LO1 - Task 2 - Analysing and Talk and Music radio show

A.)   Running Order

The introduction goes for around 30 seconds at the start of the episodes which is followed by around 4 minutes and 30 seconds of promotion. These promotions include productions, services and music. This is most likely from the local community and having promotional content in the episode not only help the local community but it also means that those services and production could also promote the radio station and its radio programmes. After the promotional section of the radio show, it is followed by 3 presenters introducing the main content of the programme and in this particular episode, the 3 presenter’s debate and talk about their favourite games in chronological order. After 10 or so minutes, they play a song which is most likely a local production which usually last 3 minutes or more and at this point, this is most likely the break time for the presenters and to just plan/prepare the next section of content. This is done in the same order: promotions, episode content, music, episode content. This is most likely done through the other episodes to keep the show consistent.

B.)    DJs/Presenters

There are 3 presenters and they seem to be between the age ranges of 30-40, which means that they have been playing games since the 20^th century. They have however delved into the new generation consoles and sometimes mention about a new game or something similar, however, their main content of talking however seems to be the retro games and games made before the third generation consoles (i.e. Xbox 360 and PS3). They have a very informal way of presenting their content and it allows people to relate to the presenters in a way. They don’t necessarily speak directly to the audience in a way (apart from introducing the content being talked about) but they talk about their content in a way that the audience will understand i.e. discussing about a game mechanic to another presenter. So in a way, each of the presenters is the audiences’ point of view.

C.)    Content

They have a certain pattern for their content. It begins with promotional content which promote local services and productions. This is followed by the main content of the episode which in this particular one, they talk and have a debate about their favourite games. In the one episode I listened to, they didn’t have any form of interviews, phone-ins or other external input from outside their studio. In seems that they play music after around 10 minutes of content to act as a break between debates and talks. It also seems that it’s only for promotional purposes.

D.)   Audience

The audience seems to be targeted at a rather wide age range due to the content being presented (Games). The target age seems to 18-30+ and because of the apparent ages of the presenters, the older generations who may have been from their generation may also be part of the targeted audience. Gender doesn’t seem to be a factor in their target audience although games that they do talk about seem to be more for the stereotypical male type of games.

LO1 - Task 1 - "Investigating a radio station." Brief

Programme Types -What is Sheffield Live!'s ethos? Who owns the station? What the programmes do they produce and why to do they do this? Name at least five different programmes on the station. 

Genres -What genres of programmes does Sheffield Live! broadcast? Why? Give at least three examples. 

Audience Profile/s - Who is their main target audience or do they cater for a range of audiences with their products? Complete a moodboard and written profile of one other target audience groups. Please put ABC1's etc. in.

Production Process - How do different parts of the company operate to work together to produce and promote products? How do the different areas of the production team work together to produce products?

Market Share - Who are the main competitors to Sheffield Live? Why are they considered competitors based on the products the company makes? How does the organization stand out from the competitors? What is there official share of radio audience? TSA?


A.) Programme Types:

Sheffield Live! is a community based radio station. They are involved and are run mainly by local community. Sheffield Live! caters to a niche audience, meaning they exist to entertain a smaller audience compared to that of a larger radio station i.e. Sheffield Hallam. They produce programmes such as Communities Live, Spirit of the Wapentake, The Local Talent Show, Soul Purpose and Vancouver Maneuver. Each of these programmes have their own content to entertain a smaller audience and the station aims to cater to an underserved audience. 

Sheffield Live!'s ethos follows to catering to the local community and to reach out to underserved people, the people who aren't entertained by mainstream radio stations. Sheffield Live is set up to be a independent company by the Community Media Association which means they aren't heavily funded, hence why they are run by the community. Sheffield Live! helps with project and activities involving young people and the community in general. They have helped in organizing events throughout Sheffield, helping to form a youth organization that educates young people through music. Sheffield Live! is a small-scale radio station that is for non-profit and to deliver social gain.

B.) Genres:

Sheffield Live! has features quite a few genres. This is to serve a range of audiences through niche content. They broadcast genres such as music (which has a range such as jazz, soul, ethnic, rock etc.) and community radio which involves the community, hence the genre. They have a series of radio programmes which provide a wide range of entertainment for the underserved audience. They provide genres that not a lot of an audience would listen to but it would cater to those that are in a higher age section which means it has doesn’t leave out an older generation. The radio shows provided may prove interesting enough for the younger audience.

C.) Audience(s) Profile:

Since they cater to an underserved part of the community, the target audience being target is actually quite a large range in terms of content. Age for example is different in that regard.

Tom, 37 years old and currently working as an engineer, enjoys listening to talk shows and likes to listen to jazz. He likes being part of a long standing community based in Sheffield and tries to contribute to the community station by listening as often as possible. Being an engineer, he is required to do specialist work; hence he is a part of the ABC1 section of social class.

D.) Production Process:

All forms of production in any form of products follow 3 different phases of production: During pre-production, a treatment must be written up to create a proposal for a radio show. If the radio show is approved, a radio script must be made for every episode that will be happening through the life of the radio show. They must research about the subject they are doing for the radio show to be able to create cohesive episodes that will be broadcast and recorded. For the radio show to be successful, they must also organize team meetings to organize their schedules and the production content. During this, they will most likely have to organize PRS licensing and discuss what ethical guidelines the radio show might have to avoid. Production is where the main body of the product is built up from the pre-production. The pre-production materials such as the episode script and pre-recorded materials are used. After the radio show has been on broadcast, it will have been recorded.

E.) Market Share:

As any other form of a company, they have to go against other radio stations to provide the needs and wants of the audience. Sheffield Live!, being a community radio, they do not necessarily get funded from a huge company and is more or less ran by the community, hence the name. They are an independent radio station compared to other radio stations that are most likely commercial stations. Community stations don't get profit but use the money being brought in by the promotional sections of the radio shows to help improve the station and the content it provides to the community.

Being a community radio station, it provides content that almost every commercial radio station doesn’t provide, which is the niche genres. This is to aim towards the underserved part of the community who are most likely in the older age brackets. They hold around 11% of the radio audience in Sheffield.

Unit 55: Talk and Music Radio Production Brief

 OCR Level 3 Technical Diploma in Media
Unit 55: Talk and Music Radio Production

Assignment: Production of five minute segment of the talk and music radio show to be broadcasted on Sheffield Life!

You are to use your Unit 19 work to finalize ideas for a 'Talk and Music Radio Show' pitched to Sheffield Life and produce five minutes of the show.

There are three learning outcomes for this unit:

LO1: Understand existing talk and radio music programmes.
LO2: Be able to plan a new talk and music radio show programme.
LO3: Be able to produce a new talk and music radio programme.

You will be given a series of Task Sheets. Read through the tasks carefully, so that you know what you will need to do to complete this assignment as each stage.