BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat: Blog tasks

Newsbeat analysis

1) Use BBC Sounds to listen to Radio 1. Scroll to a Newsbeat bulletin (8am or 12.45pm are good options) and write notes on how the bulletins may: 

a) appeal to a youth audience 

The music in the background as the news is said is used to target the youth audience. It creates a different atmosphere to a normal news channel.

 

b) help fulfil the BBC's responsibilities as a public service broadcaster. 

It has a range of topics that is spoken about, some about sport, current affairs and entertainment.

 

Media Factsheet #224: Industrial contexts of Radio

1) Read the first two pages of the factsheet. How does the Factsheet argue that radio still has cultural significance in the digital age? 

The medium of radio is the trail-blazer of twentieth century broadcast forms of communication and even though digital platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, YouTube and many more platforms may be challenging it, it still reaches billions of people. In some developing countries in Africa where people still have limited or no access to the Internet – radio is still the dominant medium to inform and entertain them.

Radio accompanies us in our cars, on commutes through mobile devices and can be found in our homes through television, radio, and voice activated speakers. You can now ‘go beyond radio’ with hardware such as the Amazon Echo Auto which uses Bluetooth to enable you to access radio stations from all over the world in your car via your phone. Radio is a global medium. Radio is also a medium for all sorts of formats: drama, comedy, variety, magazine format, zoo format (a show where presenters chat informally), shock jocks (deliberately provocative talk show hosts), soap operas, (named after the soap companies who sponsored the shows) and advertising itself (with jingles and catchphrases) all started on radio. Intimate conversations and huge spectacular productions all carried, in real time, across the airwaves to your wireless – or what we call your radio set. Radio content sparks the imagination in totally different way than visual mediums and this is why it still remains hugely popular with audiences.

2) Look at the page 4 section on media theories. Briefly summarise the ideas of Curran and Seaton, Hesmondhalgh and Livingstone and Lunt.

Curran and Seaton Media output is concentrated in the hands of a few.

David Hesmondalgh The media put profit before creativity.

Livingstone and Lunt Media regulation should have a consumer-based approach.

3) What is the definition of public service broadcasting?

Public service broadcasting refers to broadcasting intended for public benefit rather than to serve purely commercial interests. 

4) Look at the list of eight key principles for BBC Radio on page 6 of the factsheet. Choose the three you think are most significant and explain why.

Universal geographic accessibility – you can listen to radio anywhere in the country.

Universal appeal – across the board the programming will have something for all an everyone.

Attention to minorities – inclusive and non-tokenistic programming.

5) What does the Factsheet suggest is the future of PSB radio and how might Radio 1 fit into this?

The BBC has many radio channels which are designed to reflect the nation’s diversity and each week nearly 35 million people tune in to P.S.B channels. The BBC has developed its Sounds app to converge all its content into one place in order to challenge the new threats to attracting younger audiences offered by streaming sites like Spotify, Apple and Amazon Prime.

As it stands the BBC is surviving but its future is looking more and more precarious, especially it cannot convince the young that it is worth paying for. It could be that P.S.B radio broadcasting might have to have a separate licence fee, or we may see the development of individual subscriptions to stations.

Radio is also threatened by YouTube and other more visual forms. This is why stations like Radio 1 offer more than just the show itself. Social media offers listeners opportunity to see the presenters and communicate with them and other audience members. Amongst other things, Radio 1 also offers live events, festival weekends, celebrity interviews and they showcase new and emerging talent. All without adverts.

Industry contexts: reading and research

1) Pick out three key points in the 'Summary' section.

The BBC is the UK’s most widely-used media organisation, providing programming on television and radio and content online. The public has exceptionally high expectations of the BBC, shaped by its role as a publicly-funded broadcaster with a remit to inform, educate and entertain the public, and to support the creative economy across the UK.

To meet these expectations, the BBC must deliver the mission and public purposes set out in its new Royal Charter (the Charter). For the first time, the BBC will be robustly held to account for doing so by an independent, external regulator. Alongside responsibilities for programme standards and protecting fair and effective competition in the areas in which the BBC operates, the Charter gives Ofcom the job of setting the BBC’s operating licence (the Licence). This sets binding conditions, requiring the BBC to deliver for licence feepayers. It is also our job to scrutinise, measure and report on the BBC’s performance. 

On 29 March 2017, we consulted on a draft Licence setting out requirements for the BBC to fulfil its remit, and plans for Ofcom to measure the BBC’s overall performance. We have carefully considered more than 100 responses from members of the public and industry. We have taken account of the BBC’s interim annual plan for 2017/18, published on 3 July 2017. We have also carried out bespoke research into audience opinions and expectations of the BBC.

2) Now read what the license framework will seek to do (letters a-h). Which of these points could we relate to BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat?

Increase requirements around programmes for children. CBBC must show at least 400 hours – and CBeebies at least 100 hours – of brand new, UK commissioned programmes each year. CBeebies has to provide a range of programming that supports pre-school children’s learning; 

Secure a more distinctive BBC across all its services – a central feature of the Charter – through a range of new measures. At least three-quarters of all programme hours on the BBC’s most popular television channels should be original productions, commissioned by the BBC for UK audiences. There will be new requirements on Radio 1 and Radio 2 to play a broader range of music than comparable commercial stations and more music from new and emerging UK artists; 

 Support social action campaigns on BBC radio. We are requiring Radio 1 to offer a minimum number of major social action campaigns each year. Providing information and raising awareness of social issues affecting young people and giving them a platform to engage with is one of the key ways Radio 1 can set itself apart from other radio stations;

3) Which do you think are the three most important aspects in the a-h list? Why?

Support social action campaigns on BBC radio. We are requiring Radio 1 to offer a minimum number of major social action campaigns each year. Providing information and raising awareness of social issues affecting young people and giving them a platform to engage with is one of the key ways Radio 1 can set itself apart from other radio stations; 

Safeguard vulnerable genres such as arts, music and religious programmes. Our research shows these areas are important for some audiences; but some are in decline. We have therefore confirmed higher requirements for BBC One and BBC Two to show programmes in these genres, including a new requirement to broadcast during peak viewing times. With BBC Three’s move online, we have also introduced a regulatory condition to safeguard the provision of comedy on BBC One and BBC Two for the first time; 

Support a wide range of valued genres. The BBC must support a wide range of genres across its channels and services, such as drama, comedy, factual programmes and different types of music. 2 Ofcom expects the BBC to support valued genres, particularly those that have seen declining investment. We also expect the BBC to continue producing programmes on a broad range of established themes and interests – including but not exclusively programmes covering politics, business, consumer issues, rural affairs, health, disability and social action. We will monitor the BBC’s output in a variety of ways to ensure it meets its public purposes and provides a broad range of programmes across its services; 

4) Read point 1.9: What do Ofcom plan to review in terms of diversity and audience? 

 Plan to examine the on-screen diversity of the BBC’s programming, including in its popular peak time shows. The review will ask what audiences expect from the BBC to understand whether it reflects and portrays the lives of all people across the whole of the UK, ranging from younger and older audiences to diverse communities. We will take into account the outcomes of the review as we shape our future oversight of the BBC, and we will take further measures where needed to ensure that the BBC is delivering for all its audiences.

5) Based on your reading and research, do you think BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat offers licence fee payers good value for money?

I believe that the content that is produced does not target the intended audience correctly.

Finally, read this Guardian interview with former BBC 1 Controller Ben Cooper.

1) What was Ben Cooper trying to do with Radio 1?

Cooper talking is his relentless mission to make BBC Radio 1 a truly multi-platform business that keeps pace, and maintains relevance, with the digital-savvy youth audience it is tasked with targeting.

“I want Radio 1 to be the Netflix of music radio,” he says, trundling out the catchy soundbite to back his latest plan: taking a leaf out of the hugely successful US streaming service’s book by making programmes available on demand.

2) How does he argue that Radio 1 is doing better with younger audiences than the statistics suggest?

He is starting out with 25 hours of on-demand “phone-first” content, such as a weekly “Top 10 most-played tracks of the week” programme, but intends to seriously ramp up the hours next year. “In this job, you’ve got to keep across what young audiences are doing. They want content on whatever device they are using, increasingly the phone, when they want it, and that is the key for us to stay relevant and stay young.”

3) Why does he suggest Radio 1 is distinctive from commercial radio?

Cooper talks innovation but Radio 1’s rivals, and a report submitted to the culture secretary that informed this year’s charter review white paper, accuse the station of not being distinctive enough. He bristles at the suggestion. “Are we distinctive from commercial radio? Yes we are,” he says. “We will play something like 4,000 different tracks a month, commercial radio plays about 400. We need to play hit music to get audiences in to expose them to new music. I think we need to look at the fact that we are no longer competing just purely with Rajars against Capital and Kiss.

4) Why is Radio 1 increasingly focusing on YouTube views and digital platforms?

“I’m up against Pokémon Go and Minecraft for young audiences. I have to persuade people to switch off Minecraft and watch [Radio 1’s music sessions slot] Live Lounge, get off their iPad and listen to radio. Those are the things that keep me up at night. I’m thinking about tomorrow, not today.”

5) In your opinion, should the BBC’s remit include targeting young audiences via Radio 1 or should this content be left to commercial broadcasters? Explain your answer.

I believe that the BBC shouldn't try to target young audiences as when they have tried to do this their target audience always ends up being older generations.