C1 Radio

Wednesday 27th November

Radio Research

1. BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1 Anthems, BBC Radio 1 Dance, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 2

Wednesday 4th December

The Radio Industry

Do Now

Lo: To explore the content and structure of the unit

1. BBC Radio 1

2. Radio that hosts advertisements to make money

3. It has a variety of different stations for different age groups, genders, and backgrounds

4. Language, Industry, Audience, Representation

5. The explanation and backstory behind something Historical, Political, Social and Cultural 

Public Service Broadcaster: Public broadcasting involves radio, television, and other electronic media whose primary mission is public service

Commercial radio: Commercial radio is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example

Community radio: Is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest.

Podcast: A digital audio file made available on
internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series, new instalments of which can be received by subscribers automatically

DAB radio: Digital radio is the use of digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Digital transmission by radio waves include digital broadcasting, and especially digital audio radio services

RAJAR: Radio Joint Audience Research Limited was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and Radiocentre. RAJAR's predecessor was called Joint Industry Committee on Radio Audience Research

BBC Radio: The BBC is a public service broadcaster that operates several national stations and many local radio stations. Each of these has a distinct identity and targets a specific audience. The BBC is publicly funded by the licence fee

Community Radio: often not-for-profit, these tend to cover small areas and follow interests of certain groups. They are funded by a variety of sources

Commercial Radio: Funded by advertising

Public service radio is funded strictly by the 'public', for example the BBC has the licence fee. Whereas commercial radio is funded by advertising, and tends to be broadcasted by privately owned corporate media (e.g. Heart).

DAB has better quality sound

DAB has content across a range of platforms

Wednesday 18th December

The Archers

Do Now

1. A radio station that is funded strictly by the public 

2. Advertisements

3. News Mixed Speech and Spoken Word

4. RAJAR OFCOM

5. Music streaming platforms (e.g. Spotify) 

LO: To explore the context and background of our set product.

With radio, you can choose a station which plays your favourites, whether it be from a podcast or 'listen again', allowing you to continue listening to your music tastes. Also, you can easily listen on the go. In the majority of cars, it is free, accessible and national, making it a quick solution for entertainment.

Soap Opera Conventions - 

Feature matriarchs

Stories focused on family, work and relationships

Designed for regular listening

Ongoing stories

Multi-strand narratives

Set in specific locations

Features more dialogue than action

BBC Radio 4, On the Internet, Podcast, Spotify

Actors are employed for 6 days in which they record 24 episodes.

Episodes are broadcasted 3-6 weeks after recording

Monthly script meetings take place where four writers have to produce a week's worth of scripts each

The production team meet biannually to plan the following months and even years worth of storylines.

The Archers is the worlds longest-running radio soap opera ongoing. It began broadcast in 1951 on Radio 4 in part to educate returning soldiers about World War II. The show, set in the fictional village of Ambleside, explores comforting tales of rural English life. Some stories are more dramatic, but most are about relationships or more realistic everyday events such as farming. Each episode is 13 minutes long and listened to by more than 5 million people. The show is broadcast every day at 7pm, again the next day and in a weekly omnibus. The target audience are adult women.

Wednesday 8th January

Set Episode

Do Now

1. 1951

2. BBC Radio 4

3. Matriarchs, specific locations

4. Every day at 7pm

5. To inform, educate and entertain

Lo: To explore a specific episode of the set text and the target audience.

Storylines - Gavin in prison, Emma broke the rules as a parish councillor, play (Christmas, Santa, Nerves of the play before, Congratulations after, Possible panto), Gavin living in a hostel (Poor living condition, Doss house, He is repentant, Complicit in a crime but then told the truth,  Kirsty sounds shocked and upset

Main Characters - Linda - Posh, Joy , Emma, Kirsty, Gavin Moss - Welsh, Mick, Alan

Genre conventions - Matriarchs

Audience appeals

How does this episode inform educate or entertain - Prison release hard to get back in to society, slave labour, real life community and relationships. 

How does the episode show the impact of social or cultural contexts - Living in a van, cant afford a house, modern slavery, panto, community project

Wednesday 15th January

Audience

Do Now

1. 1951

2. Someone in prison, a play, someone living in a hostel and in a van

3. Matriarchs, specific locations

4. Every day at 7pm

5. To inform, educate and entertain

AGE - Middle-aged 55+

GENDER - Female

LOCATION - Rural

INCOME -  £37000 a year

CLASS - Skilled manual workers

SEXUALITY - Straight

RELIGION - Christian

Female

55+

ABC1 (middle/upper class)

White British

Right-wing

High disposable income

Midlands location

Audience and U&G

Podcasts

Indexes of character information

Social media conversations

News articles

Behind the scene videos

Clips online

Blog

Discussions online

Grace Archer died in a fire at the stables

Polly Perks suffered a miscarriage

Princess Margaret became the first member of the royal family to appear on a British soap

Elizabeth Archer had an abortion after she was abandoned by Cameron Fraser

Two thugs with a shotgun burst into the village shop, taking Betty, Debbie, Jack and Kate hostage

The village received its first female vicar, Janet Fisher

Tony Archer’s elder son John died in a tractor accident

Ruth Archer had a mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer

Listeners heard married publican Sid Perks get steamy in the shower with country singer Jolene Rogers.

 Emma Carter married Will Grundy, despite having slept with his brother Ed and not being sure who the father of her unborn baby was.

Owen King raped Kathy Perks before being chased from the village by her ex-husband Sid

Adam and his partner Ian were joined in the village’s first civil partnership

Helen shocked her family by becoming pregnant by donor insemination

Lady of the Manor Elizabeth Pargetter had an affair with married underling Roy Tucker

Wednesday 22nd January

Do Now

1. Domestic violence, death, sexuality, cancer, abortion

2. BBC

3. Through the TV license

4. They can focus on their aims to inform, educate and entertain, instead of strictly making money

5. 55+ women, upper/middle class, ABC1, Right-wing, from the Midlands.

Soap Opera Conventions

1. Open Narrative
2. Well known theme tune
3. Large casts
4. Set around a small central area
5. Aim for verisimilitude
6. Each episode ends on a cliff-hanger

Key Characters

Jill Archer - 

• A loving but controlling matriarch, Jill still rules the roost at Brookfield.
• Played by Patricia Greene
• Born 3 October 1930
• In a relationship with Leonard Berry
• Retired farmer's wife
• Lives at Brookfield Farm
• When Ruth persuaded David to move north, Jill’s refusal to go was a big factor in his change of heart. Her insecurity over Phil’s first wife, Grace, flared with the arrival of Toby and Rex Fairbrother in 2015, nephews of the woman she’s always worried about measuring up to.

Justin Elliott - 

• Justin has a number of interests in Ambridge
• Played by Simon Williams
• Engaged to Lillian Bellamy
• Managing director of Damara Capital
• Lives in Dower House
• The smooth-talking but ruthless Justin initially ousted Brian Aldridge as chair of the BL board, replacing him with Annabelle Schrivener, only to then later reinstate Brian. He brought in Charlie Thomas to maximise profits and later employed Rob Titchener for a short time in the same role.
• Justin's company Haskor would have been involved in the construction of a new Borchester-Hollerton relief road (known as Route B) but it met huge local opposition and was eventually scrapped by the county council.
• He rented the Dower House from Lilian, who became his social secretary and then mistress.

Alan Franks -

• Not everyone's idea of the classic rural vicar, ex-accountant Alan is a mover and shaker. Good looking, good humoured and an original thinker, some of his more quirky schemes have occasionally raised the eyebrows of his more traditional parishioners.
• Played by John Telfer
• Married to Usha Franks
• Vicar
• Lives at the Vicarage
• Works out St Stephen's Church
• The only blot on the landscape is his rift with Shula Hebden Lloyd over his marriage to Usha. Shula disapproves and this has cast a shadow over this one-time close friendship.

Tony Archer - 

• Tony’s glass is often half-empty, but a session under the bonnet of an old tractor, with a flask of Pat’s home-made soup, always cheers him up.
• Played by David Troughton (from January 2014)
• Born 16th February 1951
• Married to Pat Archer
• Farmer
• Lives at Bridge Farm
• Tony grew up with three formidable women – mum Peggy and sisters Jennifer and Lilian – and married a fourth, Pat Lewis. In his youth, Tony had a reckless streak and at one point, exasperated Pat moved out, but they have worked together to build up Bridge Farm and raise their children John, Helen and Tom.
• Peggy’s disapproval of their organic vision led to family tensions, which reached boiling point when she changed her will to bypass Tony and Pat. But they were reconciled when Tony was critically injured by Otto, his prize bull.
• Tony blamed himself when John was killed in a tractor accident, and opposed Pat’s plan to track down John’s son and Helen’s decision to be a single mum. But now he is a doting grandfather to Johnny, Henry and Jack. 

The Archers educates the audience through mature topics, and ways to deal with them. For example, Kirsty having a miscarriage. The Archers appeals to female audiences through matriarchs, such as Jill Archer. It fits soap opera conventions because most episodes end on a cliffhanger. For example, Gavin talking to Kirsty after being let out of prison. The Archers appeals to an older audience because of the wide array of older characters, such as Jill, Peggy and Leonard.

Wednesday 29th January

Audiences and U&G

Do Now

1. Around 5 million

2. ABC1 middle-aged women in the midlands

3. Every day at 7pm

4. Demographics

5. To inform, educate and entertain.

Explain how the BBC uses different platforms to distribute radio programmes. Refer to The Archers to support your points [10]

Spotify

Social media

Website

Podcasts

Blog

Radio twice per day

Omnibus

Fan groups and discussions

The BBC uses various different platforms in order to distribute radio programs. For example, The Archers once raised 100K for refuge, through fan groups and overall discussions about the storyline of domestic abuse regarding Helen. By tackling serious, mature topics such as these, it establishes the target demographic, but also builds it's publicity from those talking about it. The Archers is also an example of how the BBC utilises radio as a whole in order to promote the show. The Archers is a radio drama, to begin with, which relies on those listening to have access to radio. However, The Archers is accessible every day at 7pm on Radio 4, and allow people to stay caught up, is replayed the next day at 2pm. Along with this, there is a weekly omnibus every Sunday, meaning that there isn't excuse to not listen to it. This overwhelms the audience, but in a helpful way, as it allows them to maintain their audience, even when they cannot listen to it. It is also accessible through a podcast (on the BBC website and Spotify), which allows those without access to radio, to be involved. For platforms such as X and Facebook, the BBC do not control what is said or spread about The Archers, therefore gaining popularity without direct involvement. By using serious and mature topics, publicity gained is not explicitly gained from their actions, keeping their remit of inform, educate and entertain instead of directly advertising the show. This lets the BBC use various different platforms in order to build upon and distribute their radio programs. 

Why might audiences not like big story lines like Domestic Violence and Modern slavery:

Close to personal experiences

Real life experiences in Radio

Personal Identity - Relate to topics (Domestic violence, free Helen), Character - various in age interest etc,

Information - Help for topics Domestic Violence/Modern slavery/Prison release, Rural life

Entertainment - Storylines gripping, escape normal life

Social Interaction - Fan pages, social media debates, FreeHelen

Why might audiences listen to the Archers? Refer to U&G in your answer [10]

Audiences may listen to The Archers to appeal to their entertainment and social interaction needs. For example, The Archers tackles many topics that vary from fun and joyful to serious and miserable. A varied programme such as this, increases the chance that the audience will find entertainment in parts of the episodes. With this variation, the storylines that entail it are built up to be gripping for the audience; and allows those who live outside rural areas or the UK itself to understand their culture and lives, and briefly escape their own. This also may link to information (in the Users and Gratification theory), as it educates the audience on their way of life, that other cultures may not be familiar with. The Archers also has a large amount of people who reach further than the show, and discuss and debate the show's content on social media platforms. On these platforms, fan pages for the The Archers have been set up which allows people to connect with others who enjoy the show, and allow them to 'discuss and debate'. This is more prominent alongside the 'gripping storylines', as it gets people talking about the show more often (such as the #FreeHelen, fundraising for domestic abuse victims). This explicitly links to the Social Interaction aspect of the theory. However, all of these aspects (Entertainment, Information and Social Interaction) all link to Personal Identity, as it allows the audience to seek comfort in their personal lives through entertainment and relatable characters, information on experiences you may face or be facing and empathise with others about shared experiences (e.g. Domestic Violence) through the love of the show. 

Wednesday 5th February

Exam Questions and Responses

Do Now

1. Community, commercial and PSB

2. Public Service Broadcaster

3. Commercial radio

4. Community radio

5. BBC Radio 4

1. OFCOM regulates radio
2. Commercial and PSB - two other types of radio. Commercial radio is funded by advertising whereas a PSB is funded strictly by the public. Commercial radio stations are focused on making money off of their programmes, whereas a PSB can follow their remit more closely. 

The BBC follows the aspect of their remit, inform, by using mature subjects in their story in the Archers. For example, in a storyline regarding Helen and domestic violence, mature topics are introduced in order to help the audience understand more about potential real life scenarios. Despite audience members who may not ever be exposed to these topics, it allows them to develop a consciousness towards referencing mature subjects in social settings, by presenting the reactions of the victim and the people around them in the show.

The BBC follows the aspect of their remit, educate, in terms of the history of the Archers. When The Archers was started in 1951, the original aim was to educate the audience about farm life after the war, and taught those inexperienced in rural life about farming and rationing. The modern-day Archers, keeps strong to it's roots by focusing on the close-knit community within the rural area, similar to real life, and the sense of bond and togetherness these people share. This allows those who live in urban areas to understand the culture and beliefs of those living in the countryside.

The BBC follows the aspect of their remit, entertain, by having the storyline in the Archers constantly be dramatic. Subjects such as abuse, slavery and prison life have been used in order to keep the content of their show fresh and engaging. Considering that the BBC is a public service broadcaster, they allow themselves to be able to stay close to their remit, and therefore become trustworthy and consistent in their programmes.

Which radio station broadcasts the Archers?

BBC Radio 4 

Identify one audience for The Archers?

Middle aged women

Women - Storylines follow female characters, strong female characters

ABC1 - Mature subjects, serious subjects, gradual/realistic, rural life for city people

Audiences listen to The Archers because it allows them to seek a new version of themselves after tragic events. For example, when Tony blamed himself for John's death, real life scenarios and feelings come into play, and for those experiencing similar events, they can empathise with the character, and grow once more as they do. This fits to Personal Identity in the Users and Gratifications theory, as it allows people to learn about themselves, their emotions and then build upon them.

Do Now

1. 2

2. 1h 15m 1h 30m

3. BBC Radio 4

4. The licence fee

5. Educate, inform, entertain.