Vlog
script
Introduction
Hello, and welcome to the first in a line
Vlogs from Operator media. Operator is an educational company designed to
inform any and all potential users. Our materials are original and designed as
educational resources for schools and individual study. The following Vlogs
will be covering Media ownership, Cross media conglomerates and their inner
workings as well as the operation and functions of a radio show.
Media ownership
Media Conglomerates are a composition of
many, subsidiaries or smaller companies. Bauer media is one such company and is
in fact a cross media conglomerate. This means that its output spans multiple
media output, TV, newspapers, radio and magazines. Bauer media spans a massive
range of products and holds many companies within it. It is almost impossible
that you haven’t been exposed to some form of Bauer owned product in the UK. As
the UK's biggest publishing group it reaches over twenty million people in the
UK through its brands alone. Bauer's major competitor is Global media, a
British company that owns the profitable Capital FM, as well as many other
companies. They are a massive competitor to Bauer. Bauer are in ownership of
many high profile magazines and radio channels as well as TV broadcasts.
Essentially, Bauer is a body in which many smaller companies are held. It is in
ownership of hundreds of smaller companies. Bauer has a fairly straightforward
operating model. It is divided into many smaller divisions, smaller branches
across eastern and western Europe. These smaller branches are governed by one
larger office, but under these smaller offices are controlled the radio
channels, the magazines and all the smaller local media outlets. The one main
body handles marketing across all outlets, while each separate division handles
its own programming.
Independent company
Independent companies operate under very
different parameters to a company like Bauer or Hallam.
Hallam FM is one such independent company.
Situated in a small building, broadcasting
to south Yorkshire and the north Midlands, Hallam is the number one Yorkshire
commercial radio station and is part of the Bauer place portfolio. Key
presenters include Becky Hayes, John Harrison (Big John) and Ollie Hayes.
Hallam's competition includes Capital FM, Rother FM, Peak FM and BBC Radio.
There are also the governing bodies of these companies that make sure
everything is in check: RAJAR (Radio
Joint Audience Research): Bauer uses this company to collate all of its
figures. BBC: British Broadcasting
Corporation is a public funded service that dates back to 1927 and gets its
funding from license fees and advertising. This is clearly evident from the
show, ‘Big john at breakfast’ as it
has heavy amounts of advertisements.
Hallam FM broadcasts to the whole south
Yorkshire region. This includes a wide variety of Ethnicities and backgrounds.
The show covers urban and Sub-urban areas, meaning that it must appeal to a
wide Target demographic. As such Big John at breakfast must also appeal to this
wide target audience. This is covered as it plays multicultural music and
discusses topics that affect all people encompassed in this target audience.
Hallam FM’s major competitors are channels such as capital FM, a much larger national
channel that broadcasts with a similar style to a larger audience.
A PSB remit
A
PSB is a Public Service Broadcast. This means a show that benefits the pubic
rather than a show concerned about commercial success. All channels related to
the BBC must fulfill their PSB remit to be allowed to continue broadcasting.
The terms of the remit are simple. A show must appeal to a verity of audiences
and must not discriminate. It must entertain the listener and be educational
and informative.
Big John-Show analysis
Hallam
FM holds many different shows on its channel, these generally consist of music
and news shows. Often these cross over and form multimedia coverage shows. But
today we will only be focusing on one show, Big John at breakfast. Hallam is an
AM/FM and DAB broadcast and launched on October the 1st, 1974. DAB on its
online broadcast. Big john at breakfast, a topical music and news show,
broadcasts from 6AM to 9AM every weekday and the Church of Big John, a
highlights, show broadcasts from 10AM to 12PM at weekends. Its key presenters
are John Harrison, or Big John, James Crookes and Janine Jones. The show
broadcasts in FM and DAB, Free view and is now recently available on mobile
applications. The show’s genre is largely chat and comedy. It is foremost a
comedy chat show with a heavy amount of news and media added in. The purpose of
Big john at breakfast is entertainment. The show plays a wide selection of
music and is often comedic and light hearted. It serves other functions as a
news and related media informant, but ultimately is designed to entertain. It
is presented in the style of a standard chat show. The presenters talk, play
jingles and music then talk some more. The topic of discussion changes
regularly but it is always of a consistent style.The program has a fairly straightforward
structure. It plays music at regular intervals to break up what is either news
or chat segments of the show. There are regular competitions and phone ins from
members of the audience. Hallam FM and Big john at breakfast advertising big
john @ breakfast is advertised purely as a subsidiary of Hallam fm. It receives
little advertising as single item but rather it falls under Hallam FM, which is
in turn part of Bauer. Big john at
Breakfast reaches its audience in a wide variety of ways. It uses public advertisements,
posters on the sides of buses and taxis to passively reach its audience in
public places. It reaches its audience by advertising on other radio broadcasts
as well. The Big john radio jingle can be heard on various Hallam FM
broadcasts. They advertise on a wide variety of Bauer owned media. Hallam FM
broadcasts on 97.4 MHz in Sheffield and 102.9MHz in Barnsley and Rotheram.
103.4 MHz, DAB, and Hallam FM online services. This means Hallam is able to
reach its audience over a lot of different media in a lot of different ways,
making it incredibly accessible, not just in Yorkshire. Big john's simulcast
and downloadable podcasts make sure it is accessible worldwide. It broadcasts
live on Hallam Radio as well as online, allowing it to be accessed live
globally. Hallam advertises itself in a
more physical way too. It sponsors various local events, allowing it to reach its
crowd within these events and concerts. It puts up posters and advertisements
on signs, buses etc. These usually advertise events that Hallam are involved
in, rather than the channel itself. Big
john reaches its audience in a few ways too. It has vox pops with various
members of the public which are used in the show, as well as public surveys.
They also have various competitions with small prizes for listeners of the
show, all of which help to further reach out and involve its audience.
>AUDIO
CLIP< Interview
How Hallam FM effects its audience
The
Effects of Hallam FM on its Audience Hallam FM tries to remain neutral in terms
of Race/Gender orientation, and the news it produces is also designed for
everyone rather than a set group. However the news Hallam reviews is still
influencing their audience. It is told from their side and their point of view,
imprinting the views of the Hallam news team on the viewer. This extends to
music choice, comedy and Vox pops used in the show. All are related to Hallam's
own views, even if it is designed for a wide audience.
How does Hallam represent the
individual?
Hallam
FM uses local presenters who emphasize on their regional accents and knowledge.
They are much related to the area they are from and almost act as a standard
representation of a stereotypical individual of the district, helping them
represent their audience. On top of that, the audience is often directly
involved. Hallam have various public interviews that are recorded before the
show, as well as a lot of people calling in for interviews as well as live guests.
On top of that they host competitions to keep the audience entertained and
engaged in the show, allowing them to represent themselves to an extent. It
also produces locally relevant news that suits its audience Ultimately it
represents it’s audience through culture, music and the style of adverts that
it produces on his show.
>AUDIO
CLIP< Presenters talking
Legal and ethical issues
There are a series of legal and ethical
issues that Hallam and Big john face for their broadcasts. They broadcast to a
wide and very racially diverse audience. This means that all content produced
by Hallam cannot be focused on one audience demographic and must appeal to
members of multiple backgrounds and races.
As such, they must carefully monitor all content they air. Music
selection is diverse and appeals to all target demographics under Hallam FM.
This is why the show Big john has such a diversity of content in its broadcast,
allowing it to fulfil its role as and tackle any ethical issues that may have
held the show back.
In terms of regulatory bodies, the BBC
obeys the regulations of the ASA in terms of it’s advertising as well as Ofcom
regulations. The ASA regulates the advertisements that the show plays, but
Ofcom is the big regulatory body for the channel. The Ofcom broadcasting code
provides very clear rules and regulations that all media broadcasts must obey.
The code was last updated in march 2013 and is constantly updated so that it
remains relevant to modern media, The code deals with almost every broadcast
issue, largely protecting children from unwelcome information or uncensored
broadcasting. Bauer obeys the code with all of its media output, Big john
included. Here are some examples of OFCOM code that Big John obeys:
Broadcast and
voting
.
2.13
Broadcast competitions and voting must be conducted fairly.
.
2.14
Broadcasters must ensure that viewers and listeners are not materially
misled about any broadcast competition or voting.
.
2.15
Broadcasters must draw up rules for a broadcast competition or vote.
These rules must be clear and appropriately made known. In particular,
significant conditions that may affect a viewer’s or listener’s decision to
participate must be stated at the time an invitation to participate is
broadcast.
.
2.16
Broadcast competition prizes must be described accurately.
(See
also Rule 1.30 in Section One: Protecting the Under Eighteens, which concerns
the provision of appropriate prizes for children.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offensive
Language
.
1.14
The most offensive language must not be broadcast before the watershed
(in the case of television) or when children are particularly likely to be
listening (in the case of radio).
.
1.15
Offensive language must not be used in program made for younger children
except in the most exceptional circumstances.
.
1.16
Offensive language must not be broadcast before the watershed (in the
case of television) or when children are particularly likely to be listening
(in the case of radio), unless it is justified by the context. In any event,
frequent use of such language must be avoided before the watershed.
(Regarding
Rules 1.14 to 1.16 see Rule 2.3 in Section Two: Harm and Offence.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
.
ASA Rules
.
2.1 Advertisements must be
obviously distinguishable from editorial content, especially if they use a
situation, performance or style reminiscent of editorial content, to prevent
the audience being confused between the two. The audience should quickly
recognize the message as an advertisement.
.
2.2
If used in an advertisement, an expression or sound effect
associated with news bulletins or public service announcements (for example,
“news flash”) needs special care. The audience should quickly recognize the
message as an advertisement.
.
2.3
The use of a title, logo, set or music associated with a program
that is broadcast on that medium needs special care. The audience should
quickly recognize the message as an advertisement.
From
these rules and examples it is clear that big john obeys all standards set out
by the ASA and OFCOM. It follows strictly the OFCOM code, the examples being
competitions broadcasting and offensive language. Considering that the show
does not violate either of the two examples. It consistently refrains from use
of offensive language before the watershed and keeps it’s competitions fair
within the guidelines set.
It
follows the basic ASA rules as well by making sure the viewer is aware that the
advertisement and the show are separate. Big John is a heavily advertised show
on Hallam and uses advertisements as a tool to break up the show at regular
intervals.
So
far I have described how the show connects to its audience, but not the
audience itself. This section will describe a stereotypical profile based off
the information of Hallam FM and Big John’s viewer target demographics. But
first we must cover the RAJAR spending power demographics. These grades
separate people by their spending capabilities based on their income and goes
as follows:
Grade
A, upper middle class, usually managerial or administrative occupations.
Grade
B, middle class, intermediate admin or professional occupations.
Grade
C1, lower middle class, supervisory and junior admin jobs.
Grade
C2, skilled working class, usually skilled manual workers.
Grade
D, working class, semi and unskilled manual workers.
Grade
E, those at the lowest level of subsistence, state pensioners or widows, casual
or lowest grade workers.
Based
on these grades, I have come up with a standard listener profile for Big John @
breakfast. Based on the style of advertising particularly (Fast food, loans
etc) the users are probably around the C1 spending power.
Audience Profile
Sarah
jones, a 21 year old university student is studying at Sheffield University,
taking her degree there. She spends her time studying, hanging out with friends
and working so she can pay her bills. In her spare time she mostly enjoys
spending time with her friends, going to clubs and parties or hanging around in
the city center of Sheffield around the university. Her money and spending
power is limited however, like many people of her age in Sheffield. While Sarah
has a part time job to help pay for her food and living expenses, she is still
fairly short on money. By RAJAR definition, Sarah would likely class as a C1 or
low end B class in terms of spending power.
Like
many, she enjoys eating out. Places such as subway, McDonalds, Starbucks and
similar restaurants are common spots for her when she needs a meal out. She is
a consumer of mainstream products, including food and drink (Cola, fast food
etc.) this can be said for her taste in music and culture too, as she regularly
follows trends. However, she isn’t set in her ways. Sarah is often and
regularly willing to try out new concepts and media to further her experience.
A
regular listener to Hallam FM, she tunes in whenever she gets the time. Like
many, she wakes up to the show Big John at breakfast. It is a good show to get
up too, offering a variety of music and news to help start the day a bit more
interestingly.
Task
2
This
will be an in depth examination of a broadcast of Big john at breakfast show on
Hallam FM. Reviewed 10/6/14
Big
john is a breakfast show designed primarily to entertain and inform the general
public of Sheffield. Being an early morning show, it is designed to be listened
to before school, on the way to work or as it says, at breakfast. The show has
a news section, plays music and hosts many audience competitions. It is
entertaining and informative suitable for all ages.
It
takes the form of an AM/FM radio broadcast that is now available for podcast
download. I will be analyzing a broadcast from December 2013
Show
analysis
Open
with audio extract: 00:00-01:25 (Adverts)
The
show opens with a series of advertisements. The first of which is a Subway
advert. This is relatable to areas of Big John’s broadcast, as many people will
likely eat out at places like that. This is followed by a drink awareness
advert from the south Yorkshire police. It was an advert that advised drink
awareness, a problem around Christmas. Many people experience violence or abuse
due to alcohol in some regions of Sheffield, making the advert far more
relatable.
This
is followed by a trailer for a film, more of a global advertisement rather than
region specific.
There
are a few more advertisements for local restaurants and law firms, similar
subjects related to Sheffield, including an advertisement for Hallam itself.
The
show is introduced with a music track and an introduction from the host, John
Harrison. He proceeds with a poll about what most men in south Yorkshire lie to
their partners about, discussing the subject with the other presenters. This is
part of the entertainment aspect of the show as well as involving the audience
in the show and helping relate back to them.
Audio
extract 04:21-04:51 (Music cut away)
The
show is periodically broken up by music, as shown here. This helps segment the
broadcast and signify the change in topic.
It
picks up again with the presenters calling the winner of the poll they were
discussing previously and asking him the question again. As stated earlier this
kind of interaction helps to relate the presenters to their target audience. By
involving the general audience it makes them feel less alienated. It involves
and engages the public with phone ins and prizes for public competitions. While
it is subjective, this could also been seen as entertainment for some viewers.
The show cuts away with another music track. Most tracks played are licensed
and well known tracks, acting as cultural entertainment rather than promoting
the track, with famous bands such as The Killers and Little Mix.
Audio
Extract 05:06-05:40 (Competition call in)
A
brief section informing listeners of the local weather follows, helping keep
viewers informed. There is brief chat amongst the hosts, discussing their
personal lives and the following content of the show.
The
following segment is a news extract that covers all kinds of local and global
news. This is a very important section of the show as it is the key segment in
the show as it informs its viewers on important events and information related
to the south Yorkshire region. The show is supposedly a locally relevant show
and this section is incredibly important.
This splits the show away from standard talk shows.
Audio
Extract 07:40-07:54
Again,
advertisements punctuate the broadcast. This is not only a key source of
funding for the show, but also helps publicize local businesses or inform
listeners of global products. Many of the advertisements are for British
companies, some of which are international or local. These include several
money and business advice services. Car MOTs, local supermarkets and similar
services.
Audio Extract 10:02-10:40
The
hosts continue to discuss topical news, which again helps inform the viewers.
At the time of the broadcast it was centered mainly on the reassignment of the
Sheffield Wednesday manager and the helicopter crash involving a Glasgow pub
and many related deaths. This was highly important at the time and was highly
discussed.
This
then moves on to more media and culturally related news. This is a lot lighter
in terms of tone and is more for entertainment purposes. These include
interviews and extracts from celebrities.
Audio Extract 14:27- 14:50
These
stories include a public apology from an X factor star, a talk about a
celebrity diving show and other chat amongst the presenters. The dynamic
between the presenters helps to make it feel more approachable to the audience,
making the presenters seem more human and ordinary, helping to make them more
relatable. They discuss simple things like their parties and celebrity gossip,
which is normal considering the show is primarily a chat show. This is, as
expected, broken up by a music track. They continue with their interactions
with band members, talking about the crowd reactions and use audio extracts to
help convey their point.
More
advertisements break up the show again, advertising blockbuster films and local
shops alike. Halifax, the ‘Home front’
film and present ideas, considering the broadcast aired around the Christmas
period. There is another short music track before the extract comes to a close.
The show itself lasts several hours and follows a similar structure as seen in
the extract.
