LO1 Task 3: Analysis of a radio station

                                  Heart Radio Station

Purpose 

The purpose of Heart station is to entertain the audience, the entertainment value comes from the upbeat and cheery songs that are constantly being played along with the upcoming pop chart hits which give the show relevancy.

Because the channel is a commercial channel the listenership needs to be high for the radio commercials sold to be effective to the audience, this high listenership is created through many factors alongside the music this being encoded language in the presenters chatty intervals and radio show names. 

An example of this is the name of the show analysed 'Club Classics with Pandora', the word 'club' involved gives the impression of partying and happiness this therefore being associated with the radio increasing the amusement value. 

As well as entertainment the show also has informative elements due to short news intervals every 30minutes-1 hour, this is another purpose and achieves gratifications such as surveillance for the listeners. 

Funding / Advertising

Heart has a range of funding and advertisers this being due to Heart being one of the most popular stations in the UK, due to the popularity of the show it makes all adverts shown very effective therefore them having a huge clientele of companies wanting to advertise.

Adverts are played after 3-5 consecutive songs and these adverts are from huge brands such as EE, Northern Railway and Debenhams. The range of products advertised on the station demonstrate the mass audience and highlight the programmes target demographic.
Looking at adverts from companies such as Northern Railway we see that the target audience in mind is very family orientated, we see the advert name locations such as Aberdeen but then create an alliteration by putting a family relation in front e.g going to see aunts from Aberdeen, this association with travel to see family highlights the moral and characteristic of Hearts listeners.
As well as adverts from major companies such as Debenhams, the station also hosts competitions for its listeners and in getting the listeners to interact with the show they charge them for the text or calls that are sent into the station, even though this aspect of the show doesn't create as much profit as advertising it allows both the listeners and presenters to interact and boosts show moral.

Ownership  

The ownership of Heart radio is by Global Radio, this conglomerate owns a range of radio stations such as Capital, Smooth, LBC and Radio X, the parent company ensures that listeners know this link by placing all stations together on the heart app, making it very easy to switch between these stations easily therefore increasing the listenership on all their different subsidiaries.
By Heart being part of this big network of channels it ensures that the station has appropriate funding in aspects such as hardware, this ensuring that the sound quality and technical support is there making the programmes as professional as possible especially due to them being broadcasted live this meaning little room for error.
As well as hardware the funding is also positively used for other elements such as music license which is very important due to Heart being known for its always up-to-date music and top charts reputation.

Listenership

Heart has a huge listenership, due to it being one of the most popular stations in the UK it manages to achieve up to 4.6 million weekly listeners, this huge following is down to fun and lighthearted shows that are constantly playing and the top chart hits that are played as well.
The mass listenership is not only good for appearance of the station but allows them to financially gain in the advertising element, due to it being so popular it entices huge companies to advertise with them making huge deals for the station.

Audience

Hearts audience is very varied dependant on what programme is being aired, the music played varies in age but the consistent theme is the pop genre, the genre of pop is very mainstream and popular therefore it fitting the station perfect due to the mass listenership.
The primary target audience for the show is females 21+, due to the pop genre being stereotypically more feminine due to the theme of many songs being things such as love and heartbreak, the station is primarily aimed at an older audience due to many competitions and elements of the station relying on the listeners being over 18, such as competitions and call ins. However the show does have a strong secondary audience, due to the station being played in cars, in shops and just out loud in general it does reach a mass secondary audience and allows the reach of the station to be very varied.

Access 

Due to technological convergence we have seem a massive shift in how media like radio is accessed, Heart in particular due to its media involved audience have developed their channels of distribution to accompany this media shift.
Heart can be accessed on FM or DAB radios, this is the most traditional method of listening to Heart however is the most conventional and most known.
Accompanying FM/DAB, you can also access Heart on the app, this is demonstrating the technological convergence. By having the station accessible by app this allows it to be more portable and efficient for many listeners due to a phone always being carried by the target audience.
By having the app it can also provide visuals of what song is currently playing and you can see schedules of all programmes for the week ahead as well as listening to old programmes on demand.
All these additional bonus' allow the station to stay relevant and keep up with huge streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music.

Content 


The content of the station is very catered to their target audience, their programmes are very similar in terms of music genre and upbeat presenters. The programmes do alter slightly dependant on what time they're played for example 'Heart Breakfast with Jamie and Amanda' airs from 6.30 - 10am, the conversation and music played is very centred around topics such as waking up, preparing for the day and setting off for work.
All presenters on the station have a bubbly and uplifting attitude when presenting they all relate somehow to the target audience in age, social grade or gender, this relatability between the presenters and the audience makes the programmes even more appealing to the target demographic and topics and conversations had relate to the a mass proportion of the audience.

LO1 Task 3: Analysis of a radio programme (M1)

Heart's Club Classics with Pandora Christie 

Purpose

Club Classics with Pandora has the purpose of entertainment, throughout the show we see many characteristics of this purpose such as the type of music and the cadence of the presenters. 
The show being aired on a Saturday night immediately denotes to the audience that it will act as a warm up for the night ahead, and this is further supported by the type of music played and the word 'club' in the title. By 'Club Classics' being played this incites the idea of recreating a club environment wherever the listeners are this meaning that the songs played encourages the listeners to sing and dance along this once again reflecting the purpose of entertainment due to the happiness created by the upbeat music and lyrics.

The genre of music being 'club classics' means that the majority of the music is from the early 2000's, this is a huge advantage for keeping listeners interested due to it creating positive nostalgia for the target listeners who are 18-30, for example songs that are featured are 'DJ got us fallin' in love' by Usher which was released in 2010, this song reinforces the idea of going out and a club atmosphere but also invokes memories from the time period from when the song was at its height in popularity.

Income 

The radio station makes profit from their shows through advertisements and competitions, due to national commercial channels such as heart don't charge for subscriptions or memberships for the their shows this means that most profits are made through advertisements from companies such as
Dunelm Mills who advertise to the listeners the ideas of a 'dream home' as well as informing the listeners of sales in the shop on blankets and warmer items for houses due to the winter months approaching, even on a Saturday night when many listeners are wearing short dresses and are about to go out, the idea of warmth and cosiness that the advert is suggesting is really appealing to the audience due to the colder months approaching.
This advert in particular depicts that the target audience are 18-30 due to the homeware brand being one of the main advertisers on the station and this wouldn't appeal to younger teens who still live at home and don't need to think about homeware.

Another advert that is on the programme often is Lner, a train line that runs all over the country, the advert itself is very home orientated again and the advert consists of alliteration of family members in different locations e.g Aunties in Aberdeen, by linking both locations and family together it encourages listeners to think about locations they could visit in order to see family. The very family orientated advert once again reinforces the idea of the adult built listenership who have responsibility to keep in touch with relatives.
Even though these adverts aren't particularly relevant to the Saturday night time that the programme is on at it still is relevant to the adult audiences who will be listening at this prime time.

Schedule 

The timing of the programme is very relevant to the whole theme of the show, Saturday nights being known as the middle of the weekend and the evening to go out and have fun. This is perfect for the show due to it being strongly related to going out and partying this even being stated in the title where we see the word 'club'.
The timing of the show being 7-10pm is also helpful due to if the show was any later the listenership would drop due to people actually setting off to go to the club at this point, by having it beginning at 7 this allows it to be background music for people getting ready and starting to drink for the night, this is intended due to the upbeat and cheerful music played which is stereotypically heard on a night out this once again referring to the idea that the programme acts like a warm up for the night ahead.
By Pandora often mentioning phrases such as 'this is Britain biggest dance floor' this demonstrating not only a community feel for all listeners but celebrates the idea of dancing along to the show creating the club feel for all listeners.

Content 

The content of the show includes mainly music, this music is from the early 2000's up until 2019 and all have the same upbeat and quick tempo to create an energised and excited environment, songs like 'Crazy in Love' by Beyonce is played this once again creates not only an energised feeling but also invites the listeners to dance and sing along to the infamous track with known lyrics and dance routine. Along with these feel-good songs we also have snippets of Pandora sharing news but also inviting the audience to text in and depict what there night looks like to get the change to be on the national commercial show. By having this inclusion element of the listeners it allows people the chance to show off their evening plans and have it broadcasted on national radio this segment of the show allows avid listeners the chance to interact with chatty Pandora and feel like their on the show. 
As well as having music and chatty segments in between their is also a news reel played twice in the show, this is done to add an inform element into the show and keep listeners up to date on world news. 

Production techniques

In the programme we hear the stations jingles roughly every 5 minutes, this is very key to radio conventions as with the jingle reinforced it allows the listeners to know exactly which station their listening to and with phrases in the jingles such as 'turn up the feel good' it emphasises the upbeat and happy music played on the station. 
With the jingle playing often it allows people to understand what station they're listening to if they hear it in public and can encourage listeners to recommend the station to other people due to the constant branding of the station.
A lot of sound effects and remixes are heard not only in the jingle but in intervals between songs and Pandora, these constant sound effects are things such as electronic chimes and distorted music beats, the modern elements of the jingle and sound effects are created to connote the latest sounds and tracks are being played on the station, this is important for a station like heat who's reputation is to play the latest and most popular songs.

Staff and Resources 

The presenter of the programme Pandora is really energetic and fast talking throughout, her manner is very friendly and theres is no awkward faltering or hesitation from Pandora however we don't get the impressions she's reading from a script either, its important that we see this kind of personality on radio as it radiates the impression that the presenter is more your friend than a stranger making it more comfortable to listen and relax to.
Resources that would've been needed to create the programme would be both software and hardware, hardware would be elements such as a microphone, computer and music decks. Due to the status of the radio and the national commercial status the equipment would have to be extremely high to ensure that the sound and quality is clear this being important to exude professionalism and to keep the reputation of the brand intact.
For software in the show they would be using Adobe Audition to once again ensure the level of professionalism in the show due to Adobe Audition being the industry standard software.