Radio Continued...

There are three types of radio: Publicly funded, commercial and community and voluntary. (I have explained the difference between these in my previous blog entry.)


Highlights of BBC Radio 2
Radio 2 is a distinctive mixed music and speech service, targeted at a broad audience, appealing to all age groups over 35.

• 40% of music in the daytime is from UK acts.
• 20% of this music in the daytime is new (either unreleased or less than one month since release - physical release, not download release.)
• 260 hours of live music.
• 1,100 hours of specialist music programmes.
• 100 hours of arts programming.

Radio 2 has key breakfast and drivetime slots as they will get more listeners in these times of the day because people will be on their way to work, or on their way back, or people could be getting ready to go to work and just want to listen to the radio while they are eating their breakfast. Throughout this time they describe the broadcasting as being positive and warm in tone - this could be because they are trying to keep drivers awake.


They show a use of a 'selling line' on the website of Radio 2: "It is our ambition to provide a service that continues to offer surprises but at the same time is more cohesive, with our digital offer taking a central role."


Mode of Address
Mode of address is the way in which we address the audience.


Mode of address can be; direct or indirect.

• Direct (inclusive) - speaking specifically to the audience member.
• Indirect (exclusive) - generic, not directly to them.

The use of register is also important because you have to decide if a formal tone is neccesary or an informal tone is neccesary. Informal tone can be colloquial (slang or chatty).


Heart FM
When we were listening to Heart FM, all we heard were songs and adverts. However, this could be due to the fact we were listening to Heart FM at around midday which is when people are having their lunch and would want to be listening to music. The songs and the artists they had on the station at the time are very well known for example: Westlife, James Morrison, Lady Gaga etc. After we had listened to at least three songs, they went straight into some adverts. These adverts were:
More Than Home Insurance, EDF Energy, Carpet Right, PayPal prize draw, TKMaxx, Toby Carvery, Tom Tom and British Gas, Volkswagen. - This shows how many adverts they put on at any one time as all of these adverts were presented one after another.
After they had played some music and presented some adverts, they went into what they call the 'Midday Latest' in which they spoke about Prince William's Marriage. After this thery went straight back into some music - 'I'm Your Man' and 'I've got a feeling'.


Heart FM compares to the BBC because they play a lot more music than Radio 2. Radio 2 contains a lot more chatting between people because they have certain slots such as: Drivetime and breakfast - in which their aim are to keep people awake.


Orson Welles; War of the Worlds

• This radio broadcast worried people because many believed it to be true. Statistics show 1.7 million people believed it to be true and 1.2 million were 'genuinely frightened'.
• Outcomes - people fleeing the area, some people reported they could smell poison or gas.
• Many people missed the repeated notices that the broadcast was fictional.
• The radio broadcast jumped between scenes and narratives which made it hard for the audience to distinguish between fact and fiction.
• At one point phone lines as well as electricity were out so residents were unable to call friends and family to calm their fears.

Moral Panics

• Moral panics start when the media are placed in a position of social control.
• Audience understanding is reliant on binary oppositions.
• Usually generated by a story that relates to the theory of deviency.
• Main problems are - it can produce more social deviancy and does not really solve any problems.

Media coverage increases, social pressure forces government action and the public feel vindicated.