Conventions of Radio:
This is what I learned from my research into other radio stations, specifically Heart FM, 95.6 Bolton FM and BBC Radio 1.
Pauses/slang/catch phrase:
Slang and pauses are more common on Local radio such as Bolton FM due to smaller audiences who feel more like a community. Nation radios such as Kerrang or Heart FM use better English as they speak to a more unknown audience (people from all over the UK instead of a smaller area), despite this one of the main catch phrases of 1Xtra, a London based radio station, is ‘get funky’. This is because both national and local stations use catch phrases to attract audiences’ and appear ‘down to earth’. The more informal the station the more informal the catch phrase.
DJ talks about him/herself:
Usually DJ’s will talk about stories or music, but on occasions they will discuss their own lives. This will usually happen on a Monday morning while the presenters discuss their weekends. I researched and analysed this as I listened to Kerrang Radio where the presenter reported on a music festival he’d visited at the weekend.
DJ talks about the record:
The discussion of records and music comprises mostly of phattic utterances (small talk) which is pleasant to listen too. They will normally talk about the artist and how well the track is doing in the charts. As our course work will be a news show we won’t be focusing too strongly on this, but can use some of these skills while discussing news stories.
DJ talks about or to the listener:
On most radio stations, local and national, listeners can phone in to give opinions, such as sport opinions on Radio 5 Live, or answers quizzes on BBC Radio 1. This gives the listener an opportunity to be part of the radio experience and hopefully keep audiences’ listening and phoning in (often there are chances to win prizes). Obviously listeners are more likely to get through to the station on local radio as there are less people ringing in, yet less people will hear what they have to say in this instance.
DJ digresses to another subject:
Topic shift is frequent during radio shows as it keeps stories fresh and listeners interested and listening. Within our news piece we will discuss different news stories to meet the large variety of interests.
DJ promotes another show:
Usually DJs will promote other shows on the same station, for example Chris Moyles from Radio 1 may promote Reggie Yates who does a later show. Promoting shows form the station in an obvious business technique to boost audience ratings. They will not normally promote other stations, and they are the competition.
Jingles:
Jingles are used to attract audiences’, they are catchy and if a listener hears a snippet of your jingle while scrolling through radio stations they will stay and listen. Both national and local stations use this tactic, and example is Kerrangs jingle and slogan ‘Kerrang: Live Life Loud’ to a snappy tune. We will devise one for our coursework.
Vox-Pop:
A Vox-pop is an on location report made outside of the station, such as an ‘on-location’ news report. They are recorded using handheld recorders. We might use this during our news segment if we decided to do an on location report.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Monday, 18 January 2010
Plan so far and progress from Action Plan
Main task: A five minute news bulletin (local radio) to include title music, presenter, specialist reporters, OBs, recorded interview, a vox pop and appropriate sound fx and structure.
We now have a short time line for our show, this plan will give us something to follow as we begin to record.
Jingle- 20 seconds
Introduce of the coconut lounge- (Liable to change for a more serious approach. This is because we want our news segment to be taken seriously)- 1 minutes
Round up of big news headlines - 2 minutes
Cut to Hooli with the outside broadcast - 1 minute
Sports round up and interviews - 1 minute
Weather - 30 secondsEnding
jingle 20 seconds
We are considering creating a new jingle to meet the Mise en Scene of the news.
We now have a short time line for our show, this plan will give us something to follow as we begin to record.
Jingle- 20 seconds
Introduce of the coconut lounge- (Liable to change for a more serious approach. This is because we want our news segment to be taken seriously)- 1 minutes
Round up of big news headlines - 2 minutes
Cut to Hooli with the outside broadcast - 1 minute
Sports round up and interviews - 1 minute
Weather - 30 secondsEnding
jingle 20 seconds
We are considering creating a new jingle to meet the Mise en Scene of the news.
Script
This is a scripted version of our radio show I wrote up. This gives us something to read as we record so we get the stories right.
Jingle
Alex: Our headlines today:
Liam: A nineteen year old part time shop assistant has been found murdered in Reading
A: Relatives of Vincent Van Gough has launched a major exhibition of the artists work in London
L: Children’s Sectary, Ed Balls has caused for the urgent upheaval of a loop hole that allows corporal punishment in part-time schools
A: Finally, ‘all you can drink’ offers in pubs may be banned, and ID checks made compulsory under a planned code in England and Wales – Our main story today:
L: Thousands are feared dead after a massive earthquake that struck Haiti
A: The seven magnitude quake which hit the Haiti capital of Port-au-Prince on the 12th of January is the worst earthquake to have hit the country in two-hundred years.
We now go to our correspondent Hooli who is in Haiti getting local reaction:
Hooli: (Voxpop) Hooli will talk to local villagers who are shook up after the disaster, and then he will discuss way to help with a disaster coordinator.
L: Thank you Hooli. Listeners you may have experienced some audio disruption
Sports Jingle
A: Now the sports news
L: In transfer news, Wigan has secured the signature of Victor Moses from Crystal Palace who have gone into administration
A: Egypt beat Ghana 1 – 0 in the African Cup of Nations Final
L: SPL league champions, Celtic, have acquired Robbie Keane on a yearlong loan from Tottenham Hotspur. Now to our main story:
A: John Terry’s captaincy is now is question after his alleged affair with the wife of Wayne Bridge. And now some local news:
L: There has been a rise in ethnic minority students
A: Just over one in ten students at Oxford University were from an ethnic minority background
L: Oxford United back health scheme:
A: The scheme that allows fans to get a health check at the Kassam Stadium has been backed by the squad
L: The world’s largest private crocodile collection has been found in Whitney
A: Shaun Bogart from Whitney keeps crocodiles in his back garden and now wants to create the countries first ever crocodile conservation
L: We had a chance to catch up with Shaun today, and here’s what happened:
Insert interview with ‘Shaun Bogart’. I will play Shaun while Liam will conduct the interview.
A: To Hooli with the weather
H: Thanks guys, and now today’s weather. On the local side we have temperatures as high as 11 degrees in Oxford with slight winds at up to 14mph. With the national weather, we have rain in parts of Scotland, temperatures as low as 3 degrees. As we move south of Scotland to the north of England, we have rain in the Newcastle area, low winds and temperatures as low as 2 degrees. In the midlands area with Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield we have patches of cloud but were not expecting any rain. Still temperatures are low at 2 to 3 degrees. Down with Birmingham, Leicester, Northampton and Coventry they’re luckier with some sunshine but it’s still quite cold. Lows of 5 degrees, highs of 10, throughout the day cloud will move in. Towards London we’re going to have a few showers today and tomorrow but will clear up for the weekend. And that’s the weather.
Thank you for listening to the news, we will be back with more headlines today.
Jingle
Alex: Our headlines today:
Liam: A nineteen year old part time shop assistant has been found murdered in Reading
A: Relatives of Vincent Van Gough has launched a major exhibition of the artists work in London
L: Children’s Sectary, Ed Balls has caused for the urgent upheaval of a loop hole that allows corporal punishment in part-time schools
A: Finally, ‘all you can drink’ offers in pubs may be banned, and ID checks made compulsory under a planned code in England and Wales – Our main story today:
L: Thousands are feared dead after a massive earthquake that struck Haiti
A: The seven magnitude quake which hit the Haiti capital of Port-au-Prince on the 12th of January is the worst earthquake to have hit the country in two-hundred years.
We now go to our correspondent Hooli who is in Haiti getting local reaction:
Hooli: (Voxpop) Hooli will talk to local villagers who are shook up after the disaster, and then he will discuss way to help with a disaster coordinator.
L: Thank you Hooli. Listeners you may have experienced some audio disruption
Sports Jingle
A: Now the sports news
L: In transfer news, Wigan has secured the signature of Victor Moses from Crystal Palace who have gone into administration
A: Egypt beat Ghana 1 – 0 in the African Cup of Nations Final
L: SPL league champions, Celtic, have acquired Robbie Keane on a yearlong loan from Tottenham Hotspur. Now to our main story:
A: John Terry’s captaincy is now is question after his alleged affair with the wife of Wayne Bridge. And now some local news:
L: There has been a rise in ethnic minority students
A: Just over one in ten students at Oxford University were from an ethnic minority background
L: Oxford United back health scheme:
A: The scheme that allows fans to get a health check at the Kassam Stadium has been backed by the squad
L: The world’s largest private crocodile collection has been found in Whitney
A: Shaun Bogart from Whitney keeps crocodiles in his back garden and now wants to create the countries first ever crocodile conservation
L: We had a chance to catch up with Shaun today, and here’s what happened:
Insert interview with ‘Shaun Bogart’. I will play Shaun while Liam will conduct the interview.
A: To Hooli with the weather
H: Thanks guys, and now today’s weather. On the local side we have temperatures as high as 11 degrees in Oxford with slight winds at up to 14mph. With the national weather, we have rain in parts of Scotland, temperatures as low as 3 degrees. As we move south of Scotland to the north of England, we have rain in the Newcastle area, low winds and temperatures as low as 2 degrees. In the midlands area with Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield we have patches of cloud but were not expecting any rain. Still temperatures are low at 2 to 3 degrees. Down with Birmingham, Leicester, Northampton and Coventry they’re luckier with some sunshine but it’s still quite cold. Lows of 5 degrees, highs of 10, throughout the day cloud will move in. Towards London we’re going to have a few showers today and tomorrow but will clear up for the weekend. And that’s the weather.
Thank you for listening to the news, we will be back with more headlines today.
Research into Local/National Radio
Local:
96.5 Bolton FM
http://www.boltonfm.com/
About Bolton FM:
"Bolton FM is a new growing radio station for the town we love to serve. Our unique selling point (USP) is that we are based in Bolton and are run by volunteers and staff who have lived in the town all their lives. Because we are new we need to grow our news brand. It is the stations aim to be a respected and reliable source for everything that's happening in Bolton.
What’s their history?
Back in 1997 Bolton was to have its first commercial radio station. A group of radio enthusiasts led by Dorothy Maryland, Roy Worthington and Derek Knowles got together a team, and planned to bid for the licence.
They got the advice of Councillor Frank White who brought together BIG community backing by getting the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Bury FC & The Manchester Evening News on board.
Over two years building up to the licence being announced, and under the radio station name of Variety FM, they provided Bolton with a number of professionally run restricted service licence (RSL).
In 1999 came the news that Variety Gold had not got the licence and it had been given to Tower FM - a bury group.
The disappointment was immense but one thing that had emerged during all this was that radio training is a tremendous tool in raising self confidence and self-esteem. So DBBC a radio training charity was born.
A few years later it was announced that Bolton was to get a truly local radio station, with a community licence being advertised. The team knew this was their chance to truly make a difference in Bolton, and succeed in the dream of providing Bolton with a radio station that serves its community. And here we are!"
Research Points:
The DJ's comes from local volunteers who have 'lived in Bolton their whole lives and know the area' they therefore speak in deep accents that are true to their upbringing and will connect to the local listeners.
They use northern dialect and phrases that are known to the area such as 'Teas on't table' and 'chuck' in humorous ways.
The records seem quite modern and from the charts rather than older ones. They will play some related songs such as famous northern bands like 'Oasis'.
The two DJ's are discussing local issues between songs to help the local people. As I’m listening, they are advertising a charity 'pet wash' happening in the area, which is leading to a general conversation about pets and a humorous time in their lives when his cat had kittens and he was stuck with 10 kittens, this 'banter' makes its more interesting and is likely to attract listeners. The chat fades into song and yet again it is a popular hit from the charts.
There is a lot of advertising for 'What’s coming up' on the show, and in the local area, such as the pet wash. It mentions local sport events and music performances.
Sound effects are used cleverly before the news is read out, this technique allows people who hear the tune to become familiar with it and listen closely if it’s heard.
The station has several high profile connections including former Labour Whip Frank White as the station's chairman and Xfm radio presenter Darryl Morris as a director and programming advisor. Former Cops actor Jack Marsden is a regular presenter.
Carl Hartley is Programme Controller of the station, a position he held at former CN Group station Rugby FM. He's also had experience at Lakeland Radio, Tower FM, and The Bay
Presenting the show: Jay Hull
Talking to the listener: He discussed local events of interest, there was opportunities for call ins
Talking about the record: He would introduce the next track
Adverts: Local businesses eg ‘Plumbers of Bolton’
Catch phrase/Theme tune: to a tune ’96.5 Live from the North’
Digresses to another subject: Presenters did discuss their personal lives
DJ talks about own life: He announced he’s getting a new dog at the weekend
I think local radio presenters connect with their audience better, as they deal with local topics and in this normally have presenters from the local area. Usually their editing skills are not as good as those of a national station, due to a lack of funding and less expensive equipment. This can also affect things such as their jingles. Despite this down-fall they work hard to present local issues.
National:
BBC Radio 1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/radio1/
"BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the BBC which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock or interviews. It is aimed primarily at the 15–29 age group.[1] Radio 1 was launched at 7:00am on 30 September 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, which had been outlawed by Act of Parliament."
I listened to a show presented by Greg James and made notes:
DJ's: Greg James (but many throughout the day such as well known Chris Moyle’s and Ferne Cotton)
Catchphrases such as 'This is BBC Radio 1' are used frequently during the show.
The DJ's discuss themselves and their weekends with humorous effect to give a pleasurable listening experience and attract listeners. My criticism to this 'Greg James' show is that he is on his own and so has no one to talk too and therefore just talks about himself to his audience.
The records played are all chart hits and they have a charts show leading down to the number 1 song. They tend to be the genre of ‘pop’ or ‘RnB’.
Research Notes:
Slang: slang used like 'oh yeah'. This makes the listener feel more 'at home' and enjoy the experience.
Talks about themselves: talks about himself e.g who he is and what time he got there. This makes the listener feel they know the presenter and builds 'friendship' bonds, which will bring the listener back. This though, is usually done better on local radio.
About the record: Jason Durulo track is discussed. This keeps the show relevant with modern music.
Talks to the listener: talks about the news to the caller, again keeping the listener a main priority and creating a masked 'friendship'.
Another subject: talking about Christmas, again keeping the show relevant.
Says whets coming up: 'Jay Sean up next' This keeps the listener listening as they will want to hear the song.
catch phrase: 'You're listening to radio 1’
These national stations have less connection with their audience, with different people calling in everyday (due to the large audience). But the listening experience is normally preferred due to their better technical and editing equipment.
I then listened to Heart FM and made similar notes to compare. Heart is particularly interesting as it is London's local station that also broadcasts nationally.
Heart fM
http://www.heart.co.uk/
Presenting the show: Toby Anstis
Talking to the listener: caller calls in to answer question on chance to win tickets to a gig paid for by the show
Talking about the record: talking about the song e.g name chart position and if they like the track
Promotes another show: uses upcoming messages to tell you when Emma Bunton’s radio show will begin.
Adverts: Lg phones, trust a trader.com, Wilkerson and Persil
Catch phrase/Theme tune: 'This is Heart' and 'Give it Some Heart'
Digresses to another subject: starts talking about I’m a celebrity get me out of here.
Says whets coming up: songs from Michael Bubble and Lighthouse Family coming up.
DJ talks about own life: say that he is not feeling too well and has caught the cold that is going round
National and Local stations advertise different products and events (local promote local goods while national advertised bigger brands) but they both use similar advertising theories. They use the Syringe Theory to promote themselves, every time you hear 'This is Heart' as a listener, you feel you want to keep listening to hear what’s coming up on the show. The Two-Step Flow theory is also used, as people go away and discuss what they've heard on the radio e.g "BBC Radio 1 was playing that new track!" and more people will go and listen to pass their own judgment.
I will use these notes to create a document of 'radio convections' to develop my research and then use during the recording of my radio show.
By listening to these two stations I managed to analyse them and pick up some key skills. I listened to how the DJ's spoke and wrote down the convections of radio. I see our radio course-work being a local news show but with qualities from a national show. We will report on both national and local stories with the professionalism of editing from a national show, but the heart-warming presenting and audience connection you receive from local radio.
96.5 Bolton FM
http://www.boltonfm.com/
About Bolton FM:
"Bolton FM is a new growing radio station for the town we love to serve. Our unique selling point (USP) is that we are based in Bolton and are run by volunteers and staff who have lived in the town all their lives. Because we are new we need to grow our news brand. It is the stations aim to be a respected and reliable source for everything that's happening in Bolton.
What’s their history?
Back in 1997 Bolton was to have its first commercial radio station. A group of radio enthusiasts led by Dorothy Maryland, Roy Worthington and Derek Knowles got together a team, and planned to bid for the licence.
They got the advice of Councillor Frank White who brought together BIG community backing by getting the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Bury FC & The Manchester Evening News on board.
Over two years building up to the licence being announced, and under the radio station name of Variety FM, they provided Bolton with a number of professionally run restricted service licence (RSL).
In 1999 came the news that Variety Gold had not got the licence and it had been given to Tower FM - a bury group.
The disappointment was immense but one thing that had emerged during all this was that radio training is a tremendous tool in raising self confidence and self-esteem. So DBBC a radio training charity was born.
A few years later it was announced that Bolton was to get a truly local radio station, with a community licence being advertised. The team knew this was their chance to truly make a difference in Bolton, and succeed in the dream of providing Bolton with a radio station that serves its community. And here we are!"
Research Points:
The DJ's comes from local volunteers who have 'lived in Bolton their whole lives and know the area' they therefore speak in deep accents that are true to their upbringing and will connect to the local listeners.
They use northern dialect and phrases that are known to the area such as 'Teas on't table' and 'chuck' in humorous ways.
The records seem quite modern and from the charts rather than older ones. They will play some related songs such as famous northern bands like 'Oasis'.
The two DJ's are discussing local issues between songs to help the local people. As I’m listening, they are advertising a charity 'pet wash' happening in the area, which is leading to a general conversation about pets and a humorous time in their lives when his cat had kittens and he was stuck with 10 kittens, this 'banter' makes its more interesting and is likely to attract listeners. The chat fades into song and yet again it is a popular hit from the charts.
There is a lot of advertising for 'What’s coming up' on the show, and in the local area, such as the pet wash. It mentions local sport events and music performances.
Sound effects are used cleverly before the news is read out, this technique allows people who hear the tune to become familiar with it and listen closely if it’s heard.
The station has several high profile connections including former Labour Whip Frank White as the station's chairman and Xfm radio presenter Darryl Morris as a director and programming advisor. Former Cops actor Jack Marsden is a regular presenter.
Carl Hartley is Programme Controller of the station, a position he held at former CN Group station Rugby FM. He's also had experience at Lakeland Radio, Tower FM, and The Bay
Presenting the show: Jay Hull
Talking to the listener: He discussed local events of interest, there was opportunities for call ins
Talking about the record: He would introduce the next track
Adverts: Local businesses eg ‘Plumbers of Bolton’
Catch phrase/Theme tune: to a tune ’96.5 Live from the North’
Digresses to another subject: Presenters did discuss their personal lives
DJ talks about own life: He announced he’s getting a new dog at the weekend
I think local radio presenters connect with their audience better, as they deal with local topics and in this normally have presenters from the local area. Usually their editing skills are not as good as those of a national station, due to a lack of funding and less expensive equipment. This can also affect things such as their jingles. Despite this down-fall they work hard to present local issues.
National:
BBC Radio 1
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/radio1/
"BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the BBC which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock or interviews. It is aimed primarily at the 15–29 age group.[1] Radio 1 was launched at 7:00am on 30 September 1967 as a direct response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, which had been outlawed by Act of Parliament."
I listened to a show presented by Greg James and made notes:
DJ's: Greg James (but many throughout the day such as well known Chris Moyle’s and Ferne Cotton)
Catchphrases such as 'This is BBC Radio 1' are used frequently during the show.
The DJ's discuss themselves and their weekends with humorous effect to give a pleasurable listening experience and attract listeners. My criticism to this 'Greg James' show is that he is on his own and so has no one to talk too and therefore just talks about himself to his audience.
The records played are all chart hits and they have a charts show leading down to the number 1 song. They tend to be the genre of ‘pop’ or ‘RnB’.
Research Notes:
Slang: slang used like 'oh yeah'. This makes the listener feel more 'at home' and enjoy the experience.
Talks about themselves: talks about himself e.g who he is and what time he got there. This makes the listener feel they know the presenter and builds 'friendship' bonds, which will bring the listener back. This though, is usually done better on local radio.
About the record: Jason Durulo track is discussed. This keeps the show relevant with modern music.
Talks to the listener: talks about the news to the caller, again keeping the listener a main priority and creating a masked 'friendship'.
Another subject: talking about Christmas, again keeping the show relevant.
Says whets coming up: 'Jay Sean up next' This keeps the listener listening as they will want to hear the song.
catch phrase: 'You're listening to radio 1’
These national stations have less connection with their audience, with different people calling in everyday (due to the large audience). But the listening experience is normally preferred due to their better technical and editing equipment.
I then listened to Heart FM and made similar notes to compare. Heart is particularly interesting as it is London's local station that also broadcasts nationally.
Heart fM
http://www.heart.co.uk/
Presenting the show: Toby Anstis
Talking to the listener: caller calls in to answer question on chance to win tickets to a gig paid for by the show
Talking about the record: talking about the song e.g name chart position and if they like the track
Promotes another show: uses upcoming messages to tell you when Emma Bunton’s radio show will begin.
Adverts: Lg phones, trust a trader.com, Wilkerson and Persil
Catch phrase/Theme tune: 'This is Heart' and 'Give it Some Heart'
Digresses to another subject: starts talking about I’m a celebrity get me out of here.
Says whets coming up: songs from Michael Bubble and Lighthouse Family coming up.
DJ talks about own life: say that he is not feeling too well and has caught the cold that is going round
National and Local stations advertise different products and events (local promote local goods while national advertised bigger brands) but they both use similar advertising theories. They use the Syringe Theory to promote themselves, every time you hear 'This is Heart' as a listener, you feel you want to keep listening to hear what’s coming up on the show. The Two-Step Flow theory is also used, as people go away and discuss what they've heard on the radio e.g "BBC Radio 1 was playing that new track!" and more people will go and listen to pass their own judgment.
I will use these notes to create a document of 'radio convections' to develop my research and then use during the recording of my radio show.
By listening to these two stations I managed to analyse them and pick up some key skills. I listened to how the DJ's spoke and wrote down the convections of radio. I see our radio course-work being a local news show but with qualities from a national show. We will report on both national and local stories with the professionalism of editing from a national show, but the heart-warming presenting and audience connection you receive from local radio.
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