Tuesday, 5 November 2019

Assignment Unit 7 Report


The topic of discussion in the following report will be based around different media sectors and their purposes, however, to expand on this subject the radio station, BBC Radio 1XTRA, will be used as an example for this report to convey how sources of income are formed with help of product diversity, alongside profitability and product range and audience consumption whilst in competing with their competitors. Although there are many forms of media sectors, such as television, radio, film, animation, computer games etc. A media sector is “The media industry can be defined as a varied collection of organisations that share the production, publication and distribution of media texts. Examples of mediaorganisations include: BBC” (3).


In the following report, BBC Radio 1XTRA (bbc r1) will be the media sector of discussion. The media sector of radio stations is now easily replaced with aux cables in cars however, that does not change the fact that radio stations like bbc r1 are still high in use due to their different forms of revenue and their historical timeline having an impact on its audience alongside the celebrities they host, further keeping their targeted audience engaged. 


Image result for bbc radio one xtra live lounge

One main source of income for this specific radio station is their YouTube channel, ‘live lounge’. YouTube provides a boost in their revenue due to the high amount of views gained per upload. A YouTube channel also allows the radio station to reach out to its audience on a deeper level due to the comment section whilst providing a wider experience for the audience as they share weekly uploads of trending artists singing their own songs or creating covers of well-known music tracks. Thus, conveying a form of cross media convergence as the radio station is promoted across different media platforms. As these top artists begin to share their experience with this radio station’s channel ‘live lounge’ on other media sectors such as social media platforms, an increase in awareness of the radio station is also formed. Furthermore, the use of a YouTube channel allows the radio station to have a form of product diversity by making it stand out to its national (UK) radio station competitors such as kiss or capital, as thee radio stations only use their channels specifically for interviews which evidently don’t seem to gain as much views as the live lounge performances. Overall, allowing the ‘live lounge’ channel to be a product of profitability.  Another source of revenue is the yearly events held by bbc r1, these events are spread out across the nation to provide a bigger reach to their audience across the country. The events are supported by the DJ’s and artists they bring to perform for their targeted audiences with a ticket price affordable for their main demographic. In addition, these live performances not only uplift UK talent but also encourage the youth to get involved by aspiring them to be like these new young artists, forming a wider fan-base/platform for the radio station.

(2)


BBC Radio owns and operates bbc r1, they reach their audience through sound apps on phones or their actual radio station accessible in cars and on radios. In contrast to bbc r1 being first broadcasted fairly recently, in 2002, BBC Radio was first aired in 1922. The ownership of bbc r1 being of BBC Radio shows the urban diversity formed for music over the years and matches the consumption of their different targeted audiences by containing a vast range of music on each station, thus, helping to achieve organisational objectives of remaining a relevant radio station for the nation. Overall, providing a form of vertical integration as BBC Radio expands to strengthen its chain of different media outlets. On the other hand, bbc r1’s remit is to focus on airing the top contemporary black music to emphasise live music whilst supporting new upcoming UK artists. Due to their remit, the radio station chooses to target “15-29-year olds and it should also provide some programming for younger teenagers”. (1) Furthermore, bbc r1 enables a higher reach to their audience by series stacking, similar to TV programmes, if anything is missed their audience is able to catch-up allowing an increase in the amount of audience tuning in. Overall, bbc r1 allows a huge variety for their audience to listen to the radio station, whilst allowing many different forms of providing a high revenue and income through different marketing strategies.




Bibliography: 

1)”15-29 year olds and it should also provide some programming for younger teenagers.”