Radio CSPS
War of the Worlds – Columbia Broadcasting Company (1938)
The Surgery – BBC Radio 1 (2017)
These are targeted CSPs and need to be studied with reference to two elements of the Theoretical Framework (Audiences and Industries) and all relevant contexts.
Example exam questions
Briefly define public service broadcasting (PSB) [2 marks]
To what extent is War of the Worlds a historically significant media product? [20 marks]
Identify two strategies or techniques used by Radio 1 to attract a youth audience. Explain the reason for each. [4 marks]
Explain how regulatory contexts shape the output of media industries. You should refer to your radio Close Study Product, The Surgery. [9 marks]
Key question: Is radio still relevant in the digital age?
How does radio respond to the digital media landscape we now find ourselves in. Will younger audiences listen to the radio? Does it have influence? Are podcasts the future for younger listeners?
BBC Sounds
BBC Sounds is a new app designed to bring younger listeners to BBC Radio content. It aims to fulfil its requirements as a public service broadcaster while also responding to the demands of the digital media landscape.
The ShoutOut Network
The Shoutout Network is a London-based network of diverse podcasts designed to give a platform for BAME voices. It demonstrates the rise of independent media producers in the 21st century media landscape. The representation of minority voices also arguably provides an element of public service broadcasting.
BBC Sounds
Read this Guardian feature on the launch of BBC Sounds and answer the following questions:
1) Why does the article suggest that ‘on the face of it, BBC Radio is in rude health’?"The problem is that ever since the BBC was founded almost a century ago it has been based around an era of broadcasting that was designed towards a comprehensive offering: a shared listening – and then viewing – experience. But just as Netflix upended TV viewing habits, the growth of podcasts and Spotify means listeners increasingly expect their audio content to be personalised to them. Put simply, they no longer need to listen to a playlist or a schedule that does not perfectly suit their needs. "
2) What percentage of under-35s use the BBC iPlayer catch-up radio app?
3%
3) What is BBC Sounds?
3) What is BBC Sounds?
BBC Sounds is a new app and website that will bring radio livestreams, catchup services, music mixes and podcasts together under one roof.
4) How do audiences listen to radio content in the digital age?
4) How do audiences listen to radio content in the digital age?
"Convincing people to break their existing habits and put their trust in a BBC-only app will not be easy. Spotify has started to include a large number of podcasts – including BBC material – directly in its app and a growing number of people listen to the radio via voice assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa. Although there is the prospect of commercial radio being added later, industry voices have raised concerns that the app is a solution in search of a non-existent problem."
5) What does Jason Phipps suggest is important for radio and podcast content aimed at younger audiences?
"the corporation faces a challenge to make a compelling app while “competing with a full catalogue of the world’s audio on Apple Podcasts and Spotify” and convince listeners to use it for more than just livestreaming their favourite radio stations."
"He says there is a need to reconsider the entire tone of how the BBC tells stories, shifting away from rigid formality if it wants to attract the precious under-35 audience: “It has to be a warmer, more story-led journey. You need to report the very personal experience of it.
“The very best stories are fundamentally anchored around the personal experience. You’re trying to find the human in the machine. Journalists have a process but younger audiences can find that very cold and want to access the actual response of human beings. They really want to understand the heart of the story.”"
6) Why does the BBC need to stay relevant?
"because the BBC is really important and valued by licence fee [payers] it’s got to continue to be relevant.
Now read this review of the BBC Sounds app.
7) What content does the BBC Sounds app offer?
“Otherwise you leave the BBC set in aspic and increasingly irrelevant. If you believe in the BBC you have to let [it] flourish in spaces where it can have a greater public value than market impact. That’s what we seek to do: be relevant.""
7) What content does the BBC Sounds app offer?
BBC Sounds is for anything audio (apart from long-form audio books). Music, news, drama, documentaries, true crime, comedy – if you want it in your ears, you start with the orange button. The app lets you click through to any live BBC radio station, but it also offers you other forms of listening, from podcasts to playlists.
8) How does it link to BBC Radio?
8) How does it link to BBC Radio?
The app lets you click through to any live BBC radio station, but it also offers you other forms of listening, from podcasts to playlists.
9) What are the criticisms of the BBC Sounds app?
9) What are the criticisms of the BBC Sounds app?
-Programme information hard to access
-Search has to be precise in terms of what you're looking for
-Not enough content
"Sounds is easy to use, though I found the programme information a little tricky to access, and the search – as ever with the BBC – isn’t sensitive enough...My other main problem is there isn’t enough content. “Spooky Sounds” only offered me 11 shows; “Be Curious” just 10. The BBC has thousands of amazing audio programmes! If you browse podcasts via, say, the Apple Podcasts app, you have 16 categories to choose from, and within each, at least 20 series to try. Sounds needs to feel as packed as Netflix in order to properly work."
10) Two new podcasts were launched alongside the BBC Sounds app. What are they and why might they appeal to younger audiences?
10) Two new podcasts were launched alongside the BBC Sounds app. What are they and why might they appeal to younger audiences?
To celebrate the new app, the BBC launched a couple of new podcasts, including the aforementioned 5 Live Waco series End of Days, and Beyond Today, a 20-minute podcast that delves deeper into the big stories of the Today programme.
Beyond Today is an attempt to mimic the New York Times’s successful 'The Daily programme'. The first, about whether the UK has enough money, the second, about an Iraqi Instagram star killed for being too provocative. It would be nice for the programme to refer to actual breaking news, as in The Daily’s “here’s what else you need to know” end section, but it’s not a bad start.
End of Days, exclusive to the Sounds app, is a gripping tale about Waco cult victims, who were from the UK. End of Days talks to their families and friends. There are moments when you want more specifics (the first episode is vague as to what David Koresh actually talked about), but it’s a very interesting show.
ShoutOut Network
Read this Huffington Post feature on the Shout Out Network and answer the following questions:
1) What is the ShoutOut Network?
Over the past few years, there has been a global emergence of podcasts and their role of targeting new customers and clients for their businesses. The Shoutout Network, a London-based network of diverse podcasts, has put together a fantastic offer for businesses to purchase advertising slots across a range of their podcasts for three months from just £1.
2) What podcasts are offered by the ShoutOut Network?
A diverse range of podcasts. They have seen continual growth to their roster of conversational shows adding pop-culture literature podcast Mostly Lit, carefree comedy duo Two Fools Talking, theatre and music aficionados Artistic State of Mind and brand new football show Top 4mation. The network has also produced a serial history podcast Unarchived History that documents the history of London and soon other key areas of the United Kingdom.
3) What audience do they reach?
With the continual growth of these shows reaching more than 20,000 listeners per month, of which 92% are from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.
4) What are the 2015 statistics on podcast listening in the UK?
According to the Online Journalism Blog, RAJAR provided data that from autumn 2015, 3.7 million adults listen to podcasts which equate to around 6.5% of the adult population. It also adds that 57% of the people use them on smartphones, while their preferred activity to listening to podcasts was 47% while commuting and 34% relaxing or doing nothing.
5) The article suggests podcasts are ‘picking up more steam’. Do you think podcasts the future of radio?
Podcasts are picking up more steam in current forms of media coverage. With this opportunity to reach such huge audiences, it could be the better direction for businesses in the UK to go to expand their reach.
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