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Life Hacks: debt advice feature on BBC Sounds

Listen to this debt advice feature on BBC Sounds.


BBC Radio 1: History

BBC Radio 1 launched in 1967 playing pop music and using jingles in the style of American radio. It was a significant change from previous BBC content and was hugely popular in the 1970s and 1980s (some shows had 10m+ listeners).

It became available on DAB digital radio in 1995 but not promoted until digital radios were more popular in 2002. It is available via digital TV and online via BBC Sounds.

Radio 1 is famous for events as well as radio – summer Roadshows, Big Weekends and the annual Teen Awards.


Industries: Radio in decline

Although the BBC still boasts impressive audience figures for BBC Radio 2 and 4, it has struggled to attract young listeners to BBC Radio 1 in recent years.

Since 2010 listeners have declined – and although BBC R1 targets 15-29 year olds the average listener in 2017 was aged 30. Radio 1 is increasingly focusing on digital and social media with 16m weekly YouTube views reached in 2018.


BBC Radio 1 - The Surgery & Life Hacks: Blog tasks

Analysis

Listen to the extracts from The Surgery and Life Hacks above and answer the following questions:

1) What do the titles The Surgery and Life Hacks suggest?
They suggest that it will provide something to audiences so they can have a different sort of lifestyle to their previous one it sounds something that will help individuals get over issues maybe.

2) How are the programmes constructed to appeal to a youth audience?
The programmes are constructed to appeal to youth audience as it talks about issues related to them like gender identity, sexuality, relationships and mental health. The trailer also talks about growing up and university this is the use of direct address directly targeted at the youth. There is informality as the way both of them are introduced through first names.

3) What does the choice of presenter (e.g. Katie Thistleton) and Dr Modgil suggest about the BBC’s approach to diversity and representation?
It represents diversity as Katie if from Manchester and represents the sense of regional identity.

4) Look at this promotional graphic produced by BBC for The Surgery. How does it construct a representation of a youth audience?
It constructs the promotional graphic as it is addressing things like social media and includes informality and offers music but also advice segments from DR modgill as well as using well known celebrities.

5) Now look at the graphic from a digital media perspective: how does it suggest audiences are listening to and interacting with BBC broadcasts in the digital media landscape?
It suggests that it is encouraging the youth to listen to it as the use of emojis and current issues of social media this is all quite central to the youth audience.

Audience

1) What is the target audience for BBC Radio 1?
BBC R1 targets 15-29 year olds


2) Who is the actual audience for BBC Radio 1?The average listener in 2017 was aged 30. Radio 1
 is increasingly focusing on digital and social
media with 16m weekly YouTube views reached in 2018.

3) What audience pleasures are offered by The Surgery and Life Hacks? Apply Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory.

The audience pleasures include:
Personal identification as the presenters refer to their own lives and personal experiences as well. This means that BBC Radio one encourages audiences to identify themselves with what is being said.

Diversification as the audiences are entertained and listen to this as a route of escapism from reality.

4) Read these Guardian reviews of The Surgery and Life Hacks. What do the reviews praise the programmes for?
The surgery talked about the issue of rape and raised concerns that young people may not have been aware of:
The Guardian:The surgery

  • Giving teenagers the legal definition of rape is an important thing to do. Explaining to them that because rape involves penetration with a penis, women can’t rape men (though they can commit sexual assault): that’s important too. 
  • If you say you’re happy to have sex with a condom, that doesn’t mean that you’ve consented to sex without a condom: in fact, you explicitly haven’t consented, and so if it takes place it is, therefore, rape. These are vital things for people to know, whatever age they are.

The Surgery Guardian review
Life Hacks Guardian review

5) Read this NME feature on Radio 1 listener figures. What are the key statistics to take from this article regarding the decline in Radio 1 audience ratings?





  • 9.2 million listeners that Radio 1 now pulls in each week is officially the second-lowest ever recorded ratings for the BBC station.
  • 9.1 million, which was posted in May 2017.
  • Radio 1 in terms of its digital audience, with the station now posting a record 16 million YouTube views a week.


  • Industries

    1) How does The Surgery and Life Hacks meet the BBC mission statement to Educate, Inform and Entertain?
    The Surgery provides surveillance and informs the audience about issues that audience need to know and are current to us and this differentiates from the life hacks as it is more of informing and educating.
    2) Read the first five pages of this Ofcom document laying out its regulation of the BBC. Pick out three key points in the summary section.






  • For the first time, the BBC will be robustly held to account for doing so by an independent, external regulator. Alongside responsibilities for programme standards and protecting fair and effective competition in the areas in which the BBC operates, the Charter gives Ofcom the job of setting the BBC’s operating licence (the Licence). 
  • On 29 March 2017, we consulted on a draft Licence setting out requirements for the BBC to fulfil its remit, and plans for Ofcom to measure the BBC’s overall performance.
  • Ofcom the job of setting the BBC’s operating licence (the Licence) setting the binding conditions, requiring the BBC to deliver for licence feepayers. It is also our job to scrutinise, measure and report on the BBC’s performance.


  • 3) Now read what the license framework will seek to do (letters a-h). Which of these points relate to BBC Radio 1 and The Surgery / Life Hacks?

    • Strengthen news and current affairs rules. To make sure the BBC reaches the widest audiences possible with its news and current affairs content, we have increased quotas for news on BBC One and current affairs on BBC One and BBC Two, and set new regulatory conditions for radio.
    • Support social action campaigns on BBC radio. We are requiring Radio 1 to offer a minimum number of major social action campaigns each year. Providing information and raising awareness of social issues affecting young people.
    • Support regional and national audiences, and creative economies across the UK. For the first time, the BBC must spend broadly the same amount on programmes, per head, and make broadly the same volume of commissions, per head, in each of the UK’s four nations. 
    4) What do you think are the three most important aspects in the a-h list? Why?

    • Strengthen news and current affairs rules. To make sure the BBC reaches the widestaudiences possible with its news and current affairs content, we have increased quotas for news on BBC One and current affairs on BBC One and BBC Two, and set new regulatory conditions for radio.  
    • Support a wide range of valued genres. The BBC must support a wide range of genres across
    •  its channels and services, such as drama, comedy, factual programmes and different types of music. Ofcom expects the BBC to support valued genres, particularly those that have seen declining investment. 
    • Support regional and national audiences, and creative economies across the UK.  Forthe first time, the BBC must spend broadly the same amount on programmes, per head, and make broadly the same volume of commissions, per head, in each of the UK’s four nations.


    5) Read point 1.9: What do Ofcom plan to review in terms of diversity and audience? 
    The review will ask what audiences expect from the BBC to understand whether it reflects and portrays the lives of all people across the whole of the UK, ranging from younger and older audiences to diverse communities.


    Read this Guardian interview with BBC 1 Controller Ben Cooper.


    6) What is Ben Cooper trying to do with Radio 1?
    He wants to make it like a Netflix for radio.

    7) How does he argue that Radio 1 is doing better with younger audiences than the statistics suggest?
     For one, Rajar, the official body in charge of measuring radio audiences, only publishes figures on audience survey respondents aged 15 and over, which he feels is unfair. “You have a target age of 15 to 29, but nothing is measured for under-15s but everything is to death beyond the 29 target, which means, using averages, you are going to get skewed much older,” he says. “I think it is an old-fashioned metric for an old radio industry. You have the maths against you.”

    8) Why does he suggest Radio 1 is distinctive from commercial radio?
    “We will play something like 4,000 different tracks a month, commercial radio plays about 400. We need to play hit music to get audiences in to expose them to new music. I think we need to look at the fact that we are no longer competing just purely with Rajars against Capital and Kiss.

    9) Why is Radio 1 increasingly focusing on YouTube views and digital platforms?
    It is focusing o this because they attract younger audiences so they are more likely to stream things from their as it is part of the new digital media.

    10) In your opinion, should the BBC’s remit include targeting young audiences via Radio 1 or should this content be left to commercial broadcasters? Explain your answer.
    I think that the BBC's remit should include to target young audiences as present issues for young people are important and this way with engaging with the media is quite there for educating and informing purposes.






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