Product Placement

An important part of radio is ensuring that certain shows are broadcasted at the right time and in the right place with the correct content for the target audience. As my results from the questionnaire show, there are more popular times for people to listen to the radio and less popular times. Therefore I need to ensure that my clip of radio is placed in the correct slot and reaches the correct audience in a successful way.

People consume radio in a variation of ways; however I found that the most popular place for people to listen to the radio was in the car. This was between 8am and 12pm which showed me that it was on people’s journey to work and therefore the breakfast and later morning shows are very popular and reach a large majority of people. This would mean that ideally, my piece of radio would be played somewhere between these times, however, between 6 and 10pm was also a popular time for people to listen to the radio, assuming this is their journey on the way back from work this could be another option of a slot to place my piece of radio into.

However, in the car is not the only way radio is consumed. Many people have the radio on in the house a lot of the time, as a background noise and are likely to turn it up for shows they enjoy. Although radio’s are still a way of consuming radio, less and less people are buying radios in the modern day, as it is easily accessible to listen to the radio through the television or the internet; most radio stations have a ‘listen live’ option featured clearly on their website. Also, if a show someone particularly enjoys is missed in many cases it is possible to access this through the internet and listen to it from the beginning. Many ‘smart phones’ can also access radio, therefore radio is a very dominant way of entertainment, it is accessible from pretty much anywhere and a very successful industry allowing information to be spread very quickly.

Much like television, the BBC radio stations are funded through television licence fees; this means that the BBC does not play adverts throughout their shows or at all. However, local radio stations do not have the ability to use TV licence funding; this is a BBC only option. Therefore, they have to find a way to fund their shows; they do this by playing adverts on a regular basis throughout all radio shows. Depending on the length and the time adverts are played, will depend on the cost that companies will have to pay, however this cost is paid to the radio station and is the way local radio stations are funded. This is again similar to the television; adverts have to be used to fund the different channels.

As what I will be creating is a five minute news bulletin, I know that news bulletins are played throughout the day. However the show our news bulletin will be in I intend to take place between 9am-12pm daily and therefore would have more than one news bulletins in it so it should be considered whether I want to use the same newsreader each time or not. I think it is necessary to have the same newsreader in one show, not necessarily every day, but within the same show having the same newsreader ensures that the show maintains some continuation. News bulletins are usually regular within a radio show, this is because different people tune in at different times and through playing them regularly it means the news is reaching as many people as possible whereas if it was only played once an hour or every two hours it is likely that most people would miss it; it is not often that someone has the time to listen to a radio show from start to finish. Therefore the news bulletin could take place every 15 minutes, for example, 10:00, 10:15, 10:30, 10:45 and then again at 11:00. However this then may be too much, as it would be taking up 15minutes an hour of just news, therefore a good idea could be for us to have a five minute news bulletin on the hour within peak hours and a quick news recap every half an hour.

Mrs D

A good start Kerris. You need to be more specific - provide quotes and look at language. Make sure you focus more on news as this is what you have to create.

Media Artefacts

Eagle Radio
Thursday 27th January, 12:05 – 12:10pm
The clip I listened to was a traffic update, however being a local radio the update was specific and relevant to the local radio therefore making the information useful to the listeners. At the end of the traffic update the reader stated her name; although it is a formal and serious part of the radio show it creates a connection between the audience and the reader making it more personal. After this the Eagle Radio jingle is used, this is a way of reminding the audience which station it is that they’re tuned into and through using the station number is allows the audience to remember the station; '96.4 Eagle Radio'. This then goes straight into ‘Just haven’t met you yet’ by Michael Buble and at the end of this song a voice over comes on and says ‘Eagle Radio’ again reminding the audience of the station.

Heart Radio
Tuesday 25th January
The clip I listened to from Heart Radio Berkshire opened with an introductory jingle, this consisted of someone singing the show name over some background music, a common jingle in radio. Through having one of these at the beginning of the show it allows the listener to be reminded of what show it is that they are listening to, as well as creating a friendly atmosphere. The show was made up of male and female presenters which adds a contrast, the news and weather was read by a female whereas the main show was presented by a male. It is important to have a clear difference in presenter between the normal show and the news bulletin, this is due to the fact that the news bulletin is a different context to the rest of the show and needs to presented in a serious manor. Therefore having a different presenter, especially of a different gender marks a clear difference and changes the tone and attitude of the show. The news bulletin was read with local as well as national headlines, informing listeners of anything that may affect them. To end the news bulletin “you’re up to date” was spoken over background music in a serious tone however adding a lightness to the news bulletin. The news bulletin was followed by adverts, needed within a show to earn funding for a radio station.

Radio Somerset
The news bulletin started just before 6 o clock with a travel update. This opened with 'Travel', the bbc Somerset jingle was then played followed by 'here's your update...'. Male and female presnters were used for the speech, jingles, travel and news to add contrast and seperation. The travel was read by a female; conjestion and hold ups were highlighted heading in and out of somerset on the M4 and M5. The travel update then went on to highlight any delays with trains also. It then goes on to highlight phone ins, a way to add discussion to the show 'you can always give us a ring', 'more of somersets people' followed by a previous phone in clip, 'more of somersets stories' which was again followed by a previous phone in clip. To remind listeners of times it was then stated 'every weekday' 'from 6:30', 'live from where you live'(this shows its a local radio station); these phrases were alternated by a male and female presenter, again, to add contrast. Before the news update a song was then played, being a local radio station it wasn't a well known chart song but a classic.
At exactly 6 'o'clock the news update started, opening with 'time for the news'. The opening story was a international piece of news 'men stranded in Libya sound their relief when rescued...' this story was supported by a vox pop which further explained the story from one of the wives point of view and added an atmosphere. With there being other international news stories in Libya currently, the story was followed up with these; 'meanwhile in the country...'. The news then moves on to localised news, 'detectives investigating a serious assult in Bristol town centre...', 'Bristol family of 5 have been rescued', 'Mum of three in Bathampton...' this story of which was followed up with a vox pop from the Mum and her story which was raising money for the 'Help for Heros' charity. The news feed stories close with 'Final preperations are underway for the Oscars'. The news update was read at a fast moving pace however clear with the news reader making a pause between each story to give the listener a clear start and end to each story.
The weather update is opened with 'and quickly for tonight...'; the update consisted of a brief summary of what to expect 'tomorrow dry and bright in the morning but cloudy in the afternoon'. Being a local radio station a detailed weather report is not expected by the listener. Finally, the News bulletin was ended with the news reader stating her name for reference for the listeners and 'it's now three minutes past 6'.
The news bulletin ended and Kylie Minogue's 'Spinning around' track was played.

Media Artefacts

BBC Radio Berkshire
Tuesday 25th January, 1pm – 1:05pm

The first part of the clip listened to was the ending to Olly Murs’s song ‘Thinking of me’ which was recently in the charts. At the end of the song the clip went straight into a traffic update, told by a clear male voice, this was a fairly quick traffic update as it is only a local radio station therefore it can be precise and accurate. This was then followed by the BBC Radio Berkshire jingle, which is simply ‘BBC Radio Berkshire’ however with sound affects and sung/spoken in an accented voice. The blips took place immediately at the end of this as the ‘coming up’ section started; blips are the three tones that signify the time is on the hour, or half hour, so in this instance it would signify that it is exactly 1pm. Behind the female voice in the ‘coming up’ section background music is quietly present, this created more of an atmosphere and upbeat for the show; the news then follows this. Differently in the news, with it being a serious section within the show, the focus is completely on the voice, the news is read by a male voice in a very serious tone. Being a local radio station as well as the headlining national news there is focused news on the local area, for example a story on Wokingham to do with cutbacks on bin bag collection; in the news they also use a brief interview with a member of the public who was present at a headlining story, this adds a realistic sense to the news stories.

Mrs D

There is some good analysis of data here. Get some RMAs up soon.

Further Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Where do you listen to the radio?
In the car
Around the house
At work
Other………………………………..

What is your preferred amount of presenters on a radio show?
1 2 3 4 5

What is your preferred part of the radio show ?
News
Music
Interviews
Live lounge
Celebrity ‘gossip’
Other…………………………..

What radio station do you most listen to?
Radio 1
Radio 2
Capital
Kiss
Eagle
Magic
Heart
Other…………………………………………


Results

Where do you listen to the radio?



The results show that 55% of the audience asked listened to the radio in the car, this backs up the idea that it is travelling to and from work like suggested in the first questionnaire. 35% listened to the radio around the house which would suggest it is in the background perhaps while housework and cooking etc are being done. 10% of people listened to the radio at work, however this is likely to be in a certain job, office jobs people don’t tend to listen to the radio so this could be the case for self employed people.

How many presenters do you prefer on a radio show?


The results show that there is correlation to show that people preferred more presenters on a radio show than less. 5 being preferred by 33%, 4 was preferred by 27%, 3 by 20%, 2 by 13% and 1 presenter preferred by just 7%. This will help me when creating my radio clip, I now know that it will be preferred by the audience that there are more than 2 people, it wouldn’t be necessary to have 5 for my clip as it is only 5 minutes long so it would complicate things, however if in the future I was to create a radio show I understand that more characters and personalities in one show does appeal to the audience.

What is your preferred part of the radio show?





The results to this question show that people didn't seem to drift towards one particular answer, it seems that it is a matter of preference therefore all areas of the show are valued and a credit to the show. However, the results showed that the most popular was music, 30% of people asked chose this answer, with the next favourite being interviews with 25% of people preferring this. Celebrity 'gossip' was the favourite of 20% of people, however live lounge was only voted by 15% and news just 10%. This therefore suggests that the news is not a favourite of the show, however the news is an important part of a radio show; as shown before radio is a very good way to get information and entertainment out to a vast number of people, therefore it is important for news to be on the radio. It is likely that people agree it is vital for news to be on radio shows however they just wouldn't choose it as their favourite in a questionnaire as it is not a form of entertainment unlike music.

Which radio station do you mostly listen to?

The results show that Radio 1 was the most popular radio station amongst those asked, 35% chose it as being the station they mostly listened to. Capital was also another favourite, with 20% of votes; the results show that the least listened to amongs those asked was eage and heart, both with only 5%. However this could be to do with aspects such as Capital and Radio 1 being very well known radio stations and their well known reputation of being an entertaining radio station with both stations having benefits such as Radio 1 do their 'big weekend' and Chris Moyles (their main morning presenter) has his own chat show now also, which is good advertisement for them. Capital also hold a 'Jingle Bell Ball' and 'Summertime Ball' every year at the o2 arena in London, therefore a very big event; this would make good advertisment for the radio station.

Miss D

You've understood the results of your questionnaires, now consider placement of product based on the results as this is crucial if doing radio.

Results analysis

What age group do you fit into?

It is clear from this chart that the majority of the people answering the questionnaires were of the younger age range; I would predict that this would influence the music type listened to, to have a vast majority of one category.

What gender are you?

My results show that over 50% of the people participating in my questionnaire were female; this could therefore affect my results in the way that the results from genre listened to, varies between the sexes. I can therefore take this into consideration when analysing that result.

Do you listen to the radio?

This result shows that 88% of the people asked listen to the radio, this shows that it is a popular source of entertainment and reaches a vast majority of people.

What times do you listen to the radio between?

The results here tell me that the most popular time for people to listen to the radio is between 8am and 12pm; this is therefore likely to be whilst getting ready in the morning or on the way to work – this idea is supported by the fact that 19% also listen to the radio before 8am which is the same idea (some people travel to work earlier, usually between 6am and 9am). 19% also listened to the radio between 3pm and 6pm, this could be parents picking children up from school or activities, therefore the radio might be on in the car (my further questionnaire will give me more confirmation of this). 25% of people listened to the radio between 6pm and 10pm, this is likely to be peoples journeys home from work, therefore in the car again. Between 12pm and 3pm is not a time that people seem to listen to the radio, it is the middle of the day and people are therefore preoccupied with other daily tasks. And after 10pm is not a time people listen to the radio, likely to be because they are socialising or using other ways of technology such as watching the television.

What genre do you listen to?

The most popular genre of music listened to was R&B at 37%; this most likely is related to the fact that over half of the people answering my questionnaire were between the ages of 10 and 18; R&B is also a genre of music that is featured in the charts weekly, usually a dominant genre in the charts. Pop was the next most popular, with 27% of people listening to pop, this again is likely to link with the charts because pop is also a main genre that regularly features in the charts. 16% of people listen to dance, this is music that often features in clubs and with the main age group being 10 to 18, this could be a reason for that. Indie, rock and classical had smaller percentages, these are not music genres that are regularly features high up in the charts, therefore it takes other methods of advertisement etc to encourage people to listen to these genres of music.

How often do you listen to the radio?

The results show that 50% of people that answered the questionnaire listen to the radio once a day. This again shows that the radio is a good source to get information and entertainment to a wide audience. And 31% listen to the radio twice a day or more, therefore combined with the people that listened to the radio once a day this is 81% of people that do listen to the radio every day. 6% listen to the radio once a week and 13% rarely which shows that in comparison the radio is a successful source of entertainment and it is listened to by a wide audience, as 81% is a large majority of people.

Radio Questionnaire

Radio Questionnaire

1. What age group are you?
Under 10
10 – 18
19 - 25
26-40
40 -
2. What gender are you?
Male
Female

3. Do you listen to the radio?
Yes
No

4. What times do you tend to listen to the radio between?
Before 8am
Between 8am and 12pm
Between 12pm and 3pm
Between 3pm and 6pm
Between 6pm and 10 pm
After 10pm

5. What genre do you like to listen to?
Rock
R&B
Indie
Dance
Pop
Classical
Other

6. How often do you listen to the radio?
Twice a day or more
Once a day
3 times a week
Once a week

Rarely