Radio Exam Question

How does the Radio One Breakfast Show reach its audience?

[15 Marks]

The BBC strive to put the audience at the heart of everything and in doing so aim to deliver quality and value for money. With their remit to inform, educate and entertain, they use a variety of factors in order to convey these to their audience demographic of 15-24 year-olds. In order to maintain an unbiased political opinion whilst informing their audience of any recent events, Greg James, for example, will educate his audience through News Beats and Entertainment News. James isn't afraid to share his own experiences with issues faced in the world today, successfully reaching his audience through first hand experiences that both inform and educate on the importance of specific notions - for example he talks freely of his happenings with mental health, a widely experienced thing by many teenagers and young adults. This overall allows him to achieve a comfortable and down-to-earth environment for his listeners.

When it comes to the Breakfast Show's platforms, there is a myriad of devices that it can be listened to or streamed on. Thanks to digital convergence, the BBC can stream through tablets, social media, music apps, mobile phones, radios etc. The advantage of this convergence is that their young demographic are wide users of technology and streaming devices (as shown through recent RAJAR figures), with 65% of people listening to the radio on digital devices and 92% of 9-14 year-olds admitting that they own at least one internet connected device (smartphone ownership is highest among 13-14 year-olds - the borderline of the breakfast show's demographic). When referencing the other, older end of the spectrum of 24 year-olds, recent RAJAR surveys say that 36 million adults (15+) tune into the radio on a digitally enabled platform, each week. As technology and the use of it grows, the need to digitally converge grows with it, and so the collection platforms shared by the Breakfast Show reflect their desire to reach a wider audience that fits into their demographic. Altogether this expands their availability and reach for a wider range of audience and demographic. 

Moreover, the content of the show reflects widely on their need to reach their desired audience demographic. By playing modern, popular top charts music, they adhere to the likes of a younger age group - 15-24 year-olds - by sharing relevant pop culture. Through News Beats and Entertainment News segments, the show informs their audience on any recent events in the sports, politics, weather and popular culture, and in doing so keeps a clean, unbiased opinion that appeals to any listener. In keeping with the BBC remit, the show educates its audience through these News Beats and with interviews with guests, for example with pop culture artists that may be known by their demographic, that could give personal, yet unbiased and clean, advice to listeners. One physical way the James reaches his audience is through involving them through interactive segments, such as games, quizzes, phone calls and nationwide endeavours - for example the 'Pass the Pasty' idea that involved many of his listeners at once and over a long period of time. James creates a comforting and interactive environment where he may just sit down and talk to them over the phone, which successfully allows him to reach his audience through being an optimistic and friendly personality.

In conclusion, the BBC Radio One Breakfast Show is successful in reaching its desired audience demographic as they have purposely adapted and converged in order to provide a more convenient show for their listeners, as well as creating a comfortable and interactive environment that they can relax and enjoy.