LO1 Analysis of a radio programme

Our radio programme will likely be very similar to the Steve Bailey show which airs at 5 in the morning on BBC Radio Leeds and presents the audience with an overview of the day’s news, sport, weather and travel. As well as this the programme is broken up with musical intervals much like ours will be. 

Purpose:

The purpose of the Steve Bailey radio show is to educate as well as to entertain the audience.

Bailey tells the audience information about current affairs (an example of this would be in the morning of the 16th of March where he told the story of how thousands of people had signed a petition to save Filey's fishing industry.)

As well as this however the programme plays popular music for the audience which would be an example of ow the show also aims to entertain. On the morning I listened the first song to be played was "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard".

Content:

The show is clearly aged at people between the ages of 30- 65 as that these are the people who are likely to have a persistent schedule that will leave them free at the times that the show is scheduled to air at.

The news stories are also clearly aimed at an older audience. A good example of this would be the story about the online petition. While they mentioned that the petition was online they used a lot of restrictive coding as that the people watching would likely not understand the jargon of the subject at hand.

The first 3 songs to be played on the show were “Me and Julio down by the school yard” by Paul Simon, “Till I’m done” by Paloma faith and “Woman in love” by Barbra Streisand. This makes me think that the show plays mostly old music as that two of the three songs played were released before 1990 and the third’s (the Paloma faith song) album was released just 4 months before this show was aired. This mixture of current hits and older music is fairly common in drive time radio as that it helps to keep an older target audience interested and in some cases can boost the sales of the newer music that is promoted.

The Steve Bailey morning show airs at 5am. The reason for this is that the target audience would be working class people who have to get up early to go to work. This programme would therefore fall into the "Breakfast" time slot. This fits with the BBC's mission statement to educate audiences as that radio stations such as this one allow people from every walk of life to know what is happening in the news

Income:

The Steve Bailey Show is a public service broadcast created by the British Broadcasting Corporation (the BBC) and is funded through licencing fees which all British citizens pay. This means that the BBC do not need to use advertisements to gain revenue like many other radio shows.

Being funded by the government does have several restrictions on the BBC however. They are not allowed to host advertisements to make more money or subliminally attempt to sell products to a viewer. As well as this hen providing the news they have to be unbiased and factual.

Production techniques:

The show makes use of many sound effects and jingles in order to covay a sence of proffesionalism. An example of this is the was that Bailey introduces the "Question impossible" 

Audience participation: 

In between songs the show has a section called “Question impossible” which gives the audience a brain teaser to think about. On the 16^th of March this question was: “Name three consecutive days without using Sunday, Wednesday or Friday.” This contributes the “conversation section of the programme which also features Bailey asking the audiences opinions on the changing of the book “The Three little pigs” to make it “More politically correct.”

Sections like these are very important as that they give the listeners of the show to feel included and as though they are valued by those creating it. This allows the show to stand out from others when the listener is deciding what they want to listen to. 

Staff and resources: 

There are many people who would be involved in the creation of a show such as the Steve Bailey show. Firstly Bailey himself. Bailey is an ideal fit for presenting his show as that he is likeable and charismatic. This means that many audience members will return to the show frequently for his personality and not the shows format which is fairly typical.
The show also needs people to investigate stories and bring them to bailey so that he can present them. These people work by asking first hand sources about the stories that are of interest to the show so that as much information can be given to the audience.

The show will also have a DJ who selects the music that will be played on the show. This is a difficult job as that the show has sections wherein the audience is asked or the music that they would like to hear and it is up to the DJ to make sure that nothing offensive or inappropriate is broadcast.

As well as these the show will also rely heavily on their radio broadcast assessments who are responsible for booking guests, archiving footage, typing scrips and arranging and sending out competition prizes. 

The show will also require a lot of equipment to reach its level of professionalism. Firstly the show needs computers and microphones in order to be recoded and broadcasted. As well as this the studio will need sound mixing equipment so that they keep the sound levels consistent and that he listening experience is comfortable. The show also relies on its transmission equipment in order to broadcast the show this equipment will include a transmitter (likely of a large size as that the programme is broadcast to people all over south Yorkshire), transmission lines and an antenna.

The show will be recorded in a professional soundproofed studio so that no outside sounds interfere with the show.  

References: 

https://beonair.com/best-equipment-used-for-radio-broadcasts/ - Radio equipment
https://www.allaboutcareers.com/careers/career-path/radio - Radio personnel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05y3xl4 - 16th of march Steve Bailey