LO1 : Investigation of the radio industry

Using the PPT’s attached and your knowledge of media ownership and audiences, explain and compare how each radio station operates based on who their target audience is

Kerrang FM-

Kerrang fm started in 2002, broadcasting modern and classic rock to a young adult rock audience (16-24), the night shows however were aimed at a more mature audience who enjoy heavy metal/punk music. Kerrang also has a magazine which means that the audience is refined to those who pick up and buy the copies. The target audience is therefore more refined than say hallam FM who play current hits as this type of music is a refined taste. Kerrang Fm is a subsidary of Bauer Media, as is Hallam FM however they have completely different target audiences due to the genre of music they play. kerrang plays a collection of rock and punk music broadcasted from the west midlands all arounf the UK, although a seemingly niche audience, they amass around 1.4 million listeners. Due to technological convergence Kerrang can be accessed in a variety of ways one of the most common being the mobile application which allows you to not only listen live, but access previous shows and podcasts much like Hallam FM which shows how Bauer Media work across a variety of platforms. Kerrang due to being a part of a wider network has the ability to be apart of horizontal integration, the radio station can be promoted by the magazine published by Bauer media as well as the app and website.

Hallam FM -

Hallam covers the south yorkshire area and is run by bauer media alongside various other popular media outlets. Primarily, Hallam is popular with a majority female audience with a predicted reach of 361,000 listeners per day for an average of 10 hours. Hallam plays all the latest hits making it popular with young people aged over 15 up to age 45. Hallam FM has the slogan ' The new stuff and the proper tunes ' which entices not only a young demographic, but those who are aged over 18 who are more likely to recognise the older music from the early 90s onward. Hallam is a commercial radio station meaning it has regular advert intevals - the majority of these adverts are suited to the average listener therefore focus around the saving of money on things such as shopping, car insurance and mortgages which are topics most important seemingly to their listeners. Hallam FM broadcasts a variety of shows the most popular of these being the Big John at Breakfast which is aired from 6am each morning. The show focusses on a specific topic for the morning and has a general peer to peer mode of address to get listeners ready for the day ahead. Unlike Kerrang, Hallam Fm plays a variety of music from the big top 40 to throwback anthems which keep the target audience as wide as possible. Due to hallam being a subsidary of Bauer media it has similar platforms to kerrang , they have both a website and an IOS/Andriod app meaning listeners can tune in whenever they want or listen back to the shows they have missed. Hallam also has another radio station 'Hallam 2' which is aimed at the older listener and plays hits from the 70s onward, this proves Bauer medias ability to cover all platforms and cater for all listeners.




Sheffield Live -

Sheffield live is a local radio station broadcasting local news and weather to listeners in sheffield. It is owned by commedia and this service has been broacasting since October 2007, although not part of a conglomerate company, Sheffield live still has a relatively large listenership with over 40,000 listeners tuning in. Sheffield live is a social enterprise meaning it is owned locally by communities, shareholders and individuals unlike say hallam FM which is funded solely from advertisements and the horizontal integration from Bauer media's other subsidiarys. Because it is a community radio station, Sheffield live must broadcast in the interest of the local community therefore must reflect the diversity and tastes of the listeners - In amongst this must be local news and current events such as the recent Tramlines show which included one of the founders of the event discussing the festivals 10th birthday. Sheffield Live rely on advertisements to keep the show running, although it is non profit, there needs to be some form of income to keep personell running the show day in day out. The music which is played on this station is an eclectic mix of reggae, ragga, jungle , Asian pop and traditional , african , pop , traditional and chart music which truely reflects the diversity of Sheffield as a city.



Internet-

KOOL 97 FM is a Jamacian radio station which exists only online, they play music which is relevant to their listeners with artists such as Bob Marley, Chronixx and Protoje. This station differs to say Hallam Fm as they exist online and do not have the ability to promote themselves through a conglomerate company - shows like this rely on their online presence on both social media and on their own website to gain listeners. This show in some ways could be compared with Kerrang Fm as it plays music which may be considered niche, and also Sheffield live as the aim is to effetively target a specific audience as they do with the cultures in Sheffield. One of the most interesting aspects of this show is that they regularly announce incoming and outgoing flight times into jamacian airports - this shows once more how the show is made for its listeners.

Non-profit -

Hive Fm is a university radio station broadcating in Manchester from the university campus, they play a variety of music ranging from hip-hop, RnB and indie. This show gives the listeners and university students the chance to have their voices heard on the station - it follows the conventions of other talk shows such as Hallam Fm as it has a variety of music, phone in sections and interviews with locals however functions the same way as Sheffield live as it is simply non profit and the only people benefitting from it are the listeners. The demograohic for the listeners of this show are likely to be young 18-24 year olds living at the university campus , it is likely that this radio station can be heard within the university bulidings and students unions as they will be broadcasting things relevant to student life or current student events within the city.


Public -

BBC Radio 2 is a public service broadcast meaning it is funded by the tax payer, unlike all the other shows we have looked at, the BBC do not rely on sponsership from advertisments and such as they are 100% funded. The BBC has a ethos which mean they have to broadcast things which are both educational and factual this means they can continue to be funded by the government. Public service broadcasting shows such as BBC radio 2 often stay clear of celebrity gossip or anything which could be seen as defamatory as they often appeal to an older target audience.






Radio can be accessed in variety of ways with thanks to technological convergence, it is now possible to stream shows which you have missed online through creating an account with the chosen provider for example Hallam FM - you can then listen to podcasts, missed shows and even up coming audio trails. The most traditional way for consumers to listen to the radio of course is via tuning into a specific frequency at the time the show is being aired however again you can listen along live using the mobile application - this is known as simulcasting.