timed essay question 6

 

Discuss how the representation of age would appeal to the target audience of radio one.

Radio one is a radio station owned by the BBC and first began in 1967, with its first DJ being Tony Blackburn, who is now known for his show on BBC radio 2 which is targeted towards an older audience 30-55.

When radio one first began, it wasn't popular with a younger audience as they had an oppositional view of the show because it wasn't seen as 'cool' as during that time the BBC stood for traditional, conservative ideologies which did not appeal to younger audiences. This contrasts with its primary audiences now as radio ones main audience is men and women aged 15-29. This happened because radio one decided they needed to make multiple changes in order to appeal to this particular demographic, so they began looking into new technology, changed the presenters of the show to younger people to that audiences could release and identify with them, and this became the key to attracting this particular audience. For example, the current presenters on radio one include Greg James, and he is the same age as a lot of there primary audience so by having younger presenters helps for audiences to keep coming back and listening to the radio show. 

However, radio one didn't instantly get a large -scale audience as in the the 2010's they struggled with keeping audience numbers up as well as, having a lack of funding from the BBC because of this they had to come up with new way to reach their target audience and this led to the introduction of new games and segments on the radio show in between the music tracks. on top of this they also created multiple social media accounts across platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, and they have currently reach over 2 million flowers on each on their social media accounts. This opened up new opportunities for the show to interact with their audience in the comments of their posts as well as giving the audience the opportunity to request different songs and artists too. this was a very good move for the show in order to appeal to their primary audience as the younger generations that the show is targeted to, are the most likely to have access to at least one social media platform to then interact with the show. this links to audience interaction as fans of the show will be able to directly contact the show for games they're playing on air, or for song requests. One stand out segment that radio one has added to their show is a segment called the 'Brit List', this helps younger British music artists to have their songs featured on the radio, and these niche UK artists are able to send in their songs to have the opportunity to appear on the show. this once again helps to interact with their younger target audience as it gives them the opportunity to discover artists the same age as them and this could then link to social interaction as they may talk to their friends about a certain artist how was featured on this segment. This links to the uses and gratifications theory and theories of identity as audience members ae able to relate to the different types of music that is being played on segments like these and the show the 'Brit List' give that opportunity for social and audience interaction too. 

One final area that has helped radio one to bring in their primary target audience is their use of social media platforms. As the majority of their target audience have social media accounts it helps radio one to get a response on what their audience like and doesn't like. On their YouTube channel, they get artists who have been interviewed on the show to perform covers or their own songs in the 'Live Lounge' and they then post these views onto theory account where their audience is able to watch their favorite artists perform. They also use their social media platforms to interact with their audience for games they play live on air, which can include segments such as ' unpopular opinions' where fans of the show are able to text or message into the show, and there is often a celebrity guest that plays along with these games too, which would mostly likely bring in a larger audiences fans of the celebrity will tune into the show too. 

In conclusion, Radio one has effectively been able to bring in their primary target audience through branching out into new technology as well as, social and audience interaction through these platforms too.