- just under the 11,000 people employed by the BBC nationwide- 48% of all employment in the British radio industry. In the radio industry, the amount of broadcasters employed is 6390- 28% of all employment in the industry, making it the

most common job. There are 2260 in production (10%), and 4710 in journalism (21%). There are a high amount of freelance workers in the

radio industry, meaning workers who help at more than one station. A quarter of the British radio industry (25%) is made up of freelance workers.

The majority of the entire radio workforce is based in London- 38% of all radio jobs are located here, including 59% of all BBC radio jobs. However,

the highest percentage of commercial radio jobs are in the North of England- 19% take place here, slightly more than London’s 17%. Media

studies is important to work in production- Just over two-thirds (69%) of nationwide workers are graduates, whilst 18% didn’t secure a

qualification. According to Skillset, future employees to the radio sector will need ‘multi skilled talent to deliver flexibility and adaptability’. As well

as technical and creative specialists to help ‘break new ground’.